Elam v. Regions Financial Corp.

606 F.Supp.2d 999

Amy ELAM, Plaintiff, v. REGIONS FINANCIAL CORPORATION; Regions Financial (DE), Inc.; Roxanne Rutherford; and Carol Knopic, Defendants.

No. 4:07-cv-00167-JEG.

United States District Court, S.D. Iowa, Central Division.

March 25, 2009.

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Bruce H. Stoltze, Stoltze & Updegraff PC, Des Moines, IA, for Plaintiff.

Jaki K. Samuelson, Whitfield & Eddy PLC, Des Moines, IA, for Defendants.

ORDER

JAMES E. GRITZNER, District Judge.

This matter comes before the Court on Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment, which Plaintiff resists. The matter came on for hearing on November 12, 2008. Plaintiff was represented by Eric Updegraff. Defendants were represented by Jaki Samuelson. The matter is fully submitted and ready for disposition.

I. BACKGROUND

The following facts are either not in dispute or viewed in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party.

On July 16, 2005, Plaintiff Amy Elam (Elam) began working as a teller for Defendant Regions Financial Corporation (Regions) at its West Des Moines, Iowa, branch (WDM branch). The WDM branch created this teller position while Roxanne Rutherford (Rutherford), the WDM branch teller supervisor, was on temporary assignment converting Regions' data processing systems. While not available for all teller duties herself, Rutherford was a supervisor for Elam. Shortly after Elam began working at Regions, she started getting sick at work. Rutherford suggested that Elam visit a doctor. Elam visited her doctor on July 23, 2005, and was advised that she was pregnant. Elam presented Rutherford with a doctor's note indicating that she was pregnant, that she should be excused as necessary due to sickness, and that she should be allowed to have a beverage at her work station. Regions complied with all of the doctor's recommendations, allowing Elam to take time off as needed without pay if she became sick and permitting her to have a beverage at her work station.

On July 25, 2005, Elam was sent to Regions' Indianola, Iowa, branch for teller training. On July 26, 2005, Rutherford called Gloria Larkins (Larkins), a member of Regions' human resources department, and told Larkins that Elam had been sick for a couple days and that Elam revealed that she was pregnant. Rutherford was training another new associate together with Elam, which created a concern whether Rutherford would be able to simultaneously train both associates with the interruptions from Elam's illness. On July 27, 2005, Larkins called Rutherford and recommended that Elam needed to get a doctor's note detailing what arrangements could be made to accommodate Elam's morning sickness. Larkins also told Rutherford that Elam would remain eligible for full-time benefits provided that Elam worked thirty hours per week. Larkins suggested a possible accommodation that Elam could come in later in the day because of the morning sickness for at least a couple of weeks.

On August 15, 2005, Elam returned to the West Des Moines branch after she completed her teller training at the Indianola branch. Regions allowed Elam to have a beverage available at her work station at both the West Des Moines and Indianola branches. Despite these accommodations, Elam's morning sickness continued, and she estimated that she left her work station an average of four to five times per morning. On one occasion Elam left her work station during a transaction with a customer with a bout of her morning sickness. When Elam would become ill, there was always at least one teller available to help customers. Elam only stayed away from work when she was so ill that Rutherford or Carol Knopic (Knopic), the West Des Moines branch manager and Elam's supervisor along with Rutherford, required her to leave work. On August 23, 2005, Elam became extremely nauseated due to dehydration, and Knopic sent Elam home with Elam returning to work on August 26, 2005. Rutherford requested that Elam visit a medical doctor to determine what additional accommodations Regions could make to allow Elam to perform her teller responsibilities. Elam never provided any more information from her doctor.

On September 15, 2005, Knopic wrote an e-mail to Richard Tyler (Tyler), Regions' human resources representative, discussing the "19 year old (pregnant girl) teller that I am having problems with...." Pl. SUF ¶ 81, Pl. App. 11 (boldface in original). Knopic also indicated that she wanted to know if there was a way the WDM branch could discharge Elam based on Knopic's perception of Elam's poor job performance at Regions. Tyler replied that Knopic should prepare a termination letter citing specific instances of Elam's substandard performance that did not meet with the supervisors' expectations for the teller position. Tyler informed Knopic, however, that he would not approve Elam's termination until he made an evaluation of Knopic's specific reasons supporting Elam's discharge because he had "to be sure that our justification will holdup due to the fact that she is pregnant." Pl. SUF ¶ 93, Pl. App. 12. After reviewing the details concerning Elam's poor performance, the Regions' human resources department approved the discharge, and Regions terminated Elam's employment.

Knopic and Rutherford listed several problems with Elam's work. Elam admits that on at least one occasion she left the cash drawer unlocked and on the counter and sometimes sat at her teller station with her head down on the counter. On August 18, 2005, Knopic counseled Elam and gave her a "memorandum of understanding" addressing several items of inadequate performance, including using her cell phone while on duty, failing to secure her cash drawers when she left her station, and leaving cash unattended on the counter. On August 23, 2005, Regions issued Elam a written warning for frequent absences from her teller station and leaving abruptly while waiting on customers, evidencing a "[l]ack of being able to perform duties required to fulfill job requirements due to having to go to the bathroom several times a day getting sick." Def. SUF ¶ 46, Def. App. 74-76. That same day, Knopic reiterated that Elam had the option of starting work later in the day after her nausea subsided, without pay for time missed. Elam declined this option and continued to report to work and continued to have episodes of nausea. If Elam elected to come in later in the morning to manage her morning sickness, then Elam would not be able to work forty hours per week. However, to qualify for full-time benefits, Elam only needed to work thirty hours per week, which would have allowed her to report to work at 10:00 a.m. after her morning sickness subsided. Knopic was concerned about losing other employees, including tellers Matthew Bean (Bean) and Amber Showers (Showers), who had expressed their frustration with Elam's inability to perform her job responsibilities.¹ On September 14, 2005, Elam was late for a mandatory meeting and did not actively participate in the meeting once she arrived, answering only one of fifty questions relating to a new data system. On September 16, 2005, Rutherford served Elam a termination notice, while summarizing the previous warning letters and indicating a number of additional infractions that Rutherford believed warranted Elam's termination.

Regions' discrimination and harassment policies did not specifically discuss pregnancy discrimination. Elam was aware of Regions' policies and had access to them online. Regions' policies set forth the procedures for filing harassment complaints, which Elam did not pursue.

Regions also had a progressive discipline policy that stated, "Regions wants to give you notice and an opportunity to correct improper conduct or substandard performance when it is appropriate to do so." Pl. SUF ¶ 100, Pl. App. 22. The three steps in the progressive discipline policy were (1) giving the employee a "memorandum of understanding," (2) giving the employee a written warning, and (3) finally terminating the employee. The policy states that "Regions reserves the right to skip any of these steps should Regions decide the conduct or performance warrant it." Pl. SUF ¶ 100, Pl. App. 22. Knopic used the progressive discipline policy when she disciplined Elam. Regions did not, however, give Elam the opportunity to correct the infraction of being late for the mandatory conversion meeting held on September 14, 2005. On September 16, 2005, Regions terminated Elam's employment.

Elam filed a complaint with the Iowa Civil Rights Commission (ICRC) and obtained a right to sue letter from the ICRC on January 25, 2007. Elam subsequently filed this action, alleging pregnancy discrimination under the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA), see 42 U.S.C. § 2000e(k) (Count I); Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII), see 42 U.S.C. § 2000e (Count II); and the Iowa Civil Rights Act (ICRA), see Iowa Code § 216.6 (Count III). Defendants filed this Motion for Summary Judgment on all counts of Elam's complaint, arguing no genuine issues of material fact remain for trial. Elam resists.²

II. DISCUSSION

A. Standard for Summary Judgment

Summary judgment must be granted if the record shows "that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). "In considering a motion for summary judgment the court does not weigh the evidence, make credibility determinations, or attempt to discern the truth of any factual issue." Thomas v. Corwin, 483 F.3d 516, 526-27 (8th Cir.2007). Rather, the Court focuses "on whether a genuine issue of material fact exists for trial—an issue of material fact is genuine if the evidence is sufficient to allow a reasonable jury verdict for the nonmoving party." Morris v. City of Chillicothe, 512 F.3d 1013, 1018 (8th Cir.2008) (citing Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, ...