Green v. Franklin Nat. Bank of Minneapolis
| Decision Date | 23 August 2006 |
| Docket Number | No. 05-2513.,05-2513. |
| Citation | 459 F.3d 903 |
| Parties | Linda GREEN, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. FRANKLIN NATIONAL BANK OF MINNEAPOLIS, doing business as Franklin Bank, Defendant-Appellee. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit |
Stephen C. Fiebiger, argued, Burnsville, MN, for appellant.
John J. McDonald, Jr., argued, Minneapolis, MN (Katherine A. McBride, Bradley J. Lindeman, Minneapolis, on the brief), for appellee.
Before WOLLMAN, LAY, and MELLOY, Circuit Judges.
Linda Green appeals the grant of summary judgment against her claims of a racially hostile work environment, discriminatory discharge, and retaliation under Title VII and 42 U.S.C. § 1981. Green also appeals the grant of summary judgment against her claim under the Minnesota Whistleblower Act, Minn.Stat. § 181.932, for her reporting of discrimination at Franklin National Bank. We affirm.
Green is an African-American female who was employed by Franklin National Bank. She worked as a teller from March 2002 until her termination on August 26, 2002. Because we are hearing this case as the result of a grant of summary judgment, we view the facts in the light most favorable to Green. The factual background of Green's claims is complicated. As a result, we first detail the allegations she made as to her work environment. Then, we turn to the specifics of her complaints to the employer and the bank's responses to those complaints. Next, we discuss the facts surrounding Green's termination. Lastly, we describe other evidence related to Green's claim.
Green started working for Franklin National Bank at its Blaisdell Avenue location in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and remained there for about one month. She was transferred to the Washington Avenue location after complaining that a teller at the Blaisdell branch called her "stupid."
Beginning in May 2002, Green worked with Jared Howard, a teller at the Washington Avenue location. Howard is a Caucasian male. According to Green's deposition, Howard began harassing her and using racial slurs to describe her. Specifically, Howard called Green "monkey," "black monkey," and "chimpanzee." In June, Howard told Green that she should wear dreadlocks. The racially insensitive conduct continued until August 5, 2002.
Green asked Howard to stop using racial slurs, but he persisted and engaged in other demeaning conduct toward her. Green told Howard that she felt that the primate rhetoric was similar to saying "nigger," and that the phrase "porch monkeys" was historically used to discriminate against African-Americans. On several occasions, Green made written notes of the dates of these incidents and her requests for Howard to stop. Those specific instances are detailed below, along with other related issues raised by Green.
During June 2002, Green alleges that Beth Markoe, Franklin National Bank's Vice President of Operations, and Tammy Koop, a bank officer, acted unprofessionally toward Green. Specifically, Green alleges that Markoe and Koop were blaming many of Howard's mistakes on Green. Further, Green believes that Markoe and Koop were unprofessional in their communications with her.
On July 10, 2002, Green felt she was treated rudely by Kyle Kray,1 a commercial loan officer. Kray needed a cashier's check printed immediately and was rude to Green when she said she would get to it as soon as possible. According to Green, Kray was friendly toward Howard, but aggressive and demanding with Green.
On July 30, 2002, Howard told Green, "I want to eat your liver" and asked if he could "eat [her] liver." Howard told Green that he had eaten liver before, but found that it tasted sour. He then described the movie Silence of the Lambs2 to Green. On other occasions, Howard made other intimidating remarks to Green. He told her that he "gets even" with people.
On August 5, 2002, while Howard and Green were closing the vault late in the afternoon, Howard again called Green a "monkey" and "chimpanzee." On August 7, 2002, Howard sent an email to Green that said "Just wanted to let you know ... You got a funny shaped head." Green felt that the comment about her head was race related.
At dates that are not specified in the record, Green reported Howard's racial harassment to Kim Reep, her supervisor. Reep is a woman of African-American and Caucasian heritage. Reep told Green that Reep could not do anything for Green and that Green should report the wrongful conduct to Wayne Erdman, a vice president of Franklin National Bank. Green did not make any complaints about Howard's racial comments during the months of May and June.
However, when Reep was on vacation in June 2002, Green made non-race-related complaints about her work environment to the President and CEO of Franklin National Bank, Dorothy Bridges. The substance of these complaints concerned the criticism from Markoe and Koop, and not the harassment by Howard. Bridges told Green that the two of them would talk with Reep concerning Green's complaints about Markoe and Koop. No followup meeting between Bridges, Green, and Reep took place.
On June 24, 2002, after Reep returned from vacation, Green spoke with her about Green's conflicts with Markoe. Green felt that Markoe was treating her differently than Howard. Reep met with Markoe and Green to discuss the conflict between them. According to Reep, Green attempted to explain her concerns to Markoe, but Markoe did not listen.
On July 10, 2002, Green reported the incident with Kray to Reep. Reep spoke with Erdman several times about Kray, but Erdman never told Reep whether he had spoken with Kray.
Also on July 10, 2002, Green complained about Howard's racial harassment to Erdmam. She told Erdman that Howard had called her "monkey." Erdman said he would speak to Howard about it.3 However, according to Green, Erdman never spoke with Howard about Green's complaint.
On July 31, 2002, Markoe held a meeting with Green and Reep to discuss concerns about Green's work performance. The meeting did not mention any of Green's complaints about her work environment. Markoe cited several incidents where she had requested Green to do things for her, but Green did not do them immediately.
According to Markoe, Reep spoke with Howard about the racial slurs for the first time on August 1, 2002. This was Howard's first warning from a supervisor about racially insensitive conduct. Reep also spoke with Vice President Erdman. At that time, Erdman said he had already spoken with Green about the complaints. He did not indicate to Reep what was being done to resolve the problems.
On August 6, 2002, the day after the incident at the vault when Howard told Green she was a "chimpanzee" and a "monkey," Green told Reep about what Howard had said. Green also left a voicemail with Bridges about Howard's statements. Green told Reep that Green needed to speak with Bridges, but Reep said that Bridges would not want to hear from her. Reep proposed that Green and Reep try to work out the situation. Green ignored Reep's warnings and went to speak with Bridges. She put her complaints about Howard's August 5 comments in writing. Bridges told Green to take the written complaint to her supervisor and make a formal complaint. Reep gave Howard a second warning about racially insensitive language.
According to Bridges, the company's policy on sexual harassment also applied to racial harassment. The policy required that after an employee notified his or her direct supervisor of harassment, a supervisor would investigate the complaint. The supervisor was also responsible for attempting to resolve the complaint. There was no requirement to report harassment to the president of the bank. Franklin National Bank's policy required that the investigation proceed from the perspective of a reasonable victim of harassment and not the viewpoint of an alleged harasser. Upon beginning her employment, Green signed a form acknowledging that she understood Franklin National Bank's harassment policy. Bridges felt that it was not her duty to pursue the complaint. The proper course, in her view, was to wait for Green to make a formal complaint with Reep.
Green again met with Reep and gave her two written complaints detailing Howard's August 5 use of the word "monkey" and his July 30 statements about wanting to eat her liver. Reep told Howard about the complaint and told him that if something like that happened again, he would be fired.
When Green received the "funny shaped head" email, she forwarded it to Reep. Reep brought the email to Markoe and Erdman. After meeting, they decided to terminate Howard. Bridges was not part of the decision-making process to terminate Howard.
On August 21, 2002, Green spoke with Reep about taking classes the following week. These classes were for another job that Green wanted to do on her free weekends. The classes were scheduled on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Reep arranged for a teller from the Blaisdell location, Shelly, to cover for Green while she attended classes. According to Reep, Green's time missed was "all set" in terms of coverage. Reep told Erdman and another officer at the bank about the coverage. Erdman agreed to the coverage arrangement so that Green could attend classes. In his deposition, Erdman admitted that other employees were allowed to attend classes during work hours.
On August 23, 2002, Reep gave her two-week notice to Erdman. Erdman told her that he accepted the resignation to be effective immediately. The vault was audited before Reep was allowed to leave the bank. Reep stated that this made her feel like a criminal. Reep generally felt that she was treated unprofessionally when she offered her resignation. Green noted that Lynn Miller, a Caucasian employee, was not been treated the same when she gave her two-week...
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