Venugopal v. Shire Laboratories

• Decision Date: 26 August 2004
• Docket Number: No. CIV.A. AW-02-3534.,CIV.A. AW-02-3534.
• Citation: 334 F.Supp.2d 835
• Parties: Meenakshi VENUGOPAL, Plaintiff, v. SHIRE LABORATORIES, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Maryland

334 F.Supp.2d 835

Meenakshi VENUGOPAL, Plaintiff, v. SHIRE LABORATORIES, Defendant.

No. CIV.A. AW-02-3534.

United States District Court, D. Maryland, Southern Division.

August 26, 2004.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Steven W. Ray, Esq., Edward Lee Isler, Esq., and Jeffrey L. Rhodes, Esq., Vienna, VA, for Defendant.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

WILLIAMS, District Judge.

Plaintiff Meenakshi Venugopal ("Plaintiff" or "Venugopal") filed suit against Defendant Shire Laboratories ("Defendant" or "Shire") alleging that Defendant's failure to promote her was motivated by national origin animus in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ("Title VII") and the Montgomery County Human Rights Law, Chapter 27 of the Montgomery County Code. Plaintiff also claimed that she was constructively discharged in violation of Title VII. Presently before this Court is Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment [28]. The motion has been fully briefed and is ripe for resolution. No hearing is deemed necessary. See D. Md. R. 105.6. Upon consideration of the arguments made in favor of, and in opposition to, the motion, the Court makes the following determinations.

I. Background

The following facts are uncontroverted. Defendant Shire, located in Rockville, Maryland, is an advanced drug delivery company specializing in developing oral medications. In the process of developing oral medications, Shire conducts cell-based screening of prototype formulations — a process that tests the amount of an Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient ("API") in a compound that will be absorbed through the human gastro-intestinal wall (hereinafter, "Cell-based Assays"). Cell-based Assays are used to develop different models for oral drug delivery, to study barriers to oral absorption of a drug and to determine ways to increase "bioavailability" of the drug (e.g., how quickly and efficiently the drug is absorbed into the blood and to its ultimate destination in the body). Cell-based Assays primarily involve the application of scientific knowledge and skill belonging to the discipline of biological sciences.

Shire also performs additional physiochemical tests (hereinafter, "Preformulation Assays") to determine the stability, solubility, and compatibility of the API when mixed with other chemicals, in order to bind the API with those non-active ingredients to create a tablet or capsule. Accordingly, Preformulation Assays primarily involve the application of scientific knowledge and skill belonging to the discipline of chemistry.

Prior to Plaintiff's employment, Cell-based Assays were conducted by Shire's Biological Sciences Department. As part of a company reorganization in 1999, Shire restructured the Biological Sciences Department and renamed it the Department of Preformulation Sciences, placing it within the Division of Pharmaceutical Development. That division was directed by Beth Burnside, Ph.D. In preparation for the departure of the former director of Biological Sciences, Dr. Burnside sought a candidate to fill that position.

In or about January 1999, Dr. Venugopal applied for the position of Manager of Preformulation Sciences. She was extended an offer in February 1999, after interviewing with Dr. Burnside and Richard Couch, Ph.D., Senior Vice President of Pharmaceutical Sciences at Shire. She commenced her employment in March 1999. Plaintiff has a Bachelor's degree in Chemistry, a Masters degree in Biochemistry and a Ph.D. in Cellular and Molecular biology. Furthermore, after earning her Ph.D., Plaintiff completed a two and one-half year (2 1/2) post-doctoral fellowship at the National Cancer Institute, where her work included the development of drug formulations for the market. In addition, prior to her employment with Shire, Plaintiff had four (4) years of industry experience with two major pharmaceutical companies in India.

As Manager of Preformulation Sciences, Plaintiff's initial duties included supervising three scientists in conducting Cell-based Assays, reporting the results of Cell-based Assays, maintaining current knowledge of literature on increasing the absorption into the bloodstream of peptide drugs, maintaining radiation safety, and communicating the progress of her projects to Dr. Burnside. Plaintiff's annual performance evaluations recognized her strong performance with regard to several of her job duties. The evaluations contain a significant amount of praise and high ratings for her job performance. Indeed, in 2001, Plaintiff received Shire's coveted "Technology Achievement Award." The evaluations, however, also discussed ways in which Plaintiff's could improve her job performance. For example, they suggested that Plaintiff be more assertive at group meetings, form stronger relationships with senior management, take the initiative to set up project reviews of data, and brainstorm with other departments.

Plaintiff received several raises in compensation between 1999 and 2002. Her initial salary in March 1999 was $60,000. She received a raise of $2,500 in 1999, increasing her salary to $62, 500. Plaintiff received two additional raises totaling $12,500 in 2000, increasing her salary to $75,000. Finally, in 2001, she received two raises totaling $11,000, increasing her salary to $86,000. In total, Plaintiff received $26,000 in raises during her three years of employment at Shire. In December, 2001 Plaintiff also received an "in-line" promotion to Assistant Director of Preformulation Sciences that resulted in an increase in compensation and change in title, but did not increase Plaintiff's job responsibilities.

For several months in 2000, Dr. Burnside transferred additional responsibility for conducting Preformulation Assays to the Preformulation Sciences Department. Prior to that time, that department had only conducted Cell-based Assays. The Takeda Project — in which Shire was engaged to develop an oral formulation for a promising HIV drug — was one of the projects conducted by the Preformulation Sciences Department. The Takeda team, under Dr. Venugopal's leadership, encountered some difficulties in conducting the Preformulation Assays. The extent of these difficulties and their effect on Takeda's subsequent decision to discontinue Shire's work are debated by both Plaintiff and Defendant. Shire eventually transferred responsibility for performing Preformulation Assays out of the Preformulation Sciences Department and into the Pharmaceutical Analysis Department.

In December 2000, Shire began advertising the position of head of Preformulation Sciences under the titles of Director, Assistant Director and/or Associate Director of Preformulation Sciences. Shire intended to bring the Preformulation Assays work back into the Preformulation Sciences Department. From October 2000 to January 2002, Defendant interviewed five (5) candidates for the advertised position. The hiring committee consisted of Dr. Burnside, Dr. Couch, Jeffrey Hurdle (Manager of Human Resources), Dr. Venugopal, and several other individuals within Plaintiff's department. The interviewed applicants were Guprit Singh, Ph.D. (Indian national origin), O. Helen Chan, Ph.D. (Chinese national origin), Anthony C. Chao, Ph.D. (Chinese national origin), Robert J. Polzer (American national origin), and Mark Ginski, Ph.D. (American national origin). Dr. Chan, who had a Ph.D. in Pharmaceutics, and Dr. Polzer, who had a Ph.D. in Medicinal Chemistry were both offered the position, but declined. In January 2002, Shire offered Dr. Ginski the position; he accepted.

At the time of his application — November 30, 2001 — Dr. Ginski was a senior scientist at Guilford Pharmaceuticals. He had a B.S. in Biological Sciences from the University of Maryland at Baltimore County ("UMBC"), and a Ph.D. in Pharmaceuticals from the UMBC School of Pharmacy. He had just under three years of post Ph.D. relevant experience.

Defendant interviewed Dr. Ginski on January 16, 2002. Prior to the interview, Dr. Burnside indicated to Plaintiff that Shire was interviewing Dr. Ginski for a "peer" position. The following day, Plaintiff learned that Dr. Ginski was being considered for the Associate Director Position. Plaintiff then inquired whether she could apply for the position, and was informed that she could apply. On January 18, 2002, Dr. Venugopal submitted her application. Shire had decided to offer the position to Dr. Ginski — although no formal offer had been made — prior to its receipt of Plaintiff's application. The parties dispute whether Shire considered Plaintiff for the job upon receiving the application or at any previous time.

On January 30, 2002, Shire sent a written offer to Dr. Ginski, and he accepted the position on February 3, 2002. Subsequently, Shire transferred back to the Preformulation Sciences Department responsibility for conducting Preformulation Assays.

Following Shire's decision to hire Dr. Ginski, Dr. Venogupal complained to Mr. Hurdle that she believed she had been discriminated against. On April 29, 2002, Plaintiff took a thirty-day medical leave of absence to seek treatment for emotional/mental health issues. On May 14, 2002, Plaintiff submitted her letter of resignation to Shire effective May 28, 2002. Dr. Burnside resigned her position on August 16, 2002; she was replaced by Padmanabh Bhatt, Ph.D., a person of Indian national origin.

Additional facts will be added throughout the analysis.

II. Standard of Review

Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure provides that summary judgment will be granted when no genuine dispute of material fact exists and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 250, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986); Haavistola v. Community Fire Co. of Rising Sun, Inc., 6 F.3d 211, 214 (4th Cir.1993); Etefia v. East Baltimore Comm. Corp., 2 F.Supp.2d 751, 756 (D.Md.1998). "Summary judgment procedure is properly regarded not as a disfavored procedural shortcut, but rather as an...