Greengrass v. Int'l Monetary Sys. Ltd.

• Citation: 776 F.3d 481
• Decision Date: 12 January 2015
• Docket Number: No. 13–2901.,13–2901.
• Parties: Celia GREENGRASS, Plaintiff–Appellant, v. INTERNATIONAL MONETARY SYSTEMS LTD., Defendant–Appellee.
• Court: United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (7th Circuit)

776 F.3d 481

Celia GREENGRASS, Plaintiff–Appellant
v.
INTERNATIONAL MONETARY SYSTEMS LTD., Defendant–Appellee.

No. 13–2901.

United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit.

Argued Sept. 19, 2014.
Decided Jan. 12, 2015.

776 F.3d 482

Janet L. Heins, Attorney, Heins & Minko LLC, Mequon, for Plaintiff–Appellant.

Shawn G. Rice, Attorney, Rice Business Law, for Defendant–Appellee.

Before BAUER, ROVNER, and WILLIAMS, Circuit Judges.

Opinion

WILLIAMS, Circuit Judge.

Celia Greengrass sued her former employer, International Monetary Systems Ltd. (“IMS”), alleging that IMS retaliated against her for filing a complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) against the company by naming her in its annual SEC filings and casting her complaint as “meritless.” The district court granted summary judgment in favor of IMS on the ground that Greengrass lacked evidence showing a causal link between her EEOC filing and the alleged retaliatory act. We reverse. Greengrass made out a prima facie case of retaliation by demonstrating that she engaged in a statutorily protected activity when she filed her EEOC charge, that IMS engaged in an adverse employment

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action when it listed her name in its SEC filings, and that there was sufficient evidence for a rational trier of fact to find that IMS listed her name because Greengrass filed the EEOC charge.

I. BACKGROUND

Celia Greengrass began working as an account executive at IMS in January 2007. On September 10, 2007, Greengrass made a written complaint to IMS alleging harassment by Kevin Anderson, IMS's Las Vegas General Manager. Two days later, John Strabley, IMS's CEO, forwarded a copy of the complaint to Anderson, the alleged harasser, along with the message, “Call me before you explode.” Greengrass quit her job at IMS on November 25, 2007. On January 20, 2008, Greengrass filed a discrimination complaint with the EEOC, alleging sex discrimination, national origin discrimination, and retaliation.

As a publicly traded company, IMS is subject to the SEC's annual filing requirements. In particular, item 103 of SEC Regulation S–K requires companies to describe any material legal proceedings, including the principal parties, facts giving rise to the proceeding, and the relief sought. See 17 C.F.R. § 229.103 (1982). In March 2008, IMS's Treasurer and CFO, Danny Weibling, consulted with an outside accountant, Derek Webb, regarding whether Greengrass's EEOC complaint needed to be mentioned in the company's SEC filings. Following this consultation, IMS did not refer to Greengrass's complaint in its 2008 disclosures. It did, however, without naming the complainant, refer to a different EEOC complaint brought against the company. IMS's 10–Q forms for the periods ending March 31, 2008, June 30, 2008, and September 30, 2008 (all of which were prepared and filed after Weibling's discussion with Webb) reported that IMS was engaged in litigation, but did not mention the names of parties, instead referring to the litigants as “former employees.”

At some point in July 2008, IMS received correspondence from the EEOC regarding Greengrass's complaint. Apparently, the agency sought information regarding other sexual harassment claims leveled against the company. On July 29, 2008, IMS's general counsel, Martin Sklapsky, sent an email to the company's management team (including Weibling, Strabley, and President/CEO Donald Mardak) regarding how forthcoming IMS should be with the EEOC. It stated,

[T]he EEOC has finally responded to the ... Greengrass complaint. At this point, they're just looking for some additional information. One of the items they're asking about is any other sexual harassment claims made by any employee between Nov 2005 and June 2008. Obviously, the John Lounsbury complaint will have to be included but what about the two issues raised by Carol Cannedy?

I don't think the issue with Stan is a problem. She brought it to our attention, we addressed it with Stan and it was done. The problem is the issue with Paul. There was a complaint made to Paul G, the situation was discussed with Paul W and then the behavior she was complaining about occurred at least one other time after the discussion. The question is, do we include this in our response to the EEOC? They're asking about other complaints because they're looking for a pattern of conduct by IMS. Their logic would be that if we have multiple complaints, obviously we're doing something wrong.

Our problem is that we don't know if Celia was aware of that issue and told the EEOC of other complaints made. The letter from the EEOC appears to

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just be a form letter and the request for that information is likely a standard question. I'm asking for your opinions on this because no matter how we respond, IMS has some potential liability.

If we do not mention it and Celia already reported it to them, it makes it appear IMS is trying to hide something. If we do report it, that means we've had three sexual harassment complaints in about eight months. That's the sort of pattern they're looking for and since all the complaints are from different offices, it would give them the impression that it's a company-wide problem, not just an issue with one or two employees. That's the sort of situation where the EEOC could step in and file suit themselves. If Celia has to litigate this herself, IMS is probably not going to get a large damages award because she likely doesn't have the resources for a lengthy court fight. However, if the EEOC files suit, that is no longer an issue and they'll be looking to punish IMS for a pattern of behavior, not necessarily just this one incident.

This all may not matter anyway. One of the things they asked for was a list of IMS employees. I've asked for clarification on whether they want a list of all employees or for just the Las Vegas office. If they want a list of every employee, it would seem they intend to conduct an investigation of the entire company, not just the Las Vegas office. If that's the case, we may have no choice but to disclose the incidents with both Paul and Stan.

Around January 12, 2009, IMS received notice that the EEOC wanted to conduct interviews regarding Greengrass's complaint. This signaled a major...