E.E.O.C. v. St. Michael Hosp of Franciscan Sisters

• Decision Date: 31 March 1998
• Docket Number: Civil Action No. 96-C-1428.
• Citation: 6 F.Supp.2d 809
• Parties: EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION, Plaintiff, v. ST. MICHAEL HOSPITAL OF FRANCISCAN SISTERS, MILWAUKEE, INC., Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Wisconsin

6 F.Supp.2d 809

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION, Plaintiff, v. ST. MICHAEL HOSPITAL OF FRANCISCAN SISTERS, MILWAUKEE, INC., Defendant.

Civil Action No. 96-C-1428.

United States District Court, E.D. Wisconsin.

March 31, 1998.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Reuben Daniels, Regional Atty., E.E.O.C., Washington, DC, Barbara L. Henderson, Henry Hamilton III, Laurie F. Vasichek, E.E.O.C., Milwaukee, WI, for Plaintiff.

Scott C. Beightol, Steven S. Gensler, Michael Best & Friedrich, Milwaukee, WI, for Defendant.

ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART THE DEFENDANT'S MOTIONS FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

REYNOLDS, District Judge.

In this lawsuit, the plaintiff Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") alleges that the defendant St. Michael Hospital of Franciscan Sisters, Milwaukee, Inc. ("St.Michael") discriminated against Connie Johnson ("Johnson"), a former employee of St. Michael. Specifically, the EEOC claims that St. Michael disciplined, refused to transfer, and ultimately discharged Johnson because she is an African-American (disparate treatment) and because she had leveled claims of discrimination against St. Michael (retaliation). Finally, the EEOC alleges that St. Michael subjected Johnson to a racially hostile work environment. These allegations are within the ambit of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e, et seq.

Currently before the court are two motions for summary judgment on behalf of St. Michael. The first, filed June 12, 1997, seeks dismissal of the hostile environment claim and all claims rooted in allegations of retaliatory, rather than racial, intent. The premise of this motion is that these claims were not included within Johnson's EEOC charge of discrimination, and are therefore now untimely. St. Michael's second motion for summary judgment, filed August 29, 1997, substantively attacks the claims that Johnson was disciplined and discharged because of her race, was denied a transfer because of her race and in retaliation for her complaints of racism, and that Johnson was subjected to a racially hostile work environment. Currently, St. Michael makes only the procedural attack on the retaliatory discipline and discharge claims. The court finds that all of the claims in this suit are timely and that St. Michael's substantive challenges succeed only with regard to the claim that Johnson was denied a transfer based on her race. St. Michael's motions shall be denied in all other respects.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

St. Michael is a health care provider located on Villard Avenue in the city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. One aspect of St. Michael's business is its Family Health Care Center ("FCC") where patients receive family practice health services. Johnson began work for St. Michael as a temporary Medical Assistant in May of 1987. In 1988, Johnson assumed this position on a permanent basis. Johnson held this position until her discharge on October 29, 1992.

The facts submitted for the purposes of these motions, if true, illustrate that several white St. Michael employees were in the habit of making frequent comments of a racial nature. Two employees, Jeanne Ewens and Wendy Seitz, who were allegedly most offensive in this regard, left the employ of St. Michael in 1989 and 1990 respectively.

The following is not exhaustive but illustrates the nature of some of the commentary:

• African-American employees and patients were referred to as "you people."

• Johnson was told that it is more difficult to give injections to African-American patients because their "skin is tougher" than that of white patients.

• Indeed, Johnson was once asked to draw blood from her own "kind," i.e. African-American patients.

• More than once, Johnson was asked by white coworkers to "interpret" what African-American patients were saying.

• One particular coworker, Jeanne Ewes, was in the habit of making racial comments: informing African-American employees when fried chicken or watermelon was being served in the cafeteria and referring to cleaning floors as "nigger work"; and, at least once, such a comment occurred in front of a nurse supervisor who said nothing. When asked to desist, Ewens declared that she would "kiss nobody's black ass." While St. Michael instructed Ewens to overcome her interpersonal problems with Johnson, she was never subject to discipline for her racial comments.

Johnson's verbal complaints to management did not resolve these problems. As early as August 18, 1989, Johnson made a written complaint to management about this racially-oriented behavior. No evidence suggests that St. Michael either investigated the complaint or took steps to address it.

After Ewens and Seitz had left St. Michael, another employee, Sally Anello, continued the racial commentary.

In 1991, Judy Wendel was promoted to the position of nurse manager, Johnson's supervisor. Wendel made racial comments both before and after she was promoted. For example, there is evidence that she made frequent comments that indicated her belief that African-Americans were unintelligent and do not speak "proper" English.

In January 1992, Johnson's coworker, Cheryl Serio, overheard an alleged discussion between Wendel and another worker, Donna Martinez, about St. Michael's hiring practices, which Serio felt was discriminatory in nature. Specifically, Martinez suggested ways to avoid hiring "troublemakers" like "Connie [Johnson]" and several other African-American employees. While Wendel said nothing during this alleged exchange, Serio saw Wendel nodding in apparent agreement. Both Wendel and Martinez deny such conversation ever took place.

Serio related what she heard to Johnson. Several days later, Johnson tape-recorded Serio's account and presented the tape to FCC Medical Director David Smith. Smith cautioned Wendel about racially-oriented comments. Wendel, in turn, expressed her dismay to Johnson that Johnson had taken this issue to Dr. Smith and not to Wendel herself. Wendel expressed a similar sentiment to Serio and threatened Serio's job if Serio repeated the discussion to anyone else.

Wendel recorded in Serio's performance log that this incident marked the beginning of a lot of "discord among employees in FCC and destroyed my trust and confidence in Cheryl [Serio]." Wendel eventually terminated Serio in January 1993. Shortly after the tape incident, the FCC Business Manager, Ross Stein, had received information indicating that Wendel was engaging in racial discrimination. In response, he interviewed the FCC's African-American employees. Within a day of these interviews, Dr. Smith requested Stein's resignation on the grounds that Stein "was promoting racial turmoil." Stein resigned on March 27, 1992.

In June 1992, Johnson complained to Wendel about statements made by Sally Anello that Johnson had taken to be racially offensive. In particular, Johnson heard Anello tell Serio to "keep practicing on blacks" in response to Serio's request to practice drawing blood on Anello. Wendel instructed Johnson' not be defensive and reminded Johnson of the incident involving the tape recording Johnson had made with Serio. Shortly after this conversation, Wendel summoned Johnson and chastised her for misinterpreting Anello's comment. Wendel told Johnson to apologize to Anello and Johnson refused. At this point, Wendel tossed an employee manual across a desk toward Johnson and ordered Johnson to seek psychological counseling for her "problem." As for Anello, her performance evaluation reflected that Anello was told to be more cognizant of how her comments might be interpreted.

Wendel's June 1992 performance log for Johnson stated: "This is not a racial issue! We need a plan! — A strong front!" By this point, Wendel was summoning Johnson to daily meetings and subjecting Johnson to verbal discipline that Johnson perceived as demeaning. Johnson was seen leaving one of these meetings in tears. Wendel also asked other employees about Johnson.

By this point, Johnson decided that her best option might be to apply for the recently posted position of Patient Accounts Representative ("PAR"). While this position was not a promotion in terms of pay, hours, or benefits, it was not supervised by Wendel. Johnson informed Cynthia Jurishica, the person who replaced Stein as the FCC's business manager, of her interest in the PAR position. Soon after, Jurishica interviewed Johnson for the position. While there are some disputes over Johnson's relevant experience, during the interview, Jurishica stated that Johnson's training for the position would not take long because Johnson was already familiar with the PAR's responsibilities. However, Jurishica has testified that she never considered Johnson to be a suitable candidate because of the manner in which she perceived Johnson to interact with others. Nonetheless, at first she did not completely rule Johnson out of the running. On July 10, 1992, Dr. Smith interviewed Johnson. Dr. Smith expressed his desire to hire someone with billing experience. Although Johnson described her experience to Dr. Smith, Johnson felt that she would not be offered the job. On September 4, 1992, Jurishica informed Johnson that Johnson was no longer in the running for the PAR position. The depth of Jurishica's knowledge about Johnson's complaints of racism is in dispute, but it is undisputed that she had discussed Johnson's candidacy with Wendel.

St. Michael's hiring policy favors internal transfers over hiring from the outside and, through September 4, 1992, Johnson was the only internal candidate. On September 11, 1992, Shiela Riley, a white St. Michael employee, applied for the PAR position, at the suggestion of Jill Schwieters, St. Michael's employment supervisor, and was hired shortly thereafter.

Various members of St. Michael's management have proffered reasons for Riley being hired over Johnson including deficiencies in Johnson's experience, Johnson's disciplinary record...