Peterson v. Bell Helicopter Textron, Inc.

901 F. Supp. 2d 846, 2012 WL 4739951, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 143239
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Texas
DecidedOctober 3, 2012
DocketAction No. 4:10-CV-365-Y
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 901 F. Supp. 2d 846 (Peterson v. Bell Helicopter Textron, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Peterson v. Bell Helicopter Textron, Inc., 901 F. Supp. 2d 846, 2012 WL 4739951, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 143239 (N.D. Tex. 2012).

Opinion

ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT AND DENYING MOTIONS TO STRIKE

TERRY R. MEANS, District Judge.

Pending before the Court are Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment (doc. 31), filed March 2, 2012; Plaintiffs Motion to Strike Portions of Defendant’s Summary-Judgment Evidence (doc. 43), filed April 27; and Defendant’s Motion to Strike (doc. 50), filed May 15. The Court GRANTS in part and DENIES in part the motion for summary judgment and DENIES the motions to strike.

I. BACKGROUND

A. Factual Background

1. The Reduction in Force

In March 1989, defendant Bell Helicopter Textron, Incorporated (“Bell”), hired plaintiff David O. Peterson as a sales manager to sell helicopters in a geographic territory along the east coast. (Def. App. 702-04.) Part of Peterson’s job was conducting flight demonstrations for potential customers; thus, Peterson was a licensed helicopter pilot. (PI. App. 126, 139-40.) In 2004, Peterson began reporting to the executive director of the North American sales group, Anthony Moreland. (PI. App. 891.) Moreland, in turn, reported to the vice-president for sales and marketing of the commercial-business unit, Robert Fitzpatrick. (PI. App. 218.)

Peterson received yearly performance reviews. In 2005, Peterson received a rating of 3.2 (out of a possible 5.0) and his performance was “On Target/Solid.” (Def. App. 117.) In 2006, Peterson’s performance review showed his performance was “On Target/Solid.” (Def. App. 123.) He received a rating of 3.6. When Peterson asked Moreland how he could receive a 5.0, Moreland told him that no sales manager received 5.0 ratings. (PL App. 559.) In 2007, Peterson received a 3.68 rating. (Def. App. 130.) Moreland also noted that Peterson “continues to lead by example” in his interactions with clients and, thus, asked Peterson to mentor new sales managers Jeanette Eaton and Pat Foley in 2007 and 2008. (Pl. App. 240-43; Def. App. 125.) In 2007, Bell began experiencing delays in producing its model 407 helicopter. Thus, Peterson and other regional sales managers sold more 407 helicopters [850]*850than Bell could produce. (Def. App. 127; Pl. App. 275-76.)1

Moreland also prepared annual unit reviews for his sales group. The July 2007 unit review was used for succession planning, determining promotions, and determining the impact of the loss of any of the sales managers. (Pl. App. 311-12, 403-05.) The sales managers’ dates of birth apparently were included in the unit review. (Pl. App. 415.) Fitzpatrick has stated that ages were not a factor in any decisions based on the unit review. (Def. App. 609.)

In early 2007, Moreland sent Peterson a memo about Peterson’s “distribution of highly sensitive information to one of [Bell’s] customers.” (Def. App. 144.) It appears that Peterson forwarded an email to a customer that included an attachment providing access to some of Bell’s confidential information. (Pl. App. 600.) Peterson acknowledged the disclosure, but averred it was inadvertent. (Def. App. 144.) The security infraction resulted in the reduction of Peterson’s February 2007 bonus and Peterson’s removal from flight status for a period of six months. A copy of Moreland’s memo was placed in Peterson’s personnel file.

In 2007 and 2008, Clint Suringer, an account manager, is alleged to have “made age-related remarks” about Peterson and Peterson’s work, “including calling [Peterson] — in an uncomplimentary manner— ‘old school.’ ” (Pl. App. 560.) Suringer would also imply that Peterson was “inflexible or unable to adjust to newer technology.” (Def. App. 725.) Peterson was offended by these “ageist” remarks and told Suringer to stop. (Pl. App. 560.) Peterson believed that Suringer’s “age-based attitude” contributed to Peterson’s problems with delayed orders and “keeping a deal sold.” (Pl. App. 560.)

Shortly after Peterson’s 2008 mid-year performance review, Moreland sent Peterson a memo, with a copy placed in Peterson’s personnel file, about Peterson’s “lack of performance over the last six months.” (Def. App. 141.) Moreland had three specific “areas of concern”:

1. Lack of Professionalism with regard to follow up with mentioned customers.

2. Seeming disregard for [Moreland’s] authority when repeatedly asked to close the files or follow up on the situation.

3. Difficulty in properly prioritizing [Peterson’s] work to ensure that open issues are not neglected.

(Def. App. 141.) Moreland warned Peterson that he would place Peterson on a performance-improvement plan if Peterson did not improve, but Moreland never did. (Pl. App. 282-83.)

On October 16, 2008, the United States Army notified Bell that it was canceling its contract with Bell to develop an armed reconnaissance helicopter. (Def. App. 18.) This represented a significant loss of business for Bell; thus, on October 20, Bell’s Executive Leadership Team (“the ELT”) began preparing for a second2 reduction-in-force (“RIF”). (Def. App. 771, 778, 792-[851]*85193.) Bell’s human-resources and finance departments recommended that a certain percentage of employees be laid off in the RIF to offset the lost business. The ELT approved the recommendation. The human-resources department then gave the ELT a roster of data for each of the employees in their respective divisions. (Def. App. 9, 23.) The ELT agreed to select a percentage of employees for the RIF by applying selection criteria: (1) annual performance-review scores, (2) ranking of the employee’s impact on the organization if laid off, and (3) any performance documentation in the employee’s file. Thus, the ELT determined' whom to include in the RIF by comparing employees against their peers and selecting for termination those employees with the lowest rank based on the criteria. (Def. App. 10.) Peterson’s comparison group included Eaton, Foley, Gregory Maitlen, Steve Reyna, and Michael Coulman, i.e., all regional sales managers in North America. (Def. App. 23-26.) Based on the end-of-year performance reviews, Peterson had the lowest scores for 2006 and 2007 in his comparison group. (Def. App. 24, 583.) Fitzpatrick, as a member of the ELT and as the supervisor for the marketing-and-sales division, took the data roster for that division and indicated, based on the selection criteria, “the priority that individuals were recommended for lay-off in the RIF until the target number of employees were recommended for lay-off.” (Def. App. 9-10.) Fitzpatrick indicated “with a 1’ ” that Peterson and one other marketing-and-sales employee were “his priorities for lay-off.” (Def. App. 10.) On October 22, either Fitzpatrick or Moreland prepared a “documentation worksheet” for each employee selected for the RIF, which was given to human resources. (Def. App. 11.) Peterson’s documentation worksheet shows that he was the lowest ranked sales-and-marketing employee based on his performance scores. (Def. App. 24, 583.) Attached to Peterson’s documentation worksheet was a table listing the comparison group’s performance scores for 2006 and 2007 and also listing their ages. (Def. App. 26.) At the time the worksheet was prepared, Peterson was 52. Fitzpatrick stated that age was not a factor used to determine which employees would be fired during the reduction in force. (Def. App. 608-10.) Shortly after the documentation worksheet was prepared and forwarded to human resources, Moreland called Peterson and told Peterson that he was being laid off.

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Bluebook (online)
901 F. Supp. 2d 846, 2012 WL 4739951, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 143239, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/peterson-v-bell-helicopter-textron-inc-txnd-2012.