Lane v. Ground Round, Inc., 90-1533-C-5.

• Decision Date: 02 October 1991
• Docket Number: No. 90-1533-C-5.,90-1533-C-5.
• Citation: 775 F. Supp. 1219
• Parties: Sharon LANE, Plaintiff, v. The GROUND ROUND, INC., Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Missouri

775 F. Supp. 1219

Sharon LANE, Plaintiff, v. The GROUND ROUND, INC., Defendant.

No. 90-1533-C-5.

United States District Court, E.D. Missouri, E.D.

October 2, 1991.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Mary Anne Sedey, St. Louis, Mo., for plaintiff.

John J. Gazzoli, Robert J. Golterman, Lewis, Rice & Fingersh, St. Louis, Mo., for defendant.

MEMORANDUM

LIMBAUGH, District Judge.

In this case, plaintiff sues her former employer, the Ground Round, Inc. ("Ground Round") for sexual harassment in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ("Title VII"), 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq. and the Missouri Human Rights Act ("MHRA"), Mo.Rev.Stat. § 213.010 et seq. She alleges she was harassed and ultimately fired because she refused to have sexual relations with her supervisor. This matter is before the Court on defendant's motion for summary judgment.

I. Standard for Summary Judgment

Courts have repeatedly recognized that summary judgment is a harsh remedy that should be granted only when the moving party has established his right to judgment with such clarity as not to give rise to controversy. New England Mut. Life Ins. Co. v. Null, 554 F.2d 896, 901 (8th Cir. 1977). Summary judgment motions, however, "can be a tool of great utility in removing factually insubstantial cases from crowded dockets, freeing courts' trial time for those that really do raise genuine issues of material fact." Mt. Pleasant v. Associated Elec. Co-op. Inc., 838 F.2d 268, 273 (8th Cir.1988).

Pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c), a district court may grant a motion for summary judgment if all of the information before the court demonstrates that "there is no genuine issue as to material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Poller v. Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc., 368 U.S. 464, 467, 82 S.Ct. 486, 488, 7 L.Ed.2d 458 (1962). The burden is on the moving party. Mt. Pleasant, 838 F.2d at 273. After the moving party discharges this burden, the nonmoving party must do more than show that there is some doubt as to the facts. Matsushita Elec. Industrial Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 586, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 1355, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986). Instead, the nonmoving party bears the burden of setting forth specific facts showing that there is sufficient evidence in its favor to allow a jury to return a verdict for it. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 249, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 2510, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986); Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 324, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 2553, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986).

In passing on a motion for summary judgment, the court must review the facts in a light most favorable to the party opposing the motion and give that party the benefit of any inferences that logically can be drawn from those facts. Buller v. Buechler, 706 F.2d 844, 846 (8th Cir.1983). The court is required to resolve all conflicts of evidence in favor of the nonmoving party. Robert Johnson Grain Co. v. Chem. Interchange Co., 541 F.2d 207, 210 (8th Cir. 1976). With these principles in mind, the Court turns to an examination of the facts.

II. Facts

Plaintiff Sharon Lane began her employment with the Ground Round on February 29, 1980 as a hostess in its Florissant, Missouri, restaurant. In late 1981 or early 1982, plaintiff was transferred to the Bridgeton, Missouri, restaurant when the Florissant restaurant closed. She worked there as a waitress and a manager. In 1986 or 1987 plaintiff changed from the manager position to a bartender position after the manager position changed to salary. Plaintiff wanted to remain an hourly employee. Plaintiff worked as a bartender until she was fired on June 20, 1989.

From January 1985 until about June 1988, Michael Gallagher, the general manager at the Bridgeton restaurant, was plaintiff's supervisor. After she became a bartender, Gallagher began making sexual advances toward her. Whenever employees from the restaurant would go out together in a group, Gallagher would sit near her and make conversation. One night in June or July 1987, a group from work went to a nearby bar. It was plaintiff's off night and she joined them there. Plaintiff had too much to drink and went home with Gallagher. She blacked out from the alcohol and woke up lying naked next to Gallagher, in his bed. Plaintiff was humiliated and frightened and asked Gallagher to take her home.

After that incident, Gallagher persistently tried to engage plaintiff in conversation and get her to go out with him socially. She would try to avoid him, but he persisted. Plaintiff feared that if she was not at least friendly to him he would tell someone what happened. He would sit in the bar and stare at her, sometimes giving her horrible looks which she interpreted as rage. One night Gallagher had a goingaway party at his house for a manager. After the party, he insisted that plaintiff stay and talk. Because he was her boss, she agreed. Gallagher told plaintiff that she needed to quit being afraid and let someone take care of her and that there was no reason that the two of them could not keep working together. During this conversation Gallagher tried to kiss plaintiff. He put his hands on her, touching her on the back of the neck and on her breasts. He frequently touched her in this manner.

Gallagher had a reputation for sleeping with his employees. The joke at the Ground Round was that sleeping with Mike Gallagher was a prerequisite for the job. Gallagher was often violent at work. He would slam his fists into walls or throw objects around the kitchen in a rage. Ms. Lane, who had two dependent children, feared for her job if she did not at least talk with him. Plaintiff continued to refuse his advances. Gallagher reduced her hours and changed her work schedule without notice. When she complained to him about the changes in scheduling, he would tell her it was his store, he could do what he wanted to do and that if she did not like it, she could find another job.

One night in the fall of 1987, Gallagher came into the restaurant apparently intoxicated. One of plaintiff's coworkers said that she would drive him home. But when plaintiff prepared to leave, Gallagher was pounding on her car window, shouting obscenities and demanding that she open the door. All of her coworkers were gone, so plaintiff opened the door. When Gallagher got into the car, he told her that he did not like the way she was avoiding him and that they needed to talk. Plaintiff drove Gallagher to his house. As she drove, Gallagher fondled her. When they arrived, he tried to convince her to come inside with him. She refused. Subsequently, Gallagher repeatedly changed plaintiff's work schedule without warning. This resulted in wasted trips to work and disruption with her other part-time job.

In June 1988, Gallagher was promoted to the regional director for Ground Round's restaurants in Iowa. At that time, Gallagher was removed from his supervisory position over Ms. Lane and no longer had any control over the Bridgeton restaurant. After Gallagher left, plaintiff no longer had any problems with her hours or schedule. Gallagher's new office was located in Iowa, but he continued to visit the Bridgeton restaurant from time to time. On those occasions, he would sit at the bar until plaintiff would talk to him, which made her uncomfortable.¹

Gallagher maintained contact with Gary Duckworth, the regional supervisor and Gallagher's former boss. Duckworth's office was upstairs in the same building as the Bridgeton restaurant. Lowell Martin became general manager at the Bridgeton restaurant on about June 1, 1988 upon Gallagher's transfer to Iowa. Before Martin become general manager, Gallagher and Duckworth approached him in April or May 1988 and told him that plaintiff was not a family-oriented bartender and that he should put her on his list of people to replace. After Martin became general manager, Duckworth again told Martin he should fire plaintiff. Martin refused to terminate plaintiff and subsequently was fired himself.² John Bell then took over as general manager. Within his first week as general manager, John Bell fired plaintiff on June 29, 1989, and, she alleges, laughed as he did it.

Ground Round had a written harassment policy. It stated that any complaints or instances of sexual harassment must be reported immediately to the restaurant general manager, or if it is appropriate, to the regional director of the human resources department. Plaintiff never complained about Gallagher to either the regional director or the human resources department. Plaintiff did not complain because she felt Duckworth probably already knew because Gallagher was threatened with a lawsuit from another bartender. She also feared she would be fired if she said anything about it. She made no complaint until after she was fired.

On July 25, 1989, plaintiff filed a charge of discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") and with the Missouri Commission on Human Rights ("MCHR"). The charge alleged that plaintiff was discriminated against on account of her sex in that Gallagher sexually harassed her from 1984³ to June 20, 1989. Plaintiff filed this lawsuit on August 13, 1990.

III. Discussion

The basis for Ground Round's motion for summary judgment is that (1) any claims of sexual harassment or discrimination that may have arisen before September 26, 1988 are barred under Title VII and the MHRA, because plaintiff failed to file a timely charge of discrimination with respect to any such claims and failed to bring suit not later than two years after the alleged act or occurrence, as required by the MHRA, Mo.Rev.Stat. § 213.111.1; and, (2) that for any claims of sexual harassment or discrimination that may have arisen from September 26, 1988 up to and including plaintiff's discharge on June 20, 1989, there is no record evidence of any harassment or discrimination rising to the level of a violation of either statute. Plaintiff counters that she suffered from a...