Arasteh v. Mbna America Bank, N.A.

• Decision Date: 12 June 2001
• Docket Number: No. 99-254-GMS.,99-254-GMS.
• Citation: 146 F.Supp.2d 476
• Parties: Lisa R. ARASTEH, Plaintiff, v. MBNA AMERICA BANK, N.A., Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Delaware

146 F.Supp.2d 476

Lisa R. ARASTEH, Plaintiff, v. MBNA AMERICA BANK, N.A., Defendant.

No. 99-254-GMS.

United States District Court, D. Delaware.

June 12, 2001.

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Gary W. Aber, Heiman, Aber, Goldlust & Baker, Wilmington, DE, for plaintiff.

Sheldon N. Sandler, Barry M. Willoughby, Young, Conaway, Stargatt & Taylor, LLP, Wilmington, DE, for defendant.

AMENDED MEMORANDUM OPINION

SLEET, District Judge.

I. INTRODUCTION

On April 21, 1999, Lisa R. Arasteh filed a complaint against MBNA America Bank, N.A. ("MBNA") alleging, inter alia, two violations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, codified at 42 U.S.C. § 2000 et seq (D.I.1).¹ First she claims that she was sexually harassed by her supervisor. Second, she avers that MBNA retaliated against her for complaining of discrimination and sexual harassment. MBNA filed a motion for summary judgment on June 6, 2000 (D.I.84). Arasteh timely answered (D.I.102) and MBNA timely filed a reply brief (D.I.112).² Upon reviewing the record and considering the parties' submissions, the court will grant MBNA's motion for summary judgment on Arasteh's sex discrimination claim but deny it as to her retaliation claim since there are genuine issues of material fact regarding her transfer.

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW

"Summary judgment is appropriate under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56(c) when the moving party establishes that there is no genuine issue of material fact that can be resolved at trial and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." House v. New Castle County, 824 F.Supp. 477, 481 (D.Del.1993) (citing Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986)). In evaluating whether there are any genuine issues of material fact, "[m]ateriality is determined by the substantive law that governs the case." See id. (citing Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986)). In this inquiry, "[o]nly disputes over facts that might affect the outcome of the suit under the governing law will properly preclude the entry of summary judgment." See id. (internal quotations omitted). A dispute is "genuine" only if a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party. See id. When considering a motion for summary judgment, the court must view all facts and inferences in the light most favorable to the party opposing the motion. See Stephens v. Kerrigan, 122 F.3d 171, 176-77 (3d Cir. 1997). Moreover, "[i]f the evidentiary record supports a reasonable inference that the ultimate facts may be drawn in favor of the responding party, then the moving party cannot obtain summary judgment." See House, 824 F.Supp. at 481-82 (citing In re Japanese Elec. Prod. Antitrust Litig., 723 F.2d 238, 258 (3d Cir.1983), rev'd on other grounds, 475 U.S. 574, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986)). Finally, at this stage of the process, "the judge's function is not himself [sic] to weigh the evidence and determine the truth of the matter but to determine whether there is a genuine issue for trial." See Lewis v. State of Delaware Dept. of Pub. Instruct., 948 F.Supp. 352, 357 (D.Del.1996) (quoting Anderson, 477 U.S. at 249, 106 S.Ct. 2505) (internal quotations omitted).

III. BACKGROUND

The record before the court is voluminous and describes actions over several years. Arasteh's removal of her sex discrimination and state law claims, however, significantly narrows the issues before the court. Therefore, the court will confine its statement of facts those which are pertinent to the allegations of sexual harassment and retaliation rather than detailing the entire relationship between the parties. Even with this limitation, however, this case — like all Title VII actions — is intensely fact driven and requires a lengthy background recitation. Although the court has not discussed all the facts and arguments identified by the parties, it has reviewed the record to the extent necessary.³

Arasteh began working for MBNA in March, 1988 as an Internal Control Analyst in the Compliance Section. Through the years, she advanced through the ranks and was eventually promoted to Vice President in 1994. Although she has worked in several different departments at MBNA, she joined Industry Relations — a newly created department — in October, 1995. Joseph Stemmy was the first head of the department.

A. Sexual Harassment

In February, 1996, John Doe⁴ replaced Stemmy as head of Industry Relations, making him Arasteh's manager. Arasteh claims that Doe began sexually harassing her soon after he became her manager. There is no record evidence that Arasteh contemporaneously recorded instances of sexual harassment by Doe.⁵ Nevertheless, in deposition testimony Arasteh describes several instances of what she considered to be sexual harassment.⁶

First, Arasteh claims that while on a business trip to Purchase, N.Y. in April, 1996, Doe generally inquired about her relationship with her husband and told her that he had been married for five years. During the conversation, Arasteh testified that Doe said, in substance, "[a]fter five years, it's [sic] kind of more friendship than a marital [relationship]".⁷ Arasteh stated at her deposition that she believed this exchange constituted sexual harassment. After the trip, Arasteh felt that Doe's attitude toward her changed; he would call her into his office frequently to ask her questions. At his deposition, Doe denied that he has ever had a conversation with Arasteh about her husband and specifically denied such a conversation during the April, 1996 business trip.

Second, Arasteh claims that since she was the only employee in the department, Doe made her feel uncomfortable since he "kept asking me to lunch". Although she attended "work-related lunches" with Doe and association representatives, Arasteh stated that she never went to lunch alone with Doe. Arasteh also testified that Doe also told her that she "should learn to socialize because this is a marketing environment and you have to be friendly with people." Doe does not appear to dispute that he asked her to lunch or made a comment about her socializing.

Third, Arasteh testified that Doe rubbed her legs with his legs under the table at an unspecified number of meetings. About six months after Doe's arrival in Industry Relations, Arasteh stated that she began arriving at meetings late so as to avoid having to sit next to Doe.⁸ Despite employing this avoidance tactic,⁹ she would sometimes wind up sitting next to Doe, but it "didn't [sic] happen often." Although Arasteh testified that Doe rubbed her legs on one occasion "[i]n 1997," it appears that the rest of the incidents occurred between May and December, 1996. Arasteh also stated that Doe would stare at her chest and breasts, making her feel uncomfortable. The record is not clear when these incidents occurred, but it appears from Arasteh's deposition that these incidents occurred around the same time as the leg rubbing during meetings.¹⁰ Arasteh testified that she did not remember if Doe stared at her breasts in 1997.

Fourth, Nelson testified that Doe indirectly asked him if Arasteh was a lesbian. At his deposition, Nelson stated, "[h]e [Doe] had made kind of a, I thought it was a rude comment outside the men's room in the hallway ... he said something that he didn't [sic] know what was wrong with ... [Arasteh], that he thought she might be a lesbian." Although Nelson could not recall the specific context of the comment, he stated "it was a kind of a guy type of a thing" and the conversation was generally about women in the office. Arasteh was not present during the discussion, but Nelson told her about it afterwards since he thought it unusual. Nelson does not provide a date of this incident.

The record also contains several other vague and undated references to alleged sexual harassment. Arasteh testified that Doe "would talk about the color of my clothes" and that certain outfits looked good on her. Although Doe did not specifically deny each and every allegation of sexual harassment, he stated at his deposition that her "whole harassment suit" was untrue.

Arasteh stated that she spoke to Doe about his sexual harassment in June, 1996. According to Arasteh, after their conversation Doe's sexual harassment turned into "abusive treatment." Arasteh claims this treatment manifested itself in several ways. First, Doe told her to do things that "belittled" her in meetings. Second, he suggested that she not move to a different department since she would get promoted faster in Industry Relations (she never got promoted). Third, in her 1997 "year end" evaluation, Doe "downgraded" her overall performance level from the "superior" rating she received in her 1996 year end evaluation to "excellent". Although in absolute terms this may be lower, it is not clear what impact the June, 1996 conversation had on her evaluation; a longer and more complete look at her reviews suggest an up and down pattern.

In her "mid year" 1997 "Officer Goal Assessment," Arasteh received two "exceeded" ratings and two "achieved" ratings in the "Results and Assessments" category and three "superior" and six "excellent" ratings in the "Management Factors" category. Her overall performance level was "achieved." In her 1997 year end review, Arasteh received three "exceeded" and one "achieved" ratings in the "Results and Assessments Category" and one "superior," seven "exceeded," and one "good" in the "Management Factors Category". Her overall performance level was "exceeded." In 1996, Arasteh received a "excellent" for overall performance at her mid year and an "superior" at year end. Although it is true that Arasteh's overall evaluation went from "superior" at the end of 1946 to "exceeded" at the end of 1997, her interim performance evaluations (mid 1996 and mid 1997) were lower than her year end evaluations. Therefore, it is not clear that...