Wayne v. Dallas Morning News

• Citation: 78 F.Supp.2d 571
• Decision Date: 24 November 1999
• Docket Number: CIV.A.No. 3-98-CV-0711-L.
• Parties: Hattie WAYNE, Plaintiff, v. THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS and A.H. Belo Corporation, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of Texas

78 F.Supp.2d 571

Hattie WAYNE, Plaintiff, v. THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS and A.H. Belo Corporation, et al., Defendants.

CIV.A.No. 3-98-CV-0711-L.

United States District Court, N.D. Texas, Dallas Division.

November 24, 1999.

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Doris R. Piper, B.J. Warren, Dallas, TX, for plaintiff.

Robert E. Sheeder, Craig J. Ackermann, Jenkins & Gilchrist, Dallas, TX, for defendants.

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

LINDSAY, District Judge.

Before the court are Defendants A.H. Belo, Chuck Gerardi, and Brenda Cureton-Smith's Motion for Summary Judgment, filed April 16, 1999, Plaintiff's Cross-motion to the Motion for Summary Judgment of Defendants A.H. Belo, Chuck Gerardi and Brenda Cureton-Smith, filed May 6, 1999, Defendant The Dallas Morning News' Motion for Summary Judgment, filed May 25, 1999. Defendant A.H. Belo Corporation's Motion to Strike Plaintiff's Summary Judgment Evidence, filed May 25, 1999, Defendants Dallas Morning News' and A.H. Belo Corporation's Motion to Strike Plaintiff's Summary Judgment Evidence, filed September 7, 1999, Plaintiff's Cross-motion to Defendants Dallas Morning News' and A.H. Belo Corporation's Motion to Strike Plaintiff's Summary Judgment Evidence, filed September 27, 1999, and Defendants The Dallas Morning News and A.H. Belo Corporation's Motion for Leave to Supplement their Summary Judgment Evidence, filed October 12, 1999. Upon careful consideration of the motions, responses, replies, the record evidence, and the applicable law, the court grants A.H. Belo Corporation and The Dallas Morning News' Motions for Summary Judgment, and denies Wayne's Cross-motion for Summary Judgment. Chuck Gerardi and Brenda Cureton-Smith's Motions for Summary Judgment are denied as moot.

I. Factual and Procedural Background

Plaintiff Hattie Wayne ("Wayne") is an African-American female currently employed by Defendant The Dallas Morning News (the "Morning News") as an Account Executive for Parade Magazine.¹ While the parties agree that Wayne is employed by the Morning News, Wayne further maintains that she is also an employee of Defendant A.H. Belo Corporation ("Belo"). The Morning News publishes The Dallas Morning News newspaper, and, prior to March 30, 1999, was an independent subsidiary of Belo.² Belo owns and operates television stations and other media enterprises in Texas, including WFAA-TV in Dallas. The Morning News and Belo maintain separate human resources departments. Defendant Chuck Gerardi ("Gerardi") is employed as the Director of Retail Advertising Sales for the Morning News. Defendant Brenda Cureton-Smith ("Cureton-Smith") is employed as a Retail Group Manager at the Morning News. Cureton-Smith reports to Gerardi.

Wayne became employed by the Morning News on December 6, 1977, after leaving a position she held at WFAA-TV. She began her career with the Morning News in the classified advertising department. On December 15, 1980, Wayne was promoted to the position of junior sales representative in outside sales in the Retail Advertising Department. Wayne was promoted again in June 1981, to sales representative. As a sales representative Wayne was assigned to the Oak Cliff territory. Wayne worked as a sales representative in the Oak Cliff territory until 1986, when she was moved to a new territory encompassing Downtown Dallas, McKinney Avenue, Lakewood, and Deep Ellum. On May 23, 1988, Wayne was promoted to a senior sales representative position, and in 1990 Wayne was moved into the "vertical" category of restaurants. Wayne continued to work in the restaurant category throughout the early 1990's.

In May, 1996, the Morning News hired Cureton-Smith as an Assistant Retail Manager. Cureton-Smith is an African-American female. In January 1997, Gerardi assumed the position of Director of Retail Advertising Sales for the Morning News. Also in January 1997, Cureton-Smith became Wayne's manager. Wayne believes that Cureton-Smith "harassed" her at the direction of Morning News management. According to Wayne, Cureton-Smith (i) stated in September 1996 she was brought in by the Morning News to "get rid of troublemakers"; (ii) gave Wayne an unfavorable performance review in 1997; and (iii) got angry when going on sales calls with her.

On November 5, 1996, Wayne filed her first charge of discrimination with the EEOC, alleging that the Morning News discriminated against her on account of her race by assigning higher revenue generating restaurant accounts to white sales representatives. Wayne filed a second charge of discrimination on November 22, 1996, alleging that she had been denied a promotion to Assistant Retail Manager in March 1996 due to her race, and in retaliation for complaints she had made concerning unlawful acts. On January 28, 1997, Wayne filed a third charge of discrimination against the Morning News. In the third charge, Wayne complained of race discrimination and retaliation with respect to account assignments, account transfers, and promotions.³

By early April 1997, the restaurant category was experiencing disappointing results. Gerardi and Cureton-Smith asked Wayne to meet with them to discuss strategies for improving sales in her category. On April 18, 1997, Cureton-Smith informed Wayne that they would be meeting with Gerardi that day to discuss restaurant strategies. Wayne contends that Cureton-Smith harassed her by "publicly and loudly" stating, "we need to get together, your numbers are down." Wayne admits that at that point in time, her numbers were down.

On April 18, 1997, Wayne met with Gerardi and Cureton-Smith. Wayne and Gerardi got into an argument regarding past proposals Wayne had prepared. Gerardi told Wayne, "I don't give a shit what you've done a long time ago. You need to remember I am your boss." Wayne responded that she "did give a shit" because of her long history with the Morning News and her efforts over the years with respect to the restaurant category and the company as a whole. Wayne also accused Gerardi of having a "Klan mentality" and said that his behavior was "reminiscent of precivil rights America."⁴ Wayne later complained to upper management regarding Gerardi's conduct at the meeting.

On April 28, 1997, Gerardi apologized to Wayne for his conduct at the April 18th meeting and explained that he did not mean to offend her. Wayne does not recall that Gerardi ever used abusive language toward her on any other occasion. Despite their earlier disagreement, Wayne prepared a written proposal for restaurant sales strategies in May 1997. Gerardi was pleased with the proposal and instructed Wayne to implement the ideas outlined in her proposal. Wayne refused to implement the proposal unless she was given a managerial position. After Gerardi informed Wayne that he did not intend to create a managerial position to implement her proposal, Wayne refused to carry out her ideas.

On June 12, 1997, Wayne was reassigned to sell advertising for Parade Magazine, an advertising supplement that is published on Sundays. The decision to reassign Wayne was based on her refusal to implement her strategic plan for the restaurant category. Wayne's new assignment caused no change in her salary, seniority, or fringe benefits. Although Wayne viewed the transfer to Parade Magazine as a demotion, Sergio Salinas, the Morning News' Vice President of Advertising, characterized it as a lateral move. In her assignment with Parade Magazine, Wayne is not restricted to selling advertising exclusively for Parade, and has sold advertisements for other sections of the Morning News. Wayne filed her fourth charge of discrimination on June 25, 1997, alleging that the Morning News declined to promote her, gave her a 2.7% salary increase, and reassigned her to Parade Magazine on account of her race. The June 1997 charge further alleges that these actions were taken by the Morning News in retaliation for one of her earlier EEOC charges.

Wayne received her right-to-sue letter on December 16, 1997, and filed this lawsuit, alleging race discrimination, retaliation, and conspiracy in violation of several federal statutes, and intentional infliction of emotional distress on March 16, 1998. Defendants now move for summary judgment on all of Wayne's claims.

II. Summary Judgment Standard

Summary judgment shall be rendered when the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c); Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323-25, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986); Ragas v. Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company, 136 F.3d 455, 458 (5th Cir.1998). A dispute regarding a material fact is "genuine" if the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict in favor of the nonmoving party. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). When ruling on a motion for summary judgment, the court is required to view all inferences drawn from the factual record in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio, 475 U.S. 574, 587, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986); Ragas, 136 F.3d at 458.

Once the moving party has made an initial showing that there is no evidence to support the nonmoving party's case, the party opposing the motion must come forward with competent summary judgment evidence of the existence of a genuine fact issue. Matsushita, 475 U.S. at 586, 106 S.Ct. 1348. Mere conclusory allegations are not competent summary judgment evidence, and thus are insufficient to defeat a motion for summary judgment. Eason v. Thaler, 73 F.3d 1322, 1325 (5th Cir.1996). Unsubstantiated assertions, improbable inferences, and unsupported speculation are not competent summary judgment evidence. See Forsyth v. Barr, 19 F.3d 1527, 1533 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 513 U.S. 871, ...