Hartsell v. Duplex Products, Inc.

• Decision Date: 25 August 1997
• Docket Number: No. 97-1114,97-1114
• Citation: 123 F.3d 766
• Parties: 74 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. (BNA) 1495, 71 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 44,943 Margaret Lynn HARTSELL, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. DUPLEX PRODUCTS, INCORPORATED; Rick Grebner; John Harris; Dennis Hardin, Defendants-Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fourth Circuit

Page 766

123 F.3d 766

74 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. (BNA) 1495,

71 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 44,943

Margaret Lynn HARTSELL, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. DUPLEX PRODUCTS, INCORPORATED; Rick Grebner; John Harris;

Dennis Hardin, Defendants-Appellees.

No. 97-1114.

United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit.

Argued July 8, 1997.

Decided Aug. 25, 1997.

ARGUED: Kevin Van Parsons, Blakeney & Alexander, Charlotte, NC, for Appellant. Mark P. Henriques, Womble, Carlyle, Sandridge & Rice, P.L.L.C., Charlotte, NC, for Appellees. ON BRIEF: David L. Terry, Blakeney& Alexander, Charlotte, NC, for Appellant. Jim D. Cooley, Womble, Carlyle, Sandridge & Rice, P.L.L.C., Charlotte, NC, for Appellees.

Before WILKINSON, Chief Judge, and WILKINS and WILLIAMS, Circuit Judges.

Affirmed by published opinion. Judge WILLIAMS wrote the opinion, in which Chief Judge WILKINSON and Judge WILKINS joined.

OPINION

WILLIAMS, Circuit Judge:

Margaret Lynn Hartsell appeals from the grant of summary judgment against her claim under Title VII for sexual harassment, see 42 U.S.C.A. § 2000e-1 to -17 (West 1994 & Supp.1997), and her claims under North Carolina law for intentional infliction of emotional distress and for negligent retention or supervision. She also appeals from the jury verdict against her claim under Title VII for retaliatory discharge, in which the jury found that Hartsell voluntarily quit her job and therefore could not recover. She claims that she was continuously harassed during her three-month tenure as an employee of Duplex Products, Inc., particularly at the hands of Rick Grebner, John Harris, and Dennis Hardin (together with Duplex, Defendants). ¹ On appeal, Hartsell claims that the district court's partial grant of summary judgment was improper because she presented sufficient evidence to create a genuine issue of material fact on her sexual harassment claim and her two state-law claims. She further claims that the jury verdict should be set aside because the district court erred in failing to charge the jury that former employees are protected by Title VII, see Robinson v. Shell Oil Co., --- U.S. ----, 117 S.Ct. 843, 136 L.Ed.2d 808 (1997), and in failing to charge the jury that even if Hartsell voluntarily quit her job, she nevertheless might have remained an "employee" at the time of the alleged retaliation. Finding no error, we affirm.

I.

Hartsell was employed by Duplex as a sales assistant in its Charlotte, North Carolina, office from September 23, 1992, until mid-December, 1992. During Hartsell's tenure, the office personnel in Charlotte consisted of an area manager, Grebner; three male sales representatives, Harris, Hardin, and Greg Schneider; a female sales representative, Pam Myers; and two female sales assistants, Hartsell and her sister, Marie Wade. Hartsell was responsible for providing support to the four salespeople--Myers, Hardin, Harris, and Schneider. Her primary responsibility, however, was to support Myers, the only female salesperson in the office. Hartsell claims that she was subjected to a pattern of harassing behavior during her short tenure with Duplex. Because the district court resolved much of Hartsell's claim at the summary judgment stage, we catalog the alleged instances of harassment and the supporting evidence in the light most favorable to Hartsell, the nonmoving party. See Yarnevic v. Brink's, Inc., 102 F.3d 753, 756 (4th Cir.1996). We note, however, that there is little, if any, evidence that Hartsell's complaints were made contemporaneously to Duplex or to Grebner.

Within two weeks of the beginning of Hartsell's employment, Hardin told Hartsell, "We've made every female in this office cry like a baby. We will do the same to you. Just give us time. We will find your weakness." (J.A. at 397.) Harris was present when the comment was made; both he and Hardin laughed. Hartsell smiled in response, and retorted to Hardin and Harris "that they would never see [her] cry in this office." (J.A. at 398.)

The salespeople at Duplex referred to the sales assistants as "the little people." At one point, Hardin drew a chart indicating that Wade and Hartsell were "little people," but that Hardin and Myers were "important people playing in the big leagues." (J.A. at 94-96.) Hardin told Hartsell, in case she "didn't understand" (J.A. at 393), that she was "not in [the salespeople's] league" (J.A. at 115). He added, "Take a look at the organizational chart." (J.A. at 115.) Hartsell testified that she did not think that Hardin was joking, and that she was offended.

In addition, at one point, Schneider--who is not a defendant in this action--referred to former sales assistant Peggy Trapp as his "slave." Schneider told Hartsell that she too "would become the slave." (J.A. at 402.) Hartsell testified that this comment offended her. She "made it clear [to Schneider] that[she] didn't respect what he had just said to [her]." (J.A. at 403.)

Hartsell further claims that Hardin, upon seeing in the company magazine a woman who "was rather buxom and was wearing a lowcut T-shirt," asked in Hartsell's presence, "[W]hy don't we have sales assistants that look like that[?]" (J.A. at 1063-64.) Grebner, who was also present, answered, "[Y]eah, really." (J.A. at 1064.) Hartsell testified that she and Wade, who was also present, were "embarrassed and infuriated" by the comment. (J.A. at 1064.) Nevertheless, she did not complain at the time.

Hartsell also claims that, on another occasion, Grebner asked Myers if after the birth of her child she would be a "mini-van driving mommy" or "be a salesperson and play with the big boys." (J.A. at 396.) Hartsell responded, from the background, that Myers could be both. In addition, the male salespeople referred to Myers' husband, a stay-at-home father, as Myers' "wife." Although neither of these comments were directed at Hartsell, she testified that she was offended and insulted by them.

Then, sometime in late November, Hartsell was working on a computer graphics program at her desk. Harris and Hardin, who wanted to play a golf game on her computer, began kicking and pushing Hartsell's chair. They told her that she did not know what she was doing. When Hartsell stood to answer the telephone, Harris took her seat and tried to exit the program that Hartsell was using. Hartsell protested, and Harris responded, "[W]hy don't you go home and fetch your husband's slippers like a good little wife, that's exactly what my wife is going to do for me." (J.A. at 419.) Hartsell then told Harris, who was single, "Good luck in finding someone who will marry you." (J.A. at 126.) Meanwhile, Grebner overheard the exchange and told Harris and Hardin to stop bothering Hartsell. Hartsell testified that she told Grebner "at that time that he didn't need to defend me to these boys, that they wouldn't make me get off of that computer that day." (J.A. at 420.) She added, "I don't care if they go home and play with themselves instead of golf, they won't force me off of this computer today!" (J.A. at 51.)

During this series of events, Hartsell never complained to Grebner about the conduct of her co-workers. In fact, on at least one occasion, Grebner asked her whether she was encountering any difficulty with the office environment. Hartsell assured Grebner that she was doing well. Moreover, there is evidence in the record that the atmosphere at Duplex was relaxed and informal, and that Hartsell participated in the office banter. For example, Hartsell and Myers compiled a list of "dumb blonde" jokes. Similarly, Hartsell joked about her husband's bad habits and her co-workers' personal details. At one point, Hartsell boasted to Grebner that she "could drink him under the table anytime." (J.A. at 102-03.) On another occasion, Hartsell played a joke on Hardin by replacing his phone cord with a defective one. Moreover, Hartsell's husband testified that Hartsell never complained or seemed emotionally upset about her job during her tenure as a Duplex employee.

Events came to a head on December 9, 1992, when Myers--the sole female salesperson, and not a defendant to this action--asked Hartsell to screen all of her calls. Hartsell resisted, and Myers became "stern." The next day, Hartsell went into Myers' office to discuss the call screening. The two became angry with each other. Hartsell described the ensuing events: "At that point, I had papers in my hand and I just dropped them on her desk. And I said,'I quit this.' I walked out of her office. I called her an insecure b----, and she responded by calling me one also." (J.A. at 384.) ² Hartsell then walked out of the office. Hardin heard Hartsell say that she quit. According to Hardin, "I got up out of my chair and I followed Lynn out the door, asking her what was wrong, don't do this, let's talk it over, let's work it out, what can we do. She wouldn't talk to me, she wouldn't look at me." (J.A. at 246.)

At 11:15 a.m. that day, Wade called Grebner, who was temporarily at Duplex's office in Columbia, South Carolina, to tell him that Hartsell had quit. Grebner then spoke to Myers. Myers told Grebner that Hartsell "tossed the papers she was holding on[Myers'] desk and said she was leaving." (J.A. at 302.) Myers added that "on [Hartsell's] way out, [Hartsell] told [Myers] that she didn't have to take this and everyone had warned her about what a b---- [Myers] was." (J.A. at 302.) Hartsell did not come to work the next day, but she did place a telephone call to Grebner, her supervisor. At his request, she came to the office to meet with him. During the two-hour meeting, Hartsell for the first time claimed that she had been harassed by Myers, Hardin, and Harris. Grebner acknowledged the problems and told Hartsell that he would look into them. Hartsell claims that she offered to resign, but that Grebner, at that time, refused her resignation. She also told Grebner that she wanted to file harassment charges against the salespeople who allegedly harassed her. Grebner discouraged...