EEOC v. Northwest Airlines

• Decision Date: 04 August 1999
• Docket Number: No. 98-1667,98-1667
• Parties: (6th Cir. 1999) Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Northwest Airlines, Inc., Defendant-Appellee. Argued:
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit

Page 695

188 F.3d 695 (6th Cir. 1999)

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Northwest Airlines, Inc., Defendant-Appellee.

No. 98-1667

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT

Argued: August 4, 1999

Decided and Filed: September 13, 1999

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan at Detroit, No. 96-74280--Bernard A. Friedman, District Judge.

Robert K. Dawkins, Trial Attorney, E.E.O.C., Detroit, MI, Barbara L. Sloan, EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION, OFFICE OF GENERAL COUNSEL, Washington, D.C., for Appellant. Jean F. Holloway, DORSEY & WHITNEY LLP, Minneapolis, Minnesota, for Appellee.

Donna J. Donati, George D. Mesritz, Miller, Canfield, Paddock & Stone, Detroit, MI, Max C. Heerman, Clifford S. Anderson, Jean F. Holloway, DORSEY & WHITNEY LLP, Minneapolis, Minnesota, for Appellee.

Before: NELSON and MOORE, Circuit Judges; McKEAGUE, ^* District Judge.

MOORE, J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which McKEAGUE, D. J., joined. NELSON, J. (p. 703), delivered a separate concurring opinion.

OPINION

KAREN NELSON MOORE, Circuit Judge.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) brought this suit in the Eastern District of Michigan on behalf of Gloria Hamilton and other African-American employees of Northwest Airlines, Inc.'s (Northwest's) Detroit Cargo facility. The district court, noting that the complaint was based in part on a consent decree entered by the district court for the District of Minnesota, transferred the case there. The district court for the District of Minnesota granted Northwest summary judgment on certain of the EEOC's claims, but transferred one remaining claim back to the Eastern District of Michigan. The district court for the Eastern District of Michigan then granted Northwest summary judgment with respect to this last claim. The EEOC appealed to this court from the final judgment of the Eastern District of Michigan.

We REVERSE and REMAND for further proceedings.

I. FACTS AND PROCEDURE

Hamilton began working for Northwest in 1967 as a Transportation Agent in Detroit. Northwest promoted Hamilton a number of times until she reached her current position, Cargo Service Manager.

The EEOC alleges that since May 1995, Hamilton and other African-American employees witnessed and were exposed to incidents of harassment, some of which were directly related to race, and other incidents that they perceived as race-related. These incidents are outlined below.

In early 1995 Hamilton attended a Northwest conference. After a well-done presentation by another manager, Charlie Anhut, someone said "three kudos for Charlie." Another manager then said "Is that three, now making it KKK." J.A. at 86 (EEOC Aff. of Hamilton).

On May 21, an employee reported a sign hanging in the facility warehouse. The sign was soliciting members for the Michigan Militia. The sign also said "no tree-huggin' _____". The last word was crossed out, but Hamilton attests that she believed the omitted word to be "niggers," as she was familiar with the phrase "tree huggin' nigger." J.A. at 174 (Aff. of Hamilton). A Customer Service Manager, Frank Sundquist, threw the sign out. Hamilton complained to Ken Gray, the District Manager, and Julie Lewis, Director of Human Resources. Gray expressed alarm but did not investigate; Lewis told Hamilton that it was Hamilton's responsibility to deal with such incidents.

On May 22, a noose was found hanging in the employee lunch room. Hamilton claims there was no investigation of this incident.

Later in 1995 a metal object resembling the Black Sambo characters turned up in Hamilton's work area, which she shared with three white managers. Hamilton viewed this object as racist.

Hamilton took a leave of absence after the death of her son. Upon her return, she found a cartoon of Christopher Robin and Winnie the Pooh taped to the door of a central work area. Christopher Robin was saying to Pooh: "So you see Pooh, Life just basically sucks + then you DiE! DEAL With it!" J.A. at 185. Hamilton interpreted this sign as an insult directed at the death of her son.

In the fall of 1995 employees discovered a drawing on the floor of the warehouse labeled the "CSA safety zone." J.A. at 88. The symbol was a circle divided into thirds with sets of double dots at the inner point of each third of the circle. Hamilton learned that the symbol represented what a black man sees after he is thrown into a well by members of the Ku Klux Klan.

Northwest offers some evidence that it responded to these incidents. Ken Gray, the district manager above Hamilton, attested that Hamilton told him about the Michigan Militia sign but she did not inform him that she interpreted it as being racist. Hamilton claims she did tell Gray she was offended by the sign due to her race. When he later learned at the onset of this action that Hamilton thought it was racist, he interviewed some employees, but decided that no action was necessary. Gray claimed that he was not aware of the noose in the lunchroom, and that he never heard about the Winnie-the-Pooh sign or the Black Sambo figure. Hamilton disputes part of this, saying that Gray was e-mailed about the noose incident. Gray was aware of the "CSA Safety Zone" symbol, but says he was not aware that it was a Ku Klux Klan symbol. He ordered that it be washed off because he felt it represented an ongoing dispute between two groups of employees and that it was inappropriate.

Ken Gray further attests that in September 1995 he issued a bulletin regarding alleged incidents of harassment. Northwest's Vice President of Cargo for North America and Europe John Williams held group meetings to address harassment concerns. Hamilton alleges that no group meetings were held to deal with harassment.

The EEOC alleges that other African-American employees were affected by the incidents above as well as other incidents. Lolita Kelly attests that she saw the Michigan Militia sign and the noose in the lunchroom. Steve Dyer attests that he saw the Ku Klux Klan symbol in a restroom at the facility. Dyer also saw graffiti on the wall of the restroom calling the Million Man March the "Million Monkey March" and graffiti saying that "crime was low because all the niggers are in Washington." J.A. at 180 (Aff. of Dyer). He complained to his supervisor who allegedly did nothing. He also saw the Ku Klux Klan symbol on the locker of an employee who sometimes walked around carrying a noose. ¹ Finally, Willie Jones attests that another employee showed him a picture of gorillas in a tree and asked him if it was his family tree. After he complained, management sent him a letter saying that his claims could not be substantiated but that they had nonetheless formally coached the employee who had insulted him. Julie Lewis attests that Hamilton was Jones's supervisor, and that he should have complained to her.

Hamilton filed a charge with the Michigan Department of Civil Rights and the EEOC in December 1995. The charge included certain of the incidents listed above, in addition to a charge that Hamilton was denied promotion to a district manager position in 1995. In September 1996 the EEOC filed a complaint against Northwest alleging that Hamilton was subjected to racial harassment in violation of §703(a) of Title VII (42 U.S.C. §2000e-2(a)(1)). The EEOC claimed that Northwest had failed to comply with a consent decree, entered in a class action suit, Aburime v. Northwest Airlines, Inc., C.A. No. 3-89-402, that prohibited Northwest from engaging in or permitting racial harassment of its employees. The consent decree had been entered by the district court for the District of Minnesota.

Northwest filed a motion to dismiss the EEOC's suit for improper venue, arguing that any challenge to the Aburime consent decree must be brought in the District of Minnesota. The district court, disagreeing with Northwest, found that venue for the case was proper in the Eastern District of Michigan pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §1391(b)(2) (which explains that venue is proper in "a judicial district in which a substantial part of the events or omissions giving rise to the claim occurred"), and thus refused to dismiss or transfer the case under 28 U.S.C. §1406(a) (transfer or dismissal for improper venue). The district court granted Northwest's motion to transfer pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §1404(a), however, which allows for transfer in the district court's discretion to any other proper district when it furthers the convenience of parties and witnesses and is in the interest of justice. The Aburime consent decree mandated that any grievances alleging noncompliance must be brought "by motion with the Court." J.A. at 20 (1/22/97 Op. & Order of E.D. Mich.). The district court in Michigan interpreted the consent decree as requiring such grievance actions to be brought before the district court for the District of Minnesota.

The EEOC then filed an amended complaint in the District of Minnesota. This complaint referred in its opening paragraph to "unlawful employment practices on the basis of race and sex." J.A. at 22. The complaint also noted that in addition to Hamilton, "[Northwest] has also subjected other persons similarly situated to racial harassment in violation of Title VII." J.A. at 24. The EEOC sought general injunctive relief and compensatory and punitive damages to make Hamilton and the others whole.

Northwest thereafter filed a motion to compel arbitration with respect to claims related to Hamilton and to dismiss all other claims pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). Judge Alsop of the district court for the District of Minnesota, treating Northwest's motion to dismiss as a motion for summary judgment, denied the EEOC's attempt to dismiss its claims without prejudice, granted summary judgment with respect to the EEOC's claims of sex-based harassment, dismissed the EEOC's claims that were based on the consent decree, and...