Glunt v. Ges Exposition Services, Inc.
| Citation | 123 F.Supp.2d 847 |
| Decision Date | 11 December 2000 |
| Docket Number | No. AW-99-3013.,AW-99-3013. |
| Parties | Yolanda Michiel GLUNT, Plaintiff, v. GES EXPOSITION SERVICES, INC., et al., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Maryland |
Omar V. Melehy, Melehy & Melehy, Silver Spring, MD, for plaintiff.
Vincent John Colatriano, Cooper, Carvin & Rosenthal, Washington, DC, David H. Thompson, Rachel L. Brand, Washington, DC, for defendants.
Currently pending before the Court is Defendants' joint motion for summary judgment and Defendant Viad's separate motion for summary judgment as to all counts of Plaintiff's claims. This case arises from a series of events resulting in the demotion and resignation of Plaintiff, Yolanda Glunt, from her employment at GES Exposition Services ("GES"). Plaintiff alleges that certain adverse actions were taken against her by her supervisors at GES based upon her pregnancy and her intent to take maternity leave. According to Plaintiff, this conduct amounted to pregnancy harassment and discrimination in violation of Title VII and the Family and Medical Leave Act. Additionally, Plaintiff contends that Defendants engaged in a pattern of paying her less than male employees performing substantially similar work and duties in violation of the Equal Pay Act, Title VII, the Maryland Equal Pay for Equal Work Act, and the Maryland Wage and Payment and Collection Law. The Defendants' joint motion has been fully briefed by all parties. Plaintiff failed to respond to Defendant Viad's separate motion for summary judgment. The Court held a hearing on the pending motions on December 1, 2000. Upon consideration of the arguments made in support of, and opposition to, the respective motions, the Court makes the following determinations.
GES is a corporation that assists trade associations and other organizations in producing and managing events, such as trade shows. According to the corporate hierarchy of GES, Account Executives hold primary responsibility for overseeing all facets of client events. Formal job duties include managing the show's budget, supervising all employees assigned to the event, facilitating communications among the parties involved, and rectifying any errors or oversights committed by other employees working on the show. For particularly large events, multiple Account Executives could be assigned to one event where one would be designated as the lead Account Executive. The Account Executive position had a salary range of $38,800 - $62,200.
Project Coordinators, now known as Account Coordinators, perform many of the same tasks that Account Executives perform. However, Project Coordinators are subordinate to Account Executives. Additionally, Project Coordinators are not officially responsible for the ultimate success of the promoted event. Project Coordinators are commonly named as Account Executives for particular shows. The salary for Project Coordinators ranged from $22,640 - $33,960.
In 1990, Plaintiff was hired by Andrews Bartlett, a company that offered exposition services. Andrews Barlett was soon thereafter acquired by GES. Following the acquisition, Plaintiff continued her prior work as a customer service representative for five years eventually rising to the position of Senior Customer Service Representative. Over the years, she received favorable performance evaluations leading to merit raises in 1992, 1993, 1994 and 1995.
In June of 1995, Plaintiff was promoted from her position as Senior Customer Service Representative to Project Coordinator. Her starting salary as Project Coordinator was $27,255. It is undisputed that Plaintiff's performance as Project Coordinator was outstanding and that she received favorable performance appraisals from her supervisors. A year later, she received another merit increase raising her salary to $28,346. By September 1996, Plaintiff's salary was raised to $30,046 based upon a favorable recommendation by her supervisor, Diana Simmons. The recommending memorandum stated that "[s]ince [Plaintiff] has taken on the role of Project Coordinator, she has gone way beyond the roles and responsibilities of the position." (Pl.'s Opp'n to Def.'s Mot. Summ.J., Interoffice Memorandum, Ex. B.) The memo noted that, in her two-year tenure as Project Coordinator, Plaintiff not only assisted senior Account Executives on major shows, but also assumed the role of Account Executive on several events. The memo also noted that Plaintiff turned down a job offer from a competitor to remain with GES. In addition to her formal responsibilities as Project Coordinator, Plaintiff performed additional tasks that included preparing a monthly show schedule assigning Project Coordinators and Account Executives to particular shows, overseeing customer relations during shows as "GES Ambassador," planning monthly staff meetings, training convention employees, and managing supplies as "Deputy Supply Manager." In 1997, she received yet another merit increase raising her salary as Project Coordinator to $31,349. Although supervisors suggested that she seek the position of Account Executive, Plaintiff declined because the salary initially offered to her as an Account Executive was below her earnings as a Project Coordinator when taking overtime pay into account.
Later in 1997, Plaintiff was assigned to the IMAGES project. The IMAGES project was a software development initiative that was intended to increase the efficiency of trade show productions. Her duties on the project included documenting business processes, designing and developing information systems and a training manual, facilitating communications with software developers, and managing other employees' time and other project-related tasks. Plaintiff played a highly important role on the project to the extent that she became an "expert." As a result, her responsibilities to the IMAGES project consumed a significant amount of her time.
After eight years of service, in February 1998, GES offered Plaintiff promotion to Account Executive. The offer included an annual salary of $42,000 with an auto allowance of $350.00 per month. Plaintiff accepted this position because she was erroneously informed that Project Coordinators would no longer be eligible for overtime pay. After her promotion, Plaintiff continued to work on the IMAGES Project in addition to assuming the duties of an Account Executive. In June 1998, Plaintiff informed two of her supervisors, Sue Harvey and Diana Simmons, of her pregnancy.
After learning of Plaintiff's pregnancy, Harvey asked Plaintiff on several occasions to lift up her shirt so that Harvey could see her stomach. After complying with Harvey's request twice, Plaintiff objected upon the third request. Harvey relented and did not make any further requests for Plaintiff to expose her stomach. Harvey also remarked that Plaintiff "waddled." Diana Simmons questioned whether Plaintiff was pregnant because she was not showing, but later called her "fat." Harvey failed to invite Plaintiff to an Account Executive meeting while the other Account Executives were extended an invitation. During a show, Harvey told Plaintiff that she could not go onto the show floor because she was pregnant and limited her duties to preparing for the show.
In July 1998, GES hired Keith Roe to supervise the national implementation of the IMAGES program. After Roe took over the IMAGES project, Plaintiff began to feel as if she was being shut out of the project. She was not included in meetings among IMAGES project team managers. Prior to Roe's coming, Plaintiff had been included in all manager meetings. In early September, Plaintiff notified Harvey that she was scheduled to give birth in January and planned to take maternity leave. Later that month, Roe stripped Plaintiff of responsibility for development of the training manuals. Roe stated to Donald James, Plaintiff's supervisor on the IMAGES project, that it would not be appropriate for Plaintiff to travel during the national roll-out because she was pregnant. Plaintiff's doctor had informed her that, although some pregnant women could travel up to their eighth month of pregnancy, she could still travel at her discretion.
According to Defendants, several errors in Plaintiff's performance as Account Executive on two shows resulted in her demotion. In 1998, Plaintiff was assigned as an Account Executive to the Software Development show. The Software Development show was one of the first shows testing the IMAGES Project. Plaintiff was assigned as the lead Account Executive with assistance from Juan Vicioso, a male Account Executive. In the show's production, several signs were incorrectly sized or placed. Other errors occurred in the ordering of supplies and in the set design. Plaintiff complained that, at times, she would delegate certain tasks to Juan Vicioso that were performed inadequately. Nevertheless, Sue Harvey stated that Plaintiff bore the ultimate responsibility for the errors that occurred.
In 1998, Plaintiff was assigned as Account Executive for the Association of United States Army (AUSA). Juan Vicioso was also assigned as Account Executive. Because the AUSA event was one of the larger shows produced by GES, A.J. Jansko, the National Account Executive, participate in the event's preparation. Initially, Sue Harvey assigned Juan Vicioso to assist Mr. Jansko. Approximately six weeks into the production of the show, Plaintiff replaced him as the lead Account Executive. During the show, Plaintiff witnessed three members of the Production Department arguing as to the placement of an order for sand bags. In order to end the argument, Plaintiff volunteered to order the sand bags. Plaintiff forgot to order the sand bags resulting in the need for emergency replacements. Yet, due to a set construction change, the sand bags were not used in the...
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