Rachells v. Cingular Wireless Emp. Servs., LLC

• Decision Date: 22 November 2013
• Docket Number: No. 12–4137.,12–4137.
• Citation: 732 F.3d 652
• Parties: Anthony RACHELLS, Plaintiff–Appellant, v. CINGULAR WIRELESS EMPLOYEE SERVICES, LLC and New Cingular Wireless Services, Inc., Defendants–Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit

732 F.3d 652

Anthony RACHELLS, Plaintiff–Appellant,

v.CINGULAR WIRELESS EMPLOYEE SERVICES, LLC and New Cingular Wireless Services, Inc., Defendants–Appellees.

No. 12–4137.

United States Court of Appeals,Sixth Circuit.

Argued: July 25, 2013.

Decided and Filed: Oct. 17, 2013.

Rehearing and Rehearing En Banc Denied Nov. 22, 2013.

ARGUED:E. Yvonne Harris, Cleveland, Ohio, for Appellant. Casey Alan Coyle, Rhoads & Sinon LLP, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, for Appellees. ON BRIEF:E. Yvonne Harris, Cleveland, Ohio, for Appellant. Todd J. Shill, John R. Martin, Rhoads & Sinon LLP, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, for Appellees.

Before COLE and DONALD, Circuit Judges; MARBLEY, District Judge. ^*

OPINION

ALGENON L. MARBLEY, District Judge.

As an Indirect Channel National Retail Account Executive in Cingular Wireless's Cleveland region, Anthony Rachells received numerous sales awards, consistently exceeded company sales goals by the greatest margin of any of his co-workers, and, in 2003, earned the top performance review among his Cingular peers. In 2004, Cingular acquired AT & T and conducted a reduction in force, in which it selected just four of nine existing Cingular and AT & T employees in Rachells' position to remain with the company. Although Rachells exceeded his 2004 sales goals by a greater margin than in 2003, Rachells received the lowest 2004 performance review score of any candidate and was ranked seventh out of nine in the overall selection process. In February 2005, Rachells was notified that he would be terminated effective April 15, 2005. Rachells, who is African–American, sued for racial discrimination arising out of his discharge. The district court granted summary judgment to Cingular on all claims, and Rachells now appeals. For the following reasons, we REVERSE, and REMAND the case for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

I. BACKGROUND

A. Rachells' Employment History and Job Performance

Rachells, an African–American male, began working for Ameritech Corporation as a sales representative in the company's Cleveland region in 1996. In approximately 1998, Plaintiff was promoted to be an account manager for Ameritech's Indirect Channel division. Ameritech was subsequently acquired by SBC Communications, Inc. (“SBC”). In 2000, the domestic wireless divisions of SBC and Bellsouth Corporation entered into a joint venture to form Cingular, a provider of wireless and digital telecommunications products and services.

Rachells remained employed with the company throughout these changes and began working as an Indirect Channel National Retail Account Executive in Cingular's Cleveland region sometime thereafter.¹ In this position, Rachells was managed by Dale Zerner until July 2002, by Lisa Zhang until 2003, and finally by Keith Hart from 2003 until Rachells' termination in 2005. David Fine, a Caucasian male, became the Director of the Indirect Channel for the Cleveland region in May 2001.²

Rachells' salary consisted of a “base salary” and an “at risk salary” or sales commission. His total “at risk” compensation was determined by his performance relative to company sales attainment percentage goals. Thus, Rachells could receive 100% of his “at risk” salary if he achieved 100% of his attainment percentage goal, 200% of his “at risk” salary if he achieved 200% of his goal, etc. Rachells' 2002 and 2003 tax returns, and his 2004 W–2 form indicate that he produced a high volume of sales relative to his attainment percentage goals. Specifically, Rachells achieved approximately 259% of his attainment percentage in 2002,³ approximately 124% of his percentage in 2003,⁴ and approximately 235% of his percentage in 2004.⁵ Cingular does not dispute that these attainment percentages exceeded those of Rachells' Cingular peers, Cheryl Patteson (Caucasian female), John Stokes (Caucasian male), and Joseph Christopher (Caucasian male) (collectively the “Cingular peers” or “Cingular candidates”).⁶

During his tenure at Cingular, Rachells received at least nine awards and/or accolades. These included the Cingular Summit Winner award in 2001 and 2002—“an accolade bestowed yearly to individuals from Cingular who had the highest attainment percentage of sales in the entire country”—and the “Crown of Excellence” in 2003, awarded to individuals for “achievement in sales and excellence.” In addition, Rachells received the highest 2003 performance evaluation score of his peers at Cingular at that time.

B. Acquisition of AT & T and Reduction in Force (RIF )

Around October 2004, Cingular acquired AT & T Wireless Services, Inc. (“AT & T”). Subsequently, in approximately December 2004, Cingular's senior leadership directed its management teams to realign their workforce in light of the recent acquisition. Each leader was directed to “(1) evaluate[ ] current business trends and results in their respective areas of responsibility; (2) evaluate[ ] staffing levels within the combined Cingular and AT & T Wireless workforce; and (3) determine[ ] the appropriate staffing levels based on projected business goals.” This realignment process led to the elimination of numerous jobs within Cingular, affecting workers across the country (the “reduction in force” or “RIF”).

In this case, the Vice President and General Manager of Cingular's Ohio and Western Pennsylvania market directed David Fine to review the productivity of the Cingular and AT & T Indirect Channel Account teams. In addition to the four National Retail Account Executives already employed with Cingular, AT & T had five individuals working in the same capacity: Joel Espiritu (Hispanic male), Ryan Keane (Caucasian male), Edwin Morales (Hispanic male), Marie Lavender (Caucasian female), and Francine Alexander (Caucasian female) (collectively the “AT & T candidates”). Fine was directed to use guidelines set forth in Cingular's Indirect Span of Control Recommendation, to examine the productivity levels within the Northern Ohio sub-market. After conducting his analysis, Fine determined that it was only necessary to retain four of the nine National Retail Account Executives currently employed between the two companies.

To identify the most qualified employees for retention by Cingular, Keith Hart was charged with evaluating all nine candidates and ranking them in order (the “RIF selection process”). He purportedly utilized the Staffing Integration Guidelines for Human Resources and Managers as a guide to evaluate and rate each candidate. Hart's formal evaluation of each candidate included two components. The first component was the employee's 2004 performance evaluation score. For the Cingular candidates, whom Hart managed, Hart included the 2004 performance reviews that he had completed.⁷ The AT & T candidates were supervised by AT & T manager David Gannon, who also completed their 2004 performance reviews. Therefore, to evaluate the AT & T candidates, Hart was to have reviewed Gannon's 2004 performance evaluations and consulted with Gannon to discuss the AT & T candidates' abilities and contributions vis-à-vis their future performance.

The second component used to rate each candidate was derived from scores Hart assigned to questions answered by the candidates during one-on-one interviews with Hart in mid-January 2005 (the “RIF interview score”). The interview questions were selected from a Staffing Integration Selection Guide (“SISG”) given to Hart, which Defendants allege were similar to the guidelines dispersed throughout the company nationally. Hart rated each employee in the following categories: 1) Create Customer Loyalty; 2) Drive For Results; and 3) Use Sound Judgment. For each category, the employee was assigned a score between “5” representing that the candidate “consistently exceed[ed] performance objectives/behavioral expectations,” and “1” indicating that the candidate “d[id] not meet basic performance objectives/behavioral expectations.” After rating each candidate under this two-part rubric, ⁸ Hart submitted his findings to Fine for approval.

In his 2004 annual review, Hart assigned Rachells an overall score of 2.6 for his performance during the year. This was the lowest 2004 performance score received by any of the nine candidates. Hart indicated that Rachells, inter alia, showed up late for meetings, worked on fantasy football during a “boot camp” training session in August 2004, and failed to contribute in staff meetings. Rachells denies these allegations, and avers that his 2004 performance evaluation was “bogus,” subjective, and racially motivated. ⁹

With regard to Rachells' RIF interview, Rachells contends that he was the first of the Cingular candidates to be interviewed, and was never informed of what the interview process would entail. Cingular asserts that Rachells was aware that the interview would be used to determine whether he would remain with Cingular. Cingular also highlights that, of the Cingular candidates, Rachells was the only person who did not prepare a presentation for the RIF interview. None of the AT & T candidates, however, prepared presentations.

Hart assigned Rachells a score of 2 out of 5 in the areas of “Create Customer Loyalty” and “Drive For Results,” and 3 out of 5 in the area of “Use Sound Judgment.” Rachells contends that these scores reflect Hart's racial bias. In particular, he points out that Cingular's copy of the SISG from Rachells' interview does not, on its face, reflect that Rachells was interviewed in the area of “Drive For Results.” ¹⁰ Rachells avers that this reflects the fact that Hart interviewed him twice in the area of “Create Customer Loyalty.” ¹¹ Rachells agrees that Hart asked him questions consistent with those appearing in his SISG, with respect to the two areas in which he was interviewed. All eight remaining candidates were interviewed in all three areas, as reflected in their SISGs.

Rachells' combined score in the RIF selection process ranked him seventh among the nine candidates. Rachells' Cingular peers, all...