Monique Miller v. Lectra USA, Inc.

[DO NOT PUBLISH]
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT FILED
________________________ U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
AUGUST 10, 2005
No. 05-10798
THOMAS K. KAHN
Non-Argument Calendar
CLERK
________________________
D.C. Docket No. 03-00295-CV-ORL-22KRS
MONIQUE MILLER,
Plaintiff-Appellant,
versus
LECTRA USA, INC.
Defendant-Appellee.
__________________________
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Middle District of Florida
_________________________
(August 10, 2005)
Before BIRCH, BARKETT and WILSON, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:
Monique Miller appeals the district court’s grant of summary judgment in
favor of her former employer, Lectra USA, Inc. (“Lectra”). Miller alleged “hostile
work environment” sexual harassment and retaliation, pursuant to the Florida Civil
Rights Act of 1992 (“FCRA”) and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title
VII”), 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000e, et seq. On appeal, Miller argues that the district court
erred in finding that she did not establish a prima facie case of sexual harassment
or retaliation.
A. “Hostile Work Environment” Sexual Harassment Claim
Miller first argues that the district court erred in finding that she did not
establish a prima facie case of sexual harassment because she failed to show that
the complained-of conduct was sufficiently severe or pervasive. Miller contends
that she established the pervasive nature of the harassment by presenting evidence
of three examples of misconduct on the part of her former supervisor, Jill
Simmons, and three examples of misconduct on the part of another Lectra
employee, Greg Sumners, each of which occurred during a relatively short period
of time. Miller contends that the unwelcome and offensive nature of the acts,
combined with her testimony that she suffered psychological effects therefrom,
sufficiently established a hostile work environment. Miller also argues that the
court erred in finding that (1) Miller was not subject to unwelcome sexual
harassment and (2) Simmons’ conduct was not based on Miller’s gender.
2
We review a district court’s grant of summary judgment de novo, viewing
the evidence in the light most favorable to the non-moving party. Perrino v.
Southern Bell Tel. & Tel. Co., 209 F.3d 1309, 1314-15 (11th Cir. 2000). Summary
judgment must be granted “if 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 . . . the moving party is
entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c).
“Florida’s Civil Rights Act is patterned after Title VII, and thus federal case
law dealing with Title VII is applicable to employment discrimination claims
brought under Florida law.” Maniccia v. Brown, 171 F.3d 1364, 1368 n.2 (11th
Cir. 1999). We analyze Miller’s discrimination claims, which are based on both
Florida and federal law, solely by reference to cases interpreting Title VII. Id.
Title VII prohibits “hostile work environment” sexual harassment. See
Walton v. Johnson & Johnson Servs., Inc., 347 F.3d 1272, 1279 (11th Cir. 2003).
To establish a prima facie case of “hostile work environment” sexual harassment,
a plaintiff must show the following: (1) she belongs to a protected group; (2) she
was subjected to unwelcome sexual harassment; (3) the harassment complained of
was based upon her sex; (4) the harassment complained of was sufficiently severe
or pervasive to alter the terms or conditions of employment and to create a
3
discriminatorily abusive working environment; and (5) the defendant is
responsible for such environment under either a theory of vicarious or direct
liability. See id. at 1279-80.
Here, Miller did not present evidence that the conduct of Simmons and
Sumners was sufficiently severe or persuasive to alter the terms or conditions of
her employment and to create a discriminatorily abusive working environment.
Miller alleges that Simmons: (1) at a hotel bar and in front of Miller and other
co-workers, loosened the tie of a married, male co-worker and rubbed her hands
all over his chest and head, (2) took Miller with her to purchase condoms and told
Miller that the condoms were for her “love-fest weekend with [her] new
boyfriend,” and (3) talked about her sex life with male and female co-workers.
Miller further alleges that Sumners: (1) made comments to her about her being a
good-looking female and her marriage not being that serious as she had been only
recently married, (2) told her that she looked good in short skirts, and (3) asked
her out for drinks and dinner on a number of occasions. This conduct is not
sufficiently severe or persuasive to alter the terms or conditions of Miller’s
employment, when compared with the conduct complained of in Mendoza v.
Borden, Inc., 195 F.3d 1238, 1247-48 (11th Cir. 1999) (en banc). (Holding that a
supervisor’s acts of rubbing his hip against plaintiff’s hip while touching her
4
shoulder and smiling, looking at plaintiff’s groin area while making a sniffing
sound, and “constantly” staring and following plaintiff were insufficient as a
matter of law to sustain a “hostile work environment” sexual harassment claim).
We are bound by our precedent in Mendoza. Id. at 1247-48. Because
Miller did not present evidence that the complained-of conduct was sufficiently
severe or persuasive to alter the terms or conditions of her employment, Miller
failed to show a prima facie case of hostile work environment sexual harassment.
See Walton, 347 F.3d at 1279. Thus we need not address Miller’s arguments that
the district court erred in finding that Miller was not subject to unwelcome sexual
harassment and that Simmons’ conduct was not based on Miller’s gender.
B. Retaliation Claim
Miller next argues that the district court erred in finding that she failed to
show a prima facie case of retaliation because Miller failed to show a causal
connection between her complaints of harassment and her termination. Miller
concedes that she filed her initial complaint regarding harassment in February
2001 and was terminated in September 2001. However, Miller contends that she
showed the requisite temporal proximity between the events, in that Simmons was
not aware that Miller had filed the complaint against her until August 2001, one
month prior to Miller’s termination. Miller also argues that she showed that she
5
had a reasonable good faith belief that discrimination existed and that Lectra’s
articulated reason for terminating her employment was pretextual.
Again, we review a district court’s grant of summary judgment de novo,
viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the non-moving party.
Perrino, 209 F.3d at 1314-15. We analyze Miller’s discrimination claims solely
by reference to cases interpreting Title VII. Maniccia, 171 F.3d at 1368 n.2.
Title VII prohibits an employer from discriminating against an employee in
retaliation for exercising a right guaranteed thereunder. See 42 U.S.C. §
2000e-3(a). “A prima facie case of retaliation contains three elements: first, the
plaintiff engaged in statutorily protected conduct; second, the plaintiff suffered an
adverse employment action; and finally, the adverse action was causally related to
the protected expression.” Williams v. Motorola, Inc., 303 F.3d 1284, 1291 (11th
Cir. 2002) (internal quotations omitted). “The cases that accept mere temporal
proximity between an employer’s knowledge of protected activity and an adverse
employment action as sufficient evidence of causality to establish a prima facie
case uniformly hold that the temporal proximity must be very close.” Clark
County Sch. Dist. v. Breeden, 532 U.S. 268, 273, 121 S. Ct. 1508, 1511 (2001)
(internal quotations omitted).
6
Here, Miller has not shown sufficient temporal proximity between her
complaints to her employer and her termination as to establish causation. See id.
The evidence shows that Miller filed a written complaint of harassment with
Lectra in February 2001 and was terminated in September 2001. This
seven-month period between the two events is not “very close” as to establish the
necessary temporal proximity. See Clark County, 532 U.S. at 273, 121 S. Ct. at
1511 (relying on cases that held a three-month period and a four-month period
insufficient in holding a 20-month period insufficient to suggest causality). The
seven-month period between Miller’s complaint of harassment and her termination
falls outside the parameters for establishing causation.1 Miller, however, argues
that the relevant period of time is not the seven-month period between her
complaint to Lectra and her termination, but the one-month period between when
Simmons (a decision-maker in her termination) learned of Miller’s complaint, and
Miller’s subsequent termination.
Even assuming that Miller can establish a prima facie case based on the
approximately one-month period between when Simmons became aware of the
1
We do not suggest that a seven-month period between an employer’s knowledge of a
protected activity and an adverse employment action is always insufficient evidence of causality.
However, given the facts of this case, the temporal proximity of seven months is not enough to
establish causation. See Clark County, 532 U.S. at 273, 121 S. Ct. at 1511.
7
complaint and when Miller was terminated, she has failed to provide evidence that
Lectra’s stated legitimate reason for the termination – poor sales performance –
was pretextual. In support of her pretext argument, Miller alleges that Lectra’s
record of employee performance, the “GAP report,” shows that male employees
with similar sales records were not terminated, and that Simmons falsified Miller’s
sales forecast.
Having examined the record, we find that the GAP report in actuality
demonstrates that Miller’s sales performance lagged substantially behind that of
her colleagues of similar employment history who were not terminated. Further,
Miller has provided no evidence that Simmons “falsified” Miller’s sales forecast.
Although evidence indicates that Simmons adjusted the raw sales forecast figures
submitted by Miller, the record also establishes that those adjustments were a
proper exercise of Simmons’ managerial duty to ensure that the sales forecast
reflected realistic sales prospects. Miller provides no evidence that Simmons’
adjustments were improper. Because Miller has failed to create a genuine issue of
fact regarding whether Lectra’s stated legitimate reasons for dismissing her were
pretextual, the district court’s grant of summary judgment was appropriate. See
Pennington v. City of Huntsville, 261 F.3d 1262, 1267 (11th Cir. 2001).
8
Upon review of the record and upon consideration of the parties’ briefs, we
discern no reversible error. Accordingly, we affirm the district court’s grant of
summary judgment.
AFFIRMED.
9