Moccio v. Cornell Univ.

• Decision Date: 27 August 2012
• Docket Number: No. 09 Civ. 3601 (PAE).,09 Civ. 3601 (PAE).
• Citation: 889 F.Supp.2d 539
• Parties: Francine MOCCIO, Plaintiff, v. CORNELL UNIVERSITY, New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations, and Harry C. Katz, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of New York

889 F.Supp.2d 539

Francine MOCCIO, Plaintiff,

v.CORNELL UNIVERSITY, New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations, and Harry C. Katz, Defendants.

No. 09 Civ. 3601 (PAE).

United States District Court,

S.D. New York.

Aug. 27, 2012.

Jeffrey Lew Liddle, David M. Marek, Liddle & Robinson, LLP, New York, NY, for Plaintiff.

Wendy E. Tarlow, Office of University Counsel, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, for Defendants.

OPINION & ORDER

PAUL A. ENGELMAYER, District Judge:

Plaintiff Francine Moccio brings claims of gender discrimination, retaliation, unequal pay, and breach of contract against Cornell University (“Cornell”), the New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations (“the ILR School”), and Harry C. Katz (collectively, “defendants”), under the Equal Pay Act, 29 U.S.C. § 206 (“EPA”), Age Discrimination in Employment Act, 29 U.S.C. § 621 (“ADEA”), Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq. (“Title VII”), the New York State Human Rights Law, N.Y. Exec. Law § 290 et seq. (“NYSHRL”), the New York City Human Rights Law, N.Y. City Admin. Code § 8–101 et seq. (“NYCHRL”), and New York common law. Moccio was a Senior Extension Associate and director of the Institute for Women and Work, a center for the study and advocacy of working women's issues at the ILR School's Extension Division. She alleges that defendants unlawfully discriminated against her on the basis of her gender, retaliated against her for having engaged in protected activity, and breached an employment contract by terminating her before the end of the contract term. Defendants deny all of Moccio's claims.

Defendants move for summary judgment on Moccio's claims under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56. For the reasons that follow, defendants' motion is granted.

I. Background¹A. Key Persons, Entities, and Terms

Between 1990 and June 2009, Moccio was employed by Cornell as a Senior Extension Associate in ILR's Extension Division. Pl.'s 56.1 ¶ 4. Moccio holds a bachelor'sdegree in sociology from the City University of New York at Lehman College in the Bronx, New York, and a master's degree and a doctoral degree in anthropology from the New School for Social Research in Manhattan, New York. Pl.'s 56.1 ¶ 3.

The ILR School is one of four “contract colleges” at Cornell. It is a partnership, created by statute, between New York State and Cornell. Katz Aff. ¶ 3. The ILR School's mission is to “conduct educational, research, and extension programs on the workplace, workplace relations, labor, human resources, and employer/employee relations.” Id. ¶ 3. The ILR School offers a four-year undergraduate program in industrial and labor relations, a master's degree, a doctoral degree, and various non-degree programs for practitioners. Compl. ¶ 4; Katz Aff. ¶ 3. The faculty at the ILR School specializes in personnel and human resource management, labor law and history, and social statistics. Compl. ¶ 4. New York State provides partial support for Cornell's contract colleges, including ILR. Id. The state appropriations for ILR come through the State University of New York (“SUNY”) system. Defs.' 56.1 ¶ 12.

The ILR Resident Division includes undergraduate and graduate degree programs, as well as academic research programs. Katz Aff. ¶ 4. The programs associated with the Resident Division are located primarily on Cornell's main campus in Ithaca, New York. Id.

The ILR Extension Division facilitates programs designed for working practitioners. Defs.' 56.1 ¶ 8; Katz Aff. ¶ 5. At all relevant times, there were four regional Extension Division offices—in Albany, Buffalo, Manhattan, and Rochester—and most programming originated from those offices. Id. Moccio primarily worked out of the Extension Division office in New York City. See Deposition of Francine A. Moccio (“Moccio Dep.”), Marek Aff. Ex. 1, at 23. Most faculty members who teach in the Extension Division are extension associates, or, like Moccio, senior extension associates (“SEAs”). Defs.' 56.1 ¶ 9.

Defendant Harry Katz has been the Dean of the ILR School at Cornell University since July 1, 2005, and a tenured professor at ILR since 1985. Compl. ¶ 5; Defs.' 56.1 ¶ 2. Under Cornell's bylaws, as dean, Dean Katz had ultimate responsibility for all personnel matters in the ILR School. Defs.' 56.1 ¶ 3. As of July 1, 2005, the ILR Extension had 132 employees. Id. ¶ 11.

Susanne Bruyere has been the Associate Dean of Outreach/Extension at ILR since fall 2005. Defs.' 56.1 ¶ 4; Deposition of Susanne Bruyere, Marek Aff. Ex. 7, at 16 (“Bruyere Dep.”). Bruyere is also a professor at ILR, and the director of the Employment and Disability Institute at ILR.

SEAs are employees of ILR with limited term, non-tenure track positions. Defs.' 56.1 ¶ 10; Katz Aff. ¶ 6; Defs.' 56.1 Ex. 5 (“There are no tenure track faculty appointments in the Extension Division. Tenure track faculty lines (and appointments) exist only in the Resident Division.”). SEAs are each initially appointed to a three-year term at the ILR School, and may later be renewed for successive terms. Bruyere Dep. at 8. Each reappointment is “contingent upon available funding, satisfactory performance and available work.” Defs.' 56.1 Ex. 40.

The Institute for Women and Work (the “IWW”) was founded in 1976 as a center for the study and advocacy of working women's issues. Pl.'s 56.1 ¶ 1. The IWW received funding from state and private grants. Id. ¶ 2. In 1990, Cornell hired Moccio as Director of the IWW and appointed her to the position of SEA. From 1990 through June 30, 2009, Moccio was IWW's only full-time employee. Id. ¶ 4. In or around 1993, Moccio successfully completed her first peer review process, and was reappointed to another three-year term. Moccio Aff. ¶ 8.

B. Events Relevant to Ms. Moccio's Claims

Moccio's claims arise out of her dealings with various members of the Extension Division faculty and administration between 2005 and her termination in 2009, and implicate a number of events during that period: (1) the reorganization of the ILR Extension Division in 2005 that caused Moccio to be reassigned to a new thematic group and to report to a new supervisor; (2) a request by Moccio's supervisor that she fill out a Flexplace Agreement; (3) a decision to move Moccio to a new office, first raised in 2006 and implemented in 2008; (4) Extension Division workforce reductions in 2006; (5) a “lower than average” salary increase in 2006; and (6) a request by Moccio's supervisor that she register as a lobbyist with the State of New York. Moccio contends that these incidents were adverse employment actions motivated by gender discrimination and were undertaken in retaliation for her having engaged in protected activity. Moccio also contends that (7) there was gender-based unequal pay in the ILR Extension Division as of 2008, reflecting gender-based discrimination; and (8) her termination, communicated to her in 2008 and effective in 2009, was in retaliation for prior protected acts. The following are the facts relevant to these events.

C. The ILR Extension Division's Reorganization in 2005

When Dean Katz became dean in July 2005, he learned that the Extension Division was running a deficit due to high expenses, low revenue, and declining support from New York State. Defs.' 56.1 ¶ 15. Starting in fall 2005, Dean Katz reorganized the Extension Division by sorting the professional staff into eight new thematic groups, organized by their substantive work. Pl.'s 56.1 ¶ 8; Defs.' 56.1 ¶ 16. The groups were: Organizational Change Management; Development and Human Resources Management; Labor Union; Workforce Industry and Economic Development; Diversity and Inclusion; Employment and Disability; Conflict Resolution; and Employment and Labor Law. Pl.'s 56.1 ¶ 8. Dean Bruyere advised Dean Katz as to the reorganization, and assisted him in selecting team leaders, who were four women and four men. Defs.' 56.1 ¶ 4; Bruyere Dep. at 15–16; Bruyere Aff. ¶ 2, 8.

At the time he took office, Dean Katz also perceived that “ILR did not have well-documented records regarding the performance of the individuals who worked in the Extension Division.” Katz Aff. ¶ 28. “There had been a history of limited performance reviews and in the reviews that had occurred there were few indications of poor performance.” Id. Dean Katz was under the impression that “evaluators were reluctant to report negative things about anyone.” Id.

As part of the 2005 reorganization, Dean Katz placed IWW, and its director, Moccio, in the Diversity and Inclusion thematic group. Pl.'s 56.1 ¶ 9. Dean Katz moved IWW to that group because he “ ‘thought that the Institute for Women and Work and [Moccio's] activities were most closely connected to [the] Diversity and Inclusion theme.’ ” Id. ¶ 9 (quoting Deposition of Harry C. Katz (“Katz Dep.”), Marek Aff. Ex. 2, at 72). As a part of this reorganization, IWW would no longer be a “free-standing sub-unit in Extension,” and Moccio would no longer report directly to the dean. Katz Aff. ¶ 10. Instead, she was to begin reporting directly to the new Diversity and Inclusion group leader, Christopher Metzler. Pl.'s 56.1 ¶ 9.

In or around September 2005, upon learning of this decision, Moccio asked if she and IWW could remain a free-standing entity, not assigned to any of the new thematic groups. Pl.'s 56.1 ¶ 10. Dean Katz denied that request, on the ground that it would perpetuate the “ ‘high fragmentation of programming and coordination’ ” that he perceived in the Extension Division. Id. (quoting Katz Dep. at 72–73).

On or around October 4, 2005, Metzler met with Moccio to discuss the new organization. After the meeting, Metzler called Cathy Mooney, the Executive Director of Extension for ILR. Metzler complained that Moccio displayed “open hostility.” Defs.' 56.1 Ex. 3; Mooney Aff. ¶ 4.² Mooney later reported to Deans Katz and Bruyere that Metzler had “adjourned the meeting because of Francine's hostility and his inability to move forward in the...