Velez v. Qvc, Inc., CIV.A. 00-5582.
| Decision Date | 27 September 2002 |
| Docket Number | No. CIV.A. 00-5582.,CIV.A. 00-5582. |
| Citation | 227 F.Supp.2d 384 |
| Parties | Victor VELEZ, et al., Plaintiffs, v. QVC, INC., Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Pennsylvania |
William H. Ewing, Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott, LLC, Philadelphia, PA, Alan J. Rich, Baree N. Hassett, Law Offices of Alan J. Rich, New York City, Rachel Castillo Rosser, Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott, LLC, Philadelphia, PA, for Plaintiffs.
Jeffrey Ivan Pasek, Michele A. Ledo, Thomas C. Zielinski, H. Robert Fiebach, Sarah E. Davies, Christine A. Char, Cozen & O'Connor, Philadelphia, PA, for Defendant.
Charles M. Hart, Wolf, Block, Schorr and Solis-Cohen LLP, Philadelphia, PA, for Movant.
Plaintiff Victor Velez ("Velez") and five other former show hosts of defendant QVC, a telemarketing television network, have filed this putative class action against QVC for alleged discrimination based on race and sex. QVC conducts its business through the medium of nationally broadcast direct response television programming which is aired live twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. As show hosts, plaintiffs appeared on the air for the purpose of marketing and selling the products sold by QVC.
The claims are based on federal civil rights law as well as the laws of New York and Pennsylvania. The case was initially filed as a class action. However, given the number of putative class representatives, the complexity of the claims asserted under the laws of various jurisdictions, which were applicable to some but not all plaintiffs, under the unusual circumstances of this case, and for case management purposes, the court deferred holding a hearing on class certification until merit discovery was concluded and the contours of each claim asserted by each plaintiff became more apparent. Following the filing of five amended complaints, completion of exhaustive and contentious discovery, and lengthy briefing by the parties, the legal issues implicated by the various claims are ripe for decision.
Presently before the court are defendant's motions for summary judgment. For the reasons that follow, summary judgment will be granted on all of the claims of plaintiffs Clarence Reynolds, Sophia Minott-Talley, and Daliza Ramirez-Crane, because the claims are time-barred. Summary judgment as to the claims of plaintiffs Velez, Owens and Tucker is granted in part and denied in part.
Count I of the Fifth Amended Complaint1 alleges a violation of Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e, et seq., for race and sex discrimination. First, plaintiffs maintain that those plaintiffs who are members of racial minorities were hired based on the discriminatory practice of "tokenism." Second, plaintiffs allege that the defendant practices discriminatory disparate treatment of racial minority hosts by relegating them to the "graveyard" shifts with no genuine hope of advancement. Third, plaintiffs assert that QVC maintains a hostile work environment with respect to racial minority and female employees. Fourth, plaintiffs maintain that their terminations were the result of discrimination. Lastly, plaintiffs allege that QVC retaliated against them for participating in protected activities under Title VII. In Count II, those plaintiffs asserting discrimination based on race also assert violations of § 1981 of the Civil Rights Act of 1866, based on the same allegations of race discrimination as mentioned in Count I.
In Counts III and IV, plaintiffs Velez and Tucker allege violations of New York Executive Law § 296 (New York State Human Rights Law ("NYSHRL")) and Administrative Code of the City of New York § 8-107 (New York City Civil Rights Law ("NYCCRL")). In Count V, plaintiffs Velez, Owens and Tucker allege violations of the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act, 43 Pa. Con. Stat. Ann. § 954(a) ("PHRA"). In Count XI, plaintiff Tucker asserts a fraud claim under Pennsylvania law arising from the final contract that she entered into with QVC in May, 1999. Finally, in Count XII, plaintiffs Owens, Tucker and Ramirez-Crane allege violations of the Equal Pay Act.2
Defendant maintains that it is entitled to summary judgment on all plaintiffs' claims because they are either untimely or raise no genuine issue of material fact.
For the sake of clarity, the discussion seriatim is divided into three parts. Part A will discuss the timeliness of plaintiffs' Reynolds, Minott-Talley and Ramirez-Crane's claims. Part B will discuss the substantive merits of plaintiffs Velez, Owens and Tucker's claims. Part C will discuss plaintiffs' request for yet additional time to conduct discovery before they can adequately respond to defendant's motions for summary judgment.
Defendant makes the following arguments with respect to the untimeliness of some of the plaintiffs' claims. First, the Title VII claims of plaintiffs Reynolds, Minott-Talley and Ramirez-Crane are time-barred for failure to exhaust administrative remedies. Second, the Section 1981 claims of plaintiffs Reynolds, Minott-Talley and Ramirez-Crane are barred by the two year statute of limitations. Third, plaintiff Ramirez-Crane's Equal Pay Act claim is barred by the applicable statute of limitations. Fourth, plaintiff Owens' sex discrimination claim is barred because her EEOC charge did not include an allegation of sex discrimination.
Before a lawsuit can be brought to assert claims under Title VII, a charge of discrimination must be filed with the EEOC within 300 days of the occurrence of the alleged discriminatory employment practice. 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000e-5(f) & 2000e-5(e); EEOC v. Commercial Office Prods., 486 U.S. 107, 110, 108 S.Ct. 1666, 100 L.Ed.2d 96 (1988); Woodson v. Scott Paper Co., 109 F.3d 913, 926 (3d Cir.1997) ()....
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