Giel v. Architectural Antiques, LLC,

• Decision Date: 26 May 2008
• Docket Number: Court File No. EM 05-4263
• Parties: Sarah Giel, Plaintiff, v. Architectural Antiques, LLC, A Minnesota Corporation, Defendant.
• Court: Minnesota District Court

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Sarah Giel, Plaintiff, v. Architectural Antiques, LLC, A Minnesota Corporation, Defendant.

Court File No. EM 05-4263

District Court of Minnesota, Fourth Judicial District.

May 26, 2008

The above-entitled matter came before the Honorable Robert A. Blaeser, Judge of Hennepin County District Court, on September 19, 2005, on Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment.

Based upon all files, records, and proceedings herein, together with the arguments of counsel,

John A. Fabian, Esq., appeared for and on behalf of Plaintiff,

Michael Iwan, Esq. & Gabrielle Mead, Esq., appeared for and on behalf of Defendant,

ORDER AND MEMORANDUM

ROBERT A. BLAESER, Judge of District Court.

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED:

1. Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment is GRANTED IN PART, and DENIED IN PART. Summary judgment is granted regarding Plaintiff's claim of discrimination by failing to promote, however, Plaintiff's claim of wrongful termination based on pregnancy remains for trial.

2. The attached memorandum is incorporated herein by reference.

MEMORANDUM

Facts

Architectural Antiques (hereinafter "AA") salvages architectural and design elements from buildings that are about to be destroyed, restores the pieces, and sells them. The single Minneapolis retail location employed 7 to12 individuals at the time relevant to this case. The president of the company, Scott Anderson, is ultimately in charge of the store's management, yet he occasionally delegates responsibilities to various individuals, including a store manager. Anderson generally permits the store manager to make personnel decisions for the store, including hiring, firing, promoting, and disciplinary action. The store asserts that it has a record of employing women, especially in management positions.

In April 2002, AA hired Giel as an assistant store manager of the Minneapolis store on an at-will basis. In late 2002 or early 2003, the store manager at that time, Jocelyn Bagge, relocated to Miami and attempted to manage the Minneapolis store from Miami. Anderson asserts that by June 2003, it became apparent that he needed a manager in the Minneapolis location. Anderson began accepting applications for the store manager position in July 2003 by posting the position on Monster.com. He held a store meeting and told the employees that anyone was welcome to apply. Anderson asserts that he also had a conversation with Giel where Anderson told her she should apply if she was interested. Giel never submitted an application.

Giel alleges that during her conversation with Anderson regarding the manager position, Anderson also stated that he "was looking preferably for— a male candidate because of our—our staff ratio at that time and doing salvages and—and some of the things that were associated with the job that were—more manual." (Giel Dep. at 106-07.) Giel asserts that she did not apply for the position because of her gender and the comments made by Anderson. Anderson, on the other hand, maintains that he never made such a comment.

When AA decided to close the Miami store, Bagge expressed interest in the Manager position in the Minneapolis store to Anderson. Anderson told Bagge that she would have to apply for the position, even though she had previously held the position prior to her transfer to the Miami, and had continued to be responsible for the Minneapolis store while she was in Miami.

AA claims it received hundreds of applications, but Anderson's assistant, Holte, narrowed down the group to 20 with whom Anderson and Holte conducted phone interviews. Following the phone interviews, they invited 5 or 6 individuals (2 or 3 women and 2 or 3 men) to the store for in-person interviews. Giel contends that Anderson originally offered the position to a man who worked for K-Mart, but this candidate declined the offer. Anderson ultimately hired Bob Jeffery, who AA described as having experience in furniture design, a background in marketing, experience with computers, and experience managing his own business.

Plaintiff describes Jeffrey's background differently, alleging that Giel was more qualified for the position. At the time Jeffrey applied for AA's position, he was self-employed with a company called "Gryphon Studio" that he was trying to start up. He was the only employee of Gryphon, did not draw or receive a salary from Gryphon, and acknowledged that the company had no paying clients. Prior to Gryphon, Jeffrey worked for Michael's Arts and Crafts, where he served as a master framer in a non-supervisory position. He was part-owner in a company that was involved in print design, slide presentation, and web design.

Giel asserts that she was more qualified for the manager position because she had a Bachelor's Degree in Art History from Western Michigan University, co-owned and operated an antique and home accessories business, and did an excellent job as Assistant Store manager for AA. From January 2003 to September 2003, Giel assumed primary responsibility for day-to-day operations of the store.

AA, on the other hand, alleges that Giel displayed a negative and uncooperative attitude toward Jeffery from the onset of his employment. AA asserts that Anderson decided to fire Giel on June 22, 2003, after Giel handled a customer complaint in a way Anderson found inappropriate. AA claims Giel promised a customer that AA would replace a statuary that was delivered broken without first talking to Jeffery. She then requested that Anderson acquire a replacement piece. Anderson instructed her to talk to Jeffery. She approached Anderson again, without have spoken to Jeffery, at which time Anderson recalls Giel telling him that the employee who delivered the piece admitting to breaking it. Anderson then spoke to the delivery employee, who explained that he had not broken the statuary and would not lie for Giel.

Anderson claims that he immediately decided to fire Giel. He notified Jeffery of his decision, and then without further discussion fired Giel. At the time that Anderson made this decision, he asserts that he was not aware of her pregnancy.

Giel recounts the events leading to her discharge differently. She claims that there were multiple problems with Jeffrey's work that Anderson repeatedly overlooked. She alleges that Jeffrey did not communicate to the staff the direction in which he wanted to take the store and/or lead by example, and that there was a general feeling of ill at ease at the store after Jeffrey started. Because of Jeffrey's shortcomings, staff approached Giel and expressed frustrations with Jeffrey. Giel responded positively to Jeffrey's requests for assistance despite his "stunted communication style" and awkward comments about "breasts" and "boobs." Jeffrey admits to shortcomings in his position including playing solitaire on his computer during work hours, refusing to climb ladders as required by the job, incorrectly adverting the dates of a sale in the Star Tribune, and posting store signs that read "Shabby Sheik" instead of "Shabby Chic," but was never disciplined for any of these incidents.

On December 2, 2003 Jeffrey issued Giel a written warning, indicating that Giel was undermining Jeffrey's authority, making negative comments to other employees behind his back, engaging in "clandestine whispering" and causing him to experience a "general feeling of uneasiness around" around Giel. Jeffrey did not communicate any problems regarding her behavior and/or performance after December 2, 2003. The next day Giel submitted a written response to the warning, which was placed in Giel's file, complaining that women were discriminated against at AA. Giel alleges that Jeffery later discussed her claim of sex discrimination with her, when he stated, "And, you know, sometimes you do have to—it's—who says it's fair. Sometimes you do have to work harder."

Giel also recounts a differing set of facts in regard to the broken piece of merchandise. In 2003, after delivery, a customer complained of a cracked base on a $200.00 statuary. Giel told the customer that AA would replace the base, but would not be able to do so until Spring 2004. AA did not place an order with the manufacturer because Anderson decided not to pay a bill relating to a previous order with the manufacturer. Giel spoke with both AA's human resources representative, Carla Johnson, and Jeffrey about the need for a replacement piece. Giel approached Anderson about getting a replacement because he was the only person within AA who could pay the manufacturer. Anderson asked how the piece was damaged, and she responded that Andy Swingley had delivered the piece. Anderson abruptly left the conversation after Giel stated that Swingley delivered the piece. Later, Swingley told Giel that Anderson told him, that Giel blamed him for the broken piece. Giel stated that she did not blame him for it, and Swingley responded that he knew Giel did not think that he had broken the piece.

Giel told Jeffrey that she was pregnant on or about June 8, 2004. Anderson fired Giel on June 22, 2004 in the presence of Jeffrey and AA's human resources representative, Carla Johnson. No reason was given for the termination. By letter date June 24, 2004, Giel requested that AA provide her with the truthful reasons for her termination, however, AA never responded.

Analysis

Giel brought two claims under the Minnesota Human Rights Act. She alleges discrimination in failure to promote her to the store manager and she alleges that AA improperly terminated her based on her pregnancy. AA now moves for summary judgment on both of her claims.

Summary judgment is appropriate "if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that either party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Minn. R. Civ. P. 56.03 (2004). In a summary judgment motion, evidence is viewed in a light most favorable to the non-moving pa...