Weber v. Community Teamwork, Inc.

752 N.E.2d 700 (Mass. 2001)

PATRICIA A. WEBER vs. COMMUNITY TEAMWORK, INC., & others.¹

SJC-08459

April 5, 2001

August 13, 2001

County: Middlesex.

Present: Marshall, C.J., Greaney, Spina, Sosman, & Cordy, JJ.

Summary: Anti-Discrimination Law, Termination of employment, Prima facie case, Burden of proof. Employment, Discrimination, Termination, Retaliation. Contract, Employment. Unlawful Interference. Malice.

Civil action commenced in the Superior Court Department on December 10, 1993.

The case was heard by Sandra L. Hamlin, J.

The Supreme Judicial Court on its own initiative transferred the case from the Appeals Court.

Cheryl M. Cronin (Douglas Phillips with her) for the defendants.

Frederick T. Golder (Elisabeth M. LeBrun & Jeffrey R. Mazer with him) for the plaintiff.

The following submitted briefs for amici curiae:

Sally L. Adams, Daryl J. Lapp, & Steven L. Schreckinger for Association of Independent Colleges and Universities in Massachusetts.

Robert S. Mantell, Jonathan J. Margolis, & James E. Fitzgerald for Massachusetts Employment Lawyers Association.

MARSHALL, C.J.

In early 1992, Patricia Weber, a longtime employee of Community Teamwork, Inc. (CTI),² applied for, but was not promoted to, the position of CTI's executive director. Some months later she was terminated by CTI's new executive director, James L. Canavan, Jr. She brought suit against CTI, Canavan, and Thomas H. Conway, Jr., a member of CTI's board of directors, alleging discrimination on the basis of sex and sexual orientation, breach of contract, unlawful interference with contractual relations, retaliatory discrimination, wrongful termination in violation of public policy and a violation of the Massachusetts equal rights statute, G. L. c. 93, § 102.

After a jury-waived trial, a judge in the Superior Court rejected Weber's claims that CTI's failure to promote her was discriminatory or that her termination from CTI was a violation of any public policy. The judge ruled, however, that Weber's termination constituted discrimination,³ breach of contract, unlawful interference with contractual relations,⁴ and retaliatory discrimination. She awarded Weber back pay damages and benefits in the amount of $133,704, fifteen years of front pay damages in the amount of $546,480, and emotional distress damages of $100,000. The judge also awarded Weber her attorney's fees in an unspecified amount. The parties filed cross appeals, and we transferred the case to this court on our own motion. We affirm the judge's rulings that CTI's failure to promote Weber was lawful. We vacate the remaining aspects of the judgment challenged by the defendants,⁵ and remand the case to the Superior Court for additional findings and conclusions by the judge on Weber's claims of discrimination and unlawful interference with contractual relations.

I

We summarize the procedural history because it is relevant to some of the issues on appeal. Weber first filed her charges with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (MCAD), alleging that all three defendants had discriminated against her on the basis of her sex by failing to promote her to the position of executive director of CTI in October, 1992, and by terminating her without warning in March, 1993. See G. L. c. 151B, § 5.⁶ Weber, who is a lesbian, subsequently amended her charges to include claims of discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. Before the MCAD acted on her charges, she brought suit in Superior Court pursuant to G. L. c. 151B, §§ 4, 9,⁷ adding claims for breach of contract, intentional interference with contractual relations, and a violation of the Massachusetts equal rights statute, G. L. c. 93, § 102.⁸

The trial commenced in February, 1997. At the close of Weber's evidence the judge allowed the defendants' motion to dismiss Weber's equal rights claim, G. L. c. 93, § 102, but denied their motion in all other respects. She later denied their motion for a directed verdict. On the final day of trial, and immediately prior to closing arguments, Weber moved to amend her complaint to add claims that her termination violated public policy⁹ and constituted retaliatory discrimination in violation of G. L. c. 151B, § 4 (4). Over the defendants' objection, the judge allowed her motion. The judge subsequently entered findings of fact and conclusions of law, which we shall summarize in greater detail below.

On appeal Weber claims that it was error for the judge to conclude that CTI's failure to promote her to the position of CTI's executive director did not constitute unlawful discrimination in violation of G. L. c. 151B, and to deny her punitive damages on her retaliation claim. The defendants challenge the judge's rulings that (1) Weber's termination from CTI constituted unlawful employment discrimination; (2) they breached Weber's employment contract with CTI; and (3) Canavan had unlawfully interfered with Weber's advantageous relationship with CTI. See note 4, supra. They also challenge the judge's ruling permitting Weber to amend her complaint to add a claim for retaliatory discrimination, and her subsequent ruling that the defendants had in fact engaged in retaliatory discrimination. As to damages, the defendants challenge the award to Weber of fifteen years of front pay under G. L. c. 151B, and argue that any damages awarded for violations of that statute by the defendants should, in any event, be capped at $20,000 pursuant to G. L. c. 231, § 85K. Finally, they challenge the award to Weber of attorney's fees for so much of her G. L. c. 151B claim on which she did not prevail.¹⁰

II

Before turning to consider the respective arguments, we summarize the chronology of Weber's career at CTI because it provides helpful context to her claims. Weber was hired by CTI in 1975 as an assistant director of family day care. In the succeeding twelve years, Weber assumed steadily increasing program development and supervisory responsibilities, serving from 1976 to 1978 as an assistant director of the family life services department, and from 1978 to 1987 as that department's director.¹¹ In 1987, she was named associate director of programs, in which capacity she reported directly to CTI's longtime executive director, Leo Desjarlais, and became the direct supervisor of CTI's eight department directors, including the director of its housing and community development department. Sometime thereafter, Weber discovered that Desjarlais was mishandling CTI's funds. She triggered an investigation by the office of the Auditor of the Commonwealth, which ultimately led to Desjarlais's discharge from CTI in 1991.¹² In late 1991, following Desjarlais's discharge, the board appointed the defendant Conway, then the president of CTI's board of directors, as CTI's acting executive director. Fearing that her position as associate director of programs was in jeopardy with the impending appointment of a new executive director,¹³ and although she herself became a candidate for that position, Weber asked Conway to appoint her as the director of CTI's housing and community development department. Weber had not previously worked in the housing department, but Conway agreed, and in February, 1992, Weber assumed that position. Shortly thereafter, she applied for the position of executive director, but an outside candidate, Canavan, was the successful applicant.

III

We first address Weber's argument that the judge erred by ruling that CTI's failure to promote her to the position of executive director did not constitute unlawful discrimination. We recount the judge's findings relevant to this claim.

From 1987 to 1992, in her tenure as associate director of CTI, Weber served "in all but title" as CTI's executive director.¹⁴ The judge found that Weber was a "hardworking, responsible, talented, caring and dedicated employee with excellent administrative ability," who consistently received "excellent" performance reviews.

When it became necessary to replace Desjarlais, the board advertised the position and ultimately hired Canavan, who served at the time as the director of development and planning at an agency similar to CTI. Canavan previously had worked from 1987 to 1990 as an assistant energy planner, an assistant director of the housing services program, and finally as the acting director of the office of community and economic development within the Executive Office of Communities and Development (EOCD). EOCD provides housing subsidies to low-income persons and ensures that subsidized housing units comply with Federal and State regulations. It had contracted with CTI's department of housing and community development to run various low-income housing programs. EOCD was in fact one of CTI's primary sources of funding.

There was extensive testimony that, in the wake of Desjarlais's mismanagement, CTI was in a financial crisis, its staff lacked morale and strong leadership, and it had lost credibility with EOCD.¹⁵ There was unrebutted testimony that CTI's board believed that new leadership by an outsider, but one who "had the experience and the knowledge of . . . what [CTI's] kind of agency was about," was essential to meeting CTI's goals of improving its fractured relationship with EOCD and remedying its fiscal crisis.¹⁶ CTI explained at trial that these were the reasons it appointed Canavan as CTI's new executive director.

The judge found that, based on her resume, background, and work experience, Weber was "eminently more qualified" than Canavan to assume the position of CTI's executive director. She also found that, before Canavan was hired, a "sexist attitude prevailed at CTI"¹⁷ and that it was "common knowledge" throughout the organization that Weber is a lesbian.

The judge then applied the analytical framework of Blare v. Husky Injection Molding Sys. Boston, Inc., 419 Mass. 437, 440-446 (1995). She concluded that Weber had established a prima facie case of discrimination, but had not met her burden of proving...