Brenneman v. Famous Dave's of America, Inc.
| Decision Date | 23 January 2006 |
| Docket Number | No. 4:04-CV-90001.,4:04-CV-90001. |
| Citation | 410 F.Supp.2d 828 |
| Parties | Christine M. BRENNEMAN, Plaintiff, v. FAMOUS DAVE'S OF AMERICA, INC., and Dave Ryburn, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Southern District of Iowa |
Michael J Carroll, Babich Goldman Cashatt & Renzo PC, Danielle K Dixon, Brown Winick Graves Gross Baskerville Schoenebaum, James H Gilliam, Brown Winick Graves Gross Baskerville Schoenebaum, Des Moines, for Christine M Brenneman, Plaintiff.
Scott M Brennan, Davis Brown Koehn Shors & Roberts, Des Moines, Jodie F Friedman, Littler Mendelson PC, George Richard Wood, Littler Mendelson PC, Minneapolis, MN, for Famous Dave's of America, Inc, Dave Ryburn, Defendants.
ORDER ON DEFENDANT'S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT
Christine Brenneman filed suit against the Defendants alleging that she was subject to a hostile work environment and retaliation, both in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq. ("Title VII"), and the Iowa Civil Rights Act, Iowa Code § 216 et seq. ("ICRA"). Brenneman also claims that she was subject to common law battery and wrongful discharge in violation of public policy under Iowa law. Before the Court is the Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment (Clerk's No. 14). For the reasons discussed below, the motion is granted in part and denied in part.
Christine Brenneman ("Brenneman") began working for Famous Dave's of America, Inc. ("Famous Dave's"), on January 20, 2003.1 Famous Dave's hired Brenneman to work as an assistant manager at a Famous Dave's restaurant located in West Des Moines, Iowa. Brenneman spent the first four to five weeks of her employment in training at a Famous Dave's restaurant in Lincoln, Nebraska. She began work at the West Des Moines location in the middle of February 2003.
Brenneman's supervisor at the West Des Moines restaurant was Dave Ryburn ("Ryburn"), the general manager of that location. Ryburn reported to Dave Henson ("Henson"), the area director. Brenneman's duties as an assistant manager included scheduling, assisting food servers in the bar area, and performing other tasks related to the restaurant's operations. Along with the rest of the management team, Brenneman was responsible for enforcing Famous Dave's anti-harassment policy, on which she had received training at the Lincoln location. Pl.'s Statement of Material Facts in Dispute (Clerk's No. 23-4) ¶¶ 1-6; Defs.' Statement of Undisputed Material Facts (Clerk's No. 14) ¶¶ 1-7.
Brenneman asserts that Ryburn began to make sexual advances within one to two weeks after she began working under him. According to Brenneman's deposition testimony, Ryburn winked at her and blew kisses in her direction on a daily basis. Brenneman Dep. at 115. Brenneman testified to a specific instance that occurred on March 30, while she was on the phone with the other manager, when Ryburn blew kisses and winked at her. Brenneman Dep. at 125-26. He also slapped her on the buttocks on March 21 and March 30. Id. at 115, 125, 132-34. On one of those occasions, he said, "I'll see you later" as he slapped her buttocks. Id. Brenneman also stated that Ryburn pulled on her badge, which she wore attached to the front of her belt. The badge had an elastic cord, and Ryburn would pull it and let it snap back "[a]t least a couple times a day." Id. at 117-18. In his deposition, Ryburn denied touching Brenneman on the buttocks, stating that he touched her in the "hip area" while "trying to get behind her to get into the office." Ryburn Dep. at 35-36.
Brenneman's complaints about Ryburn also involve allegations of inappropriate comments. Brenneman testified that on March 28, Ryburn suggested that he conduct a review of Brenneman's work at her house, rather than at the restaurant, where reviews were customarily done. Brenneman Dep. at 121. Ryburn denied this incident in his deposition. Ryburn Dep. at 42. Brenneman also testified that on March 31, she asked Ryburn for an envelope because she needed to mail a book to Famous Dave's corporate office. Ryburn gave her an envelope, but it was too small for the book. When Brenneman told Ryburn that the book would not fit in the envelope, he responded that she should "pretend it was a condom and slip it on real soft." Brenneman Dep. at 121. Another incident occurred on April 1, when Brenneman was having a conversation with Lisa Bonar ("Bonar"), a server at the restaurant. Brenneman and Bonar were discussing how expensive their children's dental bills were, and they joked that they wished they could have sex or a date with Bonar's nice-looking dentist in exchange for payment of their bills. Id. at 128. Ryburn, overhearing their conversation, asked if they could make the same arrangement with him. Id. at 130-31. On another occasion, Ryburn told Brenneman he wanted to come to the restaurant after she closed it to go over his "expectations," a comment Brenneman interpreted as having sexual connotations. Id. at 137-39. And on April 5, Ryburn asked Brenneman how she was doing. Brenneman replied, "I'm fine." Ryburn then responded, "Mm-hmm, you are fine." Id. at 145. He then asked if she needed anything and slapped her on the buttocks. Id. Brenneman also testified to an incident in which she asked Ryburn if he could stab a customer's ticket for her, that is, put the ticket on the spindle for completed tickets. According to Brenneman, Ryburn replied, "I'd love to stab you." Id. at 147. Ryburn testified that these conversations involved jokes, that they never occurred, or that they did not have sexual connotations. Ryburn Dep. at 39, 42, 43, 46, 47.
Brenneman testified to other isolated instances of inappropriate behavior at the restaurant. Brenneman contends that one day when she was at work, Ryburn opened the door to the management team's shared office, and Brenneman observed Henson in the office looking at pornography on a laptop computer. Brenneman Dep. at 89. Ryburn stated in a deposition that he also saw the pornographic image on Henson's computer and that he "apologized several times" to Brenneman after closing the office door. Ryburn Dep. at 25. Brenneman asserts that another employee, Meredith Brewer, told Brenneman that Ryburn had also touched her inappropriately. Brenneman Dep. at 87.
Brenneman first reported Ryburn's behavior to Chuck LeCorgne ("LeCorgne"), the general manager of the Famous Dave's restaurant in Lincoln, Nebraska, where Brenneman had completed her training. LeCorgne visited the West Des Moines restaurant on April 2 in order to conduct a review of the restaurant, and Brenneman approached him and told him she wanted to speak with him. Pl.'s Statement of Material Facts ¶ 23; Defs.' Resp. to Pl.'s Statement of Material Facts ¶ 23; Brenneman Dep. at 151. LeCorgne agreed to meet Brenneman later that day at the Macaroni Grill restaurant, where Brenneman's husband worked. At Macaroni Grill, Brenneman told LeCorgne about Ryburn's inappropriate physical contact and comments. According to Brenneman, LeCorgne's response was that Ryburn and his wife had just had a baby, and "maybe [Ryburn] needed a little attention and he was looking in the wrong place." Id. at 158. Brenneman testified that LeCorgne also said to her. Id. at 158. LeCorgne added that he was "there as a friend and not a representative of Famous Dave's." Id. According to Brenneman, LeCorgne told her to see if this had happened to anyone else, and he informed her that he would contact Famous Dave's human resources department for her. He also told Brenneman that Famous Dave's had a telephone hotline she could call. Id. LeCorgne stated in a deposition that he advised Brenneman to discuss her concerns with Ryburn, and if she was not comfortable talking with Ryburn, to speak to Henson. LeCorgne Dep. at 15.
Brenneman also testified that, during her meeting with LeCorgne, she expressed concern to LeCorgne about the possibility of retaliation in the event that she reported Ryburn's behavior. She stated that another employee, Rob Vawter ("Vawter"), told her that Ryburn had put him on an undesirable shift due to a scheduling change that Vawter made. Brenneman Dep. at 160-61. Brenneman also noted that Bonar had told her that Ryburn had a tendency to rearrange employees' schedules or remove them from the schedule when he got angry with them. Id. at 172. After Brenneman spoke with LeCorgne, Ryburn continued to blow kisses and wink at her. Id. at 164-65.
On April 7, Brenneman called Famous Dave's telephone hotline for employees. The first time she called, nobody answered and she hung up the telephone. Brenneman then called again and left a message with her name and telephone number. Id. at 177-78. After making the telephone calls, Brenneman went to work and spoke with Vawter, a co-manager, about her concerns. Defs.' Statement of Undisputed Facts ¶ 11; Brenneman Dep. at 180. Vawter called Karen Schindler ("Schindler"), who worked in Famous Dave's human resources office in Minneapolis, and reported what Brenneman had told him. Schindler called Brenneman within five or ten minutes after she heard from Vawter. Brenneman described her interactions with Ryburn to Schindler. Brenneman Dep. at 183. According to Brenneman, Schindler replied that Ryburn's actions were "blatant sexual harassment." Id. at 221.
Ryburn was out of town the week of April 7, so Schindler traveled to the West Des Moines restaurant on April 14 to conduct an investigation following his return. Id. at 187-88. Schindler told Brenneman not to go to work that day. On the morning of April 14, Schindler called Brenneman and asked her if she wanted to meet with Schindler and Ryburn to discuss the situation. When Brenneman learned that Schindler had not yet discussed the allegations with Ryburn, Brenneman informed Schindler...
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