McLee v. Chrysler Corp., 896

Citation109 F.3d 130
Decision Date25 March 1997
Docket NumberD,No. 896,896
Parties73 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. (BNA) 751, 70 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 44,716 William J. McLEE, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. CHRYSLER CORPORATION, Defendant-Appellee. ocket 96-7736.
CourtUnited States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (2nd Circuit)

Michael H. Sussman, Goshen, NY (Stephen Bergstein, Sussman, Bergstein, Wotorson & Whately, Goshen, NY, on the brief), for Plaintiff-Appellant.

Laurence B. Liebowitz, Elmsford, NY (Marie L. McCann, Thomas M. Bloomer, Cooper, Liebowitz, Royster & Wright, Elmsford, NY, on the brief), for Defendant-Appellee.

Before: OAKES, KEARSE, and JACOBS, Circuit Judges.

KEARSE, Circuit Judge:

Plaintiff William J. McLee appeals from a final judgment of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, Jed S. Rakoff, Judge, dismissing his complaint alleging that defendant Chrysler Corporation ("Chrysler" or the "Company") discriminated against him in the terms and conditions of his employment and terminated his employment on the basis of his race in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ("Title VII"), 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq. (1994), and 42 U.S.C. § 1981 (1994). The district court granted Chrysler's motion for summary judgment dismissing the complaint on the grounds that McLee failed to adduce evidence sufficient to make out a prima facie case of discrimination and that even assuming a prima facie case, McLee failed to present evidence that could show that the Company's reason for terminating his employment was pretextual. On appeal, McLee contends principally that summary judgment was improper because there were genuine issues of fact to be tried as to the reasons for Chrysler's terminating his employment. For the reasons that follow, we disagree and affirm the judgment of dismissal.

I. BACKGROUND

McLee began to work for Chrysler in February 1992; his employment was terminated in June 1992. The pertinent events, summarized below on the basis of the parties' statements pursuant to Rule 3(g) of the Civil Rules for the Southern District ("Rule 3(g)"), and deposition testimony by McLee, are largely undisputed.

A. McLee's Employment With Chrysler

In early 1992, McLee, a black male, applied to Chrysler for a position as a supervisor in the company's Tappan Parts Depot warehouse facility ("Tappan Depot" or "Depot"). Tappan Depot manager Robert S. Broderdorf, whose responsibilities included personnel decisions such as hiring and firing, interviewed McLee and hired him as night stock supervisor. In that capacity, McLee was to supervise a shift of machine operators whose primary function was to move parts from the Depot's reserve locations to pick-up stations from which other employees could collect them for shipment to Chrysler dealers.

McLee began work on February 3, 1992. His supervisors included warehouse manager Stephen "Skip" Dahlman, warehouse night manager James Garden, and head night supervisor Jeffrey Haas. On March 9, 1992, Garden gave McLee a written 30-day evaluation of his work and met with him to discuss it. Although Garden rated McLee's overall performance "3" on a scale of 1-5, meaning "at requirements," Garden noted that in certain respects McLee's work was not satisfactory.

In early June 1992, after he had been on the job for four months, McLee was given a 120-day review. He received a preliminary written evaluation that was worse than his 30-day evaluation. Of the 22 categories in which his performance was evaluated, he was rated unsatisfactory in 13. On June 4, he met with Garden and Haas, who discussed unsatisfactory areas with him. At that meeting, after they had reviewed the criticisms, McLee stated that he believed Haas had a problem with minorities. McLee had never before communicated such a belief.

On June 5, 1992, McLee met with Garden, Haas, and Broderdorf. Broderdorf asked McLee whether he felt uncomfortable working for either Garden or Haas. McLee responded that he did not. He recanted his June 4 accusation of bias, stated that he did not believe Haas was a racist, and apologized to both Garden and Haas. Broderdorf then reviewed some of the areas in which McLee's performance had been found lacking and asked why McLee had not made any written comments regarding the 120-day evaluation. McLee was then given time to respond in writing to all of the comments in his review which he felt were inaccurate. Broderdorf informed McLee that he would receive a second formal review on June 9 and that thereafter his performance would be evaluated each week for the next month; at the end of the month, Broderdorf would determine McLee's status with Chrysler.

Given the opportunity to challenge the negative evaluations, McLee disputed only six of the 13 areas in which his performance had been rated unsatisfactory. Although in response to the motion for summary judgment McLee asserted that "he did not necessarily dispute all that he in fact disagreed with" (McLee Rule 3(g) Statement p 60), at his deposition, he testified that he had disputed only the criticisms he "felt were not fair" (McLee Dep. 316). On June 9, McLee met with Garden and promised to try to improve his performance.

On the evening of June 9, 1992, hours after that promise, McLee left work early, in pain due to a blister on his small toe. He went to Nyack Hospital, where he was treated by a Dr. Silverberg who issued him a note that stated: "Please excuse [McLee] from work for 24 hours." Hospital personnel also provided McLee with a form entitled "Aftercare Instructions to the Patient," instructing "Keep off foot for 24 hours." McLee called Haas that night and said he was supposed to stay away from work for 48 hours. (McLee Dep. 250 ("I told [Haas] that night that I went to Dr. Silverberg, that I will be supposed to be out forty-eight hours."); id. at 251 ("I said twenty-four to forty-eight hours....").) McLee stayed away from work for two days. On the second day, he received a call from Garden. McLee told Garden that Dr. Silverberg had instructed McLee not to work for 48 hours. Garden told McLee to call Broderdorf the next day.

On the following day, June 12, McLee telephoned Broderdorf, who said he was "in the process of doing all the paperwork" to fire McLee. McLee then telephoned Chrysler's Human Relations office in Detroit, along with the NAACP and other civil rights or labor offices. McLee met with Broderdorf and Dahlman later that day. According to McLee, as described in Part I.B. below, Broderdorf and Dahlman began that meeting by asking McLee whether he had been in touch with those offices; when McLee responded that he had, the conversation assumed a hostile tone. As to McLee's excuse for missing the second day of work, McLee presented his written note from Dr. Silverberg. McLee contends that he attempted to explain that, notwithstanding the note's reference to 24 hours, Dr. Silverberg had instructed him orally to take up to 48 hours off if necessary to allow the infected blister to heal, but that Broderdorf and Dahlman gave him no chance to comment. Chrysler contends that when

asked about the discrepancy, McLee refused to comment. On the next business day, June 15, McLee was fired.

B. The Litigation

After filing a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") and eventually receiving a right-to-sue letter, McLee commenced the present action, alleging principally that Chrysler had terminated his employment on the basis of his race, in violation of Title VII and § 1981. Following a period of discovery, Chrysler moved for summary judgment, contending that McLee could not show that his employment had been terminated because of any racial motivation rather than because of his unsatisfactory performance. The motion was supported by, inter alia, affidavits of Broderdorf and Garden and portions of McLee's deposition.

In opposing summary judgment dismissing the claim of discriminatory termination, McLee argued principally that he had been dismissed because he had contacted civil rights groups to protest discriminatory treatment. Thus, McLee submitted an affidavit he had filed in connection with his EEOC complaint, which stated that on June 12, 1992, he had "contacted [Chrysler]'s EEO office in Detroit and left a message. Following this, I met with Broderdorf and Skip Dahlman, Warehouse Manager.... I was told they would review the facts of the matter in light of my contacting EEO in Detroit. On June 15 I was informed by Bob Broderdorf that I was terminated." (Affidavit of William McLee dated August 21, 1992, at 2.) At his deposition, McLee described the start of his June 12 meeting with Broderdorf as follows:

I walked in and they asked if I had called the NAACP and a couple of other people, Howard Stein, the Labor Board, and a couple of other places, and I stated yes.

At the time Skip and Bob took out a piece of paper and said, "This conversation must be documented," and then asked me a series of questions. I remember Skip leaving the room a couple of times. I remember--I recall it was a very hostile environment.

(McLee Dep. 292.)

McLee also asserted that some time earlier, Haas had been accused of directing a racial epithet at a black hourly employee. McLee stated that he had learned of that accusation because Haas told him of it, with a smile. McLee acknowledged that the Company informed him that the accusation had been thoroughly investigated and found baseless. McLee did not present any evidence of racial slurs or incidents involving McLee himself. McLee admitted that Broderdorf made the decision to fire him and did not consult Haas about whether to do so.

In a Memorandum Opinion and Order dated May 28, 1996 ("Opinion"), the district court granted the Company's motion for summary judgment. The court ruled principally that, "[d]espite full discovery, ... plaintiff has failed to adduce evidence sufficient to make the minimal prima facie showing of discrimination necessary to survive a ...

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