Wheeler v. Aventis Pharmaceuticals

• Citation: 360 F.3d 853
• Decision Date: 15 March 2004
• Docket Number: No. 03-1812.,03-1812.
• Parties: Otha WHEELER Appellant, v. AVENTIS PHARMACEUTICALS, Appellee.
• Court: United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (8th Circuit)

360 F.3d 853

Otha WHEELER Appellant, v. AVENTIS PHARMACEUTICALS, Appellee.

No. 03-1812.

United States Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit.

Submitted: November 19, 2003.

Filed: March 15, 2004.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Bert S. Braud, Kansas City, MO, argued, for appellant.

Anthony J. Romano, argued, Kansas City, MO (Matthew R. O'Connor, on the brief), for appellee.

Before MELLOY, RICHARD S. ARNOLD, and SMITH, Circuit Judges.

SMITH, Circuit Judge.

Otha Wheeler, a former employee of Aventis Pharmaceuticals ("Aventis"), was terminated by the company. Wheeler sued the company claiming that she had been discriminated against because of her gender and race. Aventis responded that Wheeler's violations of company policy justified the termination and moved for summary judgment. The district court¹ granted Aventis's summary-judgment motion² and dismissed Wheeler's claims. Wheeler appeals the denial of her race-discrimination claim. We affirm.

I. Facts

Wheeler worked for Aventis for approximately thirteen years. During the course of her employment, she had two notable adverse dealings with one of her co-workers, Linda Driver. First, during a peer-review session,³ Wheeler made unfavorable comments about Driver's job performance. Wheeler also stated — to Driver — that Driver was not well liked by fellow employees. According to Wheeler, in retaliation for these statements, Driver threatened to report to management that Wheeler frequently grabbed male co-workers' genitalia.

Subsequently, Driver lodged a complaint with Wheeler's supervisor, Peggy Lewis, that Wheeler — on various occasions — grabbed the crotch area of her male co-workers. Peggy Lewis met with an Aventis human-resources specialist, John Lewis (no relation), about Driver's allegation of inappropriate touching. John Lewis instructed Peggy Lewis to immediately begin conducting an investigation. John Lewis also instructed Peggy Lewis to interview only those people directly involved with Driver's allegations.⁴ Peggy Lewis interviewed approximately ten employees who reportedly witnessed — or experienced — Wheeler's alleged grabbing. Peggy Lewis also interviewed employees whose names were given to her by previously-interviewed employees during the course of the investigation. However, Peggy Lewis did not re-interview Driver after her initial complaint about Wheeler's behavior.

During the investigation, several male employees disclosed to Peggy Lewis that Wheeler had fondled them while they were working. Several of the men noted that they made concerted efforts to avoid Wheeler in order to protect themselves from the unwanted touching. Several other interviewees revealed that they witnessed Wheeler groping — or attempting to grope — various male employees. After Peggy Lewis completed the interviews, she again met with John Lewis to report her findings. After confirming Peggy Lewis's findings, John Lewis met with Wheeler to discuss the accusations made against her. John Lewis explained to Wheeler that several of her co-workers had stated that, on numerous occasions, she had touched her male co-workers' genitalia.

In response, Wheeler denied the specific allegations, but admitted that she — and her co-workers — engaged in various types of "horseplay," which included discussing each others' sex lives and sex toys during "dirty hour,"⁵ placing "kick me" signs on co-workers' backs, squirting alcohol or other liquids at each other, and placing rubber snakes or spiders on the assembly line. Based upon its investigation, Aventis placed Wheeler on paid leave.

John Lewis then consulted with his supervisors about the appropriate course of action. Cheryl Flood, the Director of Associate Relations, made the decision to terminate Wheeler's employment. According to Aventis, Wheeler was terminated because she violated the company's sexual-harassment policy, which states:

The Company will not tolerate any form of harassment against associates, by its executives, managers, co-workers.... [S]exual harassment also includes ... repeated offenses, excessive flirtations, advances or propositions, obscene or sexually oriented language or gestures... and offensive physical contact such as grabbing, patting, pinching or brushing against another's body. It refers to behavior which is not welcome, which is personally intimidating, hostile or offensive, which debilitates morale, and/or shall therefore interfere with their work effectiveness.

After Wheeler's termination, the remaining employees in the department were verbally warned that no more horseplay would be tolerated.

Approximately one year after this warning issued, another worker in Wheeler's former department informed Aventis that a fellow employee, Joe Don Harrell, had acted contrary to its policy. Specifically, Harrell had — at some point in the past-smeared grease on a female co-worker's buttocks, and grabbed the breasts of two of his female co-workers. In response to this information, Peggy Lewis advised John Lewis of the allegations regarding Harrell. Aventis began an investigation into Harrell's behavior that followed the same course as the Wheeler investigation. After substantiating the claim against Harrell, Aventis terminated his employment for inappropriate touching in violation of its sexual-harassment policy.

Also, approximately one year after Wheeler's termination, an allegation was made that Toni Conrad, a white female in Wheeler's department, would expose her breasts to others upon request. Aventis reprimanded Conrad but did not subject her to any other disciplinary action for the alleged exposure. According to Wheeler, Aventis's delayed handling of the allegations against Harrell and Conrad reflect its unwillingness to investigate the "horseplay" claim against her in a non-discriminatory manner.

II. Discussion

Our de novo review of summary judgments is well established. A moving party is entitled to summary judgment only if the pleadings, discovery, and affidavits 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). To avoid summary judgment, the nonmoving party must make a sufficient showing on every essential element of her case on which she bears the burden of proof. Osborn v. E.F. Hutton & Co., Inc., 853 F.2d 616, 618 (8th Cir.1988). However, in employment discrimination cases, because intent is inevitably the central issue, we apply the standard with caution. Gill v. Reorganized School Dist. R-6, Festus, Mo., 32 F.3d 376, 377 (8th Cir. 1994).

Because Wheeler adduced no direct or circumstantial evidence of discrimination, her discrimination claim is subject to the burden-shifting method of proof first described in McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 802-05, 93 S.Ct. 1817, 36 L.Ed.2d 668 (1973). Under this method, Wheeler must first establish a prima-facie case of racial discrimination, and if Aventis offers a legitimate, nondiscriminatory explanation for Wheeler's discharge, then Wheeler must show that Aventis's explanation is merely a pretext for racial discrimination. Id.

A.

Wheeler's first task is to establish the minimal requirements for a prima-facie case of race discrimination. To make a prima-facie showing of discrimination, Wheeler must prove 1) that she is a member of a protected group; 2) that she was meeting the legitimate expectations of her employer; 3) that she suffered an adverse employment action; and 4) that circumstances exist which give rise to an inference of discrimination. Williams v. Ford Motor Co., 14 F.3d 1305, 1308 (8th Cir. 1994). There is no dispute as to the first three elements. Thus, if Wheeler can show circumstances that give rise to an inference of discrimination, she has satisfied the first stage of the McDonnell Douglas analysis.

Wheeler can establish the remaining element by producing facts that similarly-situated employees, who are not black, were treated differently. We then consider, for purposes of evaluating Wheeler's prima-facie case, "whether the employees are involved in or accused of the same or similar conduct and are disciplined in different ways." Id. at 1309. Here, Wheeler was accused of — and ultimately terminated for — inappropriately touching male employees' sex organs. Wheeler acknowledged that some touching took place but took issue with its characterization. She contended that the conduct was not unwelcome and should not be classified as anything but "horseplay" or having been done in jest. She argued that other employees often engaged in such "horseplay" at work and received little — or no — resulting discipline.

The test to determine if one is "similarly situated" varies at each stage of a McDonnell Douglas analysis. At the prima-facie stage it is "not onerous," however at the third stage (proving pretext) it is "rigorous." Ford Motor Co., 14 F.3d at 1308. Considering the low threshold at the prima-facie stage, we hold Wheeler established each requisite element of her prima-facie case. The undisputed facts showed that several employees engaged in "horseplay" that was — at least arguably — comparable to Wheeler's alleged actions, and Aventis imposed different sanctions.

B.

In turn, Aventis responded to Wheeler's prima-facie case of discrimination with what it contended was a legitimate, nondiscriminatory explanation — that Wheeler was terminated based on...