Hastings v. Saiki

824 F. Supp. 969, 1993 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8842, 62 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 974, 1993 WL 213350
CourtDistrict Court, D. Colorado
DecidedMarch 11, 1993
DocketCiv. A. No. 92-F-713
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 824 F. Supp. 969 (Hastings v. Saiki) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Colorado primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

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Hastings v. Saiki, 824 F. Supp. 969, 1993 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8842, 62 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 974, 1993 WL 213350 (D. Colo. 1993).

Opinion

ORDER REGARDING DISPOSITIVE MOTIONS

SHERMAN G. FINESILVER, Chief Judge.

This is a case involving allegations of gender and age discrimination. This matter comes before the Court on Defendants’ motions for summary judgment and dismissal. Jurisdiction is based on 28 U.S.C.A. § 1331. The litigants have fully briefed the matter. For the reasons stated below, the motion is GRANTED.

I.

Plaintiff, Harry Hastings, began work with Defendant Small Business Administration (“SBA”) on or about August 1976 in the Denver Regional Office.1 From August 1980 until his retirement from the federal government in December 1986, Hastings was employed by the SBA as a Surety Bond Officer in the Surety Bond Division of the Regional Office. Hastings’ responsibilities in the surety bond program included reviewing surety bond applications and making recommendations either to accept or reject the applications. The applications and Hastings’ recommendations were then reviewed by Hastings’ superiors who would then make their own recommendations for accepting or rejecting the applications.

The performance of SBA employees was evaluated on the Performance Management Appraisal System (“PMAS”). PMAS ratings were used in decisions on bonuses, promotions, and merit raises. The supervisor of each SBA employee bore responsibility for preparing the employee’s PMAS rating. The PMAS system required employees to receive notification of their ratings on “critical elements” and “performance standards” at the beginning of each rating year.2 Part of Has[972]*972tings’ complaint revolves around the tardiness with which he received his PMAS notifications. Further, when Hastings was notified of the proposed critical elements, he disagreed with all three. He also disagreed with his subsequent rating, claiming the computer data contained inaccuracies and his supervisors had also used incorrect figures. He believed these errors affected his performance ratings, including the calculation of his turnaround time in processing applications.

Until February 1983, Hastings’ immediate, first line supervisor was Senior Surety Bond Officer Helen Edwards.3 Edwards was transferred to the Denver District Office after filing numerous complaints for sex and age discrimination against the SBA and several individuals, including Hastings. On or about April 1984, Defendant Russell Berry was transferred from the Central Office in Washington, D.C. to the Denver Regional Office where he became Hastings’ first line supervisor.

In February 1985, Edwards prevailed on portions of her sex discrimination case, and in May of that year she was transferred back to the Denver Regional Office’s Surety Bond Division. Edwards once again became Hastings’ first line supervisor and Berry was moved to Hastings’ second line supervisor and Edwards’ immediate supervisor. Hastings claims after Edwards’ return to the bond surety program, she began subjecting him to various forms of hostile treatment, including delays in reviewing his work that caused his performance evaluations to suffer and public abuse of Hastings in the presence of his coworkers.

In December 1986, Hastings made two requests to enter a trial retirement program he believed to have resumed after a brief suspension. His requests were denied based on a memorandum of understanding between the SBA and the American Federation of Government Employees union stating that trial retirement was still being held in abeyance. Hastings applied for reconsideration but before the SBA responded, he retired effective December 31; 1986, citing intolerable working conditions. He filed formal administrative Equal Employment Opportunity (“EEO”) complaints on May 20, 1986; July 21, 1986; July 28, 1986; and October 8, 1986. The complaints raised a number of issues revolving around sex and age discrimination, most implicating Edwards. He filed two more complaints in December 1986 and January 1987 but neither was accepted.

In July 1987 Hastings was notified that certain issues he had raised in the complaints would be dismissed as untimely filed. The dismissal was later upheld by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”). The SBA also consolidated the four administrative EEO complaints which it had accepted and notified Hastings that it would investigate the alleged denial of overtime, interference with his job performance, emotional outbursts by Edwards, the unacceptable PMAS critical elements, his low PMAS rating, and Berry’s refusal to allow him to attend the surety bond conference.

On August 23,1991, the SBA mooted some issues and adopted the recommendation of an administrative judge to dismiss the remainder. Following Hastings’ appeal, the EEOC ruled the SBA had ignored Hastings’ alleged constructive discharge issue and remanded it to the SBA for EEO counseling. The EEOC subsequently affirmed the SBA’s decision to dismiss all other issues.

Hastings filed this action in federal court on April 15, 1992. He claimed he had been discriminated against in his eligibility for overtime work, the administration of his PMAS, and his working conditions, working environment, and general terms and conditions of his employment. Hastings also alleged constructive discharge as well as reprisal in Defendants’ retaliation for his filing of discrimination complaints. ' Defendants moved for summary judgment on January 21, 1993, claiming Hastings had failed to estab[973]*973lish a prima facie case of sex or age discrimination.

II. Summary Judgment Standard

Granting summary judgment is appropriate when there is no genuine issue of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed. R. Civ.P. 56(c); Ash Creek Mining Co. v. Lujan, 934 F.2d 240, 242 (10th Cir.1991); Metz v. United States, 933 F.2d 802, 804 (10th Cir.1991), cert. denied, — U.S.-, 112 S.Ct. 416,116 L.Ed.2d 436 (1991); Continental Casualty Co. v. P.D.C., Inc., 931 F.2d 1429, 1430 (10th Cir.1991). A genuine issue of material fact exists only where “there is sufficient evidence favoring the nonmoving party for a jury to return a verdict for that party.” Merrick v. Northern Natural Gas Co., 911 F.2d 426, 429 (10th Cir.1990). Only disputes over facts that might affect the outcome of the case will properly preclude the entry of summary judgment. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986); Allen v. Dayco Prods., Inc., 758 F.Supp. 630, 631 (D.Colo. 1990).

In reviewing a motion for summary judgment, the court must view the evidence in the light most favorable to the party opposing the motion. Newport Steel Corp. v. Thompson, 757 F.Supp. 1152, 1155 (D.Colo. 1990). All doubts must be resolved in favor of the existence of triable issues of fact. Boren v. Southwestern Bell Tel. Co., 933 F.2d 891, 892 (10th Cir.1991); Mountain Fuel Supply v. Reliance Ins. Co., 933 F.2d 882, 889 (10th Cir.1991).

In a motion for summary judgment, the moving party’s initial burden is slight. In

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824 F. Supp. 969, 1993 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8842, 62 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 974, 1993 WL 213350, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hastings-v-saiki-cod-1993.