Kientzy v. McDonnell Douglas Corp.

• Decision Date: 23 June 1993
• Docket Number: Nos. 92-1204,92-2411,s. 92-1204
• Citation: 990 F.2d 1051
• Parties: 61 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. (BNA) 735, 61 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 42,191 Mary KIENTZY, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. McDONNELL DOUGLAS CORPORATION, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

Page 1051

990 F.2d 1051

61 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. (BNA) 735,

61 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 42,191

Mary KIENTZY, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. McDONNELL DOUGLAS CORPORATION, Defendant-Appellant.

Nos. 92-1204, 92-2411.

United States Court of Appeals,

Eighth Circuit.

Submitted Dec. 17, 1992.

Decided April 9, 1993.

Rehearing and Rehearing En Banc

Denied June 23, 1993.

Thomas C. Walsh, St. Louis, MO, argued (Dennis C. Donnelly and Sabrina M. Wrenn, on brief), for defendant-appellant.

Jerome J. Dobson, St. Louis, MO, argued, for plaintiff-appellee.

Before JOHN R. GIBSON and WOLLMAN, Circuit Judges, and STROM, ^* Chief District Judge.

JOHN R. GIBSON, Circuit Judge.

McDonnell Douglas Corporation appeals from a judgment in favor of Mary Kientzy on her Title VII and Missouri Human Rights Act sex discrimination claims. A jury returned a verdict for Kientzy on the state claim, finding that Kientzy's sex was a motivating factor in McDonnell Douglas' decision to terminate her employment. The jury awarded $50,000 in actual damages, $125,000 for mental anguish and suffering, $25,000 for future mental anguish, and $400,000 in punitive damages. A magistrate judge ¹ then found the Title VII violation, and awarded front pay of $75,000 and $142,172.02 as reasonable attorneys' fees. McDonnell Douglas argues: (1) that the magistrate judge erred in denying its motion for directed verdict because there was insufficient evidence of sex discrimination and overwhelming evidence that Kientzy's admitted misconduct caused her discharge; (2) that the magistrate judge erred in submitting the emotional damages issue to the jury, and in the alternative, should have granted remittitur; (3) that there was insufficient evidence to support the punitive damages award, that the magistrate judge improperly instructed the jury with regard to punitive damages, and alternatively, that the magistrate judge should have granted remittitur; and (4) that the magistrate judge erred in calculating the attorneys' fee award. We affirm all but the calculation of attorneys' fees, which we remand for further consideration.

McDonnell Douglas hired Kientzy in 1978 as a security guard in its guard services division. Approximately nine years later, McDonnell Douglas promoted Kientzy to lieutenant (the first and only female to achieve this rank). As a lieutenant, Kientzy's duties included making "out-building-runs"--motor vehicle trips from McDonnell Douglas' main facility to other facilities in the area. Kientzy drove a direct route to the other facilities until road construction caused considerable traffic congestion and delayed her trips. She then found an alternate route which took her within one block of her home. While Kientzy was taking the alternate route, she occasionally stopped at her home for lunch without obtaining her superior's express permission. McDonnell Douglas did not have a written rule regarding lunches for lieutenants who were on out-building-runs, and the lieutenants did not have a common understanding or formal training about which lunch plans were acceptable.

When Kientzy's immediate supervisor, Captain Bobby Miller, heard rumors that Kientzy had been going home for lunch, he informed his superior, James O'Gorman, chief of guard services. Rather than reporting the rumor to his immediate supervisor, John B. Gillis, O'Gorman broke the "chain of command" ² and reported the matter to E.J. Sporleder, an investigator in McDonnell Douglas' security investigations department. ³ Sporleder conducted an investigation, saw Kientzy at home on several occasions, and interviewed Kientzy, who admitted that she "would stop at [her] house for a few minutes to eat lunch." Sporleder had Kientzy sign a statement admitting her conduct, and he submitted a written report of his investigation to a disciplinary committee. ⁴ In his report, Sporleder noted that Kientzy had violated several written company rules, including leaving the plant without permission. The committee voted to terminate Kientzy's employment.

After Kientzy learned of her termination, she contacted Gillis and John MacDonald, director of security, to determine if anyone could rescind her termination. MacDonald met with Vincent DeBlaze, the director of human resources, to see if there was a procedure for reviewing disciplinary committee decisions. Although no procedure for review existed, DeBlaze asked O'Gorman to find out whether other officers had gone home while on out-building-runs and whether anyone had told Kientzy that McDonnell Douglas prohibited employees from stopping at home. O'Gorman surveyed the officers regarding their and Kientzy's understanding of the lunch policy, and submitted a report to DeBlaze, who decided not to pursue the matter further.

Kientzy then brought this action, and the jury found that Kientzy had proved by a preponderance of the evidence that her sex was a motivating factor in McDonnell Douglas' decision to terminate her employment. The jury also found that McDonnell Douglas had not proved by a preponderance of the evidence that it would have terminated Kientzy's employment even if her sex had not been a motivating factor. The jury awarded $50,000 in actual damages, $150,000 for mental anguish and suffering, and $400,000 in punitive damages.

Reviewing the verdict, the magistrate judge made detailed findings of fact and stated that the jury's findings were binding under collateral estoppel principles. Kientzy v. McDonnell Douglas Corp., No. 90-584 C(1), slip op. at 2-9 (E.D.Mo. July 23, 1991). The magistrate judge found that the disciplinary committee did not consider Kientzy's sex when it decided to terminate her because the members believed Kientzy had violated a rule that prohibited employees from leaving the plant premises without permission. Id. at 6, 9. The magistrate judge also found that Kientzy's sex was not a factor in DeBlaze's decision not to reconsider her termination. Id. at 8. The magistrate judge concluded:

[T]he discrimination in this case occurred when Mr. O'Gorman, first, referred plaintiff's case to the Security Investigations Department, instead of discussing the matter with his immediate superiors, and, second, failed to conduct the survey of Guard Services supervisors as he was directed by Mr. DeBlaze. The first action took consideration of plaintiff's case away from a more flexible disciplinary process than that which involved the Disciplinary Committee. The second action deprived plaintiff of the benefit of the probable reconsideration and possible modification of her termination discipline.

Id. at 9-10.

The magistrate judge affirmed the jury's award of $50,000 in actual damages and $150,000 for emotional distress, and awarded $75,000 in front pay in lieu of reinstatement. Id. at 11-16. The magistrate judge also granted McDonnell Douglas' request for a new trial on punitive damages, vacating the $400,000 award because the jury instruction did not adequately reflect Missouri law. Id. at 15. Upon reconsideration, however, the magistrate judge reinstated the punitive damages award, concluding that the instruction was proper and that there was sufficient evidence to support the award. Kientzy v. McDonnell Douglas Corp., No. 90-584 C(1), slip op. at 1-2 (E.D.Mo. December 2, 1991).

I.

McDonnell Douglas argues that the district court erred in denying McDonnell Douglas' motion for directed verdict because the overwhelming evidence demonstrated that Kientzy's discharge resulted from her admitted misconduct, not sex discrimination. ⁵ When reviewing the denial of a directed verdict, we must:

1) consider the evidence in the light most favorable to [Kientzy] ...; 2) assume that all conflicts in the evidence were resolved ... in [Kientzy's] favor; 3) assume as proved all facts which [Kientzy's] evidence tends to prove; 4) give [Kientzy] the benefit of all favorable inferences which may reasonably be drawn from the facts proved; and 5) affirm the denial of the motion if reasonable persons could differ as to the conclusions to be drawn from it.

Morgan v. Arkansas Gazette, 897 F.2d 945, 948 (8th Cir.1990) (quoting Gilkerson v. Toastmaster, Inc., 770 F.2d 133, 136 (8th Cir.1985)); see also Finley v. Empiregas, Inc., 975 F.2d 467, 473 (8th Cir.1992). Generally, we consider only evidence favoring the nonmoving party. Morgan, 897 F.2d at 948; see also Dace v. ACF Indus., 722 F.2d 374, 376 (8th Cir.1983), as modified, 728 F.2d 976 (8th Cir.1984); Caudill v. Farmland Indus., 919 F.2d 83, 86 (8th Cir.1990). We recite the facts in this opinion as required by these cases.

In addition, our task on appeal is limited as we "will not assess the adequacy of a party's showing at any particular stage of the McDonnell Douglas ⁶-Burdine ⁷ or Price Waterhouse analyses." Finley, 975 F.2d at 473; see also United States Postal Serv. Bd. of Governors v. Aikens, 460 U.S. 711, 714-15, 103 S.Ct. 1478, 1481-82, 75 L.Ed.2d 403 (1983); Morgan, 897 F.2d at 948. Instead, we focus our attention on "the ultimate factual issue of whether [McDonnell Douglas] intentionally discriminated against [Kientzy]," and we study the record to determine whether the evidence was sufficient to support submission of the case to the jury. Morgan, 897 F.2d at 948-49; see also Finley, 975 F.2d at 473.

Looking to Price Waterhouse, 490 U.S. at 241, 109 S.Ct. at 1785, McDonnell Douglas argues that to be liable for sex discrimination, Kientzy's gender must have been a factor in the disciplinary committee's decision at the moment it was made. Accordingly, McDonnell Douglas contends that it cannot be held liable because Kientzy admits and the magistrate judge found that the disciplinary committee's decision to terminate Kientzy's employment was free from discrimination. Kientzy, however, argues that our decision in Jiles v. Ingram, 944 F.2d 409 (8th Cir.1991), is analogous to her situation.

In Jiles, the district court held a city liable for intentional race discrimination because it found that two fire department ...