Twymon v. Wells Fargo & Co.
| Decision Date | 12 December 2005 |
| Docket Number | No. 4:03 CV 40728.,4:03 CV 40728. |
| Citation | 403 F.Supp.2d 921 |
| Parties | Shirdena M. TWYMON, Plaintiff, v. WELLS FARGO & COMPANY, d/b/a Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, Inc., Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Southern District of Iowa |
Michael J. Carroll, Babich Goldman Cashatt & Renzo PC, Des Moines, IA, for Plaintiff.
Kerrie M. Murphy, Lora L. McCollom, Gonzalez, Saggio & Harlan, LLP, West Des Moines, IA, for Defendant.
ORDER ON SUMMARY JUDGMENT
This matter comes before the Court on Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment (Clerk's No. 27). Plaintiff Shirdena M. Twymon is represented by Michael Carroll. Defendant Wells Fargo Home Mortgage is represented by Lora McCollom. Following a hearing held on November 9, 2005, the matter is fully submitted and is ready for disposition.
Shirdena Twymon, the Plaintiff, is an African-American female. Twymon was hired by the Defendant, Wells Fargo Home Mortgage (WFHM), in July 2000, as the Director of Organizational Performance to Human Resources in a WFHM office in West Des Moines. Upon her hire, Twymon's supervisor was Laura Gillund, the Senior Vice President of Human Resources. Gillund worked in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Supervision of Twymon was later transferred to Janelle Cerwick. Gillund and Cerwick are Caucasian females. Phil Hall, an African-American male, served as WFHM's Employee Relations Director.
Twymon was recruited for a position at WFHM by an executive recruiter from Skyron Consulting named Deb Kauffman. At no time was Kauffman employed by WFHM. Twymon claims Kauffman "made jokes" about a black person moving to Des Moines to work because neither WFHM nor Des Moines was very diverse. While WFHM does not deny the occurrence of the statement, it disputes its truth, stating it employs individuals from diverse backgrounds.
Following a series of interviews, WFHM agreed to hire Twymon. Twymon interviewed personally with Gillund, and Twymon admits Gillund was "cordial and professional" during that process. Upon her hire in July 2001, Twymon relocated from Colorado to the Des Moines area. Twymon claims her personal computer and some other belongings were damaged, destroyed, or lost during the move.
From the beginning of her employment, Twymon had the perception that Gillund did not wish to hire her and was "unsupportive, disinterested, distant, [and] cold." She claims Gillund was not available when she needed input or advice and "was not [as] facilitative or mentoring with Twymon" as she was with white employees. Gillund denies this and states that one of the co-workers she allegedly favored is Hispanic. She also points out that she worked in Minneapolis, and Twymon worked in West Des Moines, limiting their interactions. Gillund claims she "tried to support [Twymon] personally and professionally as she adjusted to her new position at WFHM ... [and] made a point to make [her]self available for her if she ever had any questions or concerns."
Twymon claims a co-worker told her that when new Caucasian team members arrived, "there was always a big announcement and a big to-do and hullabaloo and everyone knew they were coming," but no announcement accompanied her arrival. WFHM counters by stating that Gillund circulated an e-mail with Twymon's arrival and position, just as with other newcomers.
When Twymon began, her duties included responsibility for the performance management system, employee development consulting, statistical measures, surveys, feedback, and activities related to organizational performance and organizational change, as well as other duties assigned by Gillund. Twymon claims she was not assigned tasks for which she had been hired but instead "[w]ork[ed] as some sort of secretary" for about two months by setting up appointments for a merger project. Gillund admits Twymon worked on the merger project, but both she and Hall state it is not unusual for new hires to be introduced to the WFHM business model by assisting on various projects.
Twymon was then assigned to the Voice of the Team project (VOTT), an employee satisfaction feedback survey. Many of Twymon's duties for this project coincided with those she was hired to do. However, Twymon claims she was held accountable for data gathering and reporting errors which occurred before she began at WFHM. Twymon claims Gillund told her other employees would view these errors as poor performance on Twymon's part. When Twymon objected to being held responsible, she claims Gillund told her she was "making excuses and fail[ing] to accept responsibility." Gillund claims these errors resulted from Twymon's work. She claims Twymon was to work with outside vendors to generate employee survey reports and help Gillund prepare a presentation regarding the survey. While reviewing Twymon's report in preparation for the presentation, Gillund claims to have uncovered numerous mathematical errors.
Up to that point in her employment, Twymon "felt that [Gillund] favored her employees of Caucasian/European descent." She claims "a double-standard in allowable behaviors" existed. She came to this conclusion based on observations of Gillund's "behavior." For example, Twymon claims Gillund made disparaging remarks about an employee of Polynesian descent, a claim Gillund denies. Twymon also "noted the marked difference between how [Gillund] facilitated Barb Rodriguez2 in her work and the amount of attention that Barb was able to elicit from [Gillund] versus the relative and pointed indifference that [Twymon] got." Gillund points out that Rodriguez worked in Minneapolis, so Twymon had few opportunities to see them interact.
Twymon claims Gillund permitted Caucasian employees to work flexible schedules while she was not. Twymon was allowed to telecommute during a trip to Cleveland, Ohio, when her mother was undergoing medical care, but her other requests to telecommute were generally denied, while white workers were allowed to telecommute. WFHM admits that Twymon was permitted to telecommute on her trip to Ohio but denies she asked to telecommute on other occasions.
Twymon recalls an altercation with Gillund following an incident between Twymon and a Human Resources manager as additional evidence that Gillund favored white employees. Twymon claims the manager, whose race is unknown,3 "got quite verbally abusive" and yelled at her. According to Twymon, she told the manager she did not wish to be treated in that way, but Gillund "chastised and reprimanded [her]" and told her she "[did] not know [her] place." On another occasion, Twymon alleges, a Caucasian employee "yelled at [Gillund] in a meeting, lost her temper, [and] spoke quite disrespectfully, [but Gillund] did nothing."
Twymon claims that a white male co-worker "consistently butchered" her name, so she claims to have "gently" corrected him. According to Twymon, Gillund reprimanded her because she was "rude," but when Twymon mispronounced the name of one of her co-workers, whose name and race are unknown, the co-worker "bit [her] head off in front of everyone, and [Gillund] said nothing." Gillund denies the occurrence of either of these events.
Twymon posits that Gillund's reaction to Twymon's interactions with Randall Russell, a Caucasian co-worker, is additional evidence that Gillund favored Caucasian employees. Twymon and Russell would "talk[] every day" at work, "hav[e] lunch ... every day," and "always [went] out." Twymon claims other employees complained that she was spending too much time with Russell. Gillund then allegedly told Twymon she needed to spend time with him away from work where they would not be seen. Twymon claims Russell told her he had not been similarly reprimanded.
Twymon also complains of "rude, condescending, [and] unpleasant" treatment by her co-workers but does not provide any specific examples. When Twymon complained to Gillund, Twymon claims Gillund told her "they were temperamental and [Twymon] was just going to have to learn how to deal with it." She claims to have "always [been] directed by [Gillund] to be accommodating and nice ... while these white individuals were consistently allowed to be rude and condescending and patronizing, and it was okay." According to Twymon, her co-workers ( Sarah Black and other "unknown individuals") had a problem with her dating white men, so they started a "campaign" to find a "suitable" black man for her. Upon notifying Gillund, Twymon claims she could not "see what the problem was." Gillund denies having been told about a "campaign" or having made comments to Twymon about such a campaign.
Twymon also claims Hall treated her differently than white employees. At one point, Twymon does not say when, Twymon claims Hall advised her to develop "two personas" as follows:
One, the person that [she] really was; an intelligent, outspoken, professional black female. And the second one being that knew how to be deferential, knew how to keep her head down, knew how to behave — as he put it — and as a good black so that [she] would be accepted by the Caucasians at Wells Fargo. As [Hall] put it, "Learn to look down and shuffle your feet a little bit, you'll get along a lot better here."
According to Twymon, Hall told her "intelligence and outspokenness in black employees was not welcomed [at WFHM]." Hall also allegedly warned her that "qualities that would make a Caucasian a golden child, being aggressive and intelligent and outspoken and a go-getter, would do exactly the reverse to a person of color." Twymon asked if she should "act[] like an Uncle Tom," and Hall said she should. Hall denies making these comments. Twymon claims to have reported this incident "[t]o people at Wells Fargo or to people outside Wells Fargo" but does say to whom or when.
Gillund claims Twymon never complained about any mistreatment. WFHM...
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