Filter Specialists, Inc. v. Brooks
| Decision Date | 28 December 2007 |
| Docket Number | No. 46A05-0704-CV-203.,46A05-0704-CV-203. |
| Citation | 879 N.E.2d 558 |
| Parties | FILTER SPECIALISTS, INC., Appellant-Petitioner, v. Dawn BROOKS and Charmaine Weathers, Appellees-Respondents, and Michigan City Human Rights Commission, Appellee-Intervenor. |
| Court | Indiana Appellate Court |
Timothy W. Woods, Jones Obenchain, LLP, Attorney for Appellant.
Shaw R. Friedman, Friedman & Associates, P.C., LaPorte, IN, Attorney for Appellees Dawn Brooks and Charmaine Weathers.
Lawrence W. Arness, Michigan City, IN, Attorney for Appellee Michigan City Human Rights Commission.
Filter Specialists, Inc., appeals from the trial court's order affirming the decision of the Michigan City Human Rights Commission (the "Commission"), which found Filter took adverse employment action against two employees, Dawn Brooks and Charmaine Weathers (referred to collectively as the "Employees"), based on their race.1 Filter raises five issues, which we restate as: (1) whether Filter was subject to the Commission's jurisdiction; (2) whether the Commission's decision cannot stand based on the Employees' failure to introduce the local ordinance proscribing racial discrimination by employers; (3) whether the trial court abused its discretion in granting the Commission's motion to be joined as a party; (4) whether sufficient evidence supports the Commission's decision; and (5) whether the evidence supports the Commission's award of back pay. We conclude Filter has waived its jurisdictional argument, the Employee's failure to introduce the applicable ordinance is not fatal, and the trial court properly joined the Commission as a party. However, concluding the Commission's decision was not supported by sufficient evidence, we reverse.2
On March 5, 2003, the Employees arrived at Filter at approximately 7:00 a.m., the time their shift began. Weathers, who was driving, stopped her car near one of the facility's entrances ("Entrance 1") and dropped off Brooks. Weathers then parked her car and proceeded into the facility via a different entrance ("Entrance 2"). Diana Wirtz, Filter's human resources manager, arrived at roughly the same time as the Employees and observed their arrival. Wirtz watched Weathers exit her car, walk toward Entrance 2, and pass two other Filter employees, James Cazy and LeRoy Shark, who were leaving the facility after finishing their shift. At the same time, Wirtz saw Eric Gordon, another Filter employee, exit the facility. Wirtz then entered the facility through Entrance 1 and waited by the time clock for Weathers, whom Wirtz testified did not arrive. At this point, Wirtz became suspicious, and checked Filter's time clock records.
Filter's facility has two time clocks. One time clock ("Time Clock 1") is located near Entrance 1. The other ("Time Clock 2") is located near Entrance 2. Employees clock in by entering their employee number followed by the "enter" key. The clocks run on a sixty-second cycle, so employees' clock-in times are shown in hours and minutes, but not seconds.
Filter's records indicate that Brooks and Weathers both clocked in at 7:01 a.m. on Time Clock 1, that Cazy and Shark had clocked out at 7:00 a.m., and that Gordon had clocked out at 7:01 am. Based on her observations and the time clock records, Wirtz determined that Brooks had clocked in Weathers. Such action is a violation of Filter's conduct policy and, according to Filter's handbook, requires either a suspension or termination. Wirtz notified Mike Forbes, Filter's production manager and the Employees' supervisor, that the Employees had violated Filter's time clock rule and recommended that the Employees be terminated. Forbes did not want to terminate the Employees, as he believed they were both good workers. Wirtz and Forbes took the matter to Bernie Faulkner, Filter's COO. After discussing the matter, the three decided not to terminate the Employees if they signed a "last chance agreement," in which they would admit the violation.
Wirtz and Forbes met with the Employees separately and presented each of them with the "last chance agreement." Both Employees refused to sign the agreement and denied violating the timecard policy. Weathers claimed that she clocked herself in at Time Clock 1 at 7:01 a.m., and that she did not see Wirtz when she clocked in. She claimed that she entered the facility through Entrance 2, and then ran to Time Clock 1 to clock in. Brooks denied entering Weathers's employee number. Forbes then terminated both Employees.
The Employees filed a complaint alleging employment discrimination with the Commission, which held a hearing on April 20, 2005. On August 18, 2005, the Commission entered its decision, finding that Filter had discriminated against the Employees based on their race. Along with its decision, the Commission entered the following relevant conclusions:3
3. The Claimants in this case have met the burden of proof to establish a prima facie case of racial discrimination. Both claimants are African American women, who, according to the supervisor, Mr. Forbes, were good employees that the company did not want to lose. The testimony provided during the hearing in this matter further demonstrates that other Caucasian employees of the company who engage in far more egregious behavior than that the Claimants were accused of received far less severe forms of discipline for their actions. In fact, Mr. Forbes testified that he did in fact have the choice of either suspending or terminated [sic] the Claimants in this matter, and he chose to terminate them. Finally, the Claimants have proven that the company did in fact take adverse employment action against them....
4. In fact, as noted in Exhibits E and F to the hearing transcript in this case, the Michigan City Human Rights Department, following an investigation into the [C]laimants['] allegations of racial discrimination, did in fact find probable cause existed to support the Claimants['] charges, noting in their findings the lack of eyewitnesses to the alleged incident, the fact that the time clock records reflected other employees punching in at the same time on occasion and the lack of discipline for those employees.[4] * * *
The testimony and evidence presented during the hearing clearly support the [C]laimants' position in this matter. The company has failed to provide sufficient evidence to support their termination of the claimants. The company itself admits that they have no witnesses who actually saw the alleged time clock incident, and also admits that with two time clocks in the facility, it is possible for more than one individual to have punched in at the same time, either utilizing the same time clock or separate clocks.5 The company further admitted that neither of these employees had any history of fraud or misrepresentation during their tenure with the company, and in fact both adamantly denied this incident. In addition, neither claimant was in danger of being terminated due to point accumulation even had they both punched in late that day.6 The company can offer no evidence or witnesses to support their [sic] position in this matter, and have completely failed to provide any legitimate, non-discriminatory reason for the Claimant's [sic] discharge. In fact, other employees received much less discipline for far greater offenses, including throwing tools at another employee and even walking off the job. Yet, the company chose to terminate the Claimants in this matter, for an alleged offense which no one witnessed and that the evidence fails to support, and which the Claimants' denied. It is clear from the evidence in this matter that the stated reasons by the company for termination were pretextual and it was in fact the Claimant's [sic] race which was the motivating factor behind their discharge.
Appellant's App. at 11-13. Filter filed a petition for review in the trial court. The Commission filed a motion to be joined as a party-defendant, and the trial granted this motion. After a hearing, the trial court affirmed the Commission's decision. Filter now appeals.
Filter argues that the Commission's decision cannot stand because the Employees did not introduce the Michigan City Human Rights Ordinance into evidence during the agency proceeding. Filter argues that this failure is fatal to the Employees' claim, as without the ordinance in evidence, the Employees failed to prove that Filter violated the ordinance's terms. In making this argument, Filter relies on caselaw holding that a court will not take judicial notice of a local ordinance, and that a party must instead introduce evidence of the ordinance's existence and content. See Gonon v. State, 579 N.E.2d 614, 614 (Ind.Ct.App.1991) (); Maish v. Town of Schererville, 486 N.E.2d 1, 1 (Ind.Ct.App.1985) ( ). However, the cases are no longer good law, as they were all decided before 1994, when our supreme court adopted Indiana Rule of Evidence 201(b), which indicates, "[a] court may take judicial notice of ... ordinances of municipalities." See also City of Crown Point v. Misty Woods Props., LLC, 864 N.E.2d 1069, 1074 n. 2 (Ind.Ct.App.2007) ().
Filter recognizes this rule,7 but argues that "[t]o prove an ordinance by judicial notice, it must be brought to the attention of the trier of fact during the hearing." Appellant's Br. at 13. This statement is incorrect for two reasons. First, the rule provides that a court may take judicial notice at any point, including on appeal. See Ind. Evid. Rule 201(f); Journal-Gazette Co., Inc. v. Bandido's, Inc., 712 N.E.2d 446, 460 n. 20 (Ind.1999) (...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Prime Mortgage Usa, Inc. v. Nichols
... ... However, Hudak was decided prior to Indiana's adoption of Evidence Rule 201. See Filter Specialists, Inc. v. Brooks, 879 N.E.2d 558, 566 (Ind.Ct.App. 2007) (distinguishing cases ... ...
- Filter Specialists, Inc. v. Brooks
- Yeager v. Morris
- Yeager v. Morris