Crock v. Sears, Roebuck & Co
| Citation | 261 F.Supp.2d 1101 |
| Decision Date | 08 May 2003 |
| Docket Number | No. 4:01-CV-40435.,4:01-CV-40435. |
| Parties | Jo Ann CROCK, Plaintiff, v. SEARS, ROEBUCK & COMPANY, a New York Corporation, and Scott Rhein, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Southern District of Iowa |
Thomas J. Jackowski, Clive, IA, for Plaintiff.
Lora L. McCollom, Jay Chung, Gonzalez Saggio & Harlan LLP, West Des Moines, IA, for Defendants.
ORDER ON SUMMARY JUDGMENT
Plaintiff Jo Ann Crock ("Crock") brings this employment discrimination action against Defendants Sears, Roebuck & Company ("Sears") and Scott Rhein ("Rhein") alleging violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Iowa Civil Rights Act. Plaintiff further alleges Rhein and Sears retaliated against her in violation of Iowa Public Policy.
This matter comes before the Court on Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment. A hearing on the motion was held February 25, 2003. Plaintiff Jo Ann Crock was represented by Thomas Jackowski; Defendant Sears, Roebuck & Company was represented by Lora McCullom.
Following the birth of her daughter in 1992, Crock began experiencing physical and cognitive difficulties including short-term memory loss, a right leg limp, and visual/spatial problems. Crock consulted several medical professionals concerning her condition.
A doctor at the University of Chicago told Crock she had damage on both sides of her brain and recommended cognitive therapy and counseling. In September, 1999, Crock obtained therapy at the University of Iowa.
In 1999, Defendant Sears launched its "Sears.com" web center. The web center processed on-line tool and gift card orders and created "Toolman", an offshoot website which fields on-line tool-related questions. Bill Christopher ("Christopher") developed the web center, and Mary Graft ("Graft") was project manager. Defendant Scott Rhein ("Rhein") was selected as the web center director of operations. Graft and Christopher were based at the Hoffman Estates, Illinois, office; Rhein was based at the Des Moines web center.
The web center grew rapidly, and new employees were hired; team managers were assigned to oversee the On-Line Care Associates ("OCAs"). The explosive growth required the web center to relocate across town to a larger facility. As new positions were considered, Christopher and Graft discussed the possibility of hiring Graft's friend, Jo Ann Crock, for a position on the web center team.
Crock's previous work experience was writing grant proposals, a field unrelated to web center management. Nonetheless, Graft believed Crock, who had a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology from St. Mary's College at Notre Dame and a Masters of Public Health Administration, was intelligent, mature, and would be an asset to the web center team. Crock was interviewed by several people, including Christopher, Graft, and Rhein. Michael Hoehne ("Hoehne"), Director of Human Resources based out of Hoffman Estates, also interviewed Crock. Christopher was impressed with Crock's enthusiasm and creativity, but Hoehne recommended against hiring Crock because she lacked experience in project management.
Despite the reservation voiced about Crock, Christopher hired her in December, 1999, creating the project coordinator position for her. Her responsibilities were to coordinate special projects focusing on the quality of the web center's e-mail system ("EMS"). Although Crock worked out of the Des Moines web center, she reported to Graft at the Hoffman Estates office. Graft told Crock she would have a "manager's desk" on the web center floor. Graft knew Crock had emotional and physical difficulties following the birth of daughter; however, Crock never mentioned any restrictions or accommodations due to those problems. When she was hired by Sears, Crock told Graft she wanted her work to speak for itself.
When Crock started at Sears.com in December, 1999, it was the first holiday season at the web center. The web center was chaotic. All managers, including Crock, worked long hours responding to on-line gift orders. Once the holiday rush ebbed, Crock's assignment was to create an e-mail data system categorizing the email topics and detailing the number of emails received and the response time. The e-mail statistics, or "metrics", were compiled by James Holloway ("Holloway") and Sasan Sadr ("Sadr") and entered into monthly e-mail metric reports. The system of collecting metrics was new and subject to interpretation.
In February, 2000, Crock was the single point of contact ("SPOC") for the rollout of a new and more efficient e-mail management system called Octane. Crock's duty was to address the business application side of the system. The transition to the new system created pandemonium to an already overworked web center. During February and March, there were technical glitches with Octane which caused various problems. Adding to the chaos, desks on the web center floor were moved several times in response the center's continued expansion.
Crock testified that around this time she began having problems with Rhein. She suspected Rhein altered e-mail metrics to make the web center appear more efficient. Crock told Graft, who allegedly told Christopher; however, Christopher does not remember the allegation. Christopher testified that in February, 2000, the metrics were not exact because of the primitive collection process at that time; in some cases, stick counts were used to keep track of the data. He states he was confident in the numbers reported to him by Holloway and Sadr and denies questioning Rhein about altering metrics.
In late March, Dan Wisnousky ("Wisnousky"), a member of the information technology ("IT") department in charge of implementing the technical aspects of Octane, expressed concern to Christopher that as the SPOC, Crock lacked the necessary understanding of Octane. Wisnousky told Christopher associates would not go to Crock for help with the business application of Octane because she did not know how to use the system. Another member of IT, Wayne Schuster, voiced similar concerns about Crock's knowledge of Octane and the reluctance of OCAs to ask her for help.
In late March and early April, more concerns were raised about Crock's lack of progress on the EMS project. Although Graft had been on medical leave since February 10, 2000, she and Christopher drove to the Des Moines web center to evaluate Crock. They asked Crock to demonstrate Octane, but she was unable to execute the basic functions of the system. Both Christopher and Graft were stunned that two months after the rollout, Crock had not mastered even the basic aspects of the system for which she was the SPOC. Both supervisors were distraught; Christopher told Graft he felt Crock should be terminated. Graft felt particularly responsible because she had recommended Crock for the position.
On April 10, 2000, Graft informally discussed the concerns she and Christopher had with Crock; Graft told her formal action had to be taken. Crock complained that Rhein's conduct was making her work difficult. She said Rhein had embarrassed her at meetings, repeatedly moved her desk, and did not invite her to management meetings. She told Graft she was thinking of filing a formal complaint against Rhein. Graft discouraged Crock from filing a complaint and said she would speak with Christopher about Rhein's conduct. At this point, Crock told Graft for the first time that her brain injury caused short-term memory loss and suggested it might have caused her performance problems.
Christopher and Graft consulted members of the Human Resources Department to formulate a corrective discipline for Crock. Graft and Tamara Thomas ("Thomas") worked on the corrective discipline. Graft expressed that although she was extremely disappointed with Crock's performance, Crock was her friend. Graft said she would issue the discipline because it would be too humiliating to Crock if a member of Human Resources issued it. Graft also expressed Crock's complaints about Rhein and not wanting him involved.
Graft felt all five steps of Sears' progressive discipline procedure were not necessary because Crock was not performing the management functions of her job. After Hoehne and Human Resources Supervisor Sherre Gomis ("Gomis") became involved, it was determined that all five steps would be followed.2
On April 12, 2000, Crock received a "Corrective Discipline" which listed Crock's progress deficiencies and set forth specific deliverables or tasks which Crock was required to complete.3 Crock strongly disagreed with the "tone" of her discipline and felt she had not been properly trained.
On April 18, 2000, Crock contacted Human Resources with questions, including concerns about the deliverables set forth in her corrective discipline. Thomas met with Crock to discuss those issues. Crock brought Thomas into a conference room and showed her a Sears "Harassment and Discrimination in the Workplace" pamphlet. Crock complained that Rhein had been creating an uncomfortable environment for about six weeks. Crock felt her corrective discipline was issued in retaliation for complaining about Rhein. Crock said Rhein never pinched or touched her but he "fostered an environment allowing the unfair treatment of women." When Thomas told Crock she never received a formal complaint, Crock told Thomas "this is as formal as it gets." Thomas requested names and examples of harassment so it could be investigated, but Crock said she had "already named names and would in the future", but would not then provide the information. Thomas told Crock she took the complaint seriously and would talk to her supervisor, Gomis. Crock did not want Gomis involved because Gomis was Rhein's friend and Crock believed she told Rhein about her confidential corrective discipline. Crock asked if Hoehne...
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