Hillstrom v. Best Western Tlc Hotel

• Decision Date: 31 December 2003
• Docket Number: No. 03-1972.,03-1972.
• Citation: 354 F.3d 27
• Parties: Roy HILLSTROM, Plaintiff, Appellant, v. BEST WESTERN TLC HOTEL, Defendant, Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — First Circuit

Page 27

354 F.3d 27

Roy HILLSTROM, Plaintiff, Appellant, v. BEST WESTERN TLC HOTEL, Defendant, Appellee.

No. 03-1972.

United States Court of Appeals, First Circuit.

Heard December 1, 2003.

Decided December 31, 2003.

William J. McLeod, with whom Robert S. Messinger and Cutler McLeod PC were on brief, for appellant.

Guy P. Tully, with whom Richard W. Paterniti and Jackson Lewis LLP were on brief, for appellee.

Before LYNCH, Circuit Judge, STAHL, Senior Circuit Judge, and LIPEZ, Circuit Judge.

LYNCH, Circuit Judge.

Roy Hillstrom, then age 42, was terminated from his job at the Best Western TLC Hotel in Waltham, Massachusetts in April 2000. His boss, Matthew Phipps, said it was for poor job performance. Hillstrom sued, alleging he had been discriminated against because of his age and gender. He also claimed that Best Western violated the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, 29 U.S.C. § 2601 et seq., by changing his employment position when he returned in the first week of March 1999 from a medical leave due to an aneurysm. The district court entered summary judgment for Best Western on all claims. We affirm. In doing so, we decide an issue of first impression in this circuit: the standard for determining whether a violation is "willful" for purposes of the FMLA three-year statute of limitations.

I.

We recite the facts in the light most favorable to plaintiff, the non-moving party, on our review of summary judgment. No material facts are in dispute; the question is rather the range of permissible inferences.

Roy Hillstrom was hired as a night manager in 1981 by the Best Western TLC hotel in Waltham, Massachusetts. In 1988 he was promoted to day manager of the hotel, as well as the affiliated East Hotel. In that position, Hillstrom reported directly to the president of the company, Anthony LaCava, Sr., and oversaw housekeeping, maintenance, reservations, and front desk operations. Two years later, Hillstrom was promoted to general manager of the Rooms Division of the Waltham Best Western TLC and assigned responsibility for the Rooms Division and its employees.

In 1994 the East Hotel was sold; Hillstrom retained his job title but his duties were limited to the one hotel in Waltham. Later that year, Anthony LaCava, Jr. became president of the company after the death of his father. Hillstrom then reported to him.

Hillstrom's title, general manager of the Rooms Division, was apt; operations in the Waltham hotel were split between that division and the Food and Beverage Division. Responsibility for food and beverages at the Best Western TLC in Waltham had been outsourced to another company, Norben, Inc. In at least one other hotel owned by the LaCava family, the Marlborough Royal Plaza, the Food and Beverages Division was not outsourced. Matthew Phipps, roughly the same age as Hillstrom, was the manager of that division at the Marlborough hotel.

The ambitious Phipps approached LaCava in September or October of 1998 with plans to "grow" the business, which included Phipps's becoming general manager for the entire Waltham Best Western TLC Hotel. LaCava declined at that point; the Waltham hotel was then in costly renovations and money was not available for more personnel, although LaCava hoped ultimately to manage the food and beverages business in Waltham without outsourcing.

Several months later, in January 1999, Hillstrom suffered an aneurysm and consequently left work on FMLA leave for about six weeks. In February 1999, while Hillstrom was on leave, LaCava changed his mind about Phipps's proposal. He promoted Phipps to general manager of the Waltham hotel. LaCava later testified that Phipps's promotion was part of a larger strategy to consolidate management at the Best Western and have fewer people directly reporting to him. He explained that he had already assigned general managers for each of the other properties he owned and that he had been advised in February that he could afford a general manager for the Waltham hotel because the renovation work was concluding. As to why Phipps and not Hillstrom got the promotion to general manager, LaCava said that, while he was satisfied with Hillstrom's performance as general manager of the Rooms Division, he wanted the hotel to be led by someone like Phipps who had a background in food and beverage services. Experience in that area was particularly important for the Best Western because it was about to start providing those services internally for the first time. And LaCava, whose office was located at the Marlborough hotel, spent little time overseeing operations at the Waltham hotel.

When Hillstrom returned to work in March 1999, he found that his job had changed: he no longer reported directly to upper management, but instead reported to Phipps. Phipps had moved himself into Hillstrom's office and removed Hillstrom's belongings. Hillstrom was relegated to a smaller office and his title was changed to "Rooms Division Manager," though his responsibilities initially remained the same. His pay and benefits were the same. Gradually, tension developed between Phipps and Hillstrom, and Phipps became critical of Hillstrom's failure to enforce and implement new hotel procedures that Phipps had established. Hillstrom acknowledges that Phipps expressed dissatisfaction to him about his failure to implement these procedures at least twice orally.

A later critical memorandum, dated March 27, 2000, was even more pointed, telling Hillstrom that he was on a thirty-day probationary period. Phipps specifically faulted Hillstrom for failing to: (1) use consistently the computer management system that displayed all designated room types and room rates; (2) provide Phipps with requested backup documentation for items listed in the computer system; (3) consult with Phipps about changes in the status of various room packages and discounted specials prior to making the changes/adjustments; (4) provide Phipps with daily central reservation office reports; (5) provide Phipps with completed "call around sheets" identifying the rates of local competitor hotels; (6) arrange for all staff to be in proper uniforms; (7) make certain that check-in staff used the guest's name at least three times; and (8) make sure that registration cards were completely filled out. In his deposition, Hillstrom conceded the accuracy of some, but by no means all, of Phipps's criticisms.

A few days later, Hillstrom contacted the human resources manager, Denise Blaise, to complain. He said that he had been "unfairly judged" and that most of the issues Phipps had raised in the memo had not previously been brought to his attention.¹

Thirty days after the March 27 memo, Phipps terminated Hillstrom's employment. At the time, Hillstrom was age 42 and Phipps was age 40. Hillstrom's job was then performed in part by a new employee, Eva Auranen, who was younger and female. Auranen had been hired two weeks before Hillstrom's termination.

In his suit, Hillstrom alleged that he was discriminated against on the basis of his gender and age in violation of the ADEA, Title VII, and Mass. Gen. L. ch. 151B § 1 et seq. He also claimed that his rights under the Family and Medical Leave Act were violated because, inter alia, he was demoted upon his return to work.²

II.

The district court awarded summary judgment to Best Western on each of Hillstrom's claims. On the discrimination claim, the court concluded that there was no "direct evidence" of discrimination and applied the burden-shifting framework of McDonnell Douglas v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 93 S.Ct. 1817, 36 L.Ed.2d 668 (1973). It determined that Hillstrom failed to make out a prima facie case of discrimination because he did not demonstrate that he performed adequately on the job. In particular, the court noted that Hillstrom never disputed the allegation that he failed to comply with the procedures implemented by Phipps. The district court also granted summary judgment for Best Western on the FMLA claim, noting that Hillstrom received the same pay and benefits and had essentially the same duties when he returned from sick leave as he had prior to his aneurysm. Although the court acknowledged that some elements of his job did change, it determined that any change was insufficient to justify a finder of fact in concluding there was an FMLA violation.

III.

Review of the district court's entry of summary judgment is de novo. Lennon v. Rubin, 166 F.3d 6, 8 (1st Cir.1999).

On appeal, Hillstrom argues that the district court's approach was incorrect in light of a subsequent Supreme Court case, Desert Palace, Inc. v. Costa, 539 U.S. 90, 123 S.Ct. 2148, 156 L.Ed.2d 84 (2003). Hillstrom correctly points out that the district court followed the law in this circuit at that time: the rule that usually the availability of a mixed-motive analysis depended on the plaintiff's producing "direct evidence" of discrimination. Desert Palace overruled that rule. See id. at 2153-55; Estades-Negroni v. Assocs. Corp., 345 F.3d 25, 30 (1st Cir.2003). Hillstrom argues that this repudiation of the direct evidence requirement in mixed-motive cases is inconsistent with the district court's application of the McDonnell Douglas burden-shifting framework.

Hillstrom also argues that there is a genuine issue of material fact as to whether gender or age was a motivating factor in his termination, and that the district court did not give due weight to Phipps's reputation for hiring younger females. Additionally, Hillstrom argues that the district court's determination that he did not establish a prima facie case of discrimination under the McDonnell Douglas framework was incorrect. He argues that he presented sufficient evidence that Phipps's concerns about his job performance were illegitimate and therefore were insufficient to overcome the minimal requirements of a prima facie case.

Finally, Hillstrom argues that Best Western was not entitled to summary judgment on the FMLA claim because his job,...