Glanzman v. Metropolitan Management Corp.

Decision Date14 December 2004
Docket NumberNo. 03-4546.,No. 03-4547.,03-4546.,03-4547.
Citation391 F.3d 506
PartiesJulia Ann GLANZMAN v. METROPOLITAN MANAGEMENT CORPORATION Julia A. Glanzman, Appellant Joseph W. Fries, Appellant v. Metropolitan Management Corporation.
CourtU.S. Court of Appeals — Third Circuit

Steven A. Cotlar (Argued), Law Office of Steven A. Cotlar, Doylestown, for Appellants.

Timothy A. Gallogly (Argued), Sirlin, Gallogly & Lesser, Philadelphia, for Appellee.

Before SCIRICA, Chief Judge, FISHER and ALDISERT, Circuit Judges.

OPINION OF THE COURT

ALDISERT, Circuit Judge.

Here we decide two separate, but related appeals from orders of the district court granting summary judgment in favor of Metropolitan Management ("Metropolitan") in a complaint by Julia Glanzman in Appeal No. 03-4546 under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act ("ADEA"), 29 U.S.C. §§ 621-634 (2000) and the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act ("PHRA"), 43 P.S. §§ 951-963 (1991) and also in a similar complaint brought by Joseph Fries in Appeal No. 03-4547.

Glanzman's primary argument is that the district court erred in determining that she had failed to present sufficient direct evidence of age discrimination.

In reviewing the district court's grant of summary judgment we consider whether Glanzman: (1) presented direct evidence of age discrimination against Metropolitan, thereby triggering the test presented in Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins, 490 U.S. 228, 109 S.Ct. 1775, 104 L.Ed.2d 268 (1989), ("Price Waterhouse test"), shifting to it the burden of showing that it would have terminated her employment even if it had not considered her age; (2) presented sufficient evidence to negate Metropolitan's evidence in support of its contention that it would have fired her, because of legitimate stated reasons, even if it had not been for her age; and (3) was harmed by the allegedly retaliatory conduct of Metropolitan.1

Fries argues that the district court erred in determining that he failed to produce sufficient evidence that Metropolitan retaliated against him because his name appeared on a witness list in a proceeding initiated by Glanzman against Metropolitan before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC"). He alleges that agreeing to testify was a protected activity under the ADEA.

To establish a claim for retaliation, a plaintiff must show that: (1) he was engaged in protected activities; (2) the employer took an adverse employment action after or contemporaneous with the employee's protected activity; and (3) a causal link exists between the employee's protected activity and the employer's adverse action. Farrell v. Planters Lifesavers Company, 206 F.3d 271, 279 (3d Cir.2000).

In appeal No. 03-4546, we conclude that the district court erred in determining that Glanzman had failed to produce direct evidence of age discrimination. We decide, however, that Metropolitan met its burden of showing that it would have terminated her employment even if it had not considered her age and that Glanzman presented insufficient evidence to negate Metropolitan's evidence. We, therefore, affirm the judgment.

In appeal No. 03-4547, we conclude that Fries has not produced any evidence to overcome his own admission that he was fired because he refused to write a letter of apology for his wrong doing, one of Metropolitan's proffered nondiscriminatory reasons, and not because of any protected activity. We affirm this judgment as well.2

I.

Glanzman alleges that she was discharged because of her age from her job as the manager of Doylestown Meadows, a 150-unit apartment complex in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. The complex is owned by Appellee Metropolitan. She had managed the complex for the previous owner and was then hired, at the age of sixty, to stay on as the manager when Metropolitan acquired the complex in 1997.

She had a history of accepting, but not reporting, personal collect telephone calls with charges totaling in excess of $900.00. She said that the calls were from a sick aunt, but in reality they were from her boyfriend who was serving time in prison. She made arrangements to reimburse Metropolitan for the expense of these calls and was allowed to keep her job. She had also allowed her granddaughter to access the internet from her office computer which resulted in charges to Metropolitan. When confronted with this wrongdoing, she apologized. She was again asked to reimburse Metropolitan for the cost and allowed to keep her job.

Testimony was presented that Glanzman was not always where she was supposed to be during working hours and that she often failed to respond in a timely manner when paged. Metropolitan had reason to believe that Glanzman, who owned rental property herself, used Metropolitan employees, Joseph W. Fries and Phil Rittenhouse, to perform work at her property during hours when they were being paid by Metropolitan to work at Doylestown Meadows.

Metropolitan had reason to believe Glanzman was attempting to steal a dishwasher to place in one of her properties. She said that a tenant in Doylestown Meadows had requested the dishwasher but the tenant stated that she did not request it and did not want it because she only used her existing dishwasher to store bread and cereal. When confronted with this information, Glanzman changed her story and said that the tenant's daughter had requested the dishwasher. This proved to be untrue as well.

On her part, Glanzman relies on three statements made by her supervisors at Metropolitan. First, some ten months before her termination, Glenn Fagan, vice president of property management for Metropolitan, asked her if she had told the son of one of the residents that she was 63 years old. Second, soon after the conversation with Glenn Fagan, Trish Kotsay, her immediate supervisor, asked if she was thinking of retiring. Third, Glenn Fagan allegedly told two of Glanzman's co-workers, Joseph Fries and Phil Rittenhouse, that he wanted to fire her and "replace her with a young chippie with big tits."

Glanzman ceased her employment during a conversation between Glenn Fagan and her. Glenn Fagan confronted her with the fact that the tenant in apartment 115 had not requested the dishwasher that had been ordered for that apartment and that the tenant had specifically said she had no need for the dishwasher. Glanzman said that the woman's daughter had ordered the dishwasher. Glenn Fagan then suggested that they call the daughter. At this point, Glanzman either voluntarily resigned or was fired. For purposes of the present case, Metropolitan has agreed that she was fired. Metropolitan contends that if Glanzman was fired the decision could only have been made by Judy Goldstein, president of Metropolitan, or Scott Fagan, vice president of Metropolitan.

II.

Fries' case arose on December 14, 2001 when he was terminated from his employment as Maintenance Superintendent at the same Doylestown Meadows apartment complex where Glanzman served as the manager. He has since been re-employed by Metropolitan. His claim is limited to damages sustained between the time he was terminated and when he was re-employed.

Metropolitan asserts that Fries was fired because he performed work on another rental property, owned by Glanzman, during company time using parts and materials owned by Doylestown Meadows and then refused to submit a written statement admitting to the act and apologizing.

Fries does not dispute that he and a co-worker, Phil Rittenhouse, worked on Glanzman's own rental property on company time, that he used company materials and that he refused to write a letter of apology. He instead contends that his actions were not wrongful because he was using comp time to work on Glanzman's property.

His version was at variance with that of Rittenhouse, who signed a letter to Metropolitan admitting that he had worked on Glanzman's property with Fries on company time and apologized for his conduct. Rittenhouse was not terminated.

Fries contends that his refusal to write the apology letter was not wrongful because Metropolitan was asking him to write things that were not true; specifically, it was not true that he worked for Glanzman on company time or that Glanzman had asked him to install one of Metropolitan's dishwashers on her own property.

Fries says also that the real reason he was fired on December 14 is that on December 10 Metropolitan received a copy of Glanzman's EEOC charge identifying him as a potential witness in that proceeding. Fries had earlier heard Glenn Fagan, Metropolitan's vice president of property management, say to him and Rittenhouse that he wanted to replace Glanzman with "a young chippie with big tits." He had then reported that statement to Glanzman, who was subsequently fired and claimed discrimination.

Metropolitan responds that it started advertising Fries' position soon after his refusal to write the letter of apology and they kept him on because it initially had trouble finding someone else to fill the position. According to Metropolitan the timing of Fries' termination had nothing to do with learning that he was listed as a possible witness in the EEOC proceeding, it was only because they had finally found someone to replace him.

III.

We will first address Fries' appeal in which he contends that the real reason he was fired was because he was listed as a potential witness in an EEOC procedure instituted by Glanzman against his employer.

Unfortunately, the words of Fries under oath at a deposition cut the props out from under his argument. Fries admitted that the reason he was fired was that he refused to write the letter of apology requested by Metropolitan. Fries testified:

A. I know why I got fired.

Q. You know why?

A. He [Phil Rittenhouse] signed an apology letter and I didn't.

Q. Then you understood that the reason he [Phil Rittenhouse] stayed on was because he signed a letter saying that he did it [worked on the Glanzman property] and he...

To continue reading

Request your trial
174 cases
  • Reifer v. Colonial Intermediate Unit 20
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Middle District of Pennsylvania
    • November 7, 2006
    ...of evidence used to prove disparate treatment. In a mixed-motives case, the plaintiff relied on direct evidence. Glanzman v. Metro. Mgmt. Corp., 391 F.3d 506, 512 (3d Cir.2004); Fakete v. Aetna, Inc., 308 F.3d 335, 337-38, 337 n. 2 (3d Cir.2002). Direct evidence is a "high hurdle," Connors ......
  • Metoyer v. Chassman
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit
    • September 26, 2007
    ...Age Discrimination in Employment Act ("ADEA"). See Baqir v. Principi, 434 F.3d 733, 745 n. 13 (4th Cir.2006); Glanzman v. Metro. Mgmt. Corp., 391 F.3d 506, 512 n. 3 (3rd Cir.2004); Lewis v. Young Men's Christian Ass'n, 208 F.3d 1303, 1305 (11th Cir.2000). Even though ADEA actions, like § 19......
  • Lichtenstein v. Univ. of Pittsburgh Med. Ctr.
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Western District of Pennsylvania
    • August 3, 2011
    ...evidence of “discriminatory attitudes” that were “causally related” to the challenged employment decision. Glanzman v. Metro. Mgmt. Corp., 391 F.3d 506, 512 (3d Cir.2004). Such discriminatory attitudes can be shown through conduct or statements by the decisionmakers which provide circumstan......
  • Cobetto v. Wyeth Pharmaceuticals
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Western District of Pennsylvania
    • October 15, 2007
    ...of the ADEA, Cobetto must establish that his age "actually motived" Wyeth's decision to discharge him. Glanzman v. Metropolitan Management Corporation, 391 F.3d 506, 512 (3d Cir.2004). This means that he must show that his age actually played a role in Wyeth's decision-making process and "h......
  • Request a trial to view additional results
2 books & journal articles
  • Age discrimination
    • United States
    • James Publishing Practical Law Books Federal Employment Jury Instructions - Volume I
    • April 30, 2014
    ...409 F.3d 178, 188 (3d Cir. 2005) (filing a complaint with the EEOC is protected activity); Glanzman v. Metropolitan Management Corp. , 391 F.3d 506 (3d Cir. 2004) (if plaintiff were fired for being a possible witness in an employment discrimination action brought under the ADEA, this would ......
  • Race and national origin discrimination
    • United States
    • James Publishing Practical Law Books Federal Employment Jury Instructions - Volume I
    • April 30, 2014
    ...arise when the plaintiff presents only indirect or circumstantial evidence of discrimination); Glanzman v. Metropolitan Management Corp., 391 F.3d 506 (3d Cir. 2004) (same). Same Decision Defense . Section 107 of the Civil Rights Act of 1991 (42 U.S.C. §2000e-(5)(g)(2)(B)) changed the law o......

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT