Brummett v. Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc.
| Decision Date | 06 July 2005 |
| Docket Number | No. 04-3373.,04-3373. |
| Citation | 414 F.3d 686 |
| Parties | Tony BRUMMETT, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. SINCLAIR BROADCAST GROUP, INCORPORATED, Defendant-Appellee. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit |
John A. Baker (argued), Baker, Baker & Krajewski, Springfield, IL, for Plaintiff-Appellant.
John A. Kauerauf (argued), Sorling Northrup Hanna Cullen & Cochran, Springfield, IL, for Defendant-Appellee.
Before RIPPLE, WOOD and SYKES, Circuit Judges.
Tony Brummett, an African-American male, filed this action against his former employer, Sinclair Acquisition IV, Inc. ("Sinclair"),1 for alleged race discrimination in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq. The district court granted Sinclair's motion for summary judgment. For the reasons set forth in the following opinion, we affirm the judgment of the district court.
Sinclair owns and operates two television broadcast stations, known by the call letters WICS and WICD, located in central Illinois. In the fall of 2000, Sinclair decided to hire two additional account executives for its WICS sales staff.2 Mr. Brummett, at the time an account executive at a competing television station, applied for one of the positions. He interviewed with the WICS/WICD General Sales Manager, Bob Evans, and the General Manager, Jack Connors. On November 30, 2000, Connors recommended Mr. Brummett for the position by an e-mail to his superior; the message stated in part:
Brummett has been [at WRSP] for 2 1/2 years, and before that had 4 years at the Decatur Herald & Review newspaper. He told us that he was going to make between $41,000-43,000 next year, but that he would be willing to step back a little to come here.... Brummett is the best bet we've been able to come across at WICS, and Bob thinks we could try to get him for $725-750/week on a six month guarantee. We have perhaps $100,000 max of billing out of Springfield that we could shuffle his way, but this 7th [account executive] for WICS is going to be heavily developmental. As you know, we budgeted nothing on the expense side for a 7th seller in 2001.... He's an experienced TV salesman in this market, in this city, and has relationships that he'll bring with him.
In January 2001, Sinclair hired Mr. Brummett as a WICS account executive. Evans offered him a guaranteed salary for his first six months of employment. During that time, he was expected to generate as much new advertising business as possible. For most account executives at Sinclair, once the initial six-month period ended, they were paid on a straight commission basis. According to Mr. Brummett, however, Evans promised him that, if his first six months' performance was acceptable, Evans would transfer existing accounts to Mr. Brummett from other account executives in order to bring his annual commissions up to $38,000.
In March 2001, Sinclair hired Tim Snodgrass as an eighth account executive for WICS. Evans made Snodgrass an offer similar to the one made to Mr. Brummett: Snodgrass would receive a specified weekly salary for the first six months and, if his performance was satisfactory, he thereafter would receive additional accounts that would yield a minimum level of annual commissions. Snodgrass quit his job at WICS before the end of his first six months.
When Mr. Brummett began working at WICS, he was given an account list of former advertisers who had not purchased advertising in more than a year. He had a difficult time generating new business from this list because all of the large advertisers already had accounts managed by other account executives at WICS. Despite this difficulty, Evans, who had resigned in May 2001, testified that, at the time of his departure, he believed that Mr. Brummett was doing a good job and would have ranked him as "[m]iddle to up" among the account executives. Id., Tab C at 89.
In July 2001, Sinclair hired Johnny Faith to be the General Sales Manager. That same month, at the end of Mr. Brummett's six-month probation period, Mr. Brummett's guaranteed weekly salary ended. On July 3, he was notified that his current level of sales would not support a $725 weekly draw against his commissions. His salary therefore was reduced by thirty percent effective July 2001, and he was told that Sinclair would adjust the draw upward in the future if his sales levels increased. Mr. Brummett expressed his dissatisfaction in an e-mail to Connors:
I will need to speak with you on Thursday regarding my commission here at New[s] 20. I thought business will be much better here than Fox. I still believe that however, the way this econmy [sic] is going at this time it is pretty hard to sale [sic] anything. Jeff just gave me my commission statement where it stand[s] as of now. It is hard to believe six month[s] is over. Needless to say, I will be down half in my income that I made last year. Bob told me before he left "if things do not turn around he gave Cindy Barney Furniture just in case he had to give it to Tim or I." So with this in mind we need to sit down and come up with something. Because if not my life and the things I enjoy to do will change. I am sure things will start to turn around in this market but, I can't take that big of lost [sic] each month in my income.
Id., Tab B at Brummett ID00122. Mr. Brummett met with Connors and Faith three times in July 2001, and he demanded the accounts promised to him by Evans which would generate an annual income of $38,000. Connors and Faith refused to acknowledge this arrangement.
On August 7, 2001, Mr. Brummett was notified that his "draw for August will be reduced by $722.97 as you did not cover your July amount." Id. at Brummett ID00124. Mr. Brummett again complained to Connors by e-mail:
Jack, would it be possible for me to speak with someone from corporate? My August draw is now down to $322.86. This is about $8 an hour. Jack, as I discussed with you three times, I made considerable more this time last year. If I was not guaranteed what I was making at Fox it would not have been a reason to change job[s]. I have a list of corporate contacts so if you can point me in the right direction that will be great. Jack as you know this draw will not even pay my rent, car payment etc. Is something more going on?
Id. at Brummett ID00125. Connors responded by e-mail, stating:
Do you have anything in writing from Bob Evans promising you more than six months of guarantee or asserting any kind of guarantee of billing from the accounts on your list? If you do I would be happy to review it.
I did review your July sales and commissions statement this morning with Jeff Schlindwein, and last month the advances on your commission ($2,191.66) were considerably over your actual commission total ($1,418.69) for the month. I looked into your billing further and saw that your total July time sales were $17,615 against the monthly target of $28,000. This included $12,185 in agency business, $4,140 in direct business and $1,290 in new business. It is standard station policy to recapture advances in excess of actual commission earned in the next payroll period.
If you would like to speak to someone at corporate you could call Joellen Adams in Corporate Human Resources.
Id. Mr. Brummett did not speak to anyone at Sinclair corporate headquarters.
On August 22, 2001, Faith presented Mr. Brummett with a Performance Improvement Agreement ("PIA"), which stated:
It has become evident during three July 2001 meetings with Jack Connors and me that you are dissatisfied with your compensation as an account executive at WICS/WICD. This dissatisfaction stems from the end of your six-month probationary period with a guaranteed salary and your transition to full commission in July 2001.
As we have discussed in those meetings, certain aspects of your job performance have been unsatisfactory. Specifically, the attainment of your monthly revenue goals and your development of new business have not been where both you and the company had envisioned. Therefore, substantial improvement in these areas is necessary if you are to continue to be employed by the company.
In hopes of improving your performance for a sustained period, you are being issued this performance improvement agreement. At this time, we are going to extend your probationary period a final 40 days (through September 30, 2001) during which time your job performance must improve. The performance must be maintained consistently or your employment may be terminated. If you need assistance in meeting the stations [sic] performance expectations, please let me know and we can review the situation to determine whether the assistance requested is feasible and/or practical. Jack or I am readily accessible to answer any questions you may have about our expectations.
Id., Tab E, Ex.3. The PIA listed five expectations for Mr. Brummett to meet during the extended probationary period: (1) service and maintain his existing business; (2) generate $9,000 in new business; (3) achieve 100 percent of his monthly quota of sales; (4) make a minimum of five face calls per day, five written presentations per week, ten letters to clients per week and one suggestion for a new business incentive package per week; and (5) sell one Olympic package and one Career Connection Campaign.
In a September 3, 2001 memorandum, Mr. Brummett responded to Faith, stating:
Johnny, as I told you in that meeting, I were [sic] not aware of any performance problems here at the station. My goals have not been attainable, all the large accounts seemed to be gone, and I have to work on getting all the small accounts to make up for what a large account is worth. As we all have discussed, the economy is not going in the same direction as this time last year.
Johnny, you and I know the truth here. This company does not want to pay me what I was promised so you are saying my ...
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