Heinemeier v. Chemetco Incorp.

• Decision Date: 18 April 2001
• Docket Number: No. 00-1943,00-1943
• Citation: 246 F.3d 1078
• Parties: (7th Cir. 2001) GERI HEINEMEIER, formerly known as GERI CHAMPION, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. CHEMETCO, INCORPORATED, Defendant-Appellee
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit

Page 1078

246 F.3d 1078 (7th Cir. 2001)

GERI HEINEMEIER, formerly known as GERI CHAMPION, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. CHEMETCO, INCORPORATED, Defendant-Appellee.

No. 00-1943

In the United States Court of Appeals For the Seventh Circuit

Argued NOVEMBER 1, 2000

Decided April 18, 2001

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois. No. 96 C 534--David R. Herndon, Judge.

Before CUDAHY, COFFEY, and EASTERBROOK, Circuit Judges.

COFFEY, Circuit Judge.

On June 20, 1996, Geri Heinemeier filed suit against Chemetco, Inc. and Tri-Me Transportation, Inc., in the Southern District of Illinois claiming sexual harassment, age discrimination, and retaliatory discharge. After the conclusion of discovery, Chemetco and Tri-Me filed motions for summary judgment. The district court granted the motion with respect to Chemetco, concluding that the company was not Heinemeier's employer, but denied the motion as to Tri-Me. A bench trial was then conducted (Tri-Me remained as a defendant) and the judge awarded damages in the amount of $411,310.00. This appeal involves the sole question of whether summary judgment was properly granted in favor of Chemetco. We REVERSE and REMAND this case for proceedings consistent with this opinion.

I. BACKGROUND¹

A. The Companies

There are three relevant companies to this case: Chemetco, Tri-Me, and Triangle Metallurgical. All three companies were owned by Bill Wegrzyn and John Suarez during the relevant time frame. Not only were the three companies owned by the same two men, but also the operation of each was closely tied together. For example, Triangle Metallurgical sorts scrap metal and then transports copper scrap to Chemetco. Prior to 1986, the transportation of metal between Triangle Metallurgical and Chemetco was accomplished by the use of third-party contractors. In 1986, however, Wegrzyn and Suarez formed Tri-Me to retrieve and salvage scrap metal in East St. Louis, Illinois, process the metal in Granite City, Illinois, and thereafter transport the copper to Chemetco. At the time Tri- Me was formed, Juan Mena, its vice- president, hired Carl Schenck to operate Tri-Me as its manager of operations. Juan Mena also interviewed and hired the plaintiff who, on March 1, 1988, commenced her employment with either Chemetco, Tri-Me, or both companies.²

B. Tri-Me as Heinemeier's employer

There are several known facts in this case that support the contention that Tri-Me alone employed Heinemeier. Initially, all of Heinemeier's paychecks were printed on checks issued by Tri-Me and signed by Schenck, a Tri-Me officer. Similarly, Heinemeier's W-2 forms for wage and tax statements reflect that her employer for the years 1992 through 1995 was Tri-Me; although she could not produce her W-2 forms for 1988-1991, Heinemeier conceded in her deposition that she believed these documents also stated that Tri-Me was her employer.

In addition to these documents, the location and duties of her job support a conclusion that Heinemeier was employed at Tri-Me. Her primary employment responsibility was to audit freight bills Tri-Me generated when it transported copper scrap to Chemetco. Although these bills documented a transaction involving both Chemetco and Tri-Me, Heinemeier usually performed this work at a facility owned by Tri-Me in Granite City, Illinois. Furthermore, she reported directly to Schenck and later, other Tri- Me officers when she was transferred to another Tri-Me facility in Hazelwood, Illinois.

The record also contains evidence, in the form of an apartment application, that Heinemeier believed herself to be a Tri-Me employee. When Heinemeier filled out an apartment application on April 11, 1994, she listed her position as "Freight Audit Manager" for Tri-Me and identified Tri-Me Vice President Juan Mena as her employer. Later in the application process, Heinemeier submitted a "Request for Verification of Employment" form that was signed by Mena as "Vice-President for Tri-Me" and contained no mention of Chemetco.

C. Chemetco as Heinemeier's employer

Not all of the facts in the record, however, lead to the conclusion that Heinemeier was solely a Tri-Me employee. Heinemeier submitted the affidavit of Carl Schenck in response to defendants' motion for summary judgment. In his affidavit, Schenck states:

3. I was employed at Tri-Me Transportation, Inc., as its Manager of Operations on March 1, 1988, at which time Geri Champion (n/k/a Geri Heinemeier) reported to work at the Tri- Me Transportation, Inc. facility located in Granite City.

* * * *

5. Geri Champion's salary was paid to her out of the Tri-Me Transportation, Inc. payroll account, but because she was an employee of Chemetco, Inc., Chemetco, Inc. was required to reimburse Tri-Me Transportation, Inc. for any amounts it paid to Geri Champion.

6. Geri Champion had requested health insurance from Tri-Me Transportation, Inc., which I attempted to authorize and obtain for her, but she was denied coverage under the plan that covered all of Tri-Me Transportation's employees based on the fact that she was not an employee of Tri-Me Transportation, Inc.

7. Geri Champion requested a raise from me but I was unable to authorize any such raise as she was not an employee of Tri- Me Transportation, Inc.

8. Geri Champion requested a raise from Chemetco, Inc. after I informed her that she was not an employee of Tri-Me Transportation, Inc., but rather Chemetco, Inc. and was subsequently granted her request from Chemetco, Inc.

Therefore, according to this affidavit, Chemetco actually paid for all work performed by Heinemeier on its behalf and, furthermore, only a Chemetco officer had the authority to authorize a raise for Heinemeier. Schenck's affidavit also states that after Heinemeier requested health insurance, he tried to obtain coverage for her from Tri-Me, but was told that she was not a Tri-Me employee. Importantly, Chemetco conceded at oral argument that Heinemeier subsequently obtained health insurance through a plan offered by Chemetco.

As demonstrated above, both Chemetco and Tri-Me exercised control over different facets of Heinemeier's job responsibilities and benefits. This dual control was not lost on plaintiff in that she does not appear to have a clear understanding of which defendant hired and employed her during the relevant time period. For example, at her deposition, she testified:

Q: When were you first employed after graduating from [school]?

A: That's when--my job that I got after [school] was with Tri-Me.

Q: When did you become employed with Tri- Me?

A: It was March 1st of '88. . .

Q: And you continued your employment with Tri-Me until 1994, is that correct?

A: Right.

Q: What were your duties while employed at Tri-Me?

A: Well, I was hired at Chemetco to do an audit of Chemetco's freight bills, and that was my job.

[Emphasis added].

Many of the documents that might help shed further light on the disputed nature of Heinemeier's employment relationship should be contained in her personnel file. During the course of this litigation, Heinemeier served discovery requests on both Chemetco and Tri-Me (who are represented by the same counsel) seeking the production of her personnel file. In response to plaintiff's request for her file, Tri-Me responded: "Defendant, Tri-Me Transportation, Inc. is unable to locate the personnel file of Geri Heinemeier." Chemetco did not respond to the plaintiff's request to produce her personnel file.

D. Procedural History

On September 9, 1994, plaintiff initially filed charges against Chemetco with the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the Illinois Department of Human Rights (IDHR) asserting both sexual harassment and age discrimination. In the charges, Heinemeier alleged:

Dave Hoff, President of Chemetco, told me I was discharged for poor work performance [but] I believe I was discriminated against because of my sex [and] replaced by a younger employee . . . in violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967.

Heinemeier amended these charges on February 12, 1996, and identified Tri-Me as an additional employer/defendant. On March 20, 1996, the EEOC issued a right- to-sue letter. On June 20, 1996, plaintiff filed suit against Chemetco, Tri-Me, and United Freight Express, Inc. (United Freight) in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois. On September 23, 1996, the trial court granted Heinemeier's motion to voluntarily dismiss the claims against United Freight, leaving only Chemetco and Tri-Me as defendants.

On April 30, 1998, Chemetco and Tri-Me filed a motion for summary judgment. In this motion, Chemetco contended that it was not Heinemeier's employer and that the allegations contained in her complaint were insufficient to establish age discrimination, quid pro quo sexual harassment, or a hostile work environment claim. Judge Paul E. Riley granted the motion on June 8, 1998, and wrote:

The record before this Court (including Tri-Me's payroll records, Heinemeier's W- 2 forms, Hoff's affidavit, the apartment application, and much of Heinemeier's own deposition testimony) establishes that Tri-Me (not Chemetco) employed Heinemeier. Accordingly, Heinemeier cannot prevail on her Title VII or ADEA claims against Chemetco. No genuine issue of material fact remains as to Heinemeier's claims against Chemetco, and Chemetco is entitled to judgment as a matter of law on those claims.

In the same order, Judge Riley denied Tri-Me's motion for summary judgment and scheduled a trial to begin on July 6 1998, on the Title VII retaliation charge against Tri-Me. However, two weeks later, Tri-Me filed for Chapter Seven Bankruptcy protection thereby staying the impending trial. On ...