Insubordinate Employee Fails To Satisfy The "Meets Legitimate Job Expectations" Prong
EVERROAD v. SCOTT TRUCK SYSTEMS (May 10, 2010)
David Scott owned and operated Scott Truck Systems, a commercial trucking company. Sherry Hantzis, his wife, was its general manager. In 2004, on Hantzis’ recommendation, Scott hired 51-year-old Diana Everroad as a dispatcher. Things did not go very well -- her supervisor complained, two large customers complained, and she had several run-ins with her coworkers. On the other hand, she was the target of several gender-based derogatory comments from those coworkers, one of which came during a conversation she secretly recorded. Within months, Scott and Hantzis created a new job for Everroad as a "data administrator." The hours and the pay were identical to her dispatcher job, but she had to share an office. Her officemate had a habit of making lengthy personal phone calls. Everroad’s complaints resulted in a meeting with Scott, Hantzis, and the officemate in an attempt to resolve the conflict. The meeting lasted a long time and became very tense. Everroad again secretly recorded much of the meeting. There was shouting, crying, eye-rolling, and accusations -- but the meeting did end with some constructive proposals. Scott and Hantzis were upset with Everroad's conduct during the meeting and considered it insubordinate. They were still considering their options when, upon arrival at the office the next morning, Everroad ignored Hantzis' greeting and overreacted to Scott's greeting. Scott terminated her employment at the end of that workday. Everroad sued Scott Truck for gender discrimination and retaliation under Title VII and for age discrimination and retaliation under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA). The district court granted summary judgment to Scott Truck. Everroad appeals.
In their opinion, Chief Judge Easterbrook and Judges Bauer and Rovner affirmed. The Court first rejected Everroad's complaint that the district court erred in refusing to consider the transcripts of her secretly recorded conversations. First, Everroad never actually submitted the tapes themselves, only the transcripts. Second, the Court found the transcripts demonstrated that the conversations were, in large part, incomprehensible. Addressing the merits, the Court accepted as fact that Everroad could establish that she was a member of a protected class and that she suffered an adverse employment action for both the gender and age discrimination claims. The Court nonetheless rejected her discrimination claims: a) because of her insubordination, she was unable to meet the job performance prong of the test and she was unable to identify a similarly situated employee (i.e., another insubordinate employee), and b) she was unable to present evidence undermining the sincerity of Scott's nondiscriminatory reason for terminating her (her insubordination). The Court also rejected her retaliation claims: a) her claim that she was transferred because of her complaints about some derogatory comments fails because she never raised it in the district court, the transfer was not an adverse employment action, and there was no evidence that she complained to Scott or Hantzis, and b) her claim that she was terminated for complaining about a different derogatory remark fails because the remark was made a year prior to her termination and she presented no evidence establishing a causal connection between the two.
