Saliga v. Chemtura Corp.
| Decision Date | 01 October 2015 |
| Docket Number | No. 12-cv-832 (VAB),12-cv-832 (VAB) |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Connecticut |
| Parties | DIANE SALIGA, Plaintiff, v. CHEMTURA CORPORATION, Defendant. |
Plaintiff, Diane Saliga, brought this action against her former employer, Chemtura Corporation ("Chemtura" or "Defendant"), asserting causes of action for race discrimination and retaliation in violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1866, 42 U.S.C. § 1981 ("Section 1981"), discrimination on the basis of race, sex, and religion in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq. ("Title VII"), retaliation in violation of Title VII, discrimination on the basis of race, sex, and religion in violation of the Connecticut Fair Employment Practices Act, Conn. Gen. Stat. § 46a-60(a) ("CFEPA"), retaliation in violation of CFEPA, common law intentional infliction of emotional distress, and common law defamation. For the reasons stated below, the motion is GRANTED.
Chemtura Corporation hired Mrs. Saliga on October 18, 2010 as a Senior Auditor in the Internal Audit Department, and terminated her on October 26, 2011. Second Amended Complaint ("Compl.") ¶ 8; Def. Ex. M. During Saliga's tenure at Chemtura, the Internal Audit Department consisted of four or five employees. See Saliga Dep. 24-27; Mosher Dep. 172. At first, Saliga directly reported to Denise Mosher, Chemtura's former Director, Internal Audit.Saliga Dep. 25. Mosher left the company on April 12, 2011, and was replaced by Ayesha Jagtiani. See Mosher Dep. 169; Khilnani Dep. 268; Saliga Dep. 25. In addition, Saliga reported to Jogita Khilnani, Chemtura's former Vice President, Internal Audit, who was also involved in both the decision to hire her and the decision to terminate her. Saliga Dep. 25, 88, 173-74, 269; Def. Ex. P; Peterson Dep. 41; Khilnani Dep. 82-89, 265-68. Prior to joining Chemtura, Saliga had worked at Hubbell Incorporated; Mosher and Khilnani were also employed by Hubbell Incorporated at that time. Saliga Dep. 117-19; Khilnani Dep. 80-81, 85-87.
A few days after Saliga was hired, Khilnani allegedly said in Saliga's presence, "Who would want to stick anything in that big fat hole, and what good would come out of it?" about Chistine Peterson, Chemtura's former Human Resources Generalist. Saliga interpreted that comment as Khilnani "hitting on me." Saliga Dep. 91.
During Saliga's time at Chemtura, Khilnani is alleged to have called her "whitey a couple times [sic]." Saliga Dep. 533. Khilnani also allegedly referred to another employee as "the cute white boy." Saiga Dep. 533-34. At some unspecified times, Khilnani and Jagtiani allegedly complained to Mosher about Saliga engaging in religious reading at work. Mosher Dep. 52-53.
In early 2011, Saliga requested a promotion to Lead Auditor, but was denied. Saliga Dep. 217. Also in early 2011, according to Saliga, Khilnani was selecting people to travel to conduct planning audits, which Saliga expressed interest in doing; Khilnani allegedly told her that she would not be selected because the audits included weekend work and Khilnani was worried about Saliga having to go to church. When Saliga complained that she would not let her religion stop her from doing her work, Khilnani allegedly would still not send her. Saliga Dep. 28-29.
Saliga further alleges that, in early 2011, Khilnani told her that she had only stayed married to her husband for so long because of her religion. Saliga Dep. 38. Saliga testified that she recalled telling Peterson at some unspecified time that Khilnani "has no right bringing up my husband in the workplace," though she could not remember when she told her about Khilnani's alleged comment. Saliga Dep. 57-58.
Although the schedule of critical deliverables had been published and agreed to at the beginning of the year, Saliga missed a number of deadlines from mid-April through May 2011, and failed to complete various tasks in a timely manner. See Exs. B, C.
In or around May 2011, Khilnani allegedly loudly reprimanded Saliga for saying, "God bless you," after somebody in the office sneezed, and told Saliga not to "bring God into this place again." Saliga allegedly was reprimanded by Khilnani once again shortly thereafter for saying, "Bless you," after another sneeze. Saliga Dep. 36-41. Saliga alleges that she "probably said something" at the time to Khilnani to complain about this incident. Saliga Dep. 538. In addition, at some unspecified time, Saliga allegedly complained to Peterson that Khilnani had been offended by her saying those words. Peterson Dep. 85.
On an unspecified summer day in 2011, Saliga wore a "chi rho" religious charm to work, and Khilnani allegedly said, "Why can't you wear a simple cross like normal people wear?" and "it's disgusting." Saliga Dep. 39.
On June 2, 2011, Khilnani sent an email to Mosher stating, "Diane is not someone you should trust and I tell you that because she is and has been two faced with you." Def. Ex. Q.
On July 28, 2011, after Saliga had been at Chemtura for about nine months, she was given a mid-year review. Def. Ex. B. Jagtiani and Khilnani noted many performance, communication, and interpersonal issues that needed to be addressed and improved, specifically:missed deadlines; trouble working independently on assignments without detailed direction and micro-management; time management skills; need to contribute to writing the audit report and recommendations and not just reviewing it after the fact; working collaboratively with team members without passing derogatory comments. Saliga asserts that her missing five deadlines from April through August was caused by other employees' failures. See, e.g., Saliga Dep. 556; Pl. Ex. 17.
During a meeting in Khilnani's office on July 28, 2011, following the mid-year review, Saliga yelled at Khilnani. See Pl. Exs. E, F. She allegedly said that she did not give a shit about the review. Def. Ex. E. She allegedly attempted to blame her performance deficiencies, falsely, on a co-worker. Def. Exs. E, G. In addition, at some point on July 28, 2011, Khilnani was meeting privately with Saliga to discuss the need for Saliga to stop being insensitive to other cultures and religions, and during the meeting, Khilnani referenced the fact that Saliga is "Caucasian," which upset and offended Saliga greatly. Saliga testified, "Thank goodness I didn't get into an accident" driving home that night because "I was upset" that Khilnani was "calling me the 'C' word." Saliga Dep. 105-06.
On August 1, 2011, Peterson met with Khilnani and Mohsen Baccar—who, like Saliga, was a Senior Auditor, Internal Audit—to discuss his concerns about working with Saliga, as she allegedly made him feel uncomfortable by making comments on his ethnicity and questioning his ethics. Def. Ex. G.
Khilnani gave Saliga a written reprimand on August 4, 2011, noting her unsatisfactory job performance, for which she would be placed on a Performance Improvement Plan ("PIP"), and her "unacceptable" behavior as a member of the Audit team, which would subject her to discipline, up to and including termination, if such conduct did not stop immediately. Def. Ex.H. The written reprimand clearly stated that Saliga was "hereby notified that unless immediate, sustained improvement is demonstrated to bring [her] performance up to a satisfactory level, [she] will be subject to additional discipline, up to and including termination of [her] employment with Chemtura." Id. It also stated that if Saliga's "extremely unprofessional" conduct toward her co-workers "does not stop immediately, . . . [she] will be subject to discipline, up to and including termination of [her] employment with Chemtura." Id. At the reprimand meeting with Saliga on August 4, 2011, Saliga alleges that she brought up the "God bless you" comments. Peterson met with Baccar later that day, and he expressed concern that Chemtura had not addressed the issue of Saliga's allegedly slandering him concerning his work and his ethics. Def. Ex. J.
The PIP, which Saliga also received on August 4, 2011, set forth improvement goals and action steps, with target dates, and her progress was reviewed with her at meetings on an ongoing basis until her termination. Def. Ex. I. From the outset, the PIP set forth to Saliga the following information:
Id. At the first PIP meeting, held on August 25, 2011, it was noted that a review she had been responsible for conducting was "not completed to expectations," and would have to be re-done. Id. It was noted that Saliga had made some progress, but still needed to step up to show additional improvement. Id.
At an unspecified time, Human Resources allegedly advised Khilnani that it is inappropriate to make comments around Saliga's religion. Peterson Dep. 87. Saliga informed Peterson of Khilnani's alleged comment about Peterson's "fat hole" on August 26, 2011. Pl. Ex. 25. There is no record evidence of any investigation by Chemtura into the "fat hole" comment. See, e.g., Peterson Dep. 59.
On August 31, 2011, Khilnani allegedly put her hand on Saliga's left cheek and kissed her on the cheek "in a very romantic way." Saliga Dep. 328. Saliga testified that she "felt raped and violated." Id.at 327. Saliga informed Peterson on September 1, 2011 that "[t]he hug and kiss from Jogita at the end of our discussion does give me chills though." Pl. Ex. 27.
The second PIP meeting occurred one...
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