Rowe v. Hussmann Corp., No. 03-2582.

• Court: United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (8th Circuit)
• Writing for the Court: Wollman
• Citation: 381 F.3d 775
• Parties: Marlene ROWE, Appellee, v. HUSSMANN CORPORATION, Appellant.
• Docket Number: No. 03-2582.
• Decision Date: 26 August 2004

381 F.3d 775 Marlene ROWE, Appellee,
v.
HUSSMANN CORPORATION, Appellant. No. 03-2582. United States Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit. Submitted: January 14, 2004. Filed: August 26, 2004. Rehearing and Rehearing En Banc Denied October 18, 2004.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, Charles A. Shaw, J.

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Michael G. Cleveland, argued, Chicago, Illinois (Nina G. Stillman and Joseph K. Mulherin both of Chicago, Illinois and Mark J. Bremer and Jennifer S. Forsythe both of St. Louis, Missouri on the brief), for appellant.

Thomas O. Falb, argued, Alton, Illinois, for appellee.

Before WOLLMAN, RICHARD S. ARNOLD, and MORRIS SHEPPARD ARNOLD, Circuit Judges.

WOLLMAN, Circuit Judge.

A jury awarded Marlene Rowe $500,000 in emotional distress damages and $1,000,000 in punitive damages after finding that Rowe had endured a sexually hostile work environment that her employer, Hussmann Corporation (Hussmann), knew of and failed to rectify promptly. The district court¹ denied Hussmann's motions for judgment as a matter of law and new trial and also refused to remit the jury's damage awards. Hussmann appeals, arguing that Rowe's claims were time-barred and, alternatively, that the damage awards were unsupported and are excessive. We affirm.

I.

Hussmann manufactures commercial refrigeration units for food stores at a large plant in Bridgeton, Missouri. The plant employs between 1200 and 1700 employees belonging to the steelworkers' union, Rowe among them. Rowe began working in Hussmann's Bridgeton facility in 1995 and was transferred into its shipping department in June 1996. As a laborer, Rowe's duties in shipping primarily involved packing Hussmann's refrigeration units onto delivery trucks. She was the only female out of 20 to 25 employees regularly employed in shipping.

Rowe encountered Roy Moore in the shipping department. A longtime Hussmann employee, Moore began asking Rowe out on dates and requesting her phone number. Although Rowe told Moore that she was not interested, he was undeterred. Rowe testified that between 1996 and early 2000, Moore engaged in a campaign of sexual harassment that included offensive comments, forced touching, and even threats of rape and murder.

Among other things, Moore told Rowe he "loved her" and informed shipping department co-workers that Rowe was "his woman." He offered Rowe $200 to take a day off and go to a motel with him. On another occasion, he asked Rowe to feel his penis to see how big it was, saying to her that "he could really make me holler and stuff." In February 1999, Moore learned that Rowe had a boyfriend, whereupon he became angry and asked Rowe if she "gave his stuff away," meaning sex. He then asked Rowe whether she performed

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oral sex (although he used a term other than that) on her boyfriend. In response to Rowe's denial that she did so, Moore called her a "fucking liar," saying that if she didn't perform that sexual act her boyfriend would not stay with her. Moore asked Rowe about cheating, and when Rowe replied that she did not cheat on her boyfriend, Moore said, "Well, if you just put the head of your penis in you, it doesn't mean you're cheating." Moore repeatedly touched Rowe's breasts and buttocks against her will and, in the fall of 1999 and spring 2000, took to slapping Rowe on the arm when she moved to avoid him, once telling her to "shut the fuck up" when she protested the assault. Moore threatened to rape, kill, or otherwise "get even" with Rowe if she informed anyone of his behavior and, on one occasion, told Rowe (who is white) that he liked to "break a white woman's spirit."

Rowe testified that in October of 1996 she complained about Moore's conduct by telling Oscar Weston, her direct supervisor, that Moore had been bothering her by touching her on her breasts and buttocks. Weston responded by saying that Moore should know better because he had had two earlier incidents of similar behavior, and that he (Weston) would talk to Moore about the matter. Following Rowe's initial complaint, Moore left Rowe alone for a short time and then resumed his earlier behavior, which worsened even as it continued. Notwithstanding Rowe's renewed complaints to Weston ("at least two or three times a month"), Moore continued his harassing, abusive conduct. Weston responded to Rowe's complaints by promising to handle the situation, once suggesting that Rowe should understand that Moore had only an eighth grade education and did not know any better. Rowe testified that Moore's harassment continued until late March of 2000, when Rowe entered Weston's office very much upset and crying. Weston's supervisor was present, and Rowe proceeded to tell Weston that something had to be done because Moore's behavior was getting worse. Thereafter, on April 3, 2000, Weston and his supervisor warned Moore not to speak with or touch Rowe again.

Later that month, Rowe attended a department safety meeting, during which the employees were informed that another worker had followed a sheet metal supervisor home and attacked him. Rowe noticed Moore at the meeting, observing that Moore "had real cold eyes staring at me, just looking at me." Rowe awoke the next morning to find that a large rock had been thrown through the windshield of her car.

Rowe told the police that Moore was a possible suspect in the vandalism and informed Weston the following day that she wanted to make an appointment to see Lou Stralka, Hussmann's human resources generalist. Rowe testified that Weston responded: "Do you really want to do this? You know what's going to happen." Rowe persisted and informed Stralka during the appointment that the police would be coming to the plant to speak with Moore. During the course of her conversation with Stralka, Rowe explained that Moore had been harassing her and described Moore's behavior.²

Stralka instituted an investigation and offered to transfer Rowe to a different department. Rowe agreed, and when Weston informed Rowe of the transfer, he stated: "We're moving you .... You have to watch people around you because

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[Moore] has a lot of friends in here .... And I told [Moore] to stay away from you, and you are to stay away from [him]." After working in the new position for 30 days, Rowe successfully bid on yet another job and moved into a department located a significant distance from shipping.

In June 2000, Rowe took to eating her lunch and taking her coffee breaks in the women's restroom to avoid encountering Moore in the plant. Following her transfer from shipping, she encountered Moore on several more occasions in the plant, usually as Moore drove past Rowe's work area on his forklift. On at least two occasions, Moore was not carrying a load of items on his forklift, and in one encounter in October 2002, two weeks prior to trial, Moore stared fixedly at Rowe while driving past.

II.

We review de novo a motion for judgment as a matter of law, applying the same standard as that used by the district court. Varner v. Nat'l Super Markets, Inc., 94 F.3d 1209, 1212 (8th Cir.1996). Accordingly, we view the facts in the light most favorable to Rowe and reverse only if no reasonable juror could have found in her favor. Sanders v. May Dept. Stores Co., 315 F.3d 940, 943, cert. denied, 539 U.S. 942, 123 S.Ct. 2608, 156 L.Ed.2d 627 (2003). Because Rowe brought her claim under both Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq. (Title VII), and the Missouri Human Rights Act, Mo.Rev.Stat. § 213.010 et. seq. (MHRA), we consider timeliness under each statute separately.

A. Timeliness Under Title VII

Title VII provided Rowe "three hundred days after the alleged unlawful employment practice occurred" in which to file a charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(e)(1). Rowe filed with the EEOC on June 7, 2000, which fixes the 300-day mark at August 12, 1999.³ Because her charge alleged a hostile work environment—a claim based on the "cumulative effect of individual acts"—Rowe's hostile work environment claim was timely if "an act contributing to [the] claim occur[ed] within the filing period ...." Nat'l RR Passenger Corp. v. Morgan, 536 U.S. 101, 115, 117, 122 S.Ct. 2061, 153 L.Ed.2d 106 (2002). This determination requires that we consider "whether the acts about which an employee complains are part of the same actionable hostile work environment practice, and if so, whether any act falls within the statutory time period." Id. at 120, 122 S.Ct. 2061.

Addressing the latter question first, it is clear that Rowe complained about various acts of sexual roguery that occurred after August 12, 1999—within the statutory time period—so Hussmann focuses on the former inquiry: whether the acts before and after August 12, 1999, were part of the "same actionable hostile work environment practice." Hussmann seizes on language in Morgan stating that an employee may not recover for previous acts of harassment if a later act "has no relation" to the previous acts "or for some other reason, such as certain intervening action by the employer, was no longer part

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of the same hostile environment claim...." Id. at 118, 122 S.Ct. 2061. Relying on our opinion in Gipson v. KAS Snacktime Co., 171 F.3d 574, 580 (8th Cir.1999), Hussmann argues that Rowe's trial testimony either established a "two year hiatus" in harassment immediately prior to September 1999, or was contradictory on the point. Thus, Hussmann contends, the acts during the 300-day limitations period and those outside it cannot be considered part of the same actionable hostile work environment practice. We disagree, as Hussmann's contention ignores our obligation to resolve all factual conflicts in Rowe's favor. See Lawrence v. CNF Transp., Inc., 340 F.3d 486, 491 (8th Cir. 2003).

Unlike Gipson, this case does not involve undisputed evidence of a 21-month cessation...