Andreoli v. Gates

482 F.3d 641
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Third Circuit
DecidedApril 6, 2007
Docket05-5417
StatusPublished
Cited by299 cases

This text of 482 F.3d 641 (Andreoli v. Gates) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Andreoli v. Gates, 482 F.3d 641 (3d Cir. 2007).

Opinion

482 F.3d 641

Janice ANDREOLI, Appellant
v.
*Robert M. GATES, Secretary of Defense; Keith Lippert, Vice Admiral, SC, USN, Director of the Defense Logistics Agency Office of the Director DLA-D Headquarters, Defense Logistics Agency
*(Amended pursuant to F.R.A.P. 43(c)).

No. 05-5417.

United States Court of Appeals, Third Circuit.

Argued January 8, 2007.

Filed April 6, 2007.

Mary Ann Hagan, [Argued], Philadelphia, PA, Counsel for Appellant.

Kathleen Meriwether, [Argued], Office of U.S. Attorney, Philadelphia, PA, Counsel for Appellees.

Before SLOVITER and RENDELL, Circuit Judges, and IRENAS**, District Judge.

RENDELL, Circuit Judge.

Janice Andreoli appeals the order of the District Court granting summary judgment in favor of her employer on her Title VII claims for hostile work environment and retaliation, and on her Rehabilitation Act claim for failure to provide reasonable accommodation. Andreoli proffered evidence of sexually harassing behavior toward her by her coworker, Larry DeLutiis, while she was employed by the Department of Defense at the Defense Supply Center in Philadelphia ("DSCP"). The District Court held that, even if she proved the other elements necessary for a hostile work environment claim, her employer could not be held liable because management took prompt and adequate remedial action upon learning of DeLutiis' conduct, thus availing itself of the defense approved by the Supreme Court in Burlington Industries, Inc. v. Ellerth, 524 U.S. 742, 765, 118 S.Ct. 2257, 141 L.Ed.2d 633 (1998). We conclude that in doing so, the District Court resolved issues of disputed fact that should have been submitted to a jury.

Andreoli also contended that her employer retaliated against her after she engaged in employment activities protected by Title VII, including speaking with the Equal Employment Opportunity ("EEO") office at the DSCP. Andreoli further asserted that the continuing abuse she endured at her workplace rendered her disabled and that the DSCP failed to provide her with a reasonable accommodation. We conclude that the District Court properly granted summary judgment in favor of her employer on both of these claims because Andreoli did not proffer sufficient evidence to support a finding that her employer's alleged adverse actions were causally connected to her protected employment activity under Title VII, or that she is disabled within the meaning of the Rehabilitation Act. We will therefore affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand for further proceedings on Andreoli's hostile work environment claim.

I.

The District Court granted summary judgment in favor of defendants1 on Andreoli's hostile work environment claim based on the conclusion that, under the applicable law, Andreoli's employer could not be held liable for DeLutiis' conduct. Although this ruling was essentially fact-based, we think it helpful to discuss the elements of a hostile work environment claim before delving into the lengthy factual underpinnings of this case.

In order to state a claim under Title VII for discrimination resulting from a hostile work environment, an employee must show that "(1) the employee suffered intentional discrimination because of [her] sex, (2) the discrimination was pervasive and regular, (3) the discrimination detrimentally affected the [employee], (4) the discrimination would detrimentally affect a reasonable person of the same sex in that position, and (5) the existence of respondeat superior liability." Weston v. Pennsylvania, 251 F.3d 420, 426 (3d Cir.2001). Here the District Court focused on the last factor, and only that factor, and we will do so as well.

An employer will be liable for the harassing conduct of the alleged victim's coworker if the employer was "negligent or reckless in failing to train, discipline, fire or take remedial action upon notice of harassment." Bonenberger v. Plymouth Twp., 132 F.3d 20, 26 (3d Cir.1997) (citing Bouton v. BMW of N. Am., Inc., 29 F.3d 103, 106 (3d Cir.1994)). An employer is negligent if it "knew or should have known about the harassment, but failed to take prompt and adequate remedial action." Jensen v. Potter, 435 F.3d 444, 453 (3d Cir.2006) (internal quotations omitted). Even if the remedial action does not stop the alleged harassment,2 it is "adequate" if it is "reasonably calculated" to end the harassment. Id. (quoting Knabe v. Boury Corp., 114 F.3d 407, 412-13 (3d Cir.1997)).

In most cases, the focus will be on the timing and nature of the employer's response. We have found an employer's actions to be adequate, as a matter of law, where management undertook an investigation of the employee's complaint within a day after being notified of the harassment, spoke to the alleged harasser about the allegations and the company's sexual harassment policy, and warned the harasser that the company does not tolerate any sexual comments or actions. See Knabe v. Boury Corp., 114 F.3d 407 (3d Cir.1997). On the other hand, we have denied summary judgment in favor of an employer when there was a nineteen-month delay between when the employer was notified of the complaint and when the employer took remedial action. Jensen, 435 F.3d at 453. We have also denied summary judgment in favor of an employer when there was evidence that the employee's supervisor knew about the harassment and did nothing for three months, despite other evidence that the alleged harasser's supervisor later took immediate action upon learning of the harassment. Bonenberger, 132 F.3d at 26. We reasoned that a jury should decide whether the employer's remedial action was prompt and adequate.

Here, the District Court decided that the remedial actions taken by Andreoli's employer were prompt and adequate, as a matter of law. We will now review the factual background of Andreoli's claims in some detail in order to explain more fully our grounds for concluding that there is a triable issue of material fact regarding the adequacy and promptness of Andreoli's employer's remedial actions. We will then discuss our rationale for affirming as to the other two claims.

II.

Most of the underlying facts are undisputed. Where there is a dispute, we view the facts in the light most favorable to Andreoli. Abramson v.

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