Hawkins v. Pepsico

• Citation: 203 F.3d 274
• Decision Date: 26 October 1999
• Docket Number: No. 98-2193,CA-96-1013-6,98-2193
• Parties: (4th Cir. 2000) LISA HAWKINS, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. PEPSICO, INCORPORATED, d/b/a Pepsi-Cola North America, d/b/a Pepsi-Cola Bottling Company, d/b/a Pepsi South, Defendant-Appellee. AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION OF NORTH CAROLINA LEGAL FOUNDATION, INCORPORATED; NORTH CAROLINA ACADEMY OF TRIAL LAWYERS, Amici Curiae. (). . Argued:
• Court: United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (4th Circuit)

Page 274

203 F.3d 274 (4th Cir. 2000)

LISA HAWKINS, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. PEPSICO, INCORPORATED, d/b/a Pepsi-Cola North America, d/b/a Pepsi-Cola Bottling Company, d/b/a Pepsi South, Defendant-Appellee. AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION OF NORTH CAROLINA LEGAL FOUNDATION, INCORPORATED; NORTH CAROLINA ACADEMY OF TRIAL LAWYERS, Amici Curiae.

No. 98-2193 (CA-96-1013-6).

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS, FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT.

Argued: October 26, 1999.

Decided: February 15, 2000.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, at Winston-Salem.

William L. Osteen, District Judge.

[Copyrighted Material Omitted] COUNSEL ARGUED: Joyce Leigh Davis, JOYCE L. DAVIS & ASSOCIATES, Raleigh, North Carolina, for Appellant. Charisse R. Lillie, BALLARD, SPAHR, ANDREWS & INGERSOLL, L.L.P., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for Appellee. ON BRIEF: Zoe G. Mahood, JOYCE L. DAVIS & ASSOCIATES, Raleigh, North Carolina, for Appellant. Suzanne E. Turner, Matthew M. Gutt, BALLARD, SPAHR, ANDREWS & INGERSOLL, L.L.P., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Cecil W. Harrison, Jr., POYNER & SPRUILL, L.L.P., Raleigh, North Carolina, for Appellee. John W. Gresham, FERGUSON STEIN LAW OFFICES, Charlotte, North Carolina; Deborah K. Ross, AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION OF NORTH CAROLINA, Raleigh, North Carolina; Henderson Hill, NORTH CAROLINA ACADEMY OF TRIAL LAWYERS, Charlotte, North Carolina, for Amici Curiae.

Before WILKINSON, Chief Judge, and WIDENER and KING, Circuit Judges.

Affirmed by published opinion. Chief Judge Wilkinson wrote the opinion, in which Judge Widener and Judge King joined.

OPINION

WILKINSON, Chief Judge:

Appellant Lisa Hawkins filed an employment discrimination suit against appellee PepsiCo, Inc. Hawkins alleged, inter alia, that her supervisor created a racially hostile environment and terminated Hawkins because of racial animus. Hawkins, however, has shown nothing more than a routine difference of opinion and personality conflict with her supervisor. Because we refuse to transmute such ordinary workplace disagreements between individuals of different races into actionable race discrimination, we affirm the judgment of the district court dismissing Hawkins' claims.

I.

Lisa Hawkins was employed by Pepsi from 1990 to 1994. She began as a Brand Manager and was promoted to Franchise Manager in 1991. She became an Administrative Manager in 1992 and served in that position until it was eliminated in June 1993. That same month, Hawkins was hired by Sally Price, General Manager of Pepsi's newly formed Customer Service Center (CSC) in North Carolina, to be a Tel-Sell (telephone sales) Manager. Hawkins reported directly to Price in her new position.

Because the district court dismissed Hawkins' claims on Pepsi's motions for summary judgment and judgment as a matter of law, we view the evidence in the light most favorable to her. See Hartsell v. Duplex Prods., Inc., 123 F.3d 766, 768 (4th Cir. 1997); Brown v. CSX Transp., Inc., 18 F.3d 245, 248 (4th Cir. 1994). Hawkins, who is African-American, claims that Price, who is white, engaged in various forms of race discrimination against her at the CSC. Hawkins advances a long list of complaints about Price. She alleges that she and Price had a strained relationship that was unlike the relationships between Price and the white managers Price supervised. Price did not adequately inform Hawkins of her responsibilities and gave Hawkins instructions on scraps of paper. Hawkins' suggestions at meetings were often criticized or laughed at by Price. Price rarely praised Hawkins in public. Price failed to acknowledge Hawkins' input and criticized her for not being a "team player." Hawkins perceived all of this to be in marked contrast to Price's treatment of Hawkins' white peers. Price also told Hawkins that she was "not of the caliber" to be a CSC manager, but Hawkins never heard Price use the same phrase to describe a white person's performance. Hawkins further claims that Price subjected Fred Canady, the only other African American who reported directly to Price, to similar criticism.

According to Hawkins, when Price criticized a document that Hawkins had prepared, Hawkins presented her with the same document the next day and falsely claimed that a white manager had also worked on it. Price then told Hawkins that the document looked great. Price also gave gifts to all managers except Hawkins during a dinner at Price's home. After Hawkins took a personality test upon Price's orders, Hawkins believed Price mocked the results even though Price did not laugh at white managers with the same personality type. When Hawkins suggested that she and Price attend a seminar entitled "Successful Managerial Skills for Black Managers," Price refused.

What Hawkins disputes most vigorously, however, is the accuracy of Price's evaluation of her job performance. For example, in a January 1994 performance appraisal, Price rated Hawkins"below target" in several areas and criticized her even in areas where Hawkins received a satisfactory grade. Hawkins alleges that Price's assessment of her performance was excessively negative and often based on erroneous information. Hawkins also claims that Price's feedback was in some instances too general and failed to elaborate on the positive aspects of Hawkins' performance. Hawkins further states that Price also gave Canady a "below target" rating while rating all white employees who reported to her "on target" or"above target."

Hawkins complained about Price to several members of Pepsi's senior management. For example, Hawkins faxed a memo to Pepsi's Chief Operating Officer but allegedly received no response. Hawkins states that she also shared this memo with Price and discussed it with her to no avail. Several other senior managers advised Hawkins on dealing with Price and said that they would follow up on the matter. Hawkins claims, however, that Pepsi's efforts to investigate and remedy her situation were on the whole inadequate.

Hawkins also states that she had previously complained to Pepsi management about racial concerns when she was a Franchise Manager. She alleges that long before she encountered Price, she had racial problems with Lee Teeter, a Pepsi bottler, and that her complaints caused racial tension with her supervisor at the time. Hawkins claims that Price was aware of Hawkins' complaints stemming from this incident.

In February 1994, Hawkins met with Price and CSC Human Resources Director Jane Marvin for a performance review. They discussed Hawkins' performance, Hawkins' difficulties with Price, and the possibility of Hawkins' seeking other employment, including a sales position within Pepsi. Price cautioned, however, that she was uncomfortable recommending Hawkins for a sales position because she had not seen her sell.

On March 3, 1994, Hawkins met with Price and then Marvin to review her situation. During her time at the CSC, Hawkins had worked mostly on special projects for Price rather than in a Tel-Sell capacity. Marvin stated that Hawkins was no longer needed for special projects and that there was no Tel-Sell opportunity for her in the CSC. Marvin also said that no sales position was available for Hawkins. Marvin then handed Hawkins a termination letter informing her that she was discharged effective the following day.

On September 12, 1996, Hawkins filed an employment discrimination lawsuit against Pepsi in the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina. Hawkins alleged that Pepsi discriminated against her on the basis of race in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1981 and state law. She claimed that she was the victim of a hostile work environment and was wrongfully discharged because of her race and/or in retaliation for her complaints of race discrimination. Hawkins also accused Pepsi of intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress.

At the close of discovery, the district court granted summary judgment to Pepsi on a number of Hawkins' claims. The court held that Hawkins had failed to produce sufficient evidence of a racially hostile environment. The court also dismissed her emotional distress claims and held that any claims based on events prior to Hawkins' tenure at the CSC were time-barred.

The parties proceeded to trial on Hawkins' remaining claims of discriminatory and retaliatory discharge. After Hawkins had presented her case, Pepsi moved for judgment as a matter of law pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 50(a). The district court granted Pepsi's motion on two alternative grounds. See Hawkins v. PepsiCo, Inc., 10 F. Supp. 2d 548 (M.D.N.C. 1998). First, the court held that an at-will employee cannot maintain a § 1981 action for wrongful termination because the employer and employee have no contractual relationship concerning the duration of employment. See id. at 553-54. This ground has subsequently been rejected by our decision in Spriggs v. Diamond Auto Glass, 165 F.3d 1015, 1018-19 (4th Cir. 1999) (holding that an at-will employment relationship is contractual and may serve as a predicate contract for a § 1981 claim). Second, the district court held that Hawkins had failed to produce sufficient evidence to support her claims of discrimination and retaliation. See Hawkins , 10 F. Supp. 2d at 55455.

Hawkins then appealed the district court's dismissal of all her employment discrimination claims.

II.

A.

Because Hawkins presents no direct evidence of discrimination, her discriminatory discharge claims are subject to the burden-shifting scheme of McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792 (1973), and its progeny. See Patterson v. McLean Credit Union, 491 U.S. 164, 186 (1989) (McDonnell Douglas scheme applies to § 1981 actions). Assuming arguendo that Hawkins has made a prima facie case of race discrimination, "the burden of production shifts to [Pepsi] to articulate some legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason" for its action. O'Connor v. Consolidated Coin Caterers...