Cox v. Electronic Data Systems Corp.

• Decision Date: 13 November 1990
• Docket Number: No. 89-CV-73557-DT.,89-CV-73557-DT.
• Citation: 751 F. Supp. 680
• Parties: Janis COX, Plaintiff, v. ELECTRONIC DATA SYSTEMS CORPORATION, a Texas corporation, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Western District of Michigan

751 F. Supp. 680

Janis COX, Plaintiff, v. ELECTRONIC DATA SYSTEMS CORPORATION, a Texas corporation, Defendant.

No. 89-CV-73557-DT.

United States District Court, E.D. Michigan, S.D.

November 13, 1990.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Donald J. Gasiorek, Southfield, Mich., for plaintiff.

Martin T. Wymer, Southfield, Mich., for defendant.

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANT'S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

ROSEN, District Judge.

Plaintiff, Janis Cox, a former employee of Defendant Electronic Data Systems Corporation ("EDS" or the "company"), instituted this wrongful discharge action against her former employer in Wayne County Circuit Court on November 6, 1989. EDS timely removed the action to this Court on December 7, 1989 on diversity of citizenship grounds.

In her three-count Complaint, Ms. Cox alleged (1) that she had a "just cause" employment contract with EDS and that EDS breached that contract when it terminated her employment on May 17, 1989 (Count I); (2) that EDS discriminated against her because she is black, in violation of the Michigan Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act, M.C.L. § 37.2101, et seq. (Count II); and (3) that EDS discharged her in retaliation for having filed a complaint of race discrimination with the Michigan Department of Civil Rights, also in violation of the Elliott-Larsen Act (Count III).

Following the close of discovery, on June 12, 1990, Defendant moved for summary judgment, pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.Pro. 56, contending (1) that there is no genuine issue of material fact that Plaintiff did not have a just cause employment contract with EDS, and (2) that Plaintiff has failed to establish a prima facie case of race discrimination. EDS, therefore, contends that it is entitled to summary judgment in its favor and that Plaintiff's Complaint should, accordingly, be dismissed in its entirety.

Plaintiff filed a Response opposing Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment on June 28, 1990, to which Response Defendant replied by filing a Reply Brief on July 3, 1990.

Having reviewed the parties' respective briefs and the exhibits attached thereto, and having heard the oral arguments of the parties' attorneys on November 8, 1990, the Court is now prepared to rule on Defendant's Motion, and this Memorandum Opinion and Order sets forth that ruling.

I. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

Plaintiff Janis Cox, a black female, is a former employee of Defendant EDS who began working for the company in Atlanta, Georgia on January 2, 1986. From that date, until the termination of her employment in May of 1989, Ms. Cox worked at several EDS sites around the country including Atlanta, Georgia; Janesville, Wisconsin; and Troy, Michigan in various positions involving computer information processing. Her last position was that of a "Systems Engineer" in the Troy, Michigan EDS facility, a position she held from sometime in late December 1988 or early January 1989, until her discharge from EDS some five months later.

Although Plaintiff's on-the-job performance through the summer of 1988 had been satisfactory, beginning in early 1989, Ms. Cox began demonstrating what EDS determined were "serious performance problems"—not finishing work by scheduled deadlines (even after the deadlines were repeatedly pushed back to accommodate her), not completing assignments that ended up having to be finished by other systems engineers; and failing to take her turn for "on call" duty.¹ By March of 1989, Plaintiff's performance problems had become so pronounced that customers began experiencing problems and EDS personnel began complaining about her. Thus, on March 20, 1989, her immediate superior, Diane Haas, informed Plaintiff that she was going to be put on a Performance Improvement Plan ("PIP"), a structured work plan setting forth particular tasks for the employee to perform, geared at improving performance. When she was informed that she was being put on a PIP, Plaintiff, reacted angrily and left work (apparently without permission) for the rest of the day. Ms. Cox's reaction to the PIP had been so negative that the next day, Ms. Haas, Haas' supervisor, Michael VanDyke, and Curvie Burton, who is apparently above both Haas and VanDyke in the EDS supervisory chain-of-command (and who, like Plaintiff, is black), met with Plaintiff to discuss her job performance and her negative reaction to the PIP. Following that meeting, Burton revoked Plaintiff's PIP. Burton, however, advised Plaintiff that she was expected to maintain an adequate level of performance.

On March 23, 1990, Ms. Haas gave Plaintiff a "Review of Goals and Objectives", outlining performance improvements that Ms. Cox needed to work on. Shortly thereafter, on March 27, 1990, Plaintiff filed a charge of race discrimination with the Michigan Department of Civil Rights.²

Then, on April 13, 1989, Plaintiff met with Diane Haas for a formal performance appraisal. At this appraisal meeting, Ms. Haas discussed Plaintiff's performance, including her deficiencies, with specificity. Haas evaluated Plaintiff's performance as "marginal", the lowest performance rating, and advised Ms. Cox as to what improvements she needed to make in connection with her work.

Plaintiff's performance, however, did not improve. During the first two weeks of May, 1989, Plaintiff made five separate on-the-job mistakes which EDS characterized as "critical". Haas brought the errors to Michael VanDyke's attention. VanDyke, in turn, discussed the matter with Curvie Burton, and Burton and VanDyke jointly made the decision to terminate Plaintiff's employment with EDS.

Six months after the termination of her employment, Plaintiff instituted this lawsuit alleging breach of contract, race discrimination and retaliatory discharge.

II. DEFENDANT'S ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT OF SUMMARY JUDGMENT AND PLAINTIFF'S COUNTER-ARGUMENTS

A. Plaintiff's Breach of Contract Claim.

In its motion for summary judgment and brief in support thereof, Defendant contends that Plaintiff was an "at-will" employee as a matter of law by virtue of her having signed an "Employee Agreement" prior to starting on the job at EDS in January 1986 which contained a provision which stipulated that she was an at-will employee whose employment could be terminated by EDS at any time with or without cause, and that any modification of her employment relationship with EDS could only be effectuated if it were done in writing and signed by an officer of EDS. Since Plaintiff admitted in her deposition that (1) no EDS supervisor ever verbally promised or assured her that she would only be fired for cause, and (2) other than the original Employee Agreement which she signed prior to starting at EDS, no other written agreements were ever entered into between the parties, by virtue of the at-will disclaimer in her original Employee Agreement, EDS argues that as a matter of law, Count I of Plaintiff's Complaint cannot withstand summary judgment.

Plaintiff counters that (1) an employee manual she was given when she started to work at EDS which provided for a performance appraisal system, (2) a guide provided to EDS managers (Plaintiff was not a manager) entitled "Managing People" which states that EDS has two basic reasons for releasing an employee—failure to perform the duties of the job and violation of company policy or terms of the Employee Agreement, and (3) the February 7, 1990 deposition testimony of Michael VanDyke that his own understanding of how EDS operates, based on "common sense", was that "you don't separate anyone without a reason" override the at-will disclaimer in her Employee Agreement and, thus, create a jury-submissible issue on her breach of contract claim.

B. Plaintiff's Claims of Race Discrimination.

Plaintiff contends that EDS discriminated against her because of her race in (1) refusing her January or February 1989 request for a transfer to another EDS facility and (2) in terminating her employment in May of 1989. Defendant contends that it is entitled to summary judgment on the race discrimination claims because Plaintiff cannot establish that any "similarly situated" white employees were treated differently than she was, nor has she established any evidence of discriminatory predisposition on the part of her supervisors. Thus, Defendant argues that Plaintiff has failed to establish a prima facie case of discrimination under either a "disparate treatment" or "intentional discrimination" theory. Plaintiff disputes Defendant's contentions of insufficiency of evidence of discrimination.

C. Plaintiff's Retaliation Claim.

As to Plaintiff's claim of having been discharged for filing a charge of race discrimination with the Michigan Department of Civil Rights two months earlier, Defendant contends that Plaintiff has failed to show that the filing of her complaint with the Department of Civil Rights was a significant factor in EDS' treatment of her.

Although Plaintiff concedes that the mere fact that her discharge occurred after she filed her claim of discrimination does not establish a claim of retaliation, Plaintiff contends that a jury-submissible issue has been created on this count because she claims that EDS knew of Plaintiff's filing of the charge before she was fired.

III. ANALYSIS

A. The Standards Governing Consideration of a Motion For Summary Judgment

The standards governing a trial court's consideration of motions for summary judgment were redefined by the United States Supreme Court in a 1986 trilogy of cases: Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986); Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986); and Matsushita Electrical Industrial Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986).

In Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 2512, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986), the Supreme Court held:

The mere existence of a scintilla of evidence in support of the plaintiff's position will be insufficient; there must

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