Higgins v. Nw. Farm Credit Servs.

ALEXIA T. HIGGINS, Plaintiff, v. NORTHWEST FARM CREDIT SERVICES, ACA; NORTHWESTFARM CREDIT SERVICES, PCA; and NORTHWEST FARM CREDITSERVICES, FLCA, Defendants.

Case No. 4:16-cv-00400-DCN

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF IDAHO

May 1, 2018

MEMORANDUM DECISION AND ORDER

I. OVERVIEW

This employment discrimination case comes before the Court on Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment. Plaintiff Alexia Higgins alleges Defendants discriminated against her because she was female and pregnant. She also alleges Defendants failed to accommodate her in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act, failed to provide her benefits under the Family Medical Leave Act, and did not pay her the same amount as her male colleagues. The Court held oral argument on the Motion on April 4, 2018. After reviewing the briefs, record, and statements made at oral argument, the Court finds good cause to GRANT the Motion for Summary Judgment and DISMISS this case in its entirety.

II. BACKGROUND¹

Defendants Northwest Farm Credit Services, ACA, Northwest Farm Credit Services, PCA, and Northwest Farm Credit Services, FLCA operate as a single employer or joint employer and collectively do business as Northwest Farm Credit Services (collectively "Northwest FCS"). Northwest FCS is a financial cooperative that provides financing and related services to farmers, ranchers, agribusinesses, commercial fishermen, timber producers, rural homeowners, and crop insurance customers in Montana, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, and Alaska. Northwest FCS hired Higgins in 2011. Higgins began working in Northwest FCS's Blackfoot office in early December 2011 as a "Financial Specialist" ("FS"). As a FS at Northwest FCS, Higgins provided administrative support to Northwest FCS's "Relationship Managers" ("RM") by interfacing with clients and ensuring the appropriate loan documentation and paperwork was completed.

In the fall of 2012, Higgins discovered she was pregnant with twins. In January 2013, Higgins' doctor placed her on bedrest for the remainder of her pregnancy. At the time, Higgins immediate supervisor was Kara Welch, who was the Operations Manager for the eastern Idaho region. Welch remained Higgins' supervisor until mid-February 2015.² Welch helped Higgins complete the necessary medical leave paperwork and assisted Higgins in making modifications to her position requirements so she could continue working from the hospital.

In the fall of 2013, Northwest FCS transferred Higgins to the Idaho Falls office. There, she acted as support staff for Cody Hendrix and Steve Smith. Around this time, Higgins began performing duties that were outside of what was typically required for a FS. For example, she engaged in Country Home Loan sales training, completed the training necessary to become a Credit Officer ("CO"), managed projects, trained new staff, and performed a variety of other tasks necessary to assess, assemble, and close loan packages.

In May of 2014, Higgins applied for an open CO position. Lance Zollinger, the Senior Vice President of Lending for eastern Idaho, would supervise the position. During the first round of interviews, Higgins interviewed with Zollinger, Welch, Hendrix, and Smith. Zollinger recommended that Higgins and two male candidates advance to the second round of interviews. During the second round, Higgins interviewed with Idaho President Blair Wilson and Executive Vice President Fred DePell. Zollinger was also in the room during the interview. DePell made the final decision as to who would fill the position. Northwest FCS hired an outside candidate named Matt Macedeo for the CO position. Northwest FCS says it selected Macedo because he expressed a strong interest in moving into a RM position in the future and that was a quality it likes COs to possess. In contrast to Macedo, Northwest FCS states that Higgins clearly indicated in her interview that she did not have any interest in moving into a RM position.

Welch was very interested in seeing Higgins advance within Northwest FCS. Accordingly, after Northwest FCS did not hire Higgins for the CO position, Welch asked Higgins if she would be interested in a new position in which she would be responsible for marketing and producing Country Home Loans ("CHL").³ They had previously discussed that CHLs were a severely underutilized product at Northwest FCS. After Higgins and Welch conceptualized what would eventually become the CHL RM position, Welch approached Zollinger and proposed that Higgins transition into marketing and producing CHLs for eastern Idaho. Zollinger approved of the proposal. Wilson and DePell then also approved the proposal.

In late August 2014, Higgins moved into a FS II role as part of her transition into the CHL RM. Higgins received a mid-year 15% raise to $44,160. On March 1, 2015, Northwest FCS promoted Higgins into the CHL RM position (an RM I position) and gave her a raise to $50,000.

Higgins alleges Northwest FCS treated her differently than the other RMs in eastern Idaho. Higgins did not have any designated support staff on site in her new RM position. Rather, Northwest FCS assigned Jaime Oliver, a woman working at a different branch who was already supporting three other RMs, as support staff. All of the other RMs in eastern Idaho had designated support staff on site. Higgins was also required to travel much more, and cover a larger geographic region, than the other RMs in eastern Idaho to service loan inquires and customers. Northwest FCS initially assigned Cody Hendrix, an RM in the Idaho Falls office, to answer Higgins questions as she transitioned into the RM role. Hendrix was unable to answer Higgins' questions about CHLs, so Higgins requested an off-site mentor. Northwest FCS assigned Alison Jenkins, an RM based in Nampa, Idaho, to act as Higgins off-site mentor. However, Higgins' attempts to "reach out and get answers from Alison Jenkins were unfruitful." Dkt. 25-1, at 19. When Higgins complained to Zollinger about the relationship, Zollinger encouraged Higgins to continued reaching out to her.

In late summer 2015, Higgins learned that she was pregnant. At the time, Northwest FCS was in the process of adding a CHL RM position in northern Utah. Higgins was supposed to train the new CHL RM, Cody Montgomery, starting in the late fall/early winter of 2015. When Higgins told Zollinger she was pregnant, Zollinger told Higgins that the timing was "unfortunate" and "less than favorable conditions" because Higgins was supposed to provide support to the new Utah CHL RM soon. Dkt. 25-1, at 17. Zollinger also questioned whether it was in Higgins' family's best interest for her to return to work after having a third child. Id. at 22.

On September 8, 2015, Northwest FCS notified Higgins and 154⁴ other employees via email that they were required to complete and return a form authorizing Northwest FCS to obtain information about their criminal background, financial responsibility, character, and general fitness in order to comply with the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 ("Dodd-Frank Act"). Dkt. 23-3, at 33. Northwest provided these employees with the authorization form, a list of answers to frequently asked questions, and an FCRA Summary of Rights. Id. at 5. Previously, in January of 2014, Northwest FCS had required 208 employees to complete this form. All 208 employees had complied. Following a "comprehensive assessment of job duties," after Northwest FCS completed a structural "realignment" in late 2014, early 2015, it determined that the additional 155 employees also needed to complete the form. Northwest directed the 155 employees to complete and return the form by September 21, 2015. Dkt. 23-3, at 33.

Higgins was one of 28 employees that did not complete the form by the deadline. Id. at 5. On October 2, 2015, Jeff Brown, Northwest FCS's Assistant General Counsel, emailed these 28 employees a written reminder to complete the form at their "earliest convenience." Id. at 44.

Higgins responded to Brown's email that day. Id. at 47. She expressed her concern that there was no requirement for Northwest FCS "to provide prior notification or justification" for any future credit requests and did not provide an employee with an opportunity to object to future requests or revoke the credit authorization. Id. Higgins' email did not mention concerns she had over providing her social security number. Id. However, Higgins asserts generally that she had some trepidations about completing the form because she had previously had her identity stolen and she had concerns about whether Northwest FCS would adequately protect her personal information. Brown responded to Higgins' email shortly thereafter, indicating he could not change the form and directing Higgins to speak with Zollinger or Wanda Todd in Human Resources if she still had concerns. Id. at 46.

On October 20, 2015, Brown sent an email to the last seven employees who had not returned the form, including Higgins, instructing them to complete the form by October 21, 2015. Id. at 51. Brown warned that he would "elevate th[e] matter to higher authorities after that time" if any employee failed to meet this deadline. Id.

By November 9, 2015, three employees, including Higgins, had still failed to fill out the form. Id. at 53. Brown emailed these employees and their supervisors, instructing them to return the forms "immediately." Id. One of these employees had left Northwest FCS's employment and the second employee completed the form within minutes. Id. at 7. Thus, as of November 9, 2015, Higgins was the only employee who had not completed and returned the required form. On November 10, 2015, Zollinger emailed Higgins telling her to complete the authorization form and to copy him when she emailed it to Brown. Dkt. 23-6, at 50.

On November 17, 2018, Todd asked Zollinger if Higgins had completed the form. Zollinger followed up with Higgins regarding the form. Higgins told him she had not...