Lori Freeman v. Dal-Tile Corporation

750 F.3d 413, 2014 WL 1678422, 2014 U.S. App. LEXIS 8030, 97 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 45,057, 122 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 995
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
DecidedApril 29, 2014
Docket13-1481
StatusPublished
Cited by136 cases

This text of 750 F.3d 413 (Lori Freeman v. Dal-Tile Corporation) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

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Lori Freeman v. Dal-Tile Corporation, 750 F.3d 413, 2014 WL 1678422, 2014 U.S. App. LEXIS 8030, 97 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 45,057, 122 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 995 (4th Cir. 2014).

Opinions

Reversed in part, affirmed in part, and remanded by published opinion. Judge SHEDD wrote the majority opinion, in [416]*416which Chief Judge TRAXLER joined. Judge NIEMEYER wrote an opinion concurring in part and dissenting in part.

SHEDD, Circuit Judge:

Lori Freeman appeals a grant of summary judgment in favor of her former employer, Dal-Tile Corporation, on her claims of racial and sexual hostile work environment, constructive discharge, and common law obstruction of justice. For the reasons discussed more fully below, we reverse the grant of summary judgment on the hostile work environment claims and remand them for further consideration. We affirm the grant of summary judgment on the claims of constructive discharge and common law obstruction of justice.

I.

Dal-Tile Corporation manufactures, distributes, and markets ceramic tile and natural stone products.1 It operates eight manufacturing facilities, five regional distribution centers, and over 250 sales service centers, including both stone yards and tile showrooms.

In June 2008, Dal-Tile acquired the assets of Marble Point, Inc., a stone yard located in Raleigh, North Carolina, from owner Marco Izzi. Dal-Tile incorporated this newly-acquired operation into a sale-service center organization (the “Stone-yard”). After this sale, Izzi purchased an ownership interest in VoStone, Inc., a Raleigh-based kitchen and bath remodeling center. A significant percentage of VoStone’s business involved working with Dal-Tile.

In August 2006, Freeman began working as a receptionist for Dal-Tile’s predecessor, Marble Point. She was hired on a temporary basis through a staffing agency, but after six months, she joined Marble Point as a permanent employee. Throughout her tenure at Marble Point, Freeman reported to Izzi and to assistant manager Sara Wrenn. Following Dal-Tile’s acquisition of Marble Point, Freeman became a Dal-Tile employee,2 and Wrenn continued to be her supervisor. Freeman’s first position with Dal-Tile was General Office Clerk. Over time, Freeman began interacting more frequently with Dal-Tile’s customers, and she effectively functioned as a Customer Service Representative. In May 2009, she was promoted to the role of Sales Consultant. In November 2009, Freeman’s position was reclassified to Customer Service Representative.

The harassment claims at issue are based on the behavior of Timothy Koester, an independent sales representative for VoStone. Freeman usually interacted with Koester more than once a day while he was conducting business with Dal-Tile on behalf of VoStone.

[417]*417About two weeks after Freeman became a temporary employee with Marble Point in August 2006, she overheard Koester as he walked into Wrenn’s office and, referencing a photograph of two former employees, asked Wrenn and another employee: “[H]ey, who are these two black b* * * *es[?]” JA. 76. After the incident, Freeman asked Wrenn about Koester, inquiring: “[W]ho was he and what was his deal[?]” J.A. 77. Wrenn replied: “[H]e’s an asshole, but I don’t think he’ll do it again.” Id. The next day, Freeman told Koester “how uncomfortable and demeaning that made [her] feel,” and she asked him not to use that sort of language anymore. J.A. 75.

Freeman also recalled Koester making comments about women he had been with the night before. On one occasion, Koester showed her a photograph of a naked woman on his cell phone and remarked: “[T]his is what I left in my bed to come here today.” J.A. 80. On a different occasion, Freeman overheard Koester talking with one of her co-workers, Jodi Scott, about photographs of Scott’s daughters that were displayed in Scott’s office. According to Freeman, Koester told Scott: “Pm going to hook up with one your daughters,” or “Pm going to turn one of your daughters out.” J.A. 136. Scott replied: “[Y]ou better stay away from my kids,” or “[D]on’t talk to me about my kids.” Id.

In a different instance, Koester passed gas on Freeman’s phone. Koester was using Freeman’s office phone, and she was standing there waiting for him to finish his conversation. Before Koester hung up the phone, he held it to his buttocks and passed gas on it. J.A. 81. Wrenn was present for this incident. Freeman immediately began crying and had to leave the room to calm down. J.A. 82.

In June 2009, Koester called Freeman about covering a customer appointment for him because he had been partying the night before. Koester indicated that he could not come into the office, saying: “Pm just too f* * *ed up, don’t take offense, but I’m as f* * *ed up as a n* * * *r’s checkbook.” J.A. 99. Freeman told Wrenn about Koester’s comment that same day, but Wrenn just “scoffed and shook her head and put her head back down and continued on with trying to pick the nail polish off of her nails....” J.A. 102. Freeman also reported Koester’s remark to James Vose, one of the co-owners of VoStone. Vose laughed and said: “[Y]ou got to admit that’s kind of funny, just do what I do and hit him because he’s an asshole.” J.A. 107.

Subsequently, on July 29, 2009, Koester called Dal-Tile’s general office line, and Freeman answered the phone. Koester had his six-year-old daughter, Angelina, with him at the time. Freeman, who knew Angelina, asked Koester to tell Angelina that she said “hi.” Instead, Koester put Freeman on speaker phone so that she and Angelina could talk with one another. Freeman then heard Angelina ask: “Daddy, who’s that[?]” J.A. 111. Koester replied: “[T]hat’s the black b* * * * over at Marble Point.” Id. Freeman “immediately became very irate.” Id. She told Koester: “[D]on’t you ever call me a black b* * * * as long as you live.” Id. Koester responded: “[0]h, word.” Id. Freeman promptly told Wrenn about Koester’s comment, but Wrenn appeared disinterested and continued a conversation that she had been having with some other co-workers.

In addition to these specific incidents, Freeman and other co-workers testified more generally that Koester frequently made inappropriate sexual comments. Freeman testified that Koester “was always coming in making some sort of lewd [418]*418comments.” J.A. 78. She also stated that “maybe two or three times a week” she would have to correct Koester and tell him not to say something inappropriate. J.A. 79. Freeman explained that Koester would “come in to discuss what he did the night before with whatever woman he was with and [Freeman] would tell him [she didn’t] want to hear it.” J.A. 80. Wrenn confirmed this, stating that “he liked to brag about his, you know, evening excursions, or his weekend excursions.... [T]here were times where he would say something about what he did the night before that had sexual content to it.” J.A. 269. According to Wrenn, “[h]e always made comments about women.” J.A. 274. Wrenn also testified that Koester used the word “b* * * * ” in the office, such as “You should have seen these hot b* * * *es I met last night.” J.A. 268. Jodi Scott testified that Koester used the word “b* * * * ” “[u]sually about every time that he came in.” J.A. 381-82. Wrenn even referred to Koester as a “pig.” J.A. 253. Koester himself also admitted he made sexual comments in the office. J.A. 325.

Freeman and other co-workers also testified generally about Koester’s inappropriate racial remarks. For instance, Koester used racial “slang” such as “Yo, b* * * * ” and “How’s my b* * * *es?” when talking to the female employees. J.A. 384-85.

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750 F.3d 413, 2014 WL 1678422, 2014 U.S. App. LEXIS 8030, 97 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 45,057, 122 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 995, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lori-freeman-v-dal-tile-corporation-ca4-2014.