Dreves v. Hudson Grp. (HG) Retail, LLC
| Decision Date | 12 June 2013 |
| Docket Number | Case No. 2:11-cv-4 |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Vermont |
| Parties | WENDIE DREVES, Plaintiff, v. HUDSON GROUP (HG) RETAIL, LLC, Defendant. |
Wendie Dreves asserts that her former employer, Hudson Group (HG) Retail, LLC ("Hudson") (1) violated federal and Vermont equal pay provisions1 by paying her male successor more than it paid her; (2) understaffed its Burlington operations in a manner that constituted age and gender discrimination2 and required her to perform extra work for which she has not been compensated; (3) wrongfully and discriminatorily discharged her; and (4) failed to pay her for unused vacation time within 72 hours of her discharge. Dreves voluntarily withdrew her wrongful and discriminatory discharge claims, to which her husband was also a party, see Stipulation to Dismiss Claims in Count III of Plaintiff's First Am. Compl., ECF No. 86, but theother claims remain. Before the Court are Dreves's Motion for Partial Summary Judgment on her equal pay claim under the Vermont Fair Employment Practices Act ("VFEPA"), ECF No. 81, and Hudson's Motion for Summary Judgment on all pending claims, ECF No. 88.
For the reasons explained below, the Court grants in part and denies in part Dreves's motion for partial summary judgment. Dreves's motion is granted with respect to Hudson's liability under her Vermont equal pay claim but denied insofar as it pertains to damages. The Court also grants in part and denies in part Hudson's motion for summary judgment. Hudson's motion is granted with respect to Dreves's employment discrimination and quasi-contract claims but denied in respect to Dreves's equal pay and unpaid wages claims.
Hudson employed Dreves as the general manager of its retail operation at Burlington International Airport from September 22, 2003, until September 8, 2010, when Hudson terminated her andreplaced her with Jarrod Dixon. Pl.'s Stmt. ¶ 1. At the time of her termination, Dreves was 58. Before her seven years with Hudson, Dreves spent 16 years in retail management: one year as assistant manager in a fabric store in Wasilla, Alaska; five years as an assistant manager and manager of Brooks pharmacy in Burlington and St. Albans, Vermont; two years as a manager of Jo-Ann Fabric in South Burlington, Vermont; five years as manager of Spencer Gifts, also in South Burlington; and three years as the general manager of the Burlington airport store that was acquired by Hudson in 2003. Id. ¶¶ 4, 6.
When she joined Hudson, Dreves's initial base salary was $34,365, but she received several raises during her seven years with the company. Id. ¶ 15. The responsibilities of the general manager at Burlington International Airport grew during Dreves's tenure, most notably in 2007, when Hudson added two small stores behind the security checkpoint. Def.'s Stmt. ¶ 7. In July 2007, after the additions, Hudson increased Dreves's salary to $45,505. Id. ¶¶ 8-9. Dreves's salary reached $48,230 in 2008, which is where it remained until she was terminated. Id. ¶ 19. According to Hudson, Ms. Dreves did not receive a raise in 2009 because of poor performance; however, Dreves disputes that assertion. Pl.'s Resp. to Def.'s Stmt. ¶ 112, ECF No. 98-1. Dreves did not receive a raise in 2010 because of a company-wide salary freeze. Def.'s Stmt. ¶ 113.
Hudson's Senior Vice President of Operations, Mario Scorcia, became Ms. Dreves's direct supervisor in 2006. Id. ¶ 3. Scorcia had the final say on hiring and firing decisions for the Burlington operations, but Nelson Nieves, Hudson's Regional Human Resource Manager, assisted in employment decisions and overseeing the Burlington operation. Id. ¶¶ 11, 15. In response to several employees' complaints about Dreves, Nieves conducted two investigations in Burlington, one in the summer of 2009 and the second in January 2010. Id. ¶ 21. After speaking with nine different employees, Nieves concluded that Dreves gave unduly preferential treatment to some employees while treating others poorly; that she made inappropriate and abusive remarks to staff members, including commenting about their physical appearance and disclosing confidential medical information; and that she refused to give employees time off for illness unless they found their own replacements. Id. ¶ 22. On February 23, 2010, after conferring with Scorcia, Nieves issued Dreves a formal warning that her abusive behavior would not be tolerated and notified her that any additional infraction would result in her termination. Def.'s Stmt. ¶¶ 62-63. Following further complaints from other employees about Dreves, Scorcia terminated her on September 8, 2010. Id. ¶¶ 82-83. Hudson did not compensate her for threedays' pay and two weeks of unused vacation time until after she filed this suit. Pl.'s Supp. Stmt. ¶ 121, ECF No. 98-1.
While Hudson was preparing to terminate Dreves, Scorcia and Nieves identified Jarrod Dixon as the person they believed was best suited to assume her responsibilities in Burlington. Def.'s Stmt. ¶ 97. Dixon, 42 years old at the time he replaced Dreves, started working at Hudson in 2004 as a magazine manager at Hudson's airport store in Manchester, New Hampshire. Pl.'s Stmt. ¶ 11. Hudson promoted Dixon first to warehouse manager and, in 2008, to assistant general manager. Id. ¶¶ 11-12. By 2010, Nieves and Scorcia considered Dixon to be the assistant general manager who was "next in line" for a promotion to general manager. Def.'s Stmt. ¶ 98. Dixon had a strong record as an assistant manager in Manchester and also had direct experience with the Burlington operations from visits to evaluate and help address problems with Hudson's operation there. Id. ¶ 97.
Accordingly, Scorcia began preparing an offer to persuade Dixon to transfer to Burlington and assume the responsibilities of general manager. Scorcia began by taking Dixon's existing salary of $36,575 and attempting to calculate a comparable salary for Burlington. Id. ¶ 102. Hudson did not have any generally applicable policy or practice of equalizing the after-tax income of its employees to account for variations in state income rates, Pl.'s Stmt. ¶ 38, so Nieves assisted Scorcia by providing informal fact research to determine what differences existed between the two locations. Def.'s Stmt. ¶ 103. Relying on a cost of living that was 12.6 percent higher in Burlington as well as a Vermont income tax rate of 9.5 percent where New Hampshire had none, Nieves calculated that Dixon's existing Manchester salary of $36,575 would have to be increased to $45,085 to give him a comparable salary in Burlington. Pl.'s Stmt. ¶¶ 27-28. That figure served as a starting point. Scorcia determined that more would be needed to induce Dixon to relocate his family, as his wife had a part-time job in Manchester and his children were in school there. Def.'s Stmt. ¶ 107; Pl.'s Stmt. ¶ 54. Scorcia added approximately $5,000 and offered Dixon $50,000 per year if he took the job. Def.'s Stmt. ¶ 108. Dixon turned down Scorcia's opening offer and told him that it was insufficient for him to move his family to Burlington. Id. ¶ 109. Dixon requested $55,000, but he and Scorcia met halfway and settled on a salary of $52,500. Id. ¶ 110. Hudson also compensated Dixon for $5,000 in moving expenses. Pl.'s Stmt. ¶ 67.
Nieves's tax calculations proved to be incorrect. The actual Vermont tax on Dixon's assistant manager salary of $36,575 would have been only $229, or 0.63 percent of hissalary. Id. ¶ 37. How Nieves arrived at the cost-of-living assessment is unclear. Nieves states that he calculated it by comparing the house and food prices for Burlington and Manchester; however, he does not remember what websites he consulted nor does he have a record of how he made the calculation. Def.'s Stmt. ¶ 106; Pl.'s Stmt. ¶¶ 40-43. Hudson conducted no inquiry into Dixon's wife's employment or her prospects for employment upon moving to Burlington. Pl.'s Stmt. ¶¶ 64-65.
Dreves also alleges that Hudson discriminated against her by deliberately understaffing its Burlington operation. According to Dreves, she covered the gaps created by Hudson's understaffing by working extra days as well as double shifts. Pl.'s Resp. Def.'s Stmt. ¶ 70.
The following table shows the total number of hours worked by all of Hudson's Burlington employees during Dreves's last three years as general manager as well as Dixon's first year:
Pl.'s Resp. Def.'s Stmt. ¶ 12. Several times during Dreves's time as general manager of the Burlington operation, Nieves approved requests to hire new staff. Def.'s Stmt. ¶ 15. In 2008, Hudson was acquired by the Swiss company Dufry AG, which initiated cost-saving measures, including more careful management of payroll expenditures. Id. ¶ 10. In 2008 and 2009, Hudson imposed a company-wide hiring freeze, resulting in no expansion of staffing during those years. Id. ¶ 86; Pl.'s Resp. Def.'s Stmt. ¶ 86 (). In 2010 and 2011, Hudson lifted the hiring freeze, but a "chill" remained in place to fill positions on an as-needed basis. Pl.'s Resp. Def.'s Stmt. ¶ 12. Two employees who were planning to leave Hudson in 2010 changed their minds upon learning that Dreves was being terminated; however,...
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