Hubbell v. World Kitchen, LLC

• Citation: 688 F. Supp.2d 401
• Decision Date: 24 February 2010
• Docket Number: Civil Action No. 06-1686.
• Parties: Janice L. HUBBELL, Plaintiff, v. WORLD KITCHEN, LLC, World Kitchen, Inc., United Steel Workers of America, AFL-CIO-CLC-Local 53 (a.k.a. the United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union), and United Steelworkers of America D-10 (International), Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Pennsylvania

688 F.Supp.2d 401

Janice L. HUBBELL, Plaintiff, v. WORLD KITCHEN, LLC, World Kitchen, Inc., United Steel Workers of America, AFL-CIO-CLC-Local 53 (a.k.a. the United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union), and United Steelworkers of America D-10 (International), Defendants.

Civil Action No. 06-1686.

United States District Court, W.D. Pennsylvania.

February 24, 2010.

Herbert A. Terrell, Lois E. Glanby, McMurray, PA, William F. Conway, The Law Offices of Lois Glanby, Pittsburgh, PA, for Plaintiff.

Adrianne C. Mazura, Brian A. Hartstein, DLA Piper U.S., Chicago, IL, Jayne A. Risk, DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary, Philadelphia, PA, Renate Klass, Martens, Ice, Klass, Legghio & Israel, P.C., Royal Oak, MI, Joseph Stuligross, United Steelworkers of America, Pittsburgh, PA, for Defendants.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

JOY FLOWERS CONTI, District Judge.

I. Introduction

This case involves discrimination and retaliation claims brought by an employee, plaintiff Janice L. Hubbell ("Hubbell"), who alleges that both her employer and her union discriminated against her because of her race, sex and age. Pending before the court are motions for summary judgment separately filed by the employer, defendant World Kitchen, LLC ("World Kitchen"), and the union, defendants United Steelworkers of America, AFL-CIO-CLC-Local 53 ("USW Local 53") and United Steelworkers of America District 10 ("USW D-10," and together with USW Local 53, the "USW entities"). For the reasons that follow, those motions will be partially granted and partially denied.

II. Background

World Kitchen manufactures and markets bakeware, dinnerware, kitchen tools, household tools, rangetop cookware and cutlery. (Combined Concise Statement of Undisputed Material Facts of World Kitchen's Mot. for Summ. J. (Doc. No. 82) ("World Kitchen's facts") ¶ 1.) Hubbell is a Caucasian female who was born on October 15, 1962. (Combined Concise Statement of Undisputed Material Facts for USW entities' Mot. for Summ. J. (Doc. No. 81) ("USW entities' facts") ¶ 1.) Hubbell was hired by World Kitchen on June 26, 2000. (Id.) She works as a selector and back-up quality control inspector at a World Kitchen plant located in Charleroi, Pennsylvania. (World Kitchen's facts ¶ 2.) As a selector, Hubbell reviews completed kitchen and cooking products before they are packaged for shipment to distributors. (Id. ¶ 3.) She is responsible for ensuring that the products meet production specifications. (Id.)

Since the inception of her employment, Hubbell has been a member of a bargaining unit represented by USW Local 53. (Id. ¶ 4.) During the period of time relevant to this case, the relationship between World Kitchen and USW Local 53 was governed by several collective bargaining agreements. (Id.) USW D-10 is a part of United Steelworkers of America International ("USW International"). (USW entities' facts ¶ 2.) Under the collective bargaining agreement, USW Local 53 has the right to grieve violations thereunder through step four of the contractual grievance procedures, while USW International handles grievances that progress to steps five and six. (Id. ¶ 3.)

Glassware is produced at the Charleroi plant. (Id. ¶ 5.) Hubbell worked in the finishing department, where products are evaluated by selectors as they travel down a conveyor belt. (Id.) Products that meet World Kitchen's standards are removed from the conveyor belt and packaged for distribution. (Id.) Products that do not meet these standards are recycled. (Id.) Quality control inspectors randomly examine products to ensure that they are in conformity with the applicable standards and specifications. (Id.)

The Charleroi plant is typically staffed by four different crews, three of which are working at a given time. (Id. ¶ 6.) Employees rotate between three different shifts. (Id.) Like her colleagues, Hubbell rotated between these shifts. (Id.) Throughout the course of her employment at World Kitchen, Hubbell was supervised by Kevin Lisovich ("Lisovich"), a Caucasian male, Rory Gazsdick ("Gazsdick"), a Caucasian male, Robert Crabb ("Crabb"), a Caucasian male, and Denise Cavallucci ("Cavallucci"), a Caucasian female. (Id.)

In 2003, Marie Bright ("M. Bright"), Leslie Bright ("L. Bright"), Debbie Reynolds ("Reynolds") and Annette Davis ("Davis"), all of whom are African-American females, told Human Resources Manager Donald Good ("Good"), a Caucasian male, and Finishing Supervisor Deimetra Moore ("Moore"), an African-American female, that Hubbell made several race-based comments about the quality of their work. (World Kitchen's facts ¶ 9.) Paula Rechichar ("Rechichar"), a Caucasian female, also accused Hubbell of harassment. (Id. ¶ 10.) Hubbell responded by claiming that she had been harassed by M. Bright, L. Bright and Reynolds, who had apparently voiced complaints about her to USW officials. (Id. ¶ 11.) Good investigated the conflicting complaints pursuant to a World Kitchen policy requiring allegations of harassment to be evaluated. (Id. ¶¶ 12-13.) He concluded that Hubbell had not been harassed on account of her race. (Id. ¶ 13.) On December 4, 2003, Hubbell was verbally warned not to harass her fellow employees. (Id. ¶ 14.)

Crabb was Hubbell's supervisor for most of her tenure as a World Kitchen employee. (Id. ¶ 16.) When he worked the shift beginning at 7:00 a.m. and concluding at 3:00 p.m., he was responsible for supervising four glass-production lines and off-line packing in the automatics and finishing departments. (Id.) When he worked either of the other two shifts, he was responsible for supervising the entire Charleroi plant. (Id.) Crabb, who was born on May 1, 1964, is a little more than eighteen months younger than Hubbell. (Id. ¶ 17.)

At some point during the first half of 2004, Crabb allegedly yelled at Hubbell and Joe Rostcheck ("Rostcheck"), a Caucasian male, during a line stoppage. (Id. ¶ 18.) Crabb apparently did this because he believed that Hubbell and Rostcheck failed to clean properly the area surrounding the line. (Id.) Subsequent to this encounter, Hubbell complained to Good about Crabb's behavior, claiming that Crabb's conduct constituted harassment based on sex and age. (Id. ¶ 19.) Crabb yelled at Hubbell in the plant cafeteria, complaining about her work as a back-up quality control inspector and insisting that the products produced during her shift be held for review. (Id. ¶ 20.) Shortly thereafter, Crabb was temporarily moved off Hubbell's shift. (Id.)

Hubbell experienced tensions with other World Kitchen employees. In 2004, Terry Fonner ("Fonner"), a Caucasian male, threw away products that Hubbell had pulled for quality control checks. (Id. ¶ 22.) Gazsdick frequently disagreed with Hubbell's assessment concerning whether products were defective. (Id. ¶ 23.) Connie Jones ("Jones"), a Caucasian female, once told Good that Hubbell was wearing sandals in the plant and laying in the women's restroom during work hours. (Id. ¶ 24.)

On June 29, 2004, Hubbell suffered a wrist injury while performing work-related tasks. (Id. ¶ 6.) A doctor who examined her the following day, however, concluded that her wrist was normal. (Id.) AIG Claim Services, World Kitchen's worker's compensation carrier, denied Hubbell's claim for workers' compensation. (Id.)

World Kitchen's Charleroi plant maintains the Charleroi Plant General Factory Rules (the "Plant Rules"), which contain rules for progressive levels of discipline based upon the severity or risk of injury to employees, the extent of resulting damage to World Kitchen property, or the potential degree of loss of production stemming from a particular violation. (Id. ¶ 25.) Employees who commit level 4 violations of the Plant Rules are subject to immediate termination. (Id. ¶ 26.) Both "willful hindering or limiting of production" and "harassment of any kind" are classified as level 4 violations. (Id.) The Plant Rules define the term "harassment" as "conduct that denigrates or shows hostility or aversion towards an individual because of his or her protected status. . . ." (Id.)

On July 16, 2004, Hubbell was terminated for the stated reason that she committed violations of the Plant Rules. (Id. ¶ 27.) The reasons were set forth in her termination letter, which was authored by Good, as follows:

This letter is to inform you that you are being terminated for violation of the following Plant Rule: Level 4, # 5. Willful hindering or limiting production will not be permitted. In addition your violation of the Harassment Policy is additional grounds for termination.

Several incidents on or about July 10 and July 14, 2004 occurred where you did not follow procedures sic caused false quality readings. In addition, you sic inability to follow recognized procedures was costly to the operation when you did not require a PDC to continue to pack ware when you determined a ware problem. You did not communicate the continued issues with the glass and the ware was packed for shipment. Due to this lack of following procedures, bad ware was packed and had to be pulled after it was ticketed and ready for shipment.

The harassment incidents occurred on or about July 10 and July 14, 2004 relating to harassment of employees at the Charleroi Facility. You were warned on December 4, 2003 that further harassment would not be tolerated after a lengthy investigation of an incident of harassment. There have been several incidents of not following QC procedures when placing a production line into a dump mode.

You are being terminated effective, Friday, July 16, 2004.

(App. in Supp. of USW entities' Mot. for Summ. J. (Doc. No. 59), Ex. G6.) Under Pennsylvania law, an employee who is discharged for "willful misconduct" is ineligible for unemployment compensation benefits. 43 PA. CONS.STAT. § 802(e). Nevertheless, Hubbell applied for unemployment compensation benefits because she disputed World Kitchen's allegations of misconduct. (World...