Newton v. Cadwell Laboratories, 97-4215EM

• Decision Date: 30 September 1998
• Docket Number: No. 97-4215EM,97-4215EM
• Citation: 156 F.3d 880
• Parties: 78 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. (BNA) 701, 74 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 45,522 Anne NEWTON, Appellant, v. CADWELL LABORATORIES, Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

Page 880

156 F.3d 880

78 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. (BNA) 701,

74 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 45,522

Anne NEWTON, Appellant, v. CADWELL LABORATORIES, Appellee.

No. 97-4215EM.

United States Court of Appeals,

Eighth Circuit.

Submitted Sept. 24, 1998.

Decided Sept. 30, 1998.

Jerome J. Dobson, St. Louis, MO, argued (Jonathon C. Berns and Gregory A. Rich, on the brief), for appellant.

Rebecca E. Walsh, St. Louis, MO, argued (Patrick M. Sanders, on the brief), for appellee.

Before McMILLIAN, HEANEY, and FAGG, Circuit Judges.

FAGG, Circuit Judge.

Anne Newton appeals the district court's grant of Cadwell Laboratories' (Cadwell) motion for summary judgment on Newton's gender discrimination and sexual harassment claims. We affirm the district court on Newton's gender discrimination claim and reverse the district court and remand for further proceedings on Newton's sexual harassment claim.

On appeal, we review the district court's grant of summary judgment de novo and affirm when the record presents no genuine issue of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. See Cram v. Lamson & Sessions Co., 49 F.3d 466, 471 (8th Cir.1995). We resolve all factual disputes and draw all inferences in favor of Newton, the nonmoving party in this case. See id.

Cadwell employed Newton as a salesperson. Shortly after Newton started working at Cadwell, Newton had a consensual affair with her supervisor, Robert Love, that ended approximately three years before Newton was terminated. After the affair ended, Love continued to pursue Newton, making it clear to Newton in a variety of ways that he wished to renew their relationship. Newton testified Love forced her to participate in a sexual act against her will on one occasion shortly after their affair ended; continually "hovered" around her; wanted to know about her travel schedule because, Newton believed, Love wanted to intercept her on business trips; maneuvered to sit with Newton at company meetings; and could not reach an agreement with another supervisor to allow Newton to transfer from Love's supervision. Love's amorous-like behavior ceased in September 1992 when Love's wife began working as a salesperson for Cadwell.

In the years following the cessation of the affair, Newton's sales decreased. In January 1993, Love gave Newton an overall favorable evaluation but noted his concern about Newton's low sales numbers and Newton's need to better cover her sales territory. After two consecutive quarters with sales so low Newton was ranked at the bottom of Cadwell's sales force, Cadwell placed Newton on probation during the second quarter of 1993. When Newton failed to meet the terms of her probation, Cadwell discharged her. Love sat on the management committee that made the decision to place Newton on probation and to terminate her employment.

Newton sued Cadwell, contending Cadwell discriminated against Newton because of her gender and Love subjected Newton to quid pro quo sexual harassment. The district court granted Cadwell's motion for summary judgment, reasoning Newton failed to establish a prima facie case of gender discrimination and failed to show Cadwell's legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for Newton's discharge was pretextual. The district court also reasoned Newton failed to establish a prima facie case of quid pro quo sexual harassment.

Newton first contends the district court committed error in holding Newton failed to show either a prima facie case of gender discrimination or pretext. After an employee establishes a prima facie case of gender discrimination, the employer must then advance a legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for the employee's discharge. See Johnson v. Baptist Med. Ctr., 97 F.3d 1070, 1072 (8th Cir.1996). If the employer advances a legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for the employee's discharge, the employee must present " 'facts which if proven at trial would permit a jury to conclude that the [employer's] proffered reason is pretextual and that intentional discrimination was the true reason for the [employer's] actions.' " Id. at 1072 (quoting Krenik v. County of Le Sueur, 47 F.3d 953, 958 (8th Cir.1995)). A female employee may establish pretext in a gender discrimination case by demonstrating that she was treated differently than male employees who were similarly situated in all relevant respects. See id. at 1073; Williams v. Ford Motor Co., 14 F.3d 1305, 1309 (8th Cir.1994).

Even if we assume for the purposes of our review that Newton established the elements of a prima facie case of gender discrimination, we agree with the district court that there is no substantial evidence in the record tending to show Cadwell's articulated reason for Newton's termination was a pretext for gender discrimination. Cadwell presented evidence that Newton was placed on probation after two consecutive quarters of sales significantly below her quarterly sales objectives and that Newton was discharged after she failed to meet the terms of her probation. This evidence establishes a legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for Newton's discharge. To show Cadwell's reason was pretextual, Newton contends five similarly situated male salespeople were not discharged. Contrary to Newton's view, the summary judgment record shows the five male salespeople--Sinila, Hirasawa, Murri, McCann, and Sasala--were not similarly situated to Newton in all relevant respects. Although Sinila was placed on probation at the same time as Newton, for the same reasons, and under the same probationary terms, Sinila was not terminated because he met his sales requirements by the end of his probation. Like Newton, Hirasawa was placed on probation for poor sales performance during the two preceding quarters, but he was not discharged because he met the sales requirements of his probation. Murri was not placed on probation despite his poor sales performance because of significant negative market variables hindering sales that were present only in his sales territory. McCann was given a warning rather than probation because his sales performance was not as poor as Newton's performance. About three years after Newton was terminated, Sasala was placed on probation for a shorter term than Newton and then was discharged for failing to meet his probationary requirements. Finally, Newton's contention that Cadwell's decision to place her on probation during the second quarter of 1993 was discriminatory because her sales were historically higher by the end of the year is unpersuasive because Cadwell placed Sinila on probation at the same time and under the same...