Jin v. Metropolitan Life Ins. Co.
| Decision Date | 27 June 2002 |
| Docket Number | Docket No. 01-7013. |
| Citation | 310 F.3d 84 |
| Parties | Min JIN, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. METROPOLITAN LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY, Defendant-Appellee. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit |
Peter G. Eikenberry, New York, NY, for Plaintiff-Appellant.
Steven E. Obus (Allen I. Fagin, on the brief), Proskauer Rose LLP, New York, NY, for Defendant-Appellee.
(Marcia D. Greenberger; Judith Appelbaum; Washington, DC; Henry A. Petri, Jr.; Brian C. Miller; Howrey, Simon, Arnold & White; Houston, TX; for Amicus Curiae National Women's Law Center in support of Plaintiff-Appellant.).
(Stephen A. Bokat; Robin S. Conrad; Joshua A. Ulman; National Chamber Litigation Center, Inc.; Washington, DC; Henry A. Rissetto; Jonathan C. Fritts; Morgan, Lewis & Bockius; Washington, DC; Andrew J. Schaffran; Morgan, Lewis & Bockius; New York, NY; for Amicus Curiae Chamber of Commerce of the United States in support of Defendant-Appellee.).
(Hillary Richard; Laurie Edelstein; Brune & Richard LLP; New York, NY; for Amicus Curiae National Employment Lawyers Association/New York in support of Plaintiff-Appellant.).
Before: FEINBERG, OAKES and F.I. PARKER, Circuit Judges.
Plaintiff Min Jin appeals from a judgment for defendant-appellee Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. (MetLife) in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (Eaton, Mag. J.), following a jury trial on Jin's claim that she was sexually harassed by her supervisor at MetLife in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 78 Stat. 253, as amended, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq. The district court entered a verdict of "no liability" on the part of MetLife after the jury found, in a special verdict form, that Jin had been subjected to unlawful sexual harassment by her supervisor, but that the harassment did not result in a "tangible adverse action" affecting the terms or conditions of her employment.1 On appeal, Jin argues principally that the district court erred in instructing the jury on the definition of tangible employment action.2 For the reasons stated below, we vacate the judgment of the district court in part, affirm in part and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
Jin brought this action against MetLife in June 1995, alleging that she was sexually harassed by Gregory Morabito3, her supervisor, from May 1993 to June 1994 in violation of Title VII.4 In March 1998, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(c), the parties agreed that the case would be heard before Magistrate Judge Douglas F. Eaton. In February 1999, almost three years after the end of discovery, MetLife moved for summary judgment. In July 1999, the magistrate judge (hereafter also referred to as the district court) denied MetLife's motion, holding that The district court pointed to "evidence that Morabito stuffed [Jin's] commission checks in a drawer starting in January 1994" as a potential tangible employment action.
In November 1999, shortly after retaining new counsel, Jin sought leave under Fed. R. Civ. P. 15 to amend her complaint to add (1) claims of discrimination based on sex, race and national origin and retaliation under 42 U.S.C. § 1981 et seq., New York Executive Law § 290 et seq., and the New York City Administrative Code § 8-107 et seq.; and (2) a claim for punitive damages. In December 1999, the district court denied Jin's motion for leave to amend the complaint.
In March 2000, with a trial date less than two months away, MetLife moved to stay the action and to compel arbitration. In April, the district court denied that motion, finding that MetLife had "waived its right to argue for arbitration." MetLife appealed that ruling to this court, and in July 2000 we affirmed the district court's decision. Jin v. Metropolitan Life Ins. Co., 225 F.3d 645 (2d Cir.2000) (unpublished table decision). The trial commenced in September 2000.
From the evidence presented at trial, the jury could have found the following facts. Starting in 1989, Jin was employed by MetLife as a full-time life insurance sales agent at the company's "Broadway branch" in Manhattan. From 1989-1993, Jin earned over $20,000 in total commissions per year. In her first full year, Jin earned over $48,000 and received a leadership award for her productivity.
Around May 1993, Morabito assumed duties at the Broadway branch, and by at least January 1994, Morabito was acting as Jin's manager and supervisor. From May 1993 to June 1994, Morabito engaged in a pattern of egregious conduct towards Jin that included (a) making numerous crude sexual remarks to her, both in the office and by calling her at home; (b) offensively touching Jin's buttocks, breasts, and legs on numerous occasions at the office, including when she was making sales calls at her desk and walking clients to the elevator; (c) requiring Jin, beginning in the summer of 1993, to attend weekly Thursday night private meetings in his locked office during which he would threaten her with a baseball bat, kiss, lick, bite and fondle her, attempt to undress her, physically force her to unzip his pants and fondle him, push against her with his penis exposed, and ejaculate on her; and (d) repeatedly threatening to fire Jin if she did not accede to his sexual demands, as well as threatening her with physical harm. In February 1994, after months of submitting to the weekly sexual abuse out of fear of losing her job, Jin refused to attend another Thursday evening meeting with Morabito. Jin began working in the evenings and on weekends to avoid Morabito, but he continued to fondle and harass Jin when he saw her. Jin subsequently requested disability benefits due to the effects of the severe harassment. That request was never granted, and Jin was eventually fired by MetLife in October 1995.
At trial, Jin testified that Morabito also punished her for reporting the harassment to other managers in the office by denying her automatic (or direct) paycheck deposit privileges around June 1993, and that, in February 1994, Morabito caused her paychecks to be withheld after she refused to attend any more Thursday evening meetings. However, MetLife presented evidence that Morabito denied the direct deposit of Jin's wages in February 1994 due to her low sales production and that her paychecks were withheld because she stopped coming to work without being approved for disability leave.
Before trial, the district court received proposed jury instructions from both parties. One of the key issues in the charge was the definition of "tangible employment action," which, if found, would subject MetLife to automatic liability for Morabito's sexually harassing conduct. Jin proposed, among other things, that the withholding of her compensation should be considered a tangible employment action and, in a later written submission to the court, objected to MetLife's assertion that a delay in receiving payment did not constitute such action. During trial, in a pre-charge conference with the magistrate judge, Jin also objected to the court's omission of the withheld checks from its proposed list of tangible employment actions, stating, Jin renewed this objection again when the issue resurfaced after the jury asked the court to clarify the instructions during deliberations.
In her pre-trial written submission, Jin also objected to another of MetLife's proposed instructions
because it fail[ed] to include as tangible employment action the driving of plaintiff from the workplace by continuous sexual harassment. Mr. Morabito's repeated harassment of plaintiff included such severe and extreme conduct as intimate physical touching and threats of bodily harm, ultimately forcing plaintiff to drastically rearrange her schedule so as to avoid the office during hours Mr. Morabito was likely to be there. Such circumstances constitute action by the supervisor causing a significant change in plaintiff's employment status under Burlington Industries, Inc. v. Ellerth, 524 U.S. 742, 761-62, 118 S.Ct. 2257, 141 L.Ed.2d 633 (1998).
And at the pre-charge conference, Jin further argued:
But if they are driven out of the office by the conduct, I mean, that is a tangible employment action. If they can't come to work anymore because it is too dangerous, that is a tangible employment action....
....
Your Honor, Mr. Morabito is using his authority. He says, you have to come to these Thursday meetings, you have to meet with me in my office. He is using, I am the boss. And if you are going to go into those Thursday meetings, you are sexually harassed and everything else. The supervisor is doing that. Why shouldn't MetLife be responsible for that conduct? That person can't go to work anymore.
The district court ultimately ruled against Jin on the above objections, and instructed the jury as follows:
A "tangible adverse action" is a significant change in employment status. Minor incidents that cause mere inconvenience and do not alter the actual amount of pay, benefits, duties, or prestige, do not qualify as a "tangible adverse action."
For example, revoking the direct deposit of Ms. Jin's paychecks would not by itself be enough. Holding on to her paychecks while she was out of the office would not by itself be enough. But any of the following could be enough to constitute a tangible adverse...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Arista Records LLC v. Lime Group LLC
...there is a good reason for it, such as futility, bad faith, undue delay, or undue prejudice to the opposing party." Jin Metro. Life Ins. Co., 310 F.3d 84, 101 (2d Cir.2002). Counter-defendants oppose Lime Wire's motion for leave to replead solely on the ground that granting leave would be f......
-
Crocco v. Advance Stores Co. Inc.
...with significantly different responsibilities, or a decision causing a significant change in benefits." Jin v. Metropolitan Life Ins. Co., 310 F.3d 84, 93 (2d Cir.2002) (quoting Burlington, 524 U.S. at 761, 118 S.Ct. 2257). The present record contains no evidence that Logue's harassment of ......
-
In re Cannavest Corp. Sec. Litig.
...is a good reason for it, such as futility, bad faith, undue delay, or undue prejudice to the opposing party." Jin v. Metro. Life Ins. Co., 310 F.3d 84, 101 (2d Cir. 2002).Here, Defendants have not pointed to any compelling reason why leave to amend should be denied. Accordingly, Plaintiffs ......
-
THAI v. CAYRE GROUP
...and citation omitted). 83Foman v. Davis, 371 U.S. 178, 182, 83 S.Ct. 227, 9 L.Ed.2d 222 (1962). Accord, e.g., Jin v. Metropolitan Life Ins. Co., 310 F.3d 84, 101 (2d Cir.2002). 84Vacold LLC v. Cerami, No. 00 Civ. 4024, 2002 WL 193157, at *6 (S.D.N.Y. Feb. 6, 2002) (quoting Cortec Indus., In......
-
Summary Judgment Practice and Procedure
...SUMMARY JUDGMENT 8-197 Summary Judgment Practice and Procedure §8:153.1 Id. at 1167-69. Similarly, in Min Jin v. Metro. Life Ins. Co. , 310 F.3d 84, 93 (2d Cir. 2002), the Second Circuit Court of Appeals also held that when an employee engages in unwelcome sex with a supervisor as a conditi......
-
Criminalizing coerced submission in the workplace and in the academy.
...tangible employment action definition. See, e.g., Holly D. v. Cal. Inst. of Tech., 339 F.3d 1158 (9th Cir. 2003); Jin v. Metro. Life Ins., 310 F.3d 84 (2d Cir. 2002). In contrast, the District of Columbia, for example, held that coerced submission does not amount to tangible employment acti......
-
Employer Vicarious Liability for Voluntary Relationships Between Supervisors and Employees
...Kentucky University in 1993. 1. 42 U.S.C. §2000e (2000) et seq. 2. The Second Circuit addressed the issue in Jin v. Metro. Life Ins. Co., 310 F.3d 84 (2d Cir. 2002); the Ninth Circuit addressed it in Holly D. v. Cal. Inst, of Tech., 339 F.3d 1158 (9th Cir. 3. The Faragher/Ellerth defense is......