Planadeball v. Wyndham Vacation Resorts, Inc.

• Decision Date: 17 July 2015
• Docket Number: No. 13–2366.,13–2366.
• Citation: 793 F.3d 169
• Parties: Carmen PLANADEBALL, Plaintiff, Appellant, v. WYNDHAM VACATION RESORTS, INC., Defendant, Appellee, Shawyn Maley, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — First Circuit

793 F.3d 169

Carmen PLANADEBALL, Plaintiff, Appellant

v.WYNDHAM VACATION RESORTS, INC., Defendant, Appellee, Shawyn Maley, Defendant.

No. 13–2366.

United States Court of Appeals, First Circuit.

July 17, 2015.

Juan R. Dávila Díaz, with whom Mendoza Law Offices and Enrique J. Mendoza–Mendez were on brief, for appellant.

Shiara L. Diloné Fernández, with whom Schuster Aguiló LLC and Carl Schuster were on brief, for appellee.

Before THOMPSON, BARRON, and LIPEZ, Circuit Judges.

Opinion

LIPEZ, Circuit Judge.

Carmen Planadeball appeals the district court's grant of summary judgment on her claim of retaliation against Wyndham Vacation Resorts, Inc. (“Wyndham”) under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq. Planadeball contends that Wyndham retaliated against her for making informal and formal complaints against her then-supervisor Shawyn Maley after he subjected her to a hostile work environment on the basis of her race and national origin. Adopting the magistrate judge's recommendation, the district court granted Wyndham's motion for summary judgment. Because we agree that Planadeball has not presented sufficient evidence to establish a retaliation claim under Title VII, we affirm.

I.

We recount the facts in the light most favorable to Planadeball, who was the non-moving party at summary judgment. See Santana–Concepción v. Centro Médico del Turabo, Inc., 768 F.3d 5, 7 (1st Cir.2014).

Planadeball was born in Puerto Rico and identifies as Hispanic. She was hired by Wyndham in June 2009 as a sales representative at the Bonnet Creek Resort in Orlando, Florida. Planadeball and the other sales representatives sold family vacation packages and vacation ownership products. In January 2010, she was transferred to the regional office at the Wyndham Río Mar Beach Resort in Río Grande, Puerto Rico. At the time, she was supervised by sales manager Ángelo Sánchez. In December 2010, Wyndham hired Shawyn Maley as a sales manager in the Río Grande office. Subsequently, Planadeball was supervised by both Sánchez and Maley. On February 15, 2011, Sánchez began a period of leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act, making Maley the sole supervisor for Planadeball and the other Río Grande sales representatives.

During his time as the sales manager of the Río Grande office, Maley made many derogatory comments about Puerto Ricans and African–Americans in front of Planadeball and her co-workers. For example, he said that the sales representatives should not waste their time with Puerto Rican customers because they “don't have any money.” He also called Puerto Ricans “stupid” and said that they “don't have education.” He referred to Puerto Rico as “a trash can” and said “that everything is dirty.” Additionally, he referred to African–Americans as “niggers” and instructed the sales representatives to avoid dealing with them because “they were more than likely to have bad credit.”

Maley also made many sexist comments, directed primarily at Planadeball's co-workers Michelle Pérez and London Miles. For example, he said, “the perfect woman is [Miles's] tits ... and [Pérez's] ass.” He would also repeatedly call Miles into his office to discuss his sexual relationships with women, make derogatory comments about other women's bodies, and stare at her breasts.

Sometime in February or early March 2011, Planadeball went to Maley's office on two to three occasions to complain to him about the way he was treating her, Pérez, and Miles. She told Maley to stop making derogatory comments and “that it was inappropriate to speak to my friends the way he was talking to them.” On one occasion, Maley responded by calling Planadeball a liar and throwing her out of his office. Around the same time—she did not recall exactly when—Planadeball also complained about Maley's conduct to Richard Wieczerzak, Wyndham's Vice President of Sales and Marketing for South Florida and Puerto Rico. She told Wieczerzak that “[t]hings have been—that are happening, are inappropriate, things that Shawyn Maley is saying have been very inappropriate.” However, Planadeball did not file a complaint about Maley to the Human Resources Department because she feared that she would lose her job.

From March 15 to April 1, 2011, Planadeball took a medical leave of absence so she could recover from gallbladder surgery . Days after Planadeball had returned, she met with Maley to discuss her work performance. During the meeting, Maley told her “that [she] wasn't selling, that [her] numbers were very low.” In her deposition, Planadeball admitted that her sales numbers “were not very good” at the time. After the meeting, Maley approached Planadeball's desk and “started yelling at [her] in front of [her] friends.” Maley told her, “You step up or you step out and—and that's the way it is.” Maley was so close to Planadeball that she was afraid that he was going to hit her.

Shortly after this incident, Planadeball gave a ride to work to David Saliceti, another sales representative. During the ride, Saliceti told her, “Be careful, because [Maley] has been saying that the next one who's going to be fired is you.” While they were talking in the car, Saliceti received a text message from Maley. The text message stated, “You better tell Carmen that either she steps up or steps out.” Saliceti showed Planadeball the message soon after receiving it.

Planadeball and the other sales representatives received commissions on the sales they made for Wyndham. Sometime in April 2011, a few days after returning from her medical leave, Planadeball noticed that her commission check was subject to a chargeback of $4,000. She inquired about the chargeback to Maley, who “couldn't give [her] any details or any information.” She was later informed by an administrator that a $40,000 sale that she had previously closed had been cancelled by corporate headquarters. Someone in corporate subsequently entered into a sale with the same client and received the commission on the sale. In addition to impacting negatively Planadeball's sales numbers, the chargeback resulted in “a lot of pain and suffering with regards to [her] finances.”

On April 29, 2011, Pérez complained to Wieczerzak about Maley's conduct. Wieczerzak relayed Pérez's complaint to Lisette Lama, Wyndham's Human Resources Director. On May 2, 2011, Pérez and Miles met with Lama and Assistant Human Resources Director Kerania Olmo. Lama and Olmo subsequently began an investigation into Maley. Pursuant to company policy, Maley was suspended from employment pending the outcome of the investigation. As part of the investigation, Lama and Olmo interviewed Planadeball, among other employees in the Río Grande office. Planadeball told them that Maley had been sexually harassing Miles and Pérez, that he had asked an employee to purchase Viagra

and drugs for him, and that he had made “several comments that were very inappropriate.” Planadeball also mentioned that Maley had criticized her work performance, had screamed at her at work, and had sent Saliceti the text message suggesting Planadeball would be fired if she did not improve. However, Planadeball did not specifically mention Maley's discriminatory remarks about Puerto Ricans and African–Americans. She said she did not “go into details” with Lama and Olmo because she feared losing her job.

After completing its investigation, Wyndham concluded that it could not substantiate the allegations against Maley. Lama did not find the testimony of Planadeball and her co-workers to be credible. Maley was not disciplined and, after a three-day suspension, returned to his position as sales manager of the Río Grande office. Lama advised him of the need to maintain a proper work environment, and of various company policies and procedures, including the company's policy of “zero tolerance on retaliation.”

On May 26, 2011, Planadeball filed a charge of discrimination against Wyndham and Maley with the Puerto Rico Department of Labor's Anti–Discrimination Unit. She alleged that she was discriminated against on the basis of race and national origin. Pérez, Miles, and Saliceti also filed discrimination charges with the Anti–Discrimination Unit.

On July 15, 2011, Maley was transferred from the Río Grande office into a sales manager position at the Wyndham Royal Vista Resort in Pompano Beach, Florida. Angela Estes became the new sales manager of the Río Grande office. Maley had no more contact with Planadeball after he was transferred, and Estes became her new supervisor.

On June 19, 2012, Planadeball filed her complaint against Wyndham and Maley¹ in the district court, alleging that she was subject to a hostile work environment on the basis of race and national origin and that she was retaliated against for complaining about Maley's conduct, in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq., and Puerto Rico law.

After filing the complaint, Planadeball was not “treated the same way at work” or “given the same opportunities at work.” Estes began treating Planadeball differently from the other sales representatives. For example, Estes would ignore Planadeball and would refuse to respond to her when she had work-related questions. Estes spoke to Planadeball “[i]n a very arrogant way” and yelled at her at least three times. Estes told Planadeball that “[i]f you don't like my policies, if you don't like how things are done, you should leave.”

Furthermore, before Planadeball had filed the complaint, she was provided the opportunity to work directly with existing timeshare owners. Working with existing owners was a special perk for front line sales representatives, like Planadeball, who had shown a lot of promise. However, in June and July 2012, Estes stopped allowing Planadeball to work directly with existing owners as her clients.

On April 16, 2013, Wyndham moved for summary judgment on all of Planadeball's claims. On July 16, 2013, the magistrate judge issued a recommendation to grant the motion, and the...