Resare v. Raytheon Co.
| Decision Date | 06 October 1992 |
| Docket Number | No. 92-1260,92-1260 |
| Citation | 981 F.2d 32 |
| Parties | 60 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. (BNA) 709, 60 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 41,908 Cyntha J. RESARE, Plaintiff, Appellant, v. RAYTHEON COMPANY, Etc., Defendant, Appellee. . Heard |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — First Circuit |
Robert B. Mann, with whom Mann & Mitchell, Providence, R.I., were on brief for plaintiff, appellant.
Michael P. DeFanti, with whom Douglas A. Giron and Hinckley, Allen, Snyder & Before TORRUELLA, Circuit Judge, BROWN, * Senior Circuit Judge, and STAHL, Circuit Judge.
Comen, Providence, R.I., were on brief, for defendant, appellee.
After a two-day trial on plaintiff Cyntha J. Resare's sex and age discrimination claims, the district court granted defendant Raytheon Company's motion for judgment as a matter of law on plaintiff's sex discrimination claims under both the Rhode Island Fair Employment Practices Act ("FEPA"), R.I.Gen.Laws §§ 28-5-1 et seq. (Supp.1991), and the Rhode Island Civil Rights Act of 1990 ("RICRA"), R.I.Gen.Laws § 42-112-1 et seq. (Supp.1991). 1 During the trial, the district court also ruled that evidence of compensatory damages, absent corroborating medical testimony, was not allowed under R.I.Gen.Laws § 28-5-24(2) (Supp.1991). Subsequently, the Rhode Island legislature amended FEPA in several relevant respects. Relying upon these amendments, plaintiff now contends that the district court's rulings cannot stand. For the reasons outlined below, we affirm in part and reverse in part.
In reviewing a district court's decision to grant a defendant's motion for judgment as a matter of law, see Rule 50, Fed.R.Civ.P., 2 "we examine the evidence and all fair inferences in the light most favorable to the plaintiff." Richmond Steel Inc. v. Puerto Rican American Ins. Co., 954 F.2d 19, 22 (1st Cir.1992). To affirm the withdrawal of any claim from the jury, we must find that, as a matter of law, the record would permit only one conclusion. Id. "We may not consider the credibility of witnesses, resolve conflicts in testimony, or evaluate the weight of the evidence." Id. To warrant submission of an issue to the jury, the plaintiff must present "more than a mere scintilla" of evidence and may not rely on conjecture or speculation. Id. Instead, "the evidence offered must make the 'existence of the fact to be inferred more probable than its nonexistence.' " Id. (quoting Carlson v. American Safety Equip. Corp., 528 F.2d 384, 386 (1st Cir.1976)).
On March 23, 1987, after having spent almost ten years as a United States government attorney specializing in the procurement, termination, and interpretation of defense contracts, plaintiff Cyntha Resare was hired by defendant Raytheon Company ("defendant" or "company") to join its Portsmouth, Rhode Island, Submarine Signal Division. Defendant's primary business is the design and manufacture of sonar devices and submarine missile firing controls. Like many defense contractors, defendant experienced a growth in business and in number of employees throughout the early 1980's. At the time it hired plaintiff, defendant had approximately 3,300 employees.
At all relevant times, plaintiff worked in the Materials Management department of the company, which contained six separate subdivisions. 3 Plaintiff worked in the Policy and Planning subdivision. Her immediate Plaintiff was hired as a "Subcontract Specialist" to assist Elliott. On the personnel grading scale, plaintiff was classified as a "salary grade level 9." The Policy and Planning subdivision consisted of Elliott, plaintiff, and a clerical assistant. Although plaintiff worked in Policy and Planning, her job included overseeing, working closely with, and training employees in several of the other subdivisions in the Materials Management department. The record reflects that plaintiff worked particularly closely with employees in Subcontracts. 5 In addition to training and overseeing other employees, plaintiff reviewed numerous contracts and subcontracts for compliance with government regulations, helped to re-establish the company's "certified purchasing system" after it failed a government audit, and advised company employees on contract negotiation and procurement issues.
supervisor was Richard A. Elliott, the manager of that subdivision. 4 Elliott's immediate supervisor was Charles F. O'Donnell, the manager of the Materials Management department. O'Donnell reported to Barry R. Steiner, the company's manufacturing manager
No one disputes that plaintiff was an excellent employee. At her one-year review, in March 1988, Elliott listed her strengths: "(1) exceptional oral and written communications [skills;] (2) effective human relations skills[;] (3) solid negotiation skills[;] (4) significant knowledge and experience in contracting[; and] (5) well developed teaching skills[.]" Following this review, defendant gave plaintiff a raise. Dissatisfied with the amount of her raise, plaintiff complained to O'Donnell, Elliott's immediate supervisor. According to plaintiff, O'Donnell recommended speaking with Elliott about the possibility of receiving a promotion and further salary increase through reclassification of her job title.
Plaintiff also testified that, during the same discussion, she informed O'Donnell of her interest in applying for the position of manager of Subcontracts as soon as the position became available. Evidence at trial revealed, however, that when that position did become available, the company did not advertise it, no one in the company ever approached plaintiff about applying for it, and ultimately, the position was filled by a man named Don M. Lynch. Elliott testified that as a former manager of Subcontracts and as someone who worked closely with plaintiff, he considered her qualified for the position.
At trial, O'Donnell flatly denied that he had ever discussed with plaintiff either her dissatisfaction with her raise or her interest in the managerial position. When asked whether he had considered plaintiff for the position, O'Donnell responded:
The following year, in March 1989, plaintiff received another positive review. After this review, her job classification was upgraded to "Procurement Contracts Advisor," which entitled her to a "grade level Meanwhile, business at the company was declining. In late fall of 1989, O'Donnell received instructions from Steiner, his immediate supervisor, to reduce the Materials Management department budget by "four or five hundred thousand dollar[s]." During this first round of budget cuts, defendant did not consider discharging plaintiff.
10" and a substantial raise. Despite the new job classification, plaintiff continued to do the same type of work she had done as a Subcontract Specialist
In early January 1990, the company did not "win" a contract for which it had competed, and Steiner decided that further layoffs in the Materials Management department were necessary. According to O'Donnell, in "the first or second week of January[,]" Steiner instructed him to reduce "overhead expense[s]" 6 by approximately $470,000. O'Donnell testified that he placed plaintiff's name on the layoff list during this second round of budget cuts. 7
O'Donnell testified that at some point after he placed plaintiff's name on the list of layoffs which he presented to Steiner, he sent a memorandum to Steiner asking that his budget be enlarged so that he could retain plaintiff. 8 In this memorandum, which was entitled "The Senseless Loss of a Unique Division Resource," O'Donnell detailed plaintiff's "outstanding" employment history with the company and included the following entreaty to Steiner: Having said all of the above, why then is Cyntha Resare going to be laid off? Because of load-to-no-load accounting legerdemain, is there a reduction in the need for the valuable services she provides? Is buyer training in FAR regulations, contract law negotiating tactics, ethics, dispute avoidance and resolution no longer necessary? Obviously, the answer to these questions is no. The plain truth as to why Cyntha Resare is being laid off is that she must be included in the body count in order to make "the number." Part of an additional $600K of reduced expenses on top of the $500K that has already been reduced from 1989 actuals of controllable costs.
What is senseless about all of this is that you and I both know that despite all of the reduced costs, there is virtually no chance that 12.6 percent can be met at year end as more contracts later in the year slip to the right or are lost. So what have we accomplished?
We can say truthfully that we followed directions and took immediate massive, additional cost reductions (Beyond what we think is reasonable), but AT WHAT PRICE?
Despite this grandiloquent plea to keep plaintiff, 9 plaintiff was laid off on March 27, 1990, along with four other employees in the Materials Management department. On February 25, 1991, plaintiff brought suit in state court alleging, inter alia, sex discrimination under two state law causes of action. Asserting diversity of citizenship, defendant removed the case to federal court. The case was then tried before a jury.
At trial, plaintiff proffered evidence from which a jury could have concluded that O'Donnell harbored sexist attitudes. For example,...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Harvey v. Chevron U.S.A., Inc.
...Nichols, 81 F.3d at 41 (citing Amburgey, 936 F.2d at 812); Thornbrough, 760 F.2d at 642; Molnar, 986 F.2d at 119; Resare v. Raytheon Co., 981 F.2d 32, 41-42 (1st Cir.1992); Rollins v. TechSouth, Inc., 833 F.2d 1525, 1532 n. 14 (11th Cir.1987); Williams, 656 F.2d at 129; see generally Sale v......
-
Bucci v. Hurd Buick Pontiac GMC Truck, LLC
...simply cast doubt upon the employer's justification [for firing the plaintiff].” McGarry, 47 A.3d at 281 (quoting Resare v. Raytheon Co., 981 F.2d 32, 42 (1st Cir.1992)). Furthermore, “[t]he plaintiff must demonstrate not only that the defendant's purported reason for not hiring the plainti......
-
Rainey v. Town of Warren
...207 (1981) and McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 802, 93 S.Ct. 1817, 36 L.Ed.2d 668 (1973); see also Resare v. Raytheon Co., 981 F.2d 32, 39-44 (1st Cir. 1992) (applying the burden-shifting framework under Title VII in "mixed motive" and "pretext" situations of disparate treat......
-
Iacampo v. Hasbro, Inc.
...qualified employees perform her duties. Smith v. F.W. Morse & Co., Inc., 76 F.3d 413, 421 (1st Cir.1996); see also Resare v. Raytheon Co., 981 F.2d 32, 39-44 (1st Cir.1992) (applying Title VII "mixed-motive" and "pretext" theories of disparate treatment discrimination to the Sexual harassme......