Speer v. Rand McNally & Co.

• Decision Date: 27 August 1997
• Docket Number: No. 96-4142,96-4142
• Parties: 74 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. (BNA) 1797, 71 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 44,982, 38 Fed.R.Serv.3d 979 Sandra M. SPEER, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. RAND McNALLY & COMPANY, a Delaware corporation, Defendant-Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit

Page 658

123 F.3d 658

74 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. (BNA) 1797,

71 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 44,982, 38 Fed.R.Serv.3d 979

Sandra M. SPEER, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. RAND McNALLY & COMPANY, a Delaware corporation, Defendant-Appellee.

No. 96-4142.

United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit.

Argued May 15, 1997.

Decided Aug. 27, 1997.

Dennis R. Favaro (argued), Kenneth A. Runes, Susan R. Bauer, Thill & Favaro, Palatine, IL, for Plaintiff-Appellant.

John J. Lynch, Patricia C. Slovak, Brittain, Sledz, Morris & Slovak, Chicago, IL, Gregory J. Utken (argued), Edward Edison Hollis, Baker & Daniels, Indianapolis, IN, for Defendant-Appellee.

Before CUDAHY, MANION, and ROVNER, Circuit Judges.

MANION, Circuit Judge.

In this Title VII case, Sandra Speer claims that her supervisor, Dave Raymond, sexually harassed her, discriminated against her because she was pregnant, and retaliated against her because she spurned his advances and because she was pregnant and took maternity leave. Their employer, Rand McNally & Company, investigated Speer's allegations, and although it found inconclusive evidence, managers spoke with Raymond (who denied the allegations), and any sexually harassing conduct stopped.

Rand McNally reported the result of its investigation to Speer no later than March or April 1994, but Speer waited until late July 1995 to file her sexual harassment claim with the EEOC. The district court concluded that Speer's suit was barred by the statute of limitations for her claims, that comments by the company's investigator did not equitably estop it to assert the limitations period, and that Speer had not alleged facts which constituted a continuing violation of Title VII. Accordingly, the court granted Rand McNally summary judgment. We agree that Speer had the opportunity to bring her allegations in a timely manner but failed to do so. She admits she waived her pregnancy discrimination claims, and she attempted too late to broaden her suit from a hostile work environment claim to one for quid pro quo sexual harassment. Consequently, we affirm the district court's decision.

I.

Because we review a grant of summary judgment, we view the facts in the light most favorable to the nonmovant, Sandra Speer, and draw all reasonable inferences in her favor. Bahl v. Royal Indemnity Co., 115 F.3d 1283, 1289 (7th Cir.1997).

Rand McNally & Company, which publishes maps, is headquartered in Skokie, Illinois. The company hired Speer in November 1991 on a temporary basis and later offered her a position as an inside sales representative. Speer then moved within inside sales to the map services department. In May 1993, she was promoted to marketing coordinator, where her supervisor was Dave Raymond, who in turn was supervised by Jayne Fenton.

After she became marketing coordinator, Speer contends Raymond sexually harassed her. On two occasions, Raymond allegedly touched Speer. On a business trip to Miami in May or June 1993, Speer claims Raymond grabbed her feet and attempted to kiss her once after they had been drinking in a bar for three to four hours. On an August 1993 business trip to Daytona, Speer asserts that Raymond touched her hand while they drove together in a rental car. Speer argues that after she rejected these advances, Raymond retaliated by verbally abusing her to her face and before her coworkers. Once Raymond forgot to bring certain documents with him to a meeting. Speer alleges that Raymond blamed her for the mistake, disparaging her help. Also, sometime after March 1995, Raymond left a voice-mail message for Speer and another employee in which he is to have stated "I don't know what is going on, but you two better basically get your act together."

Speer contends Raymond also spoke to her in a sexually harassing manner. Raymond allegedly professed his love for Speer and his desire to have sex with her. During the Miami trip, Raymond purportedly said he thought he was falling in love with Speer. Sometime before that trip, Raymond is alleged to have said to Speer that she "looked sexy" and "smelled good" and told her that he could make her sexually happy and that he wanted to have oral sex with her. Speer also asserts that during the Daytona trip Raymond said he found it difficult to sit next to her. Raymond also allegedly stared at Speer, looking her up and down.

Speer claims also that Raymond made grunting sounds in front of her as other females walked by. Sometime in 1995 a female coworker walked by and Raymond allegedly said "um, I love those dresses on women." During the Miami trip, Speer contends a man walked by with two young women and Raymond commented he "wished he could be like that guy." Speer says that during the Daytona trip she, Raymond, and another coworker were sitting in a bar when some young women went by. Raymond and the coworker said they wished they were rock stars so they "could get females like those girls." Between May and December 1993, Speer alleges that Raymond spoke to her in graphic detail about his sexual relations with his wife.

Speer claims further that Raymond was rude and hostile to her. She says Raymond would walk by her, "huff and puff," and roll his eyes. She also points to an occasion when Raymond allegedly was angry with her about a project on which another employee had worked while Speer was on maternity leave. Twice Speer had panic attacks, and Raymond allegedly did not believe she suffered from anxiety. Speer did not say anything to Raymond about this or any of his comments. She did ask to be transferred. Raymond also suggested a transfer, but it never occurred.

In December 1993, Raymond gave Speer a negative job performance evaluation, which Speer contends resulted from her spurning his advances. After receiving this evaluation, Speer complained about Raymond in writing to Mary Lynn Smedinghoff, the company's vice president of human resources. Smedinghoff told Speer that the company would investigate her complaint, and Smedinghoff and Fenton met with Speer several times. Speer had been in contact with a women's rights organization which advised her to file a charge of discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. She told Smedinghoff she was going to do so. Speer says that Smedinghoff told her "the company would investigate internally, that I should not file with the EEOC because it might take two or three years, and that nothing would be resolved." Fenton and Smedinghoff told Speer that they would investigate the situation thoroughly.

Pursuant to Rand McNally's sexual harassment policy and procedure, Smedinghoff prepared a summary of Speer's complaint. Speer reviewed it, and Smedinghoff and Fenton confronted Raymond with it. Raymond denied the allegations. Raymond also was given the opportunity to prepare a written summary of his version of the events, which he did, and Smedinghoff and Fenton reviewed it with Speer. Both Speer and Raymond gave Fenton and Smedinghoff names of individuals to contact who could corroborate certain facts. Because the company managers concluded the listed individuals could speak only to collateral facts, no witnesses were interviewed. After Smedinghoff and Fenton spoke with Raymond in December 1993, Raymond stopped making comments about Speer's appearance as well as comments about his marriage and having sex with Speer.

Following their investigation, Fenton and Smedinghoff prepared a written summary of what they termed a "she said--he said" situation. Raymond was not disciplined, and he and Speer were not separated. Smedinghoff told Speer that the company could take no further action. Speer admits Smedinghoff reported this information to her no later than March or April 1994. Later Raymond did attend a two-day seminar that included training about sexual harassment.

On July 28, 1995, Speer filed a sexual harassment charge with the EEOC. She finished work at the company two weeks later. The EEOC gave Speer a right-to-sue letter in late August 1995, and she filed this suit on October 30, 1995, alleging violations of Title VII, 42 U.S.C. § 2000(e) et seq. (as amended). Speer sought relief on four theories: sexual harassment, retaliation for the sexual harassment, pregnancy discrimination, and retaliation for her pregnancy and maternity leave. Rand McNally moved for summary judgment on all counts. Then Speer moved for leave to amend her complaint to add a quid pro quo sexual harassment component to her hostile work environment claim, but she later withdrew that motion.

The district court granted the company's summary judgment motion on a variety of grounds: (1) Speer's sexual harassment claim failed as a matter of law because her suit fell outside the three-hundred-day statute of limitations; (2) a "continuing violation" theory did not bring Speer's claims within that statute; (3) Smedinghoff's comments that Speer should not file the EEOC complaint did not equitably estop Rand McNally to assert its statute of limitations defense; (4) Speer could not succeed on her pregnancy discrimination claims because she was not subjected to any adverse employment action; and (5) Speer's retaliation claim fails as a matter of law. In a footnote, the district court concluded it would not have granted a motion for leave to amend Speer's complaint.

The district court had jurisdiction over this Title VII case pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331 and 1343(a)(4). This court has jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1291 and 1294. We review the district court's grant of summary judgment under the familiar standards. That review is plenary, Bahl, 115 F.3d at 1289, and we uphold a grant of summary judgment if "the pleadings, depositions, answers to the interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue of material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c); Bahl, 115 F.3d at 1289-90. To avoid summary judgment, the nonmovant must advance ...