Ryder v. Pearson Educ., Inc.

• Decision Date: 14 September 2020
• Docket Number: C.A. No. 17-497-JJM-LDA
• Citation: 486 F.Supp.3d 489
• Parties: Mary Beth RYDER, Plaintiff, v. PEARSON EDUCATION, INC., Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Rhode Island

486 F.Supp.3d 489

Mary Beth RYDER, Plaintiff,

v.PEARSON EDUCATION, INC., Defendant.

C.A. No. 17-497-JJM-LDA

United States District Court, D. Rhode Island.

Signed September 14, 2020

Chip Muller, Muller Law, LLC, Barrington, RI, for Plaintiff.

Christopher J. Campbell, Jackson Lewis P.C., Benjamin R. Davis, Jackson Lewis, Boston, MA, for Defendant.

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

JOHN J. MCCONNELL, JR., United States District Court Chief Judge.

Plaintiff Mary Beth Ryder worked as a business development manager selling education materials for Defendant Pearson Education, Inc. ("Pearson"). After being denied a performance bonus, being placed on a performance improvement plan, and being terminated, Ms. Ryder sues Pearson, alleging breach of contract, wage claim violations, misrepresentation, and discrimination based on gender and disability. ECF Nos. 1, 23. Pearson moves for summary judgment on each count. ECF No. 54. Ms. Ryder opposes Pearson's summary judgment and files her own Motion for Summary Judgment on Counts I and IV. ECF Nos. 66, 82.

I. BACKGROUND

A. Facts

Pearson sells education materials to large companies such as universities. ECF No. 65 at 1, ¶ 1. Pearson hired Ms. Ryder as a business development manager ("BDM") on its Private Sector Team in late 2013. Id. As a BDM, Ms. Ryder was supposed to achieve sales goals established by Pearson's Sales Incentive Plans ("SIP"), which were designed to incentivize BDMs. Id. at ¶¶ 2-3. Ms. Ryder's 2014 SIP, which she received in June 2014, states:

Eligible employees can earn up to a maximum of $250,000 annually in total (commissions and bonus) under this SIP. Any earnings in excess of $125,000 will be paid in two equal installments in the two years subsequent to the initial bonus year–provided you continue to achieve your sales goals in each of the two subsequent years & provided you have a satisfactory performance rating. In other words, in order to earn the rollover payment in the first subsequent year, you must make your sales goal in that year; then, in order to earn your rollover payment in the second subsequent year, you must have made your sales goal in the first subsequent year and you must make your sales goal in the second subsequent year. The rollover payment will be paid after the end of the Plan Year in accordance with the administrative plan guidelines in effect at that time. Subsequent years’ sales targets are at the discretion of management and will be set in a manner consistent with current plan targets.

ECF No. 56 at 3, ¶ 19.

In 2014, Ms. Ryder worked for Mark Wheeler, as part of a team of BDMs. Id. at ¶ 11. Under her 2014 SIP, she had to reach a goal of at least $4,000,000 in "signings," which are "the estimated value of all Pearson products and services the customer contractually promises to buy in the future." ECF No. 65 at 2, ¶¶ 6-7. Ms. Ryder signed over $17,000,000. Id. at ¶¶ 11-13. Under the 2014 SIP, Mr. Ryder earned $250,000 in commissions for meeting her sales goal, and was eligible to receive an additional $284,000 the next two years (for a total of $534,000). Id. The additional $284,000 was "to be paid in two equal installments ... provided [Ms. Ryder] continue[d] to achieve [her] sales goals in each of the two subsequent years" and had a satisfactory performance rating. Id. ; ECF No. 56 at 3, ¶ 19. It is undisputed that Ms. Ryder exceeded her sales goal of $6,750,000 in 2015, earning her over $67,000 in commission. ECF No. 65 at 2, ¶ 15. Ms. Ryder also earned a $10,000 additional bonus as well as the 2015 installment of her 2014 rollover payment bonus, which was $142,171. Id.

To downsize, Pearson eliminated Mr. Wheeler's team at the end of 2015 and reassigned Ms. Ryder to the Associations, Government, Career Pathways ("AGC") team. Id. at ¶¶ 15-16. After his team was eliminated, Mr. Wheeler created a list of twenty-four potential signings near conclusion ("2015-Wheeler-Deals"). ECF No. 56 at 9, ¶ 70. At the time of the reassignment, Ms. Ryder was working on two 2015-Wheeler-Deals for existing Pearson clients: Bryant and Stratton University (B&S) and an association called the American Health Information Management Association ("AHIMA" and together with B&S, "BS/A"). ECF No. 65 at 5, ¶ 19.

Ms. Ryder began working with the AGC team in January 2016 and reported directly to Leeane Fisher. Id. at ¶ 22. Ms. Fisher reported to Rick Ditzel who reported to Eric Kuennen, vice president of sales at Pearson. Id. On the AGC team, Ms. Ryder worked with other BDMs, including Manny Washington. Id. The priorities on the AGC team stayed the same for BDMs, who were tasked with achieving their "signings" and "revenues" goals for 2016. Id. at ¶ 24. Mr. Kuennen and Ms. Fisher authorized Ms. Ryder to keep working on the BS/A sale. Id. at ¶¶ 21, 26, 33. From January to August, Ms. Ryder worked on the BS/A deal. Id. at ¶ 29. During this time, Ms. Ryder did not know that her work on the BS/A deal would not count toward her 2016 signings goal. Id. at ¶¶ 32-34.

Ms. Ryder's received a six-month performance review in July 2016 by Ms. Fisher, criticizing Ms. Ryder for not submitting her company expense receipts on time, tracking sales leads properly, and for needing "more communication and teamwork." See ECF No. 67-8 at 7, ¶ 3. In June 2016, comparing Ms. Ryder to Mr. Washington, Ms. Fisher said that:

[Mr. Washington] is working hard; has a plan; communicates with me daily on email; we talk about 3 times a week; I am on his calls with him; we talk strategy; and he is out prospecting and making this happen.

* * *

So in comparing [Mr. Washington] to [Ms. Ryder], there is a skill set gap; communication and inclusion needs to happen; and trust from me is just not there.

ECF No. 80-19 at 2.

In August 2016, Ms. Fisher assigned new deals to Mr. Washington and to Ms. Ryder. ECF No. 80 at 10, ¶ 33. Mr. Washington received a pending signing with the National Association Process Technology Alliance ("NAPTA") and AHIMA. Id. at ¶ 33. Ms. Fisher received the Global Association of Risk Professionals ("GARP"). Id. at ¶ 34. Both GARP and AHIMA were considered "dogs." Id. at ¶ 34. As early as August 2016, Ms. Fisher knew that a large portion of Ms. Ryder's work on the GARP signing would not count toward her 2016 signings goal because GARP had been an active Pearson account for five years. Id. at ¶ 39. Ms. Fisher did not tell Ms. Ryder this at the time of assignment. Id. at ¶ 41. Ms. Fisher knew the NAPTA deal would count toward Mr. Washington's 2016 signings goal. Id.

In September 2016, with the approval of Mr. Kuennen and other Pearson management, Ms. Ryder closed the BS/A deal for $3,400,000. ECF No. 65 at 8, ¶¶ 34-35. Mr. Kuennen told the finance department that Ms. Ryder's BS/A signing should count toward her 2016 signings goal. Id. at ¶ 37. But, unbeknownst to Ms. Ryder, Robert Klein, Pearson's finance executive, responded to Mr. Kuennen stating that the BS/A signing would not count toward Ms. Ryder's 2016 goals. Id. at ¶ 38.

A few weeks after signing the BS/A deal, Ms. Ryder questioned Ms. Fisher about receiving her 2016 SIP. Id. at ¶ 41. Ms. Fisher and Mr. Ditzel scheduled a call with Ms. Ryder for October 26, 2016 and let Ms. Ryder know that her 2016 SIP had not been finalized by the finance department. Id. at ¶¶ 43-44. On this call, Ms. Ryder was also placed on a performance improvement plan ("PIP") for poor performance. Id. at ¶ 45. The PIP said that:

[e]ach [BDM] was tasked with a signing target of new contracts of 1 million dollars and a pipeline target of 3 million. You have met your signed contract goal with Bryant and Stratton at 3.8 million; however, this is a legacy signing from Higher Ed and not representative of new acquisitions this year. To date, you have no new client contracts for 2016.

ECF No. 67-13 at 4. The PIP also said that Ms. Ryder had zero dollars in revenue to date and that the list of deals she was working on was too small. ECF No. 65 at ¶ 49.

Ms. Ryder challenged the claims that she was not on track to meet her signings and revenue goals, showing that she was on track to achieve her revenue goal and that her pipeline goal would have exceeded Ms. Fisher and Mr. Ditzel's $3,000,000 expectation had Pearson allowed her the opportunity to sign a $3,000,000 contract with GARP. Id. at ¶¶ 50-52. After investigating Ms. Ryder's claim, Mr. Ditzel and Ms. Fisher discovered that Ms. Ryder was, in fact, on track to meet her 2016 revenue goal. Id. at ¶¶ 53-54.

Ms. Ryder's PIP required her to draft a business plan, submit a daily log of all work activities at the end of each business day, submit detailed itineraries for business travel two weeks in advance, update Ms. Fisher regularly, and copy her on email. ECF No. 80 at ¶ 61. Ms. Ryder filed a complaint about these requirements to Pearson's human resources office, saying:

The reporting requirements are tedious, designed to harass, frustrate, and otherwise designed to provoke me to leave my employment. They are further designed to fatigue me given my diagnosed condition of Attention Deficit Disorder—in violation of the American with Disabilities Act.

Id. at ¶ 62.

Ms. Ryder received her 2016 SIP in November 2016, less than eight weeks before the end of Pearson's performance year. ECF No. 65 at 11, ¶ 57.

Ms. Ryder's 2016 SIP included a signings goal of $1,000,000 and a revenue goal of $877,000. Id. at ¶ 59. The 2016 SIP also included the following:

Final Authority: The National Sales Director and Chief Financial Officer are responsible for administering the incentive plan, and will have final decision authority regarding all matters relating to calculation of any incentive award payable thereunder, interpretation of the Plan and any situations not specifically addressed by the Plan, and interpretation of individual, unit, or Company performance or achievement of goals or targets, and all such decisions shall be final and binding.

ECF No. 67-6 at 38 (emphasis original). The 2014 SIP included similar provisions:

All decisions, actions, or interpretations

...