Nofles v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co.

• Decision Date: 18 May 2000
• Docket Number: No. 4:98CV1369 RWS.,4:98CV1369 RWS.
• Citation: 101 F.Supp.2d 805
• Parties: Catherine NOFLES, Plaintiff, v. STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE CO., Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Missouri

101 F.Supp.2d 805

Catherine NOFLES, Plaintiff, v. STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE CO., Defendant.

No. 4:98CV1369 RWS.

United States District Court, E.D. Missouri, Eastern Division.

May 18, 2000.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Ronald L. Rothman, Christopher C. Oelzen, Librach and Rothman, St. Louis, MO, for Catherine Nofles Timm W. Schowalter, Thompson Coburn, James N. Foster, Jr., Partner, Robert D. Younger, McMahon and Berger, St. Louis, MO, for State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, an Illinois Corporation, defendant.

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

SIPPEL, District Judge.

Catherine Nofles was fired from her job as a claims representative at State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company after she refused to submit to a company-ordered medical examination. Nofles later filed the instant lawsuit, claiming that State Farm intentionally discriminated against her and terminated her on account of her race, gender, disabilities and in retaliation for engaging in protected activity.

State Farm moves for summary judgment, contending that Nofles' claims are either time-barred or unsupported by evidence. Because the Court finds a genuine issue about whether Nofles' termination was motivated by racial and/or gender animus, her discriminatory discharge claim will not be decided by summary judgment. On all other claims, State Farm is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.

I. Facts

In accordance with Local Rule 4.05. State Farm submitted a statement of uncontroverted material facts in support of its motion for summary judgment, together with specific references to the record and accompanying exhibits. Nofles, however, failed to comply with Local Rule 4.05(E), which provides in relevant part:

Every memorandum in opposition shall include a statement of material facts as to which the party contends a genuine issue exists. Those matters in dispute shall be set forth with specific references to portions of the record, where available, upon which the opposing party relies. The opposing party also shall note for all disputed facts the paragraph number from the movant's listing of facts.

The consequence of Nofles' failure to comply is that "[a]ll matters set forth in the statement of the movant shall be deemed admitted for purposes of summary judgment unless specifically controverted by the opposing party." Local Rule 4.05(E). Despite Nofles' failure to provide any citations to the record or evidence to support her claims, the Court has carefully reviewed the entire record submitted by State Farm to ensure that its factual statement is, indeed, uncontroverted.¹ The Court finds the following material facts are undisputed (unless indicated otherwise) from its review of the record.²

Nofles, an African-American female, began working for State Farm as a claim representative trainee in its Creve Coeur, Missouri office in 1987. She did not have a written employment contract. Nofles was subsequently transferred to the Westgate office and promoted to the position of senior claim representative on September 16, 1989. On November 9, 1991, Nofles was promoted again to claim specialist, a position which she held until her termination. During this time period, Nofles received ratings of "as expected" in her performance reviews, but was informed that she needed to work on improving her timeliness.

Problems allegedly arose after Larry Lueckenotte became Nofles' supervisor in 1992. Lueckenotte testified that he discussed Nofles' timeliness problems with her soon after he became her supervisor, but that she failed to correct the problem. Between 1992 and 1996, Nofles received six evaluations rating her performance "as expected."

Nofles alleges that Lueckenotte subjected her to unwarranted criticism on account of her race and/or gender and/or in retaliation for engaging in protected activities by: 1) refusing to provide her with full authority to settle claims; 2) questioning her about a document she prepared; 3) talking about her arrangement of "friendly suits"; and 4) going through her mail and desk.

Nofles also contends that she was retaliated against for speaking to the attorney representing a former employee, Bob Eskridge, who filed a racial discrimination claim against State Farm. Although Lueckenotte was also Eskridge's supervisor, he did not work in the Westgate office with Nofles. According to Nofles, Eskridge's attorney contacted her at work to discuss her opinion of Lueckenotte as a supervisor. Nofles claims that she made several disparaging comments about Lueckenotte and the next day was called into the human resources department to discuss the details of the conversation with State Farm's attorney. Nofles does not identify any adverse employment action that was allegedly taken against her in retaliation for speaking to Eskridge's attorney, but she did testify that "things were really uncomfortable with [Lueckenotte] after that ...." Nofles, however, did not know whether Lueckenotte was ever informed about the substance of her conversation with Eskridge's attorney.

Nofles also claims that she was retaliated against for refusing to discriminate against a fellow employee. Nofles testified that she was asked to substantiate whether a black female co-worker used crack cocaine during her employment. Nofles refused to provide any information about her co-worker's alleged drug abuse. Nofles testified that she could not identify any adverse employment actions taken against her for refusing to participate in this alleged discriminatory conduct, "except for some reason, I still could never get above expected raises ...."

Nofles attributes the following incidents to race and/or gender animus: 1) in late 1995 or early 1996, a co-worker pointed out portions of the State Farm's management training manual which he believed were racially discriminatory; 2) in 1988, a co-worker said to Nofles, "Who do you think you are, staying late?"; 3) a co-worker once suggested that several of the employees, including Nofles, "go to a coon's restaurant" for lunch; and 4) in 1992, a co-worker told Nofles that she could not wear her hair "in a natural."

At some point between 1992 and 1994³, Nofles informed Lueckenotte that she suffers from fibromyalgia and requested a new chair and telephone headset, presumably in response to this diagnosis.⁴ Nofles also requested that she be allowed to work part-time or be reassigned to drive-through duty. State Farm complied with Nofles' request for a new chair and telephone headset, but told Nofles that she could not work part-time or on drive-through duty.

In 1996, State Farm decided to restructure its Automobile Claim Section in its Missouri offices. To facilitate the change, State Farm developed a transition plan which it unveiled to its employees in early 1996. Pursuant to the transition plan, State Farm created a competitive, merit-based system to evaluate its employees and match them to available positions within the company. Accordingly, all automobile claim employees in State Farm's Missouri offices were asked to complete an Employee Selection Guide (ESG) consisting of: Section I, employee information including background, work experience and education; Section II, mobility and interest, including office locations where the employee was willing to work and positions which the employee was willing to accept following the reorganization; and Section III, special qualifications or achievements including job-related skills and abilities or significant contributions.

After completing the ESG, the employee delivered the form to her supervisor, who then completed Sections IV-VI of the ESG. Section IV consisted of a performance and history background, including salary ratings and insurance education. Section V was a competency rating of the employee in fourteen separate categories on a scale of one to five (one being the lowest and five the highest). Finally, Section VI included the supervisor's recommendation whether or not the employee should be retained in a position following reorganization.

After completing the ESG, the employee's direct supervisor then reviewed his competency ratings with the employee. If the employee disagreed with her evaluation, she could submit a written protest, which was attached to the ESG. The ESG was then forwarded the State Farm's selection team, which determined the need for each available position in each office and used the ESGs to make selections for each available position based on competitive comparisons of the ESGs. Those employees who were not selected for a position after reorganization were placed on the Transition Staff. The Transition Staff was expected to process certain pending bodily injury and uninsured motorist claims which were being handled by individuals who were transferred to new positions through reorganization. Employees assigned to the Transition Staff were requested to remain at State Farm until the reorganization was complete in January 1998.

Nofles completed Sections I, II and III of her ESG and indicated that she was qualified for and would only accept assignments to the positions of field claim representative, fire field representative or SIU representative. Nofles also stated that she would only be willing to work in Arizona or the greater St. Louis area. Nofles then submitted her ESG to Lueckenotte, who rated her a "three" (proficient) in twelve of the competency categories and a "two" (fair; sometimes fails to meet the required level) in two of the competency categories (self-management and work record/reliability). However, Lueckenotte recommended that Nofles be retained after the reorganization.

Lueckenotte met with Nofles to review her ESG and competency ratings. Although Nofles disagreed with his ratings, Lueckenotte declined to change his evaluation. Nofles thereafter drafted a written response protesting Lueckenotte's competency ratings, which was attached to her ESG.⁵ Based upon her low competency ratings in her ESG, Nofles...