Boumehdi v. Plastag Holdings, LLC

• Decision Date: 04 June 2007
• Docket Number: No. 06-4061.,06-4061.
• Citation: 489 F.3d 781
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit
• Parties: Julie BOUMEHDI, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. PLASTAG HOLDINGS, LLC, Defendant-Appellee.

489 F.3d 781

Julie BOUMEHDI, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. PLASTAG HOLDINGS, LLC, Defendant-Appellee.

No. 06-4061.

United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit.

Argued April 13, 2007.

Decided June 4, 2007.

Carol L. Oshana (argued), Basile & Associates, Chicago, IL, for Plaintiff-Appellant.

John Z. Lee (argued), Freeborn & Peters, Chicago, IL, for Defendant-Appellee.

Before FLAUM, MANION, and WOOD, Circuit Judges.

FLAUM, Circuit Judge.

After enduring months of sex-based comments from her supervisor and complaining to human resources to no avail, Julie Boumehdi quit her job at Plastag Holdings, LLC ("Plastag"). Thereafter, Boumehdi filed suit, alleging that the company violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2 & e-3, and the Equal Pay Act, 29 U.S.C. § 206(d). The district court granted summary judgment in favor of Plastag on all claims. For the following reasons, we reverse.

I. BACKGROUND¹

Julie Boumehdi worked in various capacities operating presses at Plastag, a company that manufactures credit cards, gift cards, calendars, and identification tags for textile companies. In 1999, Boumehdi transferred from her position as a press operator on a flexographic press to a feeder position in Plastag's lithographic press department. In that position, Boumehdi assisted the press operator, Wayne Milbrandt, by mixing inks and preparing plates to go into the press. Because lithographic presses are generally considered more complicated and difficult to operate than flexographic presses, Boumehdi received a 71-cent per hour raise upon transferring.

A. Boumehdi's Wages

In June 2000, Boumehdi received a raise after a positive performance review, and her hourly waged increased from $15.34 to $15.95. In January 2001, a supervisor realized that Boumehdi was being paid much less than her male colleagues, even though she was performing the same job as well as they were. To equalize her pay, the supervisor increased Boumehdi's hourly wage from $15.95 to $17.50. Two years later, in January 2003, Boumehdi accidentally left her pay stub in plain view, and some of her colleagues began laughing and making negative remarks about her pay. After this incident, Boumehdi complained to Michael Bell, Plastag's director of human resources, about the possible pay disparity. Bell told her that the company was being sold and that any disparity would be taken care of after the sale.

B. Boumehdi's Working Conditions

In January 2002, Ed Vega became the supervisor in the lithographic press department. Beginning in the late summer or early fall of 2002, and continuing over the next ten months, Vega made at least eighteen sex-based comments to Boumehdi. For example, from January to July of 2003, Vega told Boumehdi five or more times that women do not belong in the pressroom and think they know everything.² Once, while Boumehdi was bending over in the course of her work, Vega told her to remain in that position and that it was perfect. He also told her that women should work in flower shops and that she should wear low cut blouses and shorter shorts. In 2003, when Boumehdi was pregnant, Vega asked her if she had gotten a breast enlargement over the weekend. Later, upon finding out that Boumehdi had miscarried, Vega asked her what business she had getting pregnant at her age. On another occasion, Vega told her that just because she is a woman does not mean that she should not take out the trash. In December 2002, January 2003, and April 2003, Vega told Boumehdi to clean the pressroom, adding that he did not ask the men to do the cleaning because that's what women are supposed to do. In mid-2002 and early 2003, Vega said that he had to leave work to get a lap dance down the street. Boumehdi claimed that Vega made additional comments over the ten-month period, although she could not specifically recall them.

In February 2003, Boumehdi met with Bell and complained about Vega's comments. She characterized Vega's behavior as "harassing" and "discriminating." Bell assured Boumehdi that he would talk to Vega and take care of the problem. When Vega saw Boumehdi exiting Bell's office, he said, "you're complaining about me, aren't you?" Vega then warned her that if "[she] didn't watch it, [she'd] be scrubbing the floors and doing the toilets." After meeting with Bell, Boumehdi gave him periodic updates on the situation with Vega. Bell continued to assure her that he was looking into the matter. On at least one other occasion, Vega commented to Boumehdi about her meetings with Bell. Specifically, as she was exiting Bell's office, Vega said, "oh, you're in HR; you're complaining about me again."

In late February or early March 2003, Boumehdi noticed that her paycheck for the week of February 24 was 2.5 hours short. At first, she thought the shortage was a mistake, but when she attempted to talk to Vega about the problem, he refused to speak to her. Boumehdi complained to Bell about the shortage and also complained that Vega did not pay her for working through her lunch, although he paid her colleagues for doing so. In March or April, Vega changed Boumehdi's schedule so that she started later and quit earlier, meaning that she earned less money each week.³

In a performance review dated March 3, 2003, Vega gave Boumehdi the worst rating of her career, which caused her to receive no annual raise.⁴ The review stated that Boumehdi "has overthought jobs to change what material to run and has been wrong," "needs to focus on job of loading press & cleanup," and "has been seen by other coworkers & supervisors to take more breaks than observed & to read magazines & paper while press is running — leaving press operator to check jobs alone." It also noted that her "attitude on a given day determines amount of work to be completed on that day" and that her "performance level was up & down throughout review period."

Boumehdi disputes the criticisms, emphasizing that the March 2003 review was the first time she received written notice of her alleged misbehavior, although other employees had been written up for similar behavior. When presented with the March 2003 review, Boumehdi refused to sign it and confronted Vega. He responded that "women don't belong in the pressroom" and that "they think they know everything." He also told Boumehdi that she better quit complaining about him to human resources.

Over the next few months, Boumehdi complained to Bell about Vega's alleged harassment and retaliatory activity, but her paychecks continued to come up short and she did not believe that human resources was responding to her multiple complaints. On July 7, 2003, Boumehdi left Bell a note indicating that her work environment had become intolerable and that she had been singled out and discriminated against since February. On July 10, 2003, Boumehdi resigned from Plastag.

C. Proceedings Below

After receiving a "right to sue" letter from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC"), Boumehdi filed this lawsuit in the district court, claiming that Plastag had violated Title VII by subjecting her to a hostile work environment, disparate treatment, and retaliation. Boumehdi also claimed that she was constructively discharged and that Plastag violated the Equal Pay Act. After discovery closed, the district court granted summary judgment in favor of Plastag on all claims. It held that the alleged harassment was not sufficiently severe or pervasive to constitute a hostile work environment and that any mistreatment Boumehdi endured was not severe enough to amount to a constructive discharge. The district court also held that Boumehdi could not make a prima facie case of either disparate treatment or retaliation and that although Boumehdi had established a prima facie case of wage discrimination, she had produced insufficient evidence that Plastag's asserted justifications were pretextual. Boumehdi appeals the district court's ruling.

II. DISCUSSION

This Court reviews a district court's entry of summary judgment de novo. Davis v. Con-Way Transp. Cent. Express, Inc., 368 F.3d 776, 782 (7th Cir. 2004). Summary judgment is inappropriate if a genuine issue of material fact remains in dispute. See Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322-23, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986); McCoy v. Harrison, 341 F.3d 600, 604 (7th Cir.2003). To survive summary judgment, Boumehdi must make a sufficient showing of evidence for each element of her case that she bears the burden of proving at trial. Celotex, 477 U.S. at 322-23, 106 S.Ct. 2548.

A. Sexual Harassment Claim

To establish a prima facie case of sexual harassment under Title VII, a plaintiff must show that 1) she was subjected to unwelcome harassment; 2) the harassment was based on her sex; 3) the harassment was sufficiently severe or pervasive so as to alter the condition of her employment and create a hostile or abusive atmosphere; and 4) there is a basis for employer liability. Kampmier v. Emeritus Corp., 472 F.3d 930, 940 (7th Cir.2007). The parties dispute the third prong of the prima facie case.

To satisfy the third prong, Boumehdi must demonstrate that Vega's behavior was both objectively and subjectively offensive. Rhodes v. Ill. Dep't of Transp., 359 F.3d 498, 505 (7th Cir.2004). Boumehdi's numerous complaints provide sufficient evidence that she was subjectively offended by Vega's comments, and Plastag does not claim otherwise. See Hostetler v. Quality Dining, Inc., 218 F.3d 798, 807 (7th Cir.2000) (recognizing that a jury reasonably could find, based on an employee's complaints to a superior, that the employee perceived her environment as hostile).

Courts look to several factors to determine whether alleged harassment was objectively offensive, including the frequency of the conduct; its severity; whether it was physically threatening or humiliating, or a mere offensive utterance; and whether it unreasonably interfered with the alleged victim's work performance. Id. at 806-07. The...