Christoforou v. Ryder Truck Rental, Inc.

• Decision Date: 02 September 1987
• Docket Number: No. 85 Civ. 4538 (CBM).,85 Civ. 4538 (CBM).
• Citation: 668 F. Supp. 294
• Parties: Helen CHRISTOFOROU, Plaintiff, v. RYDER TRUCK RENTAL, INC., and George Gerstein, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of New York

668 F. Supp. 294

Helen CHRISTOFOROU, Plaintiff, v. RYDER TRUCK RENTAL, INC., and George Gerstein, Defendants.

No. 85 Civ. 4538 (CBM).

United States District Court, S.D. New York.

September 2, 1987.

Barbara E. Hoppmann, Brooklyn, N.Y., for plaintiff.

Epstein Becker Borsody & Green, P.C. by Amy Beech, Ronald M. Green, Steven P. Seltzer, New York City, for defendants.

FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

MOTLEY, District Judge.

Plaintiff, Helen Christoforou, was an employee of Ryder Truck Rental, Inc. at one of its Manhattan rental offices from 1980 until early 1983, at which time she was fired. Plaintiff has brought this action pursuant to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq., claiming that her termination was the product of illegal sexual harassment. Plaintiff also contends that the "hostile environment" of her workplace due to the alleged sexual harassment supplies an independent basis for Title VII liability.¹

After a four day bench trial and full consideration of both side's post-trial submissions in this difficult case, the court concludes that plaintiff has not met her burden of proving that she was the victim of illegal sex discrimination. Defendants' abrupt decision to terminate plaintiff for insubordination may not have been particularly reasonable or fair, and there clearly was some history of sexual tension between plaintiff and the supervisor who fired her, George Gerstein. This is not enough, however, under all the circumstances of the present case for plaintiff to prevail under either a hostile environment or a quid pro quo theory of illegal sex discrimination. The arguable sexual harassment to which plaintiff was subjected was not so pervasive or abusive as to constitute, in and of itself, a "hostile environment" in violation of Title VII. As for plaintiff's termination, she has failed to prove that her employer's proffered legal motivations for the action were merely pretexual, or that her supervisor's desire for sexual retaliation was in any way a deciding factor. Accordingly, the court must find for defendants.

Pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 52(a), the court's findings of fact and conclusions of law are as follows.

Findings of Fact

Ryder Truck Rental is a corporation engaged in the business of leasing and renting trucks to both commercial enterprises and individuals throughout the United States. Plaintiff began her employment with Ryder in April 1980 at the company's Manhattan rental office located on the far West Side of Manhattan at 624 West 30th Street. She remained at this location, which was part of the company's White Plains District, during her entire time with Ryder.

Plaintiff was initially hired as an hourly employee. Her duties included clerical work, ensuring that rental vehicles were clean and ready for customers and dealing with mechanics. She also dealt with the rental customers themselves. After somewhat less than two years with Ryder, in February 1982, plaintiff was promoted from an hourly position to the salaried position of Rental Account Manager or Rental Representative at the Manhattan location. She continued to do similar work as before, but with slightly more pay and other benefits and slightly greater responsibility. In contrast to the hourly position, however, which had never required Saturday work, the salaried position required that plaintiff work a six day week as needed and with no additional overtime. Plaintiff remained in this salaried position as Rental Representative for about a year until she was fired in February 1983. She was earning about $15,000 annually at this time.

Throughout the course of her nearly three years of employment with Ryder, plaintiff's performance was generally satisfactory, although complaints about lateness and attendance were a continuous theme. In the fall of 1982, however, about half a year after plaintiff had been promoted from hourly to salaried status, her performance ratings began to deteriorate markedly. On her September 1982 evaluation, which was written by John Lore, plaintiff's immediate supervisor, plaintiff received a rating that was significantly lower than her previous ones. She was rated 2.0 on a scale of 1 (unsatisfactory) through 5 (outstanding). This score was defined as "generally adequate—meets most job objectives or requirements; needs improvement in some." As with her earlier evaluations at Ryder, plaintiff agreed that this one was accurate and fair. Furthermore, at trial plaintiff testified that except for the day she was fired, Lore had always been a fair and supportive supervisor.

As part of the September 1982 evaluation, Lore advised plaintiff that she needed to improve in the areas of punctuality and attendance, and that she should not continue to wear blue jeans in contravention of company policy. Even prior to this September appraisal, Lore had notified plaintiff of difficulties he was having with her performance, specifically her punctuality and dress and her sometimes argumentative manner.

After plaintiff's performance worsened in the weeks following this evaluation, Lore notified plaintiff by memo dated October 6, 1982 that her continued "glaring problems" with punctuality, attendance, and certain aspects of customer relations and contract preparation, warranted her attention. This was followed by a November 3, 1982 memo from George Gerstein, the District Manager, who was a notch above Lore in the corporate hierarchy and who had occasion to observe plaintiff's work when he visited the New York Office. Gerstein enumerated various incidents which he believed were reflective of plaintiff's poor work attitude and performance; for example, bickering with customers and lateness, and stated that in light of her previous performance appraisal and her October 6 memo from Lore, she should consider his memo a "final attempt" to encourage her conformance with proper office policies.

Finally, on November 17, 1982, John Lore wrote plaintiff another memo pointing out several serious problems with her performance, including the acceptance of a non-certified, unapproved check that subsequently bounced, and continued violations of the "no jeans" dress rule. Lore was particularly disconcerted that after he had reiterated the "no jeans" policy to which plaintiff objected, she went above him to Gerstein and unsuccessfully asked Gerstein to back her on this issue. Lore advised in the memo that plaintiff should "amend this situation as soon as possible so as to avoid further disciplinary action."

Plaintiff's job problems and negative evaluations are not surprising considering plaintiff's view that many of Ryder's established policies—particularly those concerning dress and Saturday work—were unfair or unreasonable, and that she should not be required to comply with them. Plaintiff expressed her continued disagreement with company policies at trial. Furthermore, during the last months of her employment with Ryder, plaintiff had expressed her unhappiness with the company to a coworker, Tony Hibbert, who had suggested that maybe she should consider looking for another job.

On February 2, 1983, plaintiff was abruptly fired after a dispute with District Manager George Gerstein about Saturday work schedules. Saturday staffing of the rental office was done on an informal rotating system with supervisors sharing the workload. Gerstein entered the general office area where plaintiff and two co-workers were situated and announced that someone would have to work for him the following Saturday because he had plans with his family. Plaintiff, who was wary that the remark was addressed to her, spoke out saying it was unfair to ask her to work an additional Saturday because she had worked the two previous Saturdays. Mr. Lore, plaintiff's immediate supervisor, then called plaintiff into his office and asked her if she would be able to work the following Saturday. When plaintiff replied that Ryder did not treat its employees fairly, that she had already worked the previous two weekends, and that she thought it was improper for Gerstein to ask to switch Saturdays for merely personal reasons, Lore explained that plaintiff was not entitled to have off the following Saturday simply because she had already worked two in a row. Gerstein, who was also in Lore's office at this point, exclaimed angrily that, indeed, he could make plaintiff work every Saturday if he wished. Plaintiff responded by saying that she was quitting the job and was giving her two weeks notice. More angry than ever at what he considered to be plaintiff's insubordination, Gerstein told her to forget the two weeks notice, she was fired.

Plaintiff's termination was independently upheld a few days later by Gaylon Morris, a White Plains supervisor a rank above Gerstein. This was done at the Manhattan office at a conference attended by plaintiff, Gerstein, Lore, and Morris. Plaintiff requested that she be allowed to withdraw her resignation and proposed a transfer to a different location. Morris decided, however, after reviewing the incident together with plaintiff's marginal and increasingly troubled personnel file, to process plaintiff's termination. The warning and probation period ordinarily required by the Ryder personnel manual for involuntary discharges were not applicable in the present case. Company policy allowed for immediate discharge in the case of serious disciplinary problems, including fights and altercations.

Plaintiff claims that the reason she was fired was not for insubordination or because of her deteriorating performance at work, or even due to the merely general volatility of George Gerstein. Plaintiff claims that she was fired because George Gerstein wanted to punish her for resisting his sexual advances. After carefully reviewing plaintiff's somewhat vague contentions of sexual harassment, it is certainly clear to the court that there was an element of sexual tension in plaintiff's relationship with Gerstein....