E.E.O.C. v. J.M. Huber Corp.

• Decision Date: 09 April 1991
• Docket Number: No. 90-2046,90-2046
• Citation: 927 F.2d 1322
• Parties: 55 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. 902, 56 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 40,715 EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION, Plaintiff-Appellee. v. J.M. HUBER CORPORATION, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit

Page 1322

927 F.2d 1322

55 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. 902,

56 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 40,715

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION, Plaintiff-Appellee. v. J.M. HUBER CORPORATION, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 90-2046.

United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit.

April 9, 1991.

Anthony J. Sadberry, Sullivan, King & Sabom, Houston, Tex., for defendant-appellant.

Lamont N. White, Washington, D.C., Jerome N. Scanlan, Regional Atty., E.E.O.C., Houston, Tex., for plaintiff-appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas.

Before GARWOOD and WIENER, Circuit Judges, and VELA, ¹ District Judge.

WIENER, Circuit Judge:

After defendant-appellant, J.M. Huber Corporation (Huber), denied a promotion to Brenda Adams and fired her about a month later, Adams filed a joint charge of discrimination with the Texas Commission on Human Rights and with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), plaintiff-appellee, alleging racial discrimination in violation of Sec. 703 of Title VII, 42 U.S.C. Sec. 2000e-2. After Adams filed her Title VII charge against Huber with the EEOC, Huber informed Adams that she could not receive funds that Huber had paid on her behalf into a qualified employee benefit plan until her Title VII charge was resolved. Thereafter, the EEOC, on behalf of Adams, filed suit against Huber alleging that the withholding of benefit plan funds constituted retaliation, in violation of Sec. 704 of Title VII, 42 U.S.C. Sec. 2000e-3(a), for Adams' having filed the previous Title VII charge. Huber appeals from the district court's partial summary judgment on liability for the EEOC, based on that court's finding that Huber's withholding of Adams' benefit plan funds was a per se violation of Title VII. Huber also appeals from the district court's final judgment which awarded Adams $10,350 in damages, plus prejudgment and postjudgment interest, enjoined Huber from withholding benefit plan funds from employees who challenge the termination of their employment, and required Huber to inform employees terminated in the future that the company will not withhold benefits if they file a charge with the EEOC. Finding that the district court erred in granting summary judgment, we vacate the injunction, reverse the judgment in favor of the EEOC, and remand.

I. BACKGROUND

Huber hired Adams in 1982. On December 11, 1985, she was denied a promotion to senior oil revenue clerk, and on December 13, 1985, she was terminated from her position of accounts receivable clerk. On December 18, 1985, Adams filed a joint charge of discrimination with the Texas Commission on Human Rights and with the EEOC which charge alleged, inter alia, that she was denied the promotion and subsequently fired because she was black, in violation of Sec. 703 of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII), 42 U.S.C. Sec. 2000e-2. ²

As an employee of Huber, Adams received, in addition to her salary, certain employee benefits, including participation in a retirement plan and a profit sharing plan (referred to collectively as the "benefit plan"). Under the benefit plan, an employee whose employment with Huber is severed for any reason is entitled to payment of the benefit plan funds. After Huber fired Adams, she completed the appropriate forms to request the payment of funds due her under the benefit plan, which as of December 31, 1985, amounted to $10,350. Huber's manager of personnel notified Adams on February 4, 1986, that, in accordance with Huber company policy, she could not receive the funds until her Title VII charge was resolved. According to Huber, it withholds benefit plan funds from former employees who challenge termination for any reason because, if the terminated employee were later ordered reinstated, the premature benefit payment could jeopardize the benefit plan's qualified tax status.

On February 6, 1986, Adams filed another charge with the EEOC, this time alleging that Huber's withholding of her funds was unlawful retaliation for her having filed the previous Title VII charge, in violation of Sec. 704(a) of Title VII, 42 U.S.C. Sec. 2000e-3(a). ³

II. DISTRICT COURT PROCEEDINGS

On June 19, 1987, the EEOC filed suit against Huber in federal district court, seeking payment of the benefit plan funds due Adams, with prejudgment interest, and an injunction against similar conduct in the future. After limited discovery and the denial of Huber's motion to dismiss, the EEOC filed a motion for partial summary judgment on the issue of liability, and Huber filed a crossmotion for summary judgment. The district court entered partial summary judgment in favor of the EEOC on September 15, 1988. Then, on September 7, 1989, the court entered its final judgment awarding to Adams the $10,350 being held in the benefit plan, together with prejudgment interest running from January 1, 1986 at 8% per annum and postjudgment interest at 8.27% per annum. The district court also entered a company-wide permanent injunction prohibiting Huber from withholding benefit plan funds from former employees who file EEOC charges and requiring employees of Huber's personnel office to inform "employees who are terminated" ⁴ that benefits will not be withheld if they file a charge with the EEOC.

In its opposition to the EEOC's motion for partial summary judgment and in its crossmotion for summary judgment, Huber presented summary judgment evidence that included the deposition testimony and affidavit of Jan Blackwell, Huber's Vice President for Personnel, to support its argument that it had a legitimate, nonretaliatory motive for withholding the plan benefits from Adams. Although the EEOC did not present any summary judgment evidence to controvert that defense, the district court rejected the defense. The district court also rejected Huber's argument that the EEOC was equitably estopped from bringing this case by a 1979 EEOC finding of "no reasonable cause" in a similar case involving another Huber employee.

Because the legality of Adams' dismissal has been settled in favor of the employer, thereby eliminating the possibility of reinstatement, Huber has voluntarily paid Adams the $10,350 principal balance of her account in the benefit plan. Additionally, pending the outcome of this appeal, Huber has deposited funds in the registry of the court in the amount of the district court's award of prejudgment interest.

III.

DISCUSSION

A. Standard of Review

This court reviews the grant of summary judgment motion de novo, using the same criteria used by the district court in the first instance. ⁵ We "review the evidence and inferences to be drawn therefrom in the light most favorable to the non-moving

                party." 6   Summary judgment is proper "if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." 7   A dispute about a material fact is genuine "if the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party." 8   "Material facts" are "facts that might affect the outcome of the suit under the governing law." 9
                

B. Title VII Violation

Huber argues that the district court erred in granting partial summary judgment on liability and that the district court should have applied the McDonnell/Burdine standard set forth in McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, ¹⁰ and clarified in Texas Department of Community Affairs v. Burdine. ¹¹ We agree that the district court did not apply the proper legal standard, and that it erroneously held that Huber committed a per se violation of the antiretaliation provision in Title VII by withholding Adams' benefit plan funds.

Huber contends that both the district court and the EEOC erred in treating this case as a per se violation of the antiretaliation provision of Title VII. Huber further contends that this case should have been analyzed under the McDonnell/Burdine standard as applied to retaliation cases. The McDonnell/Burdine standard ordinarily governs the order and allocation of proof in actions for unlawful retaliation under section 704(a) of Title VII. See McMillan v. Rust College, Inc., 710 F.2d 1112, 1116 (5th Cir.1983) (citing De Anda v. St. Joseph Hosp., 671 F.2d 850, 856 (5th Cir.1982)). As this court explained in McMillan:

Applying these standards to a retaliation case, the plaintiff must first establish a prima facie case of retaliation by showing (1) that she is engaged in an activity protected by Title VII; (2) that an adverse employment action occurred; and (3) that there was a causal connection between the participation in the protected activity and the adverse employment decision. Once the prima facie case is established, the burden of producing some nondiscriminatory reason falls upon the defendant. The employee then assumes the burden of showing that the reasons given were a pretext for retaliation.

McMillan, 710 F.2d at 1116 (citation omitted).

The EEOC argues that the McDonnell/Burdine standard does not apply to this case because Huber acknowledged that it denied the benefit in question simply because the former employee filed a Title VII charge. The EEOC relies in particular on EEOC v. Cosmair, Inc., L'Oreal Hair Care Division. ¹² In Cosmair, this court held that an employer had committed unlawful retaliation by stopping severance pay after the former employee filed a charge with the EEOC. ¹³ Contending that the district court correctly found that Huber committed a per se violation of the antiretaliation provision in Title VII, the EEOC relies on the following language from Cosmair: "Clearly if Cosmair stopped providing [the employee] benefits to which he was otherwise entitled simply because he filed a charge, the company The EEOC also relies on this court's decision in Ramirez v. Sloss. ¹⁶ "In the rare situation in which the evidence establishes that an employer openly...