Schulze v. Meritor Automotive

• Court: U.S. District Court — Western District of North Carolina
• Writing for the Court: Cogburn
• Citation: Schulze v. Meritor Automotive, 163 F.Supp.2d 599 (W.D. N.C. 2000)
• Decision Date: 30 May 2000
• Docket Number: No. 1:99CV4-C.
• Parties: Terry SCHULZE, Plaintiff, v. MERITOR AUTOMOTIVE, Defendant.

163 F.Supp.2d 599

Terry SCHULZE, Plaintiff, v. MERITOR AUTOMOTIVE, Defendant.

No. 1:99CV4-C.

United States District Court, W.D. North Carolina, Asheville Division.

May 30, 2000.

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Geraldine Sumter, Ferguson, Stein, Wallas, Gresham & Sumter, P.A., Charlotte, NC, for Terry Schulze.

Boyd B. Massagee, Jr., Prince, Young-blood, Massagee & Jackson, Hendersonville, NC, for Steve Wells.

Margaret H. Campbell, Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, Atlanta, GA, A. Bruce Clarke, Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak and Stewart, Raleigh, NC, for Meritor Automotive.

MEMORANDUM OF DECISION

COGBURN, United States Magistrate Judge.

THIS MATTER is before the court upon defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment in accordance with 28, United States Code, Section 636(c). Having considered the well-reasoned briefs and oral arguments of respective counsel, the court will grant defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment for the reasons discussed below, and a judgment reflecting such decision will be filed simultaneously herewith.

I. Factual Background

The following facts, viewed in a light most favorable to plaintiff, are not disputed for purposes of the pending motion. The parties, however, disagree as to whether such facts would support a trial on the claims asserted.

In her amended complaint, plaintiff alleges that defendant violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and North Carolina statutory and common law. Each claim stems from alleged sexual harassment of plaintiff by Stephen Wells, who is not a party to this action, but who at all relevant times was the plant manager of defendant's factory located in Fletcher, North Carolina.

Plaintiff began her career with defendant's predecessor, Rockwell International, on October 10, 1983, as a data entry clerk. She bid for and received a promotion as payroll control clerk in 1991. Her immediate supervisor was Bill Carter, accounting manager, who reported to Larry Burgin, plant controller, who, in turn, reported to Wells. Plaintiff had little daily interaction with Carter or Burgin, but had good working relationships with both. Wells was plant manager until May 1, 1996, when he was forced to resign.

In 1995, Rockwell eliminated one of the two payroll positions and restructured the remaining position. Burgin and Carter offered the resulting position of payroll analyst to plaintiff without posting it for competitive bidding. Plaintiff accepted the offer and received a raise of two grade levels, with no resulting change in the chain of command discussed above.

In 1995, the payroll office where plaintiff worked was used by Burgin, Carter, and Shirley Waldrop, an accounts-payable clerk whom plaintiff trained to be her back-up in payroll. Plaintiff had a say in Waldrop's selection and, at first, had a good working relationship with her.

It is not disputed that during her career with defendant, plaintiff developed interpersonal problems with some coworkers, including Waldrop. She received regular evaluations and pay raises, including very favorable evaluations from Carter and Burgin while she worked in payroll between 1991 and 1999, which she considered fair. Plaintiff continued to work in payroll until May 3, 1999, when she resigned.

It is beyond dispute that defendant and its predecessor maintained policies regarding ethics, equal employment opportunity, sexual harassment, and open doors. During orientation, and periodically throughout their employment, employees were trained on sexual harassment, business ethics, standards of conduct, and equal employment opportunities. In addition, they were reminded annually that they had multiple avenues for reporting workplace concerns, including making reports through their chain of command (see above), to the Human Resources Department, and to the corporate ombudsman. The policies were distributed in employee handbooks, including plaintiff's, further disseminated through ethics and sexual-harassment publications, and posted on bulletin boards. Defendant and its predecessor instructed their employees to comply with these policies and to report any concerns about deviations from policy. As discussed below, plaintiff was not only well acquainted with the existence of the policies, but had firsthand knowledge of the inner workings and effectiveness of those policies through participation in policy-violation investigations.

There is a dispute as to whether plaintiff and Wells developed a sexual relationship while both were employed by defendant. Plaintiff claims that her relationship with Wells was a friendship that never developed into a sexual relationship; Wells disputes that there was no affair. That dispute, while genuine, is not material to resolution of the pending motion.

It is undisputed that the relationship between Wells and plaintiff appeared friendly and consensual to the managers who observed them. It is also undisputed, however, that the Schulze/Wells relationship prompted several corporate ombudsman investigations over the course of two and one-half years, beginning in 1994.

In June 1994, two employees alleged that plaintiff was falsifying her time cards and that she and Wells were having an affair. Randy Springer, who was then plant human resources director, and Greg Brown, manager of employer relations and human resources at corporate headquarters in Troy, Michigan, investigated. Brown interviewed plaintiff, who said that she and Wells were friends and that they were not having an affair. Plaintiff admitted that she gave Wells a gift to thank him for his assistance, for which she had asked, in getting her the position of payroll control clerk. The first investigation concluded that plaintiff had not falsified her time and that there was, as plaintiff stated, no sexual affair between her and Wells. Wells was advised to avoid creating the appearance of inappropriate conduct and keep his relationship with plaintiff focused only on professional issues.

Plaintiff's 1995 promotion also caused complaints to be submitted to the ombudsman, which Andrea Clark, in-house counsel, and Gary Collins, vice president of human resources, both from Troy, investigated. The allegation again implied that plaintiff's intimate relationship with Wells garnered her extraordinary treatment. During plaintiff's interview with Clark, she did not complain about any harassment. Finding that Wells did not have any input regarding the decision to increase plaintiff's pay, Clark and Brown concluded that there were no irregularities in plaintiff's promotion or pay increase.

The third ombudsman investigation arose out of plaintiff's own complaint about Wells. On January 16, 1996, Mark Turner, a facilitator who worked with plaintiff, agreed to meet plaintiff to talk after work at a nearby drugstore. After each arrived in separate vehicles, Turner got into the back seat with plaintiff in her van. Wells then arrived, opened the van door, told Turner to "keep it out of the workplace," and walked away.

The next day, Doug Judkins, safety manager, reported to Springer that Turner had claimed at work that plaintiff was the "best piece of ass" he ever had. Springer confronted Turner, who denied making the comment. Turner then told Springer about the van incident, that he believed Wells was following him, and that plaintiff had told Turner that Wells was following her, as well. Turner also said Wells had left phone messages at Turner's house and office and had, he believed, sent letters to his house and his wife's workplace. That same day, plaintiff told Springer that Wells was calling and following her, and she asked to speak with Clark (in-house counsel). Plaintiff also described the van incident with Wells and Turner. Springer assured plaintiff that he would have a conversation with Clark. Springer then called Brown, and they contacted Clark the next day. They agreed that Springer should promptly begin to gather facts and then turn the investigation over to Clark.

Springer then spoke about the complaints with Walker, who was to succeed Springer as human resources manager, and then with Wells. Wells initially denied contacting Turner outside of work since November 1995, but later related the van incident. Wells also claimed that Turner was following him and making calls to his home and office. Springer instructed Wells to cease nonessential contact with plaintiff.

After Springer's initial fact-finding, Clark again came to Asheville, reviewed Springer's notes of his investigation, spoke with plaintiff, and conducted an investigation into the triparte complaints. Clark instructed Wells to have no contact with plaintiff. On May 1, 1996, as a result of the investigation, Wells was terminated through reorganization

After he was terminated, Wells would return to the plant on occasions during the late spring/early summer of 1996 to handle benefits issues or to fax information to Troy. Plaintiff avers that on one of those occasions, Wells knocked on the shelf of the payroll office door and asked, "Anybody home," or "Who's there?" If she was there, she would answer Wells's questions. Plaintiff states that she mentioned to Carter that Wells was still coming to the payroll office door and asked Burgin whether Wells was supposed to be at the plant because he was not on the reorganization chart. Plaintiff never complained to Walker (head of human resources), who by then had replaced Springer. That same month, Walker informed Wells that he was no longer allowed on the plant property without an appointment, and Wells there and then turned in the keys to the company car that he had been allowed to use under his termination agreement. On that final visit, Wells went nowhere in the plant other than Walker's office, and he left the plant property on foot. Plaintiff never saw Wells at the plant after that day.

In October 1996, plaintiff called Clark for the first...