Lee v. State of Minn., Dept. of Commerce
| Decision Date | 18 August 1998 |
| Docket Number | No. 97-1168,97-1168 |
| Citation | 157 F.3d 1130 |
| Parties | 77 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. (BNA) 1020, 74 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 45,502 Julie H. LEE, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. STATE OF MINNESOTA, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE; James E. Ulland, Commissioner; Tammy McGlone, individually and in her official capacity, Defendants-Appellees. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit |
Dorene R. Sarnoski, Minneapolis, MN, argued (Jonathan G. Steinberg, on the brief), for Plaintiff-Appellant.
Steven M. Gunn, Assistant Attorney General, St. Paul, MN, argued, for Defendants-Appellees.
Before BEAM and FLOYD R. GIBSON, Circuit Judges, and WEBB, 1 District Judge.
Julie H. Lee appeals from the district court's 2 order granting the State of Minnesota, Department of Commerce (the "State") summary judgment in this gender discrimination case. Because we conclude that Lee has failed to present evidence that raises a reasonable inference that her gender was a determinative factor in the adverse employment decision, we affirm. In addition, Lee appeals the district court's order dismissing her retaliation claim against Tammy McGlone, the Director of Personnel for the Department of Commerce. Because we conclude that Lee failed to raise this argument to the district court, we affirm the district court's dismissal of this claim.
Lee works for the Department of Commerce (the "Department") as a Commerce Analyst 2. In October of 1993, Lee applied to the Department of Employee Relations ("DOER") for a reallocation 3 of her position from an Analyst 2 to an Analyst 3. Initially, John Gross, Lee's supervisor, supported her request for a reallocation because he believed that Lee was performing the work of an Analyst 3. On November 19, 1993, Gross relayed to Lee that Patrick Nelson, the Deputy Commissioner of Commerce, had informed him that the Department wanted only one Analyst 3 in Lee's section.
On December 9, 1993, McGlone sent a memorandum to DOER which indicated that the Department did not support Lee's reallocation request. In particular, McGlone reported that J.A. at 60. On December 27, 1993, James E. Ulland, the Commissioner of Commerce, sent a memorandum to Lee similarly communicating to her that Id. at 120.
Lee believes that McGlone's response to DOER provided false and misleading information about the current and prior male Analyst 3s' duties and about Lee's duties. Specifically, Lee claims that "leadwork" had not been an issue for the Analyst 3 position until it was applied to her as the first female candidate. Neither the current nor the former male Analyst 3s performed the "leadwork" component of the position as that component was now being applied to Lee as a standard requirement for an Analyst 3. Lee further believes that this leadwork information came from Betsy Kostuch, McGlone's subordinate, and that McGlone instructed Kostuch to find some basis for denying Lee's reallocation request. For instance, Kostuch stated that McGlone instructed her "to go up to DOER and get the whole file [regarding Lee's reallocation] ... and to go through it and make sure that there wasn't anything in there that ... would incriminate" McGlone in trying to prevent Lee's reallocation. Id. at 92.
On January 3, 1994, Gross informed McGlone that he believed that she had not accurately described Lee's duties and accomplishments. Again, Gross endorsed Lee's reallocation to an Analyst 3, while acknowledging that "management doesn't want to expand the number of Senior Analysts in the Life and Health Section." Id. at 62.
On January 10, 1994, DOER reported to Lee that the reallocation process had been suspended after receiving information from McGlone that the Department had resolved the issue. Consequently, the Minnesota Association of Professional Employees ("MAPE" or the "union") filed a grievance on Lee's behalf alleging gender discrimination regarding the leadwork criteria as well as interference with the reallocation process. John Ingrassia, the supervisor of Lee's section, agreed that there were "overtones of sex discrimination" against Lee in not being reallocated to an Analyst 3. Id. at 75. Ingrassia also noted that "there was an obvious good-ol'-boy network type of thing" against Lee by the three other male analysts. Id.
On January 12, 1994, after receiving DOER's definition of leadwork, 4 Gross informed Lee that she was not performing leadwork and withdrew his support for her reallocation. Gross further acknowledged that, since the current male Analyst 3 did not perform his job according to this definition of leadwork, his duties would have to be changed to fit this concept of leadwork.
In the meantime, DOER resumed work on Lee's reallocation request, assigning Suzanne Brothen, who worked in DOER's staffing division, to review or "audit" this request. To determine whether Lee should receive her reallocation, Brothen spoke with Lee about her job duties and also consulted the applicable job descriptions for Analyst 2 and 3. Brothen further reviewed information that she received from the Department, including Gross's initial letter of support and a letter from Deputy Commerce Commissioner Nelson which indicated that the Department wanted to have only one Analyst 3 position in Lee's area. After analyzing this information, Brothen denied Lee's reallocation request because Lee "didn't meet the definition of the [Analyst 3] and that it was the intent of the agency to maintain only one [Analyst 3] position in that work unit." Id. at 31.
On February 3, 1994, Brothen sent Lee a letter to inform Lee that DOER had denied her reallocation request. This letter explained that
[i]n the Commerce Analyst series, movement to the [Analyst 3] is dependent on the assignment of the "lead" role to a given position. Historically, the lead role has gone hand in hand with an identification of the expanded knowledge base, but the expanded knowledge base does not in itself confer a "lead" role. In addition to the acquisition and application of greater program knowledge, the agency historically has identified a position as the "lead[.]" It is the right of management to determine the structure of the agency. It is my understanding that Commerce management has determined to have only one "lead" position identified in this work unit. That position is currently filled.
Subsequently, Lee filed suit, alleging that the State denied her reallocation request because of her gender in violation of Title VII, see 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000e to 2000e-17 (1994), and the Minnesota Human Rights Act ("MHRA"), see Minn.Stat. Ann. § 363.03, subd. 1(2)(c) (West Supp.1998). In addition, Lee claimed that "Defendant McGlone" retaliated against Lee because of Lee's opposition to the gender discrimination in the reallocation process in violation of Title VII, see 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-3(a) (1994), and the MHRA, see Minn.Stat. Ann. § 363.03, subd. 7(1) (West Supp.1998). Lee also brought several state-law tort claims against the State and McGlone. 5
The district court granted the State summary judgment on the gender discrimination claim, finding that, although Lee established a prima facie case of gender discrimination, Lee "failed to present evidence that supports a reasonable inference that [the State's] reasons were a pretext for discrimination." Appellant's Add. at 11. The district court then dismissed the Title VII gender discrimination and retaliation claims against McGlone because Title VII does not impose individual liability on supervisors. Finally, the district court, after declining to exercise supplemental jurisdiction, dismissed Lee's remaining MHRA and state-law tort claims. Lee appeals.
We review de novo a grant of summary judgment. The standard we apply is the same as the district court applied: whether the record shows that no genuine issue as to any material fact exists and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c); Johnson v. Baptist Med. Ctr., 97 F.3d 1070, 1072 (8th Cir.1996).
Title VII gender discrimination actions follow the well-established burden shifting analysis set forth in McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 802, 93 S.Ct. 1817, 36 L.Ed.2d 668 (1973). See also Johnson, 97 F.3d at 1072. We apply this same analysis in reviewing employment discrimination claims brought under the MHRA. See Feges v. Perkins Restaurants, Inc., 483 N.W.2d 701, 710 (Minn.1992).
For the purpose of analysis, we will assume that Lee has established her prima facie case of gender discrimination. The State articulates two legitimate, nondiscriminatory reasons for denying Lee's reallocation request: (1) Lee was not assigned to do leadwork, which the State claims is a requirement for an Analyst 3; and (2) the Department wanted to have only one Analyst 3 in Lee's unit. Because the State has advanced legitimate, non-discriminatory reasons for its adverse employment action, Lee "must produce some evidence creating a genuine issue of fact as to whether [the State's] explanation is pretextual and whether [the State] harbored a discriminatory intent." Johnson, 97 F.3d at 1073; see also Ryther v. KARE 11, 108 F.3d 832, 837-38 (Lay, majority) and 848 (Loken, dissenting) (8th Cir.) (en banc), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 117 S.Ct. 2510, 138 L.Ed.2d 1013 (1997).
Lee identifies the following evidence to support her claim that the State's proffered reasons constitute a pretext for intentional...
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