Lapera v. Fed. Nat'l Mortg. Ass'n
Decision Date | 28 September 2016 |
Docket Number | Civil Action No. 15-cv-00447 (BAH) |
Citation | 210 F.Supp.3d 164 |
Parties | Ana LAPERA, Plaintiff, v. FEDERAL NATIONAL MORTGAGE ASSOCIATION d/b/a Fannie Mae, Defendant. |
Court | U.S. District Court — District of Columbia |
David A. Branch, Law Office of David Branch & Associates, PLLC, Washington, DC, for Plaintiff.
Damien G. Stewart, Fannie Mae, Washington, DC, for Defendant.
The plaintiff, Ana Lapera, brings this lawsuit against her former employer, the Federal National Mortgage Association ("Fannie Mae"), alleging race discrimination in violation of the Civil Rights Act, 42 U.S.C. § 1981, and age, race, and personal-appearance discrimination in violation of the D.C. Human Rights Act ("DCHRA"), D.C. Code Ann. § 2-1401 et seq. Compl. ¶¶ 1, 4, ECF No. 1-1. These claims are predicated on Ms. Lapera's allegations that Fannie Mae improperly classified her position's salary grade (and rejected Ms. Lapera's subsequent requests to relevel her salary grade), and declined to promote her on the basis of her race, age, and physical appearance. Pending before the Court is Fannie Mae's motion for summary judgment. Def.'s Mot. Summ. J. ("Def.'s MSJ"), ECF No. 11. For the reasons set forth below, this motion is granted in part and denied in part. Specifically, while Ms. Lapera has shown no genuine issue of material fact as to whether Fannie Mae discriminated against her on the basis of her race or personal appearance when it leveled her salary, she has adduced sufficient evidence to raise such an issue with respect to whether Fannie Mae's proffered reason for passing over Ms. Lapera for the position of Vice President of Planning and Alignment was pretextual.
The pertinent factual and procedural history for consideration of the pending motion for summary judgment is summarized below.
Ms. Lapera was born in Caracas, Venezuela, Plaintiff's Arbitration Transcript () at 28, ECF No. 14-1,1 and describes herself as having "a body size which may be perceived by some as being overweight," Compl. ¶ 6. She holds a degree in systems engineering from a school in Venezuela as well as a master's degree in engineering administration from George Washington University. Pl.'s Arb. Tr. at 29. Ms. Lapera was employed by Fannie Mae, "a private, shareholder-owned company chartered by Congress," Def.'s Statement of Undisputed Facts ("Def.'s SUF") ¶ 1, ECF No. 11-1, in various positions for almost twenty years, from 1994 through 2013, Pl.'s Arb Tr. at 29. Her career path at Fannie Mae is generally described below.
Fannie Mae hired Ms. Lapera in 1994 to work as a manager in the advanced technology division of the IT department. Id. at 30. From there, Ms. Lapera transitioned to a development manager position, and then to a position in which she helped coordinate a smooth technological transition into the year 2000. Id. at 31. Thereafter, she was promoted to various Director-level positions. Id. at 41. For example, in 2008, Fannie Mae's President selected Ms. Lapera to head the restructuring of operations and IT at Fannie Mae. Id. at 46. Then, in 2009, Ms. Lapera was selected to direct the new Lean Six Sigma team.2 Id. at 49–50.
In June 2009, Fannie Mae adopted a new salary scale for employees. Whereas salary grades had previously been on a numerical scale, the new scale was alphabetical, with letters later in the alphabet corresponding to a higher salary. As the Director of Lean Six Sigma, Ms. Lapera's salary grade shifted from a "6" to an "M." Pl.'s Arb. Tr. at 524–25; Decl. of Ana Lapera ("Lapera Decl.") ¶ 7, ECF No. 14-2. At the same time, employees whom Ms. Lapera perceived to be her professional peers received higher salary grades of "N," Pl.'s Arb. Tr. at 85; her direct reports received salary grades of "M" and "L," id. at 92; and several individuals who allegedly had less responsibility than Ms. Lapera received a salary grade of "N," Decl. of Ana Lapera ¶ 8. Moreover, Fannie Mae posted an available position that required less education and experience than Ms. Lapera's position and stated that the position would command an "N" grade salary. Pl.'s Arb. Tr. at 93–97.
On July 18, 2009, Ms. Lapera emailed her manager, Claude Wade, to explain why she believed that her position was assigned an improperly low salary grade and to request an "N" grade salary.3 Id . at 86. In response, Mr. Wade advised Ms. Lapera that he had inquired with the human resources department and was informed that the "M" salary grade for her position would stand. Id. at 87. Ms. Lapera requested a salary upgrade to level "N" again in April 2011, which request was also denied. Pl.'s Mem. Opp'n Def.'s Mot. Summ. J. ("Pl.'s Opp'n"), Ex. K, ECF No. 14-11. In 2012, Fannie Mae increased Ms. Lapera's salary by $28,000, however, as part of the Promotion and Equity Process ("PEP"), which managers can use to that their subordinates' salaries be increased based on performance. Def.'s Arbitration Transcript () at 571, ECF No. 11-3.
In September 2012, Anne Gehring, who at that time worked in the Financial Planning and Analysis division, was selected to be Senior Vice President of the Enterprise Program Management Office ("EPMO"). Pl.'s Arb. Tr. at 102–03.4 As relevant in this case, Ms. Gehring consistently emphasized that employees in her department should have "executive presence," see Pl.'s Arb. Tr. at 714, a term she did not explicitly define. The parties dispute the meaning of the term: Fannie Mae contends that the term "executive presence" "is widely used in business circles to describe the ability to project mature self-confidence, a sense that you can take control of difficult, unpredictable situations; make tough decisions in a timely way and hold your own with other talented and strong-willed members of the executive team." Def.'s Mem. Supp. Mot. Dismiss ("Def.'s Mem.") at 22, ECF 11-2 (internal quotation marks omitted). Ms. Lapera, on the other hand, contends that Ms. Gehring used the term "to criticize the appearance of overweight, older, and minority Fannie Mae employees." Pl.'s Opp'n at 2; id. at 12 (). One Fannie Mae employee, Jim Tomasello, testified during arbitration as follows:
So the term "executive presence" was a theme that [Ms. Gehring] beat the drum on regularly and, really, from the beginning of the time that she was over the EPMO. It was a bar that she never really explained but was talked about, you know, being able to be put in front of executives and basically evaluated people based off of that. We as a group were sent to an image training session where a consultant was brought in to speak specifically about what executive presence meant and what it would take for individuals to, in addition to delivering results, would have to exude to be able to be considered, you know, for promotion or a well-performing employee.
As for Ms. Gehring's treatment of employees, Ms. Lapera's describes a disconcerting pattern of comments and behavior. See, e.g. , Compl. ¶ 14 (); Pl.'s Opp'n at 10, ECF No. 14. ("Ms. Gehring immediately began to target employees who did not meet her standard of an ideal personal appearance, which was Caucasian, young, and slender."). Ms. Lapera testified during arbitration that, among other things, Ms. Gehring (1) transferred a Hispanic female to a different group, Pl.'s Arb. Tr. at 105–08; (2) frequently criticized the personal appearance of her subordinates, id. at 110–13 ( ), id. at 137–39; (3) pressured staff to attend a class put on by an image consultant, id. at 118–29; (4) regularly commented that she ate only a yogurt and banana for breakfast to keep her weight down and that other employees should do the same, id. at 139; and (5) in conducting employee reviews, took an employee's appearances and another employee's accent into account, id. at 133–35.
Less than one year after Ms. Gehring became Senior Vice President, one of her subordinates, Kathy Keller, who was Vice President of EPMO Planning and Alignment and Ms. Lapera's direct supervisor, left her position after Ms. Gehring "communicated to Kathy that it wasn't working out and instructed her to look for opportunities elsewhere in Fannie Mae." Id. at 142–43; id. at 606.5 On June 3, 2013, Fannie Mae solicited applications to fill Ms. Keller's position. Pl.'s Opp'n, Ex. M, ECF No. 14-13. Ms. Lapera applied. Id ., Ex. O, ECF No. 14-15. Before the job was posted, Ms. Gehring noted that Joe Hallet, a Caucasian male already employed at Fannie Mae, might be a good candidate to fill the open position, and he applied for the position. Id. , Ex. N, ECF No. 14-14.6 A third candidate, Nicola Fraser, did not initially apply, Pl.'s Arb. Tr. at 426–27, but after the formal deadline to apply had expired, Ms. Fraser, who was then a Vice President on maternity leave, Def.'s Arb. Tr. at 238, had dinner with Ms. Gehring and discussed the opening. Id. at 332; Def.'s MSJ, Ex. 28, ECF No. 11-28. Ms. Fraser then submitted her résumé to the Human Resources Department. Def.'s Arb. Tr. at 431; Def.'s MSJ, Ex. 30, ECF No. 11-30.
All three candidates were interviewed by Shandell Harris from the Human Resources Department, Mike Choi, a Vice President in EPMO, and Ms. Gehring. Def.'s MSJ, Ex. 34, ECF No. 11-34. Ms. Fraser was ultimately selected...
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