D'Angelo v. Vanguard Grp.
| Decision Date | 10 November 2022 |
| Docket Number | Civil Action 21-4813 |
| Parties | JOHN J. D'ANGELO v. VANGUARD GROUP, INC. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Pennsylvania |
A fifty-year-old employee can allege his new boss fired him because of his age when the employer hires a substantially younger employee to perform the same job. But the terminated employee needs to eventually adduce evidence of the employer's discriminatory animus based upon age. Judges will test allegations for supporting facts before summoning citizens for a jury. Allegations without evidence creating issues of fact are not triable.
We today evaluate evidence following allegations and speculations arising from Vanguard Group, Inc.'s decision to fire long-time employee John J. D'Angelo: a few months after his fiftieth birthday; weeks after his new boss mentioned his possible retirement date in their first meeting; and, days after Vanguard completed an extensive investigation of repeatedly demonstrated claims questioning Mr. D'Angelo's professional conduct. Vanguard hired a substantially younger replacement three months later. Our issue is whether Vanguard fired him for illegal reasons.
Mr D'Angelo fails to adduce evidence of Vanguard's discriminatory animus after an extended discovery period. He instead chooses to argue a long-discarded causation standard and either cites facts harming his arguments or offers no facts. He then suggests we should not believe the Vanguard documented reasons from several co-workers. He offers no reason not to do so. We find no genuine issues of material fact based upon the adduced record nor evidence of discriminatory animus as a matter of law requiring we enter summary judgment for Vanguard.
John J D'Angelo. began working for Vanguard Group, Inc. as a twenty-four-year-old man in September 1995.[2] Twelve employees reported to Mr. D'Angelo in late 2020.[3]Mr. D'Angelo then served as a team leader of Vanguard's Production Readiness team, a team within one of three larger groups.[4] Mr. D'Angelo in turn reported to his direct supervisor, Pam Talarico.[5]
Vanguard installed forty-four-year-old Robert Whitesel as a senior manager in late 2020 responsible for leading Vanguard's Technology Research and Response Group.[6]Manager Talarico reported to Senior Manager Whitesel.[7]Senior Manager Whitesel served as the second-level manager for Mr. D'Angelo.
Senior Manager Whitesel began holding one-on-one meetings with individual employees within his reporting lines including Mr. D'Angelo when he became a senior manager.[8]Mr. D'Angelo, then fifty years old, alleges Senior Manager Whitesel told him during their meeting:
Mr. D'Angelo speculates Senior Manager Whitesel then “performed a secret calculation” to determine Mr. D'Angelo's retirement date.[10]The “secret calculation” is Vanguard's retirement policy to which Senior Manager Whitesel testified: when age plus years of service equal seventy-five, an employee is eligible for retirement benefits.[11]Senior Manager Whitesel swore he did not make a comment to Mr. D'Angelo regarding his eligibility for retirement, but conceded “I did do some quick math, once he [Mr. D'Angelo] told me that he was 50 years old, and he shared he was at Vanguard for 26 years, that he was retirement eligible.”[12]
Vanguard reviews an early February 2021 complaint about Mr. D'Angelo.
Pregnant employee S.L. reported directly to Mr. D'Angelo.[13]She contacted Vanguard's “Crew Relations” department in early February 2021.[14]S.L. reported Mr. D'Angelo treated her differently because she took childcare leave and because she anticipated taking maternity leave.[15]Vanguard's “Crew Relations Specialist” Jennifer Boschi reviewed S.L.'s complaint and then met with S.L. on February 3, 2021. Specialist Boschi took contemporaneous notes during her meeting with S.L. and kept the notes in an investigation file consistent with her practice.[16]
S.L. told Specialist Boschi, among other things: S.L. felt as if taking childcare leave would “backfire on her”; when she told Mr. D'Angelo she had to take childcare leave in November and December 2020, he responded in a team meeting, she “might as well take the rest of this year off or next year off”; she considered “quitting multiple times”; and felt she “was going to be pushed out because she isn't going to be able to tolerate this type of behavior.”[17]Mr. D'Angelo denies making these reported statements.[18]
S.L. provided Mr. Boschi with additional examples of conduct by Mr. D'Angelo she objected to later on February 3 and the next day, February 4.[19]Specialist Boschi met again with S.L. on February 18, 2021 where S.L. reported Mr. D'Angelo said to her: “You are a pain in my neck,” a comment S.L. believed unprofessional.[20]
Specialist Boschi investigates S.L.'s complaints.
Specialist Boschi investigated S.L.'s complaints by speaking with other members of Mr. D'Angelo's team.[21]Specialist Boschi emailed Senior Manager Whitesel on March 4, 2021 to introduce herself, notify him of S.L.'s reported concern regarding Mr. D'Angelo, and schedule a meeting “to put the situation on your radar.”[22]Mr. D'Angelo does not dispute Specialist Boschi sent her March 4, 2021 email to Senior Manager Whitesel; he instead concludes - again with no evidence - the email is “untruthful and manufactured to justify disparate treatment.”[23]
Specialist Boschi told Senior Manager Whitesel of her approach and plan to further investigate.[24] Specialist Boschi interviewed seven employees from March 8 to March 11, 2021 who reported, or had recently reported, to Mr. D'Angelo.[25]Specialist Boschi, again consistent with her practice, took notes of the interviews. Six of the seven interviewed employees reported inappropriate conduct or comments by Mr. D'Angelo including: making an inappropriate comment about an employee who had eye surgery by joking he would make a “pirate noise” because the employee would be wearing an eye patch; creating a “toxic environment”; starting “weird rumors” he believed funny but the employee did not think should have been made by a team leader; making jokes at the expense of other employees; making inappropriate comments about his ex-wife and their relationship; commenting some employees should “shut up”; making inappropriate comments about his personal relationships; creating a hostile environment causing one employee to be afraid of retaliation; appearing unannounced and uninvited to the home of one of his direct reports; general unprofessional conduct; commenting about an Indian employee's food brought to an event because of the smell of curry; and commenting on the pronunciation of Indian employees' names and of employees of different origin.[26]Specialist Boschi also reviewed Mr. D'Angelo's employment history at Vanguard and found documents confirming he violated Vanguard's Fair Treatment and Professional Conduct policies in 2002, 2011, 2012, 2014, and 2015.[27] Specialist Boschi summarizes her findings to Senior Manager Whitesel on March 17 and then interviews Manager Talarico and Mr. D'Angelo.
Specialist Boschi summarized her interviews with crew members with Senior Manager Whitesel on March 17, 2021.[28]She reported several instances where Mr. D'Angelo violated Vanguard's Fair Treatment and Professional Conduct policies.[29]Specialist Boschi had not yet interviewed Mr. D'Angelo's direct supervisor Manager Talarico or Mr. D'Angelo.
Specialist Boschi interviewed Manager Talarico on March 18, 2021.[30] Manager Talarico had no role in the investigation and did not know who Specialist Boschi interviewed as part of the investigation.[31]
Specialist Boschi interviewed Mr. D'Angelo a day later.[32]Mr. D'Angelo denied all allegations made by the crew members.[33]Vanguard put Mr. D'Angelo on administrative leave after his interview with Specialist Boschi on March 19, 2021.[34]
Vanguard fires Mr. D'Angelo.
Specialist Boschi swore she evaluated all the gathered data and found the crew members more credible than Mr. D'Angelo.[35]Specialist Boschi swore she found a pattern in Mr. D'Angelo's treatment of the six people she interviewed but Mr. D'Angelo did not agree. She could not find Mr. D'Angelo believable.[36]
Specialist Boschi spoke with Senior Manager Whitesel on March 19, 2021 and recommended terminating Mr. D'Angelo for violating Vanguard's Fair Treatment and Professional Conduct policies.[37]Senior Manager Whitesel agreed and recommended Mr. D'Angelo's termination based on Specialist Boschi's findings.[38]Specialist Boschi prepared a Crew Relations Termination Record on March 19, 2021 documenting the “management business justification” for Mr. D'Angelo's termination.[39] There is no dispute Senior Manager Whitesel alone decided to fire Mr. D'Angelo.[40] Senior Manager Whitesel swore he fired Mr. D'Angelo because Specialist Boschi “completed an investigation that had identified several violations of both our personal conduct and fair treatment policies that paired with his performance history in several instances and in his ... previous roles, similar behaviors led to the decision to terminate his employment.”[41]
Manager Talarico hires a younger man to fill Mr. D'Angelo's position.
Manager Talarico posted an opening for the Production...
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