Pedersen v. Casey's General Stores, Inc.

• Decision Date: 29 September 1997
• Docket Number: No. 4:CV96-3233.,4:CV96-3233.
• Citation: 978 F.Supp. 926
• Parties: Geraldine PEDERSEN, Plaintiff, v. CASEY'S GENERAL STORES, INC., Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Nebraska

978 F.Supp. 926

Geraldine PEDERSEN, Plaintiff, v. CASEY'S GENERAL STORES, INC., Defendant.

No. 4:CV96-3233.

United States District Court, D. Nebraska.

September 29, 1997.

Carole McMahon-Boies, Pepperl & McMahon-Boies, Lincoln, NE, for Plaintiff.

John E. Hubbard, Blackwell, Sanders, Matheny, Weary & Lombardi, Omaha, NE, for Defendant.

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

KOPF, District Judge.

The jury has rendered a verdict in favor of the plaintiff (Pedersen) and against the defendant (Casey's) on the plaintiff's claim of religious discrimination in the employment context. The jury found that Pedersen had been constructively discharged after failing to come to work at Casey's on Easter Sunday and Casey's thus violated 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2 ("It shall be an unlawful employment practice for an employer to ... discharge any individual ... because of such individual's ... religion.").

I did not to submit the issue of "front pay" to the jury. Cf. Newhouse v. McCormick & Co., Inc., 110 F.3d 635, 642 (8th Cir.1997) (in an ADEA case, whether to award front pay and how much front pay is an issue for the court and not the jury).¹ As a result, there remains for decision the question of what, if any, additional relief Pedersen should be given. Moreover, there also remains for decision a related state law claim that the parties have agreed must be resolved by the court. This memorandum and order will settle both issues, and will also establish a schedule for submitting an application for, and an objection to, attorney fees.

Ultimately, I find and conclude that Pedersen is entitled to "front pay" rather than reinstatement on the Title VII claim and that she is entitled to $7,411.17. I also find and conclude that Pedersen has proven religious discrimination under Nebraska law, and is entitled to "back pay" of $25,076.51, compensatory damages of $10,000.00, and "front pay" of $7,411.17.

I. Background

Casey's operates a chain of convenience stores throughout the Midwest. One store it operated is in Holdrege, Nebraska, and that is where Pedersen worked.

After two earlier stints as a Casey's employee (that resulted in Pedersen voluntarily ending her employment), Casey's hired Pedersen a third time. During this period of employment, Pedersen worked as a cashier. Casey's regarded Pedersen as an outstanding employee, and that is why it hired her a third time. Pedersen was especially highly regarded by a former manager of the Casey's store where Pedersen worked and by a former Casey's area supervisor. These women, and other witnesses, gave glowing accounts of Pedersen's work.

Pedersen is a fundamentalist Christian. Because of her religious convictions, Pedersen does not believe that she should work on Easter Sunday. It was her practice to attend church in the morning and evening on Easter Sunday, and not to work at all on that day.

She claimed that Casey's had known of and accommodated her religious beliefs in the past, but failed to do so in April of 1995. In particular, Pedersen asserted that the new manager scheduled Pedersen to work although a former manager had promised Pedersen Easter off in exchange for working secular holidays.

Shortly before Easter in 1995, Pedersen learned that the new manager had scheduled her to work on Easter Sunday evening. After first protesting in writing and without success, Pedersen decided not to work as scheduled. Later, complaining that Casey's had discharged her, Pedersen sued.

Pedersen argued that Casey's violated 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2 by forcing her to work on Easter Sunday when Casey's knew of her sincere religious convictions that prevented such work. For the same reason, Pedersen also claimed that Casey's violated the Nebraska Fair Employment Practice Act. Neb. Rev.Stat. § 48-1101 to 48-1126 (Michie 1995). Among other things, Pedersen sought damages and "reinstatement or front pay in lieu thereof." (Filing 1, Complaint.)

The Title VII claim was tried to a jury, except the issue of reinstatement or front pay. While the plaintiff argued that the front pay issue should go to the jury, the parties agreed that, if we did not submit the issue, we would resolve the reinstatement and front pay issue on the record made during the jury trial.

By further agreement of the parties, we tried the state law claim to the court. Again, the parties agreed that the record made before the jury is also the record for resolution of the state law claim.

On the issue of liability under Title VII, the jury was instructed that before it could return a verdict for Pedersen, it must find that she had proven the following:

(1) Pedersen had a bona fide belief that working on Easter Sunday was contrary to her religious beliefs;

(2) Pedersen informed Casey's about the conflict between compliance with an employment requirement and her religious beliefs; and

(3) Pedersen was constructively discharged because: (a) Casey's made her working conditions intolerable by requiring her to work on Easter Sunday, and, (b) Pedersen's religion was a motivating factor in Casey's decision, and (c) Pedersen's failure to return to work was a reasonably foreseeable result of Casey's actions. (Filing 63, Instruction 6, Pt. I.)

We also instructed the jury to consider Casey's affirmative defense. We told the jury that Casey's had the burden to prove the defense. Casey's claimed that it (1) offered a reasonable accommodation to the manner in which Pedersen proposed to observe her religious beliefs or (2) was unable reasonably to accommodate Pedersen's religious beliefs without undue hardship. (Id. Pt. II.)²

As earlier noted, the jury returned a verdict for Pedersen and against Casey's. They jury members awarded Pedersen "back pay" of $15,000.00 and general damages of $10,000.00. The jury specifically declined to award punitive damages. (Filing 68, Verdict Form.)

II. Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law on Title VII Claim Regarding Reinstatement and Front Pay

I find and conclude that reinstatement is not a proper remedy, but that front pay in the amount of $7,411.17 should be awarded instead of reinstatement. I arrive at these findings and conclusions for the following reasons.

First, where intentional discrimination has been proven under Title VII, the court may grant equitable relief pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(g)(1). The statute specifically authorizes the court to grant reinstatement. Id. The statute also authorizes the court to grant "any other equitable relief as the court deems appropriate." Id. If reinstatement is inappropriate, the court may award "front pay" in lieu of reinstatement. See, e.g., Hukkanen v. International Union of Operating Engineers, Hoisting & Portable Local No. 101, 3 F.3d 281, 285-86 (8th Cir.1993) (applying Title VII, and holding that district court did not abuse its discretion in awarding front pay to an employee who was constructively discharged due to sexual harassment where reinstatement was inappropriate) (citing MacDissi v. Valmont Indus., Inc., 856 F.2d 1054, 1060 (8th Cir.1988)).

Second, reinstatement here is not appropriate. When Casey's employed Pedersen for the third and last time, it made it clear that it would never again willingly rehire her. Furthermore, Mrs. Pedersen has testified that she does not want to return to Casey's because, considering her prior treatment, she no longer trusts her previous employer. Also, I observed the parties and their representatives at trial, and I believe the trial itself may have additionally impaired the ability of the parties meaningfully to interact with one another. All these factors collectively (rather than one individually) convince me that requiring Casey's to reinstate Mrs. Pedersen would result in a hostile working environment that would not be productive for Casey's or Pedersen.

Third, although Pedersen is presently a healthy 57-year-old woman who testified that she wanted to work until at least 65, her work history has been sporadic. Until relatively late in life, Pedersen did not work outside the home. More important, before her constructive discharge from Casey's, Casey's had employed Pedersen twice before. Twice, Pedersen voluntarily resigned. On the first occasion, Pedersen worked for about nine months. On the second occasion, she worked for a little more than one year. On the third occasion, Pedersen again worked for slightly more than a year before the constructive discharge.

Pedersen's work history with Casey's convinces me that she would not have remained at Casey's until her retirement. Instead, I am persuaded she would likely have voluntarily ended her employment as she had done twice in the past. More specifically, it is not likely that Pedersen would have continued working for Casey's much longer than she had worked for Casey's in the past. Before her constructive discharge, Pedersen had worked at Casey's for roughly three years total during three different periods of employment. Accordingly, given that Pedersen is entitled and will receive "back pay" from April 15, 1995, to September 18, 1997, and giving Pedersen the benefit of the doubt, a period of "front pay" equivalent to one year will serve to make her whole.

Fourth, for the one-year period of "front pay," Pedersen is entitled to $7,411.17. We compute this sum in the following manner:

a. The parties have stipulated that, had Pedersen been working at Casey's on the date of the verdict, she would have earned approximately $6.05 per hour. (Ex. 38.) She was paid at least monthly.

b. There is no non-speculative evidence in the record to establish what, if any, fringe benefits Pedersen would have received had she been working for Casey's on September 19, 1997.

c. During the last full week with Casey's, Pedersen worked 39 hours. (Ex. 1h.) This is representative of her hours of work while employed by Casey's. It is also a fair approximation of what she would have worked in the future had she been employed on the date of the verdict.

d. The evidence shows that Pedersen is...