Winspear v. Community Development, Inc.

• Decision Date: 29 July 2009
• Docket Number: No. 08-2041.,08-2041.
• Citation: 574 F.3d 604
• Parties: Zachary WINSPEAR, Appellant, v. COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT, INC., Charles Schneider, and Lana Sierra, Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

574 F.3d 604

Zachary WINSPEAR, Appellant, v. COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT, INC., Charles Schneider, and Lana Sierra, Appellees.

No. 08-2041.

United States Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit.

Submitted: November 14, 2008.

Filed: July 29, 2009.

Mark Alan Greenman, argued, Minneapolis, MN, for appellant.

Jon J. Jensen, argued, Douglas A. Christensen, Grand Forks, ND, on the brief, for appellee.

Before MELLOY, BOWMAN, and SMITH, Circuit Judges.

MELLOY, Circuit Judge.

Zachary Winspear appeals a district court's adverse grant of summary judgment dismissing his employment discrimination claim against Community Development, Inc. ("CDI"). We reverse and remand for further proceedings.

I.

"We review a district court's grant of summary judgment de novo .... viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party and giving that party the benefit of all inferences that may reasonably be drawn." Jackson v. United Parcel Serv., Inc., 548 F.3d 1137, 1140 (8th Cir.2008) (internal citation and quotations omitted).

Winspear began working at CDI in March 2003. Approximately four years prior to Winspear's employment at CDI, Winspear's brother, Logan, had committed suicide. Winspear had been close to Logan. He refers to Logan as his best friend and only "real" family member. His close relationship with Logan was due in part to the brothers' difficulties with their strict religious upbringing and their respective rejections of organized religion. Winspear spent years grieving for his brother and was nearly incapacitated by his brother's suicide. Winspear became so distraught that he contemplated suicide himself.

When Winspear started with CDI in 2003, he was a personal assistant to Charles Schneider, a co-owner of CDI. Winspear had a close working relationship with Schneider, they spent significant time working together, and they often discussed their personal lives. Winspear even confided in Schneider about Logan's suicide and the devastating emotional impact it had on him. While Winspear was at CDI, he received multiple promotions and ultimately served as CDI's community manager.

In January 2005, CDI hired Schneider's wife, Lana Sierra, as a receptionist. Winspear and Sierra had known each other through Schneider, and Sierra was aware of Winspear's background, his troubled history with religion, and his brother's suicide. One morning in late-January 2005, Sierra approached Winspear at work and asked to speak with him privately. Winspear and Sierra stepped into an empty office where Sierra hugged Winspear and proceeded to cry. Sierra told Winspear that she had the ability to speak with the dead and that she had been communicating with Logan. She told Winspear that Logan wanted her to pass messages to him because Logan had been trying to contact Winspear, but Winspear had not been listening. She told Winspear that Logan had said that he was suffering in hell and that Winspear would also go to hell if he did not "find God." Winspear became very upset and asked Sierra not to speak about his brother. He then returned to his office where he sat and cried for an extended period of time. Throughout the rest of that day, Sierra repeatedly spoke to Winspear about her "gift" of speaking to the dead, hugged Winspear, and told Winspear that she wanted to help him. Winspear told Sierra that she was crazy, he did not believe her, and she needed to stop. Nevertheless, Sierra continued to tell Winspear that he needed to "find God" so that he would not go to hell like Logan.

Over the next three-and-a-half weeks, Sierra, on a daily basis, repeatedly hugged Winspear, talked to him about Logan, and asked him if he had looked into communicating with the supernatural or finding God. Winspear frequently asked Sierra to stop, but Sierra continued to speak to Winspear about Logan, encourage Winspear to research the supernatural, and invite him to church. When Winspear failed to demonstrate sufficient interest, Sierra's demeanor grew more demanding, causing Winspear to become increasingly uncomfortable at work. Winspear began staying in his office during working hours just to avoid Sierra. After work, he would go home, contemplate suicide, and cry himself to sleep because Sierra's behavior caused him to relive the traumatic experience of his brother's suicide.¹

After approximately three weeks of Sierra's behavior, Winspear spoke with Schneider about Sierra, even though Winspear feared repercussions at work for complaining about Schneider's wife. Schneider, however, merely confirmed to Winspear that Sierra could communicate with the dead, advised Winspear to heed Sierra's advice, and told Winspear to keep Sierra's gift secret.

Within a few days of Winspear speaking with Schneider, Winspear admits that Sierra's direct daily harassment subsided such that she stopped speaking to him about his brother specifically. Nonetheless, Sierra continued to ask Winspear if he had given any more thought to what they had talked about. Winspear spoke with Schneider about Sierra again, but Schneider reiterated that Winspear should listen to Sierra because she had "a gift." Schneider's refusal to remedy the situation left Winspear crushed.

By March 2005, Winspear admits that Sierra almost completely stopped her behavior, but she still continued to ask Winspear about finding religion every one to two weeks over the next five months. During that time frame, Sierra once told Winspear that she was frustrated with him because Logan was still trying to contact him. She also told Winspear that he needed to find God so that Logan would stop bothering her. These comments humiliated Winspear and caused him to lose any remaining enjoyment in his job. He became so preoccupied with avoiding Sierra at work that he came to and left work at odd hours, sought opportunities to leave the building during working hours, and, while at work, avoided leaving his office to interact with others or even to use the bathroom. He became temperamental, distant from other co-workers, and unable to concentrate on his work.

In August 2005, Sierra and Winspear had a heated confrontation at work over a comment Winspear made about Sierra's former boss, a chiropractor with whom Winspear was having a billing dispute. Winspear left work after the confrontation. CDI notified Winspear that he needed to return to work because he did not have permission for time off. Rather than return, Winspear quit his job.

After exhausting his administrative remedies, Winspear subsequently sued CDI, Schneider, and Sierra in federal district court. Among other claims, Winspear alleged that he was subject to religious-based hostile work environment discrimination, in violation of federal law. CDI, Schneider, and Sierra moved for summary judgment, which the district court granted for each of Winspear's claims. Winspear appeals the district court's summary judgment decision dismissing his federal hostile work environment claim against CDI.

II.

On appeal, Winspear argues that the district court applied an incorrect standard when evaluating his federal hostile work environment claim. He contends that the district court treated his claim as one for constructive discharge and required him to show elements not essential to establishing that he suffered hostile work environment discrimination. Applying an appropriate analysis, Winspear claims that there are genuine issues of material fact as to whether he was subject to hostile work environment discrimination. CDI argues that Winspear's claim was for constructive discharge and that, regardless, summary judgment was appropriate.

Hostile work environment and constructive discharge claims may be wholly distinct causes of action under Title VII. See O'Brien, 532 F.3d at 809-11 (analyzing hostile work environment and constructive discharge claims separately, even where the claims were based on the same alleged conduct). The claims have different elements, see Anda v. Wickes Furniture Co., 517 F.3d 526, 531-32, 534 (8th Cir.2008), and, while a hostile work environment can form the basis for a constructive discharge allegation, hostile work environment discrimination can exist absent a "tangible employment action," see Pa. State Police v. Suders, 542 U.S. 129, 143, 124 S.Ct. 2342, 159 L.Ed.2d 204 (2004).

Count One of Winspear's Complaint against CDI alleges that "Defendant CDI violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1991 by creating a hostile work environment for [Winspear] on the basis of religion and by failing to take prompt remedial action to correct the hostile work environment." As a factual basis for this charge, it incorporates the Complaint's factual allegations, which relate almost exclusively to Sierra's conduct between January and August 2005. The Complaint itself does not allege constructive discharge— much less contain the words "constructive discharge"—and the only factual allegation in the Complaint related to Winspear's resignation states, "In August 2004[sic] plaintiff resigned his employment with CDI."

CDI argues, however, that Winspear made a subsequent sworn declaration that changed his pleadings such that his hostile work environment claim became a claim for constructive discharge. Specifically, CDI claims that in Winspear's response to CDI's motion for summary judgment, Winspear filed a statement in which he said that he quit his job "to escape the religious and other harassment by Sierra." CDI argues that this statement demonstrates that Winspear truly alleges constructive discharge based on a hostile work environment. We disagree with CDI's contention.

The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure contain specific rules that plaintiffs must follow to amend their pleadings. See Fed. R.Civ.P. 15. Under these Rules, plaintiffs have one opportunity before trial to amend their complaints freely within a limited time period. Id. at 15(a). Thereafter, they must obtain the opposing party's or the court's permission before amending their complaints. I...