Lettieri v. Equant, Inc.
| Decision Date | 21 April 2005 |
| Docket Number | No. 1:04 CV 838 JCC.,1:04 CV 838 JCC. |
| Citation | 367 F.Supp.2d 958 |
| Parties | Lorraine LETTIERI, Plaintiff, v. EQUANT, INC., Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Virginia |
Victor Michael Glasberg, Alexandria, VA, for Plaintiff.
This matter is before the Court on Defendant's motion for summary judgment. Plaintiff Lettieri filed this Title VII and breach of contract suit against Defendant Equant, her former employer. For the reasons stated below, the Court will grant Defendant's motion for summary judgment on all counts.
Plaintiff Lorraine Lettieri, a female, worked for Global One as Director of Alternate Sales Channels from mid-2000 to June 2001 when Global One merged with Defendant Equant, Inc., ("Equant,") an international telecommunications firm. The resulting company was called Equant. Global One was also a telecommunications company. There, Lettieri had managed a nationwide team of approximately 14 sales professionals. She lived in New York City with her husband and two children. She spent about half of each month traveling to the Global One office in Reston, Virginia and client sites nationwide.
At the time of the merger, Equant had considerable dealings with Sprint International, ("Sprint,") which re-sold Equant's network data services to Sprint's own customers. Lettieri had negotiated the original relationship between Sprint and Global One, and had extensive knowledge of Equant's dealings with Sprint. Following the merger, Lettieri and Global One's Sprint sales team joined Equant in an indirect sales channel at Equant called the Sprint Channel.
Equant contemplated organizing the Sprint Channel into a free-standing profit and loss, ("P & L,") business unit. This required a restructuring of Equant and creation of a new position called "Head of Sprint Channel" to coordinate the dealings between Equant and Sprint. Equant Vice President Sean Parkinson considered Lettieri and Michael Taylor, an Equant Sales Manger with over 23 years of management experience within the telecommunications industry and many years of P & L experience, for the job. Lettieri alleges that during her July 2001 interview for the position, Parkinson spent most of the interview asking how Lettieri's husband "tolerated" her absences from New York. After the interview, Lettieri complained to her immediate supervisor James Hamrick about Parkinson's questions. Hamrick advised her to talk to Equant's human resources department, so she complained to Lauren Stoll, Equant's Human Resources representative.
Parkinson subsequently recommended Taylor for the position. Parkinson claims that he based his recommendation on several factors, including that Taylor had P & L experience whereas Lettieri had none, and Taylor was already familiar with Equant's business model and objectives and was not closely tied to the incoming sales team or Sprint. Lettieri alleges that Parkinson told her that she was more qualified than Taylor for the position, but that Taylor's children were raised and on their own, so he did not have family obligations of the sort that Lettieri had as a mother. Lettieri also claims that Parkinson said she would have to train Taylor for the position.
Taylor became Head of Sprint Channel in Summer 2001. Lettieri remained Director of Sales and began reporting to Taylor, whom she also assisted in understanding Sprint's needs. Lettieri claims that Taylor made derogatory and offensive comments about and to women. He allegedly called or referred to Lettieri and another female manager, Laure Travers, as "stupid bitches" in Fall 2001. He commented that he had no use for Travers other than using her French charms on the customer. Taylor said that he wished Travers worked in Reston so she could make photocopies for him despite the fact that Travers had a high level managerial position in the company. Lettieri testified that Taylor told her on two occasions between July and December 2001 that she should consider being back in New York with her family.1 (Pl.'s Opp'n, Ex. 2 at 259-60). In Fall 2001, Lettieri claims that she contacted Imani Dawson, Equant's Human Resources representative regarding, inter alia, Taylor's treatment of her in the workplace.
Equant claims that with Taylor as Head of Sprint Channel, Lettieri at first was helpful and hard working, but then began to resist integrating into Equant and accepting its business model. Taylor believed that Lettieri did not appreciate Equant's financial model, which could not always accommodate the pricing that Sprint wanted. In October 2001, Taylor told Lettieri to "stop taking Sprint's side and to think more about Equant." (Id. at 233-34). Lettier responded that she was thinking of Equant. (See id.)
Following the merger, Equant realized that it had overestimated the revenue it would derive from Sprint and the relationship between the two companies deteriorated. During the Global One days, the Sprint sales team interfaced directly with Sprint's sales team and with Sprint customers. However, Sprint no longer wanted the Sprint Channel to interface directly with its sales team or Sprint's customers.
In early December 2001, Taylor asked Lettieri to recommend restructuring plans for the Sprint Channel. Before Lettieri responded, on December 17, 2001, Taylor emailed Lettieri his own proposal which included changes to Lettieri's responsibilities. Lettieri considered the proposed changes a demotion and contacted Jill Hausner with Equant's Human Resources Department to complain that Taylor's actions indicated his bias against her as a woman. She also told Hausner about the inappropriate questions Parkinson asked during her interview for the Head of Sprint Channel position.
Hausner then contacted Taylor; her notes from their conversation indicate that she specifically asked him about the "discrimination issue." (See Pl.'s Opp'n, Exs. 9, 10). She also contacted Parkinson who was surprised that Lettieri thought that any of the questions he asked during the interview were inappropriate. (Pl.'s Opp'n, Ex. 10 at 22-25). Hausner then spoke with Lettieri and told her that Lettieri and Taylor needed to communicate more about her position within his organization. (Id. at 26-28). Hausner testified that Lettieri did not complain of gender issues during the second conversation. (Id. at 27).
Taylor believed that Lettieri's proposed duties would ultimately increase revenue for the Sprint Channel by focusing her directly on large accounts. (See Def.'s Mot., Taylor Dep. at 98-99). Lettieri emailed Taylor on December 18, 2001 stating that the proposed changes were "totally unacceptable." (See Piesco Decl., Ex. 3). Taylor's proposal was not implemented.
During the first two quarters of 2002, Equant's revenue fell short of its forecasts. It had to reduce costs and eliminate redundant and/or unnecessary positions to meet earnings targets. In or around February 2002, Parkinson initiated discussions with Richard Blaustein, Head of North American Markets and Sales, regarding the Sprint Channel, including the possibility of terminating Lettieri's position. Taylor agreed that Lettieri's position could be eliminated. On March 31, 2002, Lettieri sent an email to Equant senior management on behalf of herself and the members of the Sprint Channel Team that was critical of Equant and a proposed compensation plan. (See Def.'s Mot., Bird Dep., Ex. 2). On April 18, 2002, Lettieri sent an email to Taylor criticizing the "strong-armed tactics" of Parkinson and boasted that there was "no one in the entire Equant sales group" that could "shine [a Sprint Channel team member's] shoes." (See Piesco Decl., Ex. 6).
In April 2002, Parkinson; Paul Radochia, Taylor's direct supervisor; James Radcliffe, Equant's Head of Sales Operations; Taylor; and Fran Bird, Equant's Head of Region Human Resources, North America, expressed concern about Lettieri. (See Def.'s Mot., Radochia Decl., Ex. 4). In May 2002, Taylor called a meeting of the Sprint Channel regarding the need to "do more to control our revenue and expenses." (See id., Ex. 6). Lettieri sought to have the meeting rescheduled because three members of the team, including herself, were scheduled to be on vacation. (See id.) Radochia responded that "[g]iven the magnitude of the situation, with revenue shortfall and major billing problems on the Sprint accounts, combined with the timetables, it is not too much to ask of you and the other two on your team to take 20 minutes out of your vacation to deal with this." (Id.)
On June 14, 2002, Taylor told Radochia via email that he "had [his] eye on [a male] as possible sales leadership replacement to [Lettieri] for some time." (Pl.'s Opp'n, Ex. 13). Radochia responded that the male was a poor choice and that since Lettieri was "on the redundant list ... on [his] headcount proposal," she could not be replaced for at least six months. (Id.)
In Spring and early Summer 2002, Equant's revenue continued to decline. It issued the North American Markets Headcount Plan on July 3, 2002 which included a directive to "further reduce management where possible." (See Def.'s Mot., Bird Dep., Ex. 1).
In or about June 2002, Equant decided to eliminate Lettieri's position, which was deemed unnecessary and redundant. On July 8, 2002, Equant terminated Lettieri. Following the elimination of Lettieri's position, Equant claims that the Sprint Channel sales team reported directly Taylor, who assumed Lettieri's duties in addition to his own. (See Def.'s Mot., Taylor Dep. at 145-164). Equant claims that Lettieri's position was eliminated.
Lettieri alleges that her work situation rapidly and dramatically deteriorated after she complained to Hausner in December 2001. In January 2002, Taylor terminated Lettieri's signature authority for expense reports. In March 2002, Taylor took over the Special Pricing Process which Lettieri had developed with Sprint. Lettieri...
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Lettieri v. Equant Incorporated
...who fired her, and second, she did not proffer sufficient evidence to show that she had been replaced at all. Lettieri v. Equant, Inc., 367 F.Supp.2d 958, 965 (E.D.Va.2005). Lettieri's retaliation claim was rejected because the court concluded that Lettieri could not show a causal connectio......