Staff v. Pall Corp.
| Decision Date | 13 November 2002 |
| Docket Number | No. 99CV0798.,99CV0798. |
| Citation | 233 F.Supp.2d 516 |
| Parties | Trevor STAFF, Plaintiff, v. PALL CORPORATION, Eric Krasnoff, Tom Gsell, Pat Lowy, Rich Salinaro, Joseph Zanetti, John Sipsas, and Chuck Duthie, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Southern District of New York |
Daniel Cherner, New York City, for Plaintiff.
David I. Rosen, Miranda Mitchell, Clifton, Budd & DeMaria, LLP, New York City, Mary Ann Bartlett, Assistant General Counsel & Secretary Pall Corporation, East Hills, NY, for Defendants.
Trevor Staff ("Staff" or "Plaintiff") filed this action against his former employer, Pall Corporation ("Pall") and individually named defendants who held various managerial and supervisory positions within Pall (collectively, "Defendants") on or about February 3, 1999. Plaintiff alleges, among other things, that, on the basis of "race, color and national origin," Defendants discriminated and retaliated against him, and subjected him to a hostile work environment in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000e et. seq. (1994) ("Title VII"), 42 U.S.C. § 1981, and the New York State Human Rights Law, N.Y. Exec. Law §§ 290 et. seq., as amended ("NYSHRL"). See Second Amended Complaint dated June 19, 2000.
On July 26, 2001, Defendants moved for summary judgment ("Defendants' Motion") under Rule 56(c) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure ("Fed. R. Civ. P.").1 On or about September 8, 2001, Plaintiff responded and cross-moved for summary judgment ("Plaintiff's Response and Cross-Motion") on Defendants' counterclaims, which alleged breach of contract and breach of duty of loyalty ("Counterclaims"). On October 16, 2001, Defendants sent a letter to the court withdrawing their Counterclaims ("October 16 Letter"), and filed a reply memorandum. On or about November 8, 2001, Plaintiff filed a surreply.
On October 17, 2002, Magistrate Judge Theodore H. Katz, to whom the matter had been referred, issued a Report and Recommendation ("Report"), recommending that Defendants' Motion be granted. Plaintiff filed objections to the Report on October 26, 2002 ("Plaintiff's Objections"). For the reasons stated below, the Report is adopted in all respects and Defendant's Motion is granted.
A district court evaluating a Magistrate's report may adopt those portions of the report to which no "specific, written objection" is made, as long as those sections are not clearly erroneous. Fed.R.Civ.P. 72(b); Thomas v. Arn, 474 U.S. 140, 149, 106 S.Ct. 466, 88 L.Ed.2d 435 (1985); Greene v. WCI Holdings Corp., 956 F.Supp. 509, 513 (S.D.N.Y.1997). "Where a party makes a `specific written objection' within `[ten] days after being served with a copy of the [magistrate judge's] recommended disposition,' however, the district court is required to make a de novo determination regarding those parts of the report." Cespedes v. Coughlin, 956 F.Supp. 454, 463 (S.D.N.Y.1997) (quoting United States v. Raddatz, 447 U.S. 667, 676, 100 S.Ct. 2406, 65 L.Ed.2d 424 (1980)). A district judge may accept, reject, or modify, in whole or in part, the findings and recommendations of the Magistrate. See DeLuca v. Lord, 858 F.Supp. 1330, 1345 (S.D.N.Y.1994); Walker v. Hood, 679 F.Supp. 372, 374 (S.D.N.Y. 1988).
The Court has conducted a de novo review of the record herein, including, among other things, the Report, Plaintiff's Objections, and applicable legal authorities. The Court adopts the Magistrate Judge's findings of fact as supported by the record and concludes that Magistrate Katz's legal determinations are correct in all material respects.
In his objections, Plaintiff raises substantially the same arguments as were raised in Plaintiff's Response and Cross-Motion. Plaintiff's Objections do not provide a basis for departing from the Report's recommendations.
Discrimination claims under Title VII, as pointed out by Magistrate Katz, are often analyzed using the three step burden-shifting analysis outlined in McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 802, 804, 93 S.Ct. 1817, 36 L.Ed.2d 668 (1973).2 Under McDonnell, a plaintiff must first establish a prima facie case of discrimination. The burden then shifts to the employer to articulate "a legitimate, non-discriminatory reason" for the employment action. Reeves v. Sanderson Plumbing Prods., 530 U.S. 133, 142, 120 S.Ct. 2097, 147 L.Ed.2d 105 (2000). "[O]nce the employer produces sufficient evidence to support a nondiscriminatory explanation for its decision, the presumption raised by the prima facie case is rebutted and drops from the case." Id. The plaintiff "must [then] be afforded the opportunity to prove, by a preponderance of the evidence that the legitimate reasons offered by the defendant were not its true reasons, but were a pretext for discrimination." Id. at 143, 120 S.Ct. 2097 (internal quotations omitted). "The test for summary judgment is [ultimately] whether the evidence can reasonably support a verdict in plaintiff's favor." James v. N.Y. Racing Ass'n, 233 F.3d 149, 157 (2d Cir.2000).
In order to make out a prima facie case of discrimination, a plaintiff must establish that: (1) he is a member of a protected class; (2) he was qualified for the position; (3) he suffered an adverse employment action; and (4) the adverse employment action took place under circumstances that give rise to an inference of unlawful discrimination. Stern v. Trustees of Columbia Univ., 131 F.3d 305, 311-12 (2d Cir. 1997).
Plaintiff argues that a prima facie case of discrimination was established in connection with both his transfer to the Manufacturing Engineering Department in or about March 1998 and his "very small [salary] increases." Plaintiff's Objections at 7. Plaintiff contends that his "transfer had `an attendant negative result, a deprivation of a position or an opportunity,'" id. at 2 (quoting Patrolmen's Benevolent Ass'n of the City of New York v. City of New York, 74 F.Supp.2d 321, 335 (S.D.N.Y.1999)), and amounted to an adverse employment action. As the Magistrate noted, Plaintiff's transfer did not constitute an adverse employment action. Staff did not "suffer a decrease in salary or fringe benefits," "his duties remained largely unchanged," and he failed to offer any evidence, "other than his own conclusory opinion," to support the contention that the transfer was "tantamount to a demotion and had detrimental effects on his career." Report at 26. Following a very thorough analysis, Magistrate Katz correctly determined that Plaintiff failed to establish a prima facie case of discrimination with respect to his transfer. Id. at 29.
Plaintiff argues that he was similarly situated to two co-employees, Daniela Terbancea ("Terbancea") and Moira Bilich ("Bilich"), but they "received massive salary increases as opposed to [his] very small increases, and ... such action was taken with an intent to reward and promote the white individuals... and keep[] Mr. Staff in place." Plaintiff's Objections at 7. While noting that there "was no evidence suggesting that there was disparate treatment in the salaries of Staff and Terbancea," the Magistrate also determined that, with respect to Bilich, Plaintiff had established a prima facie case, Report at 34-35, but that Defendants' legitimate, non-discriminatory reason for any disparity was not a pretext. Id. at 36. Bilich's work was "consistently `outstanding.'" Id. at 37. "Plaintiff [did not point] to a scintilla of evidence indicating that Defendants' explanation for giving Plaintiff a guideline pay increase, and for awarding a somewhat higher increase to Bilich, is a pretext for discrimination." Id.
To establish a prima facie case of retaliation, a plaintiff must establish (1) that he was engaged in a protected activity under Title VII, (2) that the employer was aware of this activity, (3) that the employer took adverse action against the plaintiff, and (4) a causal connection between the adverse action and the protected activity. Holtz v. Rockefeller & Co., 258 F.3d 62, 79 (2d Cir.2001).
Plaintiff claims that he received a negative performance appraisal and was later terminated in retaliation for filing a complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") on November 25, 1998. "It is impossible to dispute the fact that Mr. Staff's protected activity preceded [both] the negative performance appraisal and termination; thus, Mr. Staff has made out a prima facie case of retaliation." Plaintiff's Objections at 9. As the Magistrate noted, "there is no basis to conclude that the [Plaintiff's performance appraisal] was negative" and, in any case, "no evidence demonstrating that it had unfavorable attendant circumstances, [so] it cannot be considered an adverse employment action." Report at 41-42. Plaintiff thereby failed to establish a prima facie case of retaliation with respect to his negative performance appraisal.
With respect to Plaintiff's termination claim, the Magistrate agreed that Plaintiff made out a prima facie case of retaliation, but found that Plaintiff failed to establish pretext. Plaintiff does not point to any Id. at 49-50.
Plaintiff claims unpersuasively that "Magistrate Katz failed to even remark on Plaintiff's motion for Summary Judgment and Other Relief." Plaintiff's Objections at 11. However, the Report clearly states that "Defendants have voluntarily withdrawn these claims, rendering Plaintiff's cross-motion moot." Report at 2; see also October 16 Letter.
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