Crespo v. Schering Plough Del Caribe, Inc., CIV. 01-2014(HL).
| Decision Date | 31 October 2002 |
| Docket Number | No. CIV. 01-2014(HL).,CIV. 01-2014(HL). |
| Citation | 231 F.Supp.2d 420 |
| Parties | Alice Lee CRESPO, Plaintiff, v. SCHERING PLOUGH DEL CARIBE, INC., Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Puerto Rico |
Jose A. Gallart, Michelle Pirallo-Di Cristina, San Juan, PR, for Alice Mercedes Lee-Crespo, plaintiff.
Luis F. Antonetti-Zequeira, Angel L. Berberena-Feliciano, Goldman Antonetti & Cordova, San Juan, PR, for Schering-Plough Del Caribe Inc., defendant.
Before the Court is a motion for summary judgment by Schering Plough del Caribe, Inc. Schering is a pharmaceutical company with a sales force in Puerto Rico. Plaintiff Alice Lee Crespo ("Lee") is a former member of that sales force. She claims to have been a victim of sexual harassment and seeks damages pursuant to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.1 She also brings Puerto Rico law claims under the Court's supplemental jurisdiction.
In ruling on the motion for summary judgment, the Court reviews the record in the light most favorable to Lee and draws all reasonable inferences in her favor. See LeBlanc v. Great American Ins. Co., 6 F.3d 836, 841 (1st Cir.1993). Lee began working as a professional sales representative for Schering in April 1999.2 She was assigned to the Hato Rey area of San Juan, where she was responsible for visiting doctors to promote Schering's products.3 In July 1999, Mayra González became Lee's immediate supervisor.4 Lee claims that González subjected her to a hostile work environment. A few days after González became Lee's supervisor, the two were at a dermatologists' convention. During a break, González told Lee, "you know that now I'm your supervisor and now you have to do what I tell you to do."5 In that same conversation, González made comments to Lee about the sexual preferences and private lives of other employees in the company. González told Lee that she (Lee) should become her best friend in the company and that Lee should tell her everything that happened. González also told Lee that if she ever had a problem she should tell González about it and that she should not go to Anita Bursian, who was González' supervisor. Lee perceived this comment as a threat.6
Lee's litany of offensive conduct by González includes the following:
• González repeatedly asked Lee how, as a rookie, she got herself assigned to the Hato Rey territory, which was considered to be lucrative for having a high concentration of doctors. González later told Lee that she had been assigned to this territory because Robert Mercadé, Schering's general manager, was crazy about her looks.7
• González said to Lee that she heard that Lee and María Montalvo, another Schering employee assigned to the same area as Lee, got along well.8
• González repeatedly "sized up" Lee and asked her where she got her jewelry.9
• González asked Lee whether she liked any of the doctors in her territory or if she ever dated doctors.10
• González told Lee that she was very disorganized and that was probably why she was not married. When Lee responded that she was organized, González commented that perhaps Lee had never married because she was "strange."11
• González repeatedly told Lee, "I know your background." Lee interpreted this comment to mean that González knew that Lee and María Montalvo were not close friends.12
• When Lee received her first commissions check, González called to observe that now Lee made more money than she did and to ask when was Lee going to take her out to eat. Lee told her that she was busy and hung up the phone.13
• In August 1999, all Schering employees were staying at a hotel for a company convention. During a meeting a co-worker complained that she was suffering from migraines. Lee said that she had some migraine medicine in her room. González asked for the keys to Lee's room so that she could go get the medicine. Lee declined and instead went to get the medication herself.14
• In October 1999, González called Lee and said in a scolding tone, "What is it with you, don't you like dermatologists?" During that same call, González accused Lee of having a negative attitude and told her that if she did not improve her attitude, González would change her to a different territory.15
• In October, González called Lee and asked her to get some medications from a doctor and to bring it by her house. Lee did so. González was cooking dinner when Lee arrived. She invited Lee to join her, but she declined. González proceeded to talk about Anita Bursian's love life. González also said that she wished she were tall and blonde like Lee and that Lee was "enviably thin."16
• In October, González, Lee, and other co-workers were together in a restaurant. González said to Lee in front of the other persons present that she had heard that Lee had been "crawling drunk" at a co-worker's wedding the past weekend. González made a similar comment to other co-workers at the office.17
• In October, González called Lee to tell her that she was supposed to sign an inventory form and that she should have learned this during her training. Of the group of new employees, Lee was the only one that González called to discuss this matter. Later, González sent a voice mail to the entire group informing them that a signature was necessary.18
• At a meeting, González looked at Lee in a "very intimidating way" and asked her why she would look down.19
• González repeatedly told Lee that she was a mediocre employee and that Lee sold with her good looks, not with her brains.20
• In December 1999, González called Lee to tell her that she had to work until December 23 before taking a holiday vacation. When Lee called the company's human resources department, however, they told her that she could take her vacation starting on December 17, the date when all the sales representatives began their holiday break.21
• In January 2000, Lee was out sick for four days. During her absence, González called and paged her repeatedly. She expressed doubts about her condition and ordered Lee to fax her a doctor's certificate that she was in fact sick. Company policy did not require a certificate until after the employee had returned to work.22
• In late January and early February, Schering had a convention for all its employees at a hotel in New Orleans. During the convention, Lee felt ill. She approached González to tell her that she was not feeling well and that she was going to go up to her room to use the bathroom. González looked at her from head to toe and said, "Are you afraid of me?" When Lee returned, González gave her "dirty looks."23
• At the national convention, González approached Lee and told her that she never wears skirts, that she looked sexy in them, and that she should wear them more often.24
• In February 2000, González told Lee to attend a pediatricians' convention that was going to be held on the following day, which was a regular working day. Lee worked at the convention.25
• At the convention, González approached Lee, hugged her from behind, and asked her to bring her a cookie from a booth of one of the other companies at the convention.26
• In February, Lee told Bursian that she wanted to transfer to Schering's offices in Florida. Bursian and González gave her the phone numbers of the people to contact. Through these contacts, Lee was able to get an interview in Florida. She received a tentative offer. González told Lee, "I cannot wait until you leave."27
• In March 2000, just before a meeting between Lee and her supervisors to discuss her complaints about González, González suggested to her that she resign.28
In March, Lee asked Mercadé, the general manager, for a meeting to discuss her problems with González. On March 13, a meeting was held with González, Mercadé, Bursian, and Myrna Burgos, the human resources director. At the meeting, Lee complained of González' treatment towards her. She claimed that González was harassing her, but Lee did not specify that she felt she was being sexually harassed. Lee requested that she be given a new supervisor.29 During the meeting Lee also said she wanted a transfer to Florida, but Mercadé said that no one would get a transfer without his permission.30 Lee claims that before she could assert that González' harassment was sexual, González interrupted with her own complaints about Lee's work performance. She claimed, among other things, that Lee did not always respond to her pages, that she had taken more vacation days than she had accumulated, and that she had failed to comply with administrative duties.31 At the meeting, it was decided to change Lee's territory and supervisor, although she claims that she did not agree to this decision.32 Her concern with a change in territory was that she would be promoting products whose potential for commissions was lower than the products she was promoting in the Hato Rey territory.33 The meeting ended without Lee ever claiming that she was a victim of sexual harassment.34
At the end of March, Lee was given a 2.3 percent raise in her salary, to take effect the first of April.35 Also effective on this same date, Lee was to have a new supervisor.36 Two days before she was to start with a new supervisor, her treating psychiatrist issued a medical certificate recommending that she be given medical leave to rest until May 17.37 On April 4, Dr. Gerena, a Schering physician, examined Lee and suggested to her that she leave the company.38 On April 5, Schering employees took the medical samples that had been entrusted to Lee. Burgos called Lee on that date to tell her that the company was taking the samples because she wanted her to resign. Burgos offered Lee three months' salary and six months' coverage in the health plan if she would quit.39
On May 1, Burgos sent Lee a letter stating that she had asked Lee to provide certain documents, including a list of the physicians in her territory, "profile cards" of the physicians, and a...
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