Sitar v. Indiana D.O.T.

• Decision Date: 29 September 2003
• Docket Number: No. 02-2684.,02-2684.
• Parties: Caroline M. Sitar, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Indiana Department of Transportation, Defendant-Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit

344 F.3d 720

Caroline M. Sitar, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Indiana Department of Transportation, Defendant-Appellee.

No. 02-2684.

United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit.

Argued February 14, 2003.

Decided September 29, 2003.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Kevin W. Betz, Mark Pizur (Argued), Betz & Associates, Indianapolis, IN for Plaintiff-Appellant.

David L. Steiner (Argued), Office of the Atty. Gen., Indianapolis, IN for Defendant-Appellee.

Before FLAUM, Chief Judge, and DIANE P. WOOD and EVANS, Circuit Judges.

WOOD, Circuit Judge.

Caroline Sitar's employment with the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) was short-lived. Sitar was one of the few women to work for INDOT in its historically male Westfield Unit, but she was transferred and terminated before the end of six months. INDOT claims that the reason for the brevity of Sitar's tenure was unsatisfactory performance; Sitar believes that it was the result of sex discrimination, sexual harassment, and retaliation. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of INDOT on all counts. We affirm in part and reverse in part.

I

On October 14, 1997, INDOT hired Sitar as a "Highway Maintenance Worker III." According to the job description, Sitar's duties were to include the following tasks:

Individual will perform road maintenance work requiring use of small tools. Also will mow grass, trim hedges, fill washes, plant shrubs and trees, drive a truck, and operate stump cutter. Will also plow snow during inclement weather and haul road maintenance materials. Perform other duties as may be required or requested.

The first six months of Sitar's employment were probationary. She was assigned to INDOT's Westfield Unit in the Tipton Sub-District, and her direct supervisor was James (Sonny) Pedigo.

Pedigo knew that the Westfield Unit historically had been an all-male work environment, where off-color jokes and lewd stories about women were not uncommon. Pedigo forewarned Sitar that some men "might not be comfortable with a female working" at the Unit. He also instructed the crew to tone it down and watch what they were saying around Sitar.

As anticipated, problems soon arose. Sitar was new and unfamiliar with workplace procedures. Whenever she made a mistake, her co-workers reported it to Pedigo, who began recording the incidents in a journal. For example, on November 14, Joe Wilson reported to Pedigo that Sitar misused the hand throttle on a snow plow, even after a warning. Sitar, however, claims that no one told her that she was creating a safety hazard. Pedigo reprimanded Sitar, who became argumentative (according to Pedigo). Pedigo told Sitar she would receive a written warning. The next day, Sitar explained to Pedigo that she suffered from medical conditions that might be affecting her behavior, including depression. She promised Pedigo she would no longer misuse the hand throttle. Pedigo accepted this as an explanation and decided not to give Sitar a written warning.

On November 21, Sitar accused her co-worker, David Whitworth, of repeatedly paging her with the number 666. Whitworth denied the accusations, Sitar called him a lying S.O.B., and Whitworth shoved Sitar backwards. Crew leaders stepped in, and the incident was reported to Pedigo, who asked the two to apologize. After Whitworth left the room, Sitar began to cry and said to Pedigo that she was "always on pins and needles" and felt that the others "didn't really want to give [her] a chance to do [her] job," that she was "always in f______ trouble" and "they didn't want [her] working there." Both Sitar and Whitworth received formal reprimands: Sitar for verbal abuse and Whitworth for assault.

On December 11, the crew came across a dead dog with a collar on the road. The crew leader, David Carson, directed the crew to bury the dog. Sitar tried to contact Pedigo, and when she was unable to reach him, she insisted that the crew take the carcass back to the Westfield Unit so that she could attempt to contact the owners. Carson complained to Pedigo that Sitar's conduct was in violation of INDOT policy and interfered with the crew's work. Pedigo reprimanded Sitar with a verbal warning. According to Sitar, however, no one told her what the procedures entailed. Furthermore, Pedigo admitted in his deposition that in the past, crew members had brought back animal carcasses to the Westfield Unit, and so Sitar may have had reason to be confused about the policy.

On the evening of December 11, several crew members spoke with Pedigo and Ron Buell, Operations Foreman for the Tipton Sub-District, about the problems they were having with Sitar. Buell brought the situation to the attention of Raymond Baker, manager of the Tipton Sub-District. Baker, like Sitar, was also new to the job and was on probationary status.

The next morning, Baker met with Pedigo and Buell. At that meeting, Pedigo gave Baker his journal. According to Baker, Pedigo and Buell wanted Sitar terminated immediately. According to Pedigo, however, he recommended that Sitar be transferred to the road crew at the Tipton Unit, to see whether the problem was Sitar or the men at the Westfield Unit. In his deposition, Pedigo admitted that Sitar was a good employee, and that he was not sure whether she was the cause of the crew's problems. Whitworth (who was the co-worker reprimanded for shoving Sitar during the paging incident) was also deposed and admitted that Sitar was a good worker who performed her duties satisfactorily.

Baker spoke with his supervisor, Brad Davis, who advised Baker to do whatever he thought was best. On the afternoon of December 12, Baker met with Sitar to discuss her performance issues (according to Sitar, without giving her a chance to address the allegations). Baker asked Sitar if she wanted to keep her job and told her to show up the next Monday morning at the Tipton office. Baker decided that Sitar would be transferred to the Tipton office in lieu of termination "to see if she was salvageable as an employee." Sitar was to work in the same office as Baker, so that he could keep an eye on her. Although her job title was not formally changed, her responsibilities were drastically reduced to involve primarily clerical and janitorial work, such as cleaning the telephones, refrigerator, and office area; answering the telephones; sorting the mail; and washing the vehicles of her supervisors. Pedigo admitted that she was no longer doing the job of a highway maintenance worker.

On December 17, Sitar filed a complaint of sex discrimination and hostile work environment against Baker and Whitworth with INDOT's Affirmative Action office. Baker received notice of the complaint on January 5, 1998. Lynette Price was assigned to investigate the complaint; she interviewed Baker, Whitworth, and several other co-workers. Originally, Price concluded that Baker's conduct violated Title VII, and suggested disciplinary action:

[Baker] created a hostile working environment for Caroline. He did not discipline in any way, shape or form any of his employees when the problem had been brought to his attention about the situations that were going on with Caroline.

Price also found that the work environment at the Westfield Unit ranged from "hatefulness" to one in which Sitar was forced to do "ludicrous things on her own" without any instruction or assistance. Price described INDOT as a "boys' club" that did not "care for women out there on the road crew. They don't feel that [women] can work as hard as they do. I mean this is not the first investigation of a female highway maintenance worker."

In spite of Price's conclusion, her boss, Janey Trout, instructed Price to avoid any suggestion that Baker had violated Title VII. Trout hoped to avoid liability and "make sure nobody can sue us for violation of Title VII." The disciplinary actions Price recommended, nevertheless, remained the same and were documented in a memorandum dated March 2, 1998, and addressed to Curtis Wiley, INDOT's Affirmative Action Commissioner.

Sitar subsequently received a letter from Price, dated March 10, 1998, stating:

A careful analysis of the facts indicate that this situation could have created a hostile work environment. Although it was not determined that sex discrimination occurred, there were enough facts to prompt precautionary measures to be taken.

Baker and Whitworth received a rather different letter from Price, also dated March 10, 1998, stating:

The results of the investigation did not indicate that any provisions of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act have been violated. Therefore, we are closing this file. Although the facts did not substantiate the allegations, please be advised that the Indiana Department of Transportation will not tolerate or condone harassment or discrimination in the workplace.

When Price found out from Sitar that Baker was boasting to her that he had not done anything wrong, Price became upset. Price got on the phone with one of Baker's supervisors, Steve Risch, to tell him "to get a hold of this guy. You need to let him know that this is not professional behavior. You need to let him know that this could be considered retaliatory."

On March 20, 1998, Baker met with his supervisors, Brad Davis and Steve Risch, at which time they discussed a number of issues, some relating to Sitar and some not. Before the meeting concluded, Davis and Risch brought the March 2 memorandum to Baker's attention. That memorandum stated in relevant part:

Based on the investigation, there seems to be a misunderstanding by Ms. Sitar of why she was transferred. Due to the circumstances, it is likely that Ms. Sitar did perceive that Mr. Baker was trying to intimidate her. This situation could have created a hostile work environment for her. It is recommended that Mr. Baker receive an informal counseling regarding this situation and that he attend the Progressive Discipline and Ethics for Supervisors training. It is also recommended that...