Anne B. Racicot v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

414 F.3d 675, 2005 U.S. App. LEXIS 13308, 86 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 42,062, 95 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1880
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
DecidedJuly 5, 2005
Docket04-2733
StatusPublished
Cited by82 cases

This text of 414 F.3d 675 (Anne B. Racicot v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Anne B. Racicot v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 414 F.3d 675, 2005 U.S. App. LEXIS 13308, 86 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 42,062, 95 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1880 (7th Cir. 2005).

Opinion

BAUER, Circuit Judge.

Anne Racicot appeals the district court’s grant of summary judgment to Defendant-Appellee Wal-Mart on her claims of sex discrimination, sexual harassment, and retaliation under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq. (“Title VII”) and age harassment and retaliation under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, 29 U.S.C. § 621 et seq. (“ADEA”). For the following reasons, we affirm.

I. Background

Racicot began working at the Wal-Mart in Jasper, Indiana, in July 1999 as an associate in the seafood department. Ra-cicot’s lawsuit stems from incidents involving her co-workei’s Mike Condra and Dan Simpson. First, Racicot took offense at several workplace comments made by Con-dra. She claims that he often used foul language in her presence and told her on several occasions that she “shouldn’t be working at [her] age.” Condra’s workplace behavior prompted complaints by Racicot and several other associates, both male and female. Condra was terminated in November 2000 after a customer complained to management that she had overheard Condra call Racicot a “fucking bitch.” Racicot did not hear this comment and only learned of it after Condra’s termination.

Racicot also complains about Simpson’s treatment of her. Specifically, she claims that Simpson regularly yelled at her, called her names like “son of a bitch,” cursed in her presence, interfered with her work and vacation schedule, and told her, “if you were younger, you could pick up the boxes when heavy shipments arrived at the store.”

Racicot made written and oral complaints to management about Simpson and Condra’s conduct, and Store Manager Kathy Horney met with her to discuss her concerns. Racicot also met with District Manager Mike Owens, who reviewed all of her complaints. Racicot specifically complained about Simpson’s yelling, poor job performance, and poor customer service.

*677 In November 2000, Racicot was verbally-reprimanded for a violation of company policy when she held . some discounted meat back from the customer display and later sold the lower-priced meat to her husband during her shift. In December 2000, Racicot was suspected of being involved in mislabeling or underringing seafood. As part of the investigation into this incident, Racicot prepared a written statement in which she admitted attempting to improperly sell her Mend shrimp at a sale price, but claims to have changed her mind at the last minute. Based on this incident and the incident a month earlier involving holding back discounted meat, Homey decided to terminate Racicot. A female associate who is older than Racicot replaced her in the seafood department.

II. Discussion

We review a district court’s grant of summary judgment de novo, viewing all facts and reasonable inferences from the record in the light most favorable to the non-moving party. Moser v. Ind. Dept. of Corr., 406 F.3d 895, 900 (7th Cir.2005).

A. Sex Discrimination

Racicot argues that Wal-Mart discriminated against her on the basis of her sex by interfering with her work schedule on three occasions, thereby denying her vacation time. Title VII makes it unlawful for an employer to “fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any individual, or otherwise to discriminate against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of such individual’s ... sex .... ” 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2(a)(l).

Though her claim is somewhat nebulous, Racicot does not appear to contend that she was terminated because of sex discrimination. With regard to her scheduling complaints, those incidents all took place before April 2000. Racicot filed her charge of discrimination over a year later, on May .21, 2001. Under Title VII, a plaintiff has -300 days from the date of the alleged unlawful employment practice to file a charge with the appropriate federal or state agency; conduct occurring prior to the limitations period cannot form the basis of a Title VII suit.. Hardin v. S.C. Johnson & Son, Inc., 167 F.3d 340, 344 (7th Cir.1999). Raeicot’s claims would have to be based on conduct that occurred after July 25, 2000. Since this is not the case, the district court correctly ruled that Racicot’s allegations are time-barred and properly granted summary judgment. B. Sexual Harassment

Racicot also alleges that Condra and Simpson sexually harassed her, thereby creating a hostile working environment, by cursing at her and using vulgar language in her presence. To succeed on her claim, Racicot must establish that: (1) she was subject to unwelcome harassment; (2) the harassment was based on her sex; (3) the harassment was sufficiently severe or pervasive so as to alter the conditions of her employment and create a hostile or abusive atmosphere; and (4) there is a basis for employer liability. Cooper-Schut v. Visteon Auto. Sys., 361 F.3d 421, 426 (7th Cir.2004).

Racicot has not demonstrated that the harassment she experienced was severe or pervasive. A hostile work environment is one that is both objectively and subjectively offensive. Faragher v. City of Boca Raton, 524 U.S. 775, 787, 118 S.Ct. 2275, 141 L.Ed.2d 662 (1998). In evaluat ing the objective offensiveness of a plaintiffs work environment, we consider all of the circumstances, including frequency and severity’ of the conduct, whether it is humiliating ,or physically threatening, and whether it unreasonably interferes with an *678 employee’s work performance. Luckie v. Ameritech Corp., 389 F.3d 708, 714 (7th Cir.2004). In this ease, Racicot has described a limited number of incidents that are more reflective of run of the mill uncouth behavior than an atmosphere permeated with discriminatory ridicule and insult. See Cooper-Schut, 361 F.3d at 426. Racicot complains that Condra and Simpson used vulgar language in her presence, occasionally cursed at her, yelled at her, and made isolated comments about older women in the workplace. These incidents, even when taken together, fall short of an objectively offensive work environment. The district court properly granted summary judgment in favor of Wal-Mart on the sexual harassment claim.

C. Age Harassment

Plaintiffs next claim is that she was harassed on the basis of her age. Again, we note that Racicot does not appear to claim that she was actually terminated due to her age. 1

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414 F.3d 675, 2005 U.S. App. LEXIS 13308, 86 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 42,062, 95 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1880, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/anne-b-racicot-v-wal-mart-stores-inc-ca7-2005.