Richardson v. Astec, Inc.

366 F. Supp. 3d 983
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Tennessee
DecidedMarch 18, 2019
DocketCase No. 1:18-cv-20
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 366 F. Supp. 3d 983 (Richardson v. Astec, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Tennessee primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Richardson v. Astec, Inc., 366 F. Supp. 3d 983 (E.D. Tenn. 2019).

Opinion

TRAVIS R. McDONOUGH, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

Before the Court is a motion for summary judgment filed by Defendant Astec, *986Inc. ("Astec") (Doc. 19) and a motion for partial summary judgment filed by Plaintiff Rebecca Richardson (Doc. 22). Also before the Court is Richardson's motion to exclude certain evidence from the Court's consideration in ruling on the parties' cross-motions for summary judgment pursuant to Rule 37(c)(1) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. (Doc. 35.) For the following reasons, Astec's motion for summary judgment (Doc. 19) will be DENIED , Richardson's motion for partial summary judgment (Doc. 22) will be DENIED , and Richardson's motion to exclude (Doc. 35) will be DENIED AS MOOT .

I. BACKGROUND

Rebecca Richardson began working at Astec in 1980 and worked her way up through the accounting department in various positions over the next thirty-five years. (Doc. 21, at 15, 183.) Since 2005, Lori McMahan, Astec's Controller, has supervised the accounting department, including Richardson. (Id. at 216-17; Doc. 25-1, at 22.) From the early 1990s until June 2016, Richardson worked as Astec's Accounting Manager. (Doc. 21, at 15-18, 183.) According to Richardson, while working as Astec's Accounting Manager, her job duties included: (1) facilitating "the running of payroll by [Astec's] outside vendor, ADP"; (2) "collecting time reports from foremen and entering various pieces of information given to [her] by others," including information regarding vacations taken, pay changes and terminations; (3) making entries in the ADP system to correct mistakes; (4) producing automated reports and transmitting information to an outside vendor who managed Astec's 401k plan; (5) filing sales and use tax returns in the places where Astec sold products; (6) reconciling bank statements; (7) sending purchase order invoices to appropriate persons for payment; (8) seeking approval of non-purchase order invoices and placing approved non-purchase order invoices in line for payment; (9) initiating wire transfers; (10) facilitating reimbursements for employees who charged expenses to Astec's Diners Club credit cards; and (11) processing expense reports. (Doc. 21, at 183-86.) Richardson asserts that these responsibilities were generally clerical in nature and involved routine bookkeeping. (Id. at 183-86.) Richardson also avers that, as Accounting Manager, she did not have any discretion or authority to create or implement policy related to these responsibilities. (Id. at 183-86, 189.) Additionally, Richardson acknowledges that, while Accounting Manager, she had the assistance of Debbie Daugherty, a payroll clerk, and Ann Daniel, an accounts payable clerk, but avers that she did not supervise or manage them. (Id. at 186-87.) According to Richardson, Daugherty and Daniel had regularly assigned tasks they were responsible for completing on their own, and she was simply available to answer their questions. (Id. ) Richardson avers that she typically spent no more than five minutes each day answering questions from Daugherty and Daniel and that she never spent time checking up on them because they performed their jobs well. (Id. at 188.)

Astec does not dispute Richardson's general description of her job responsibilities as Accounting Manager, but contends that Richardson's responsibilities required her to exercise significant discretion and manage other Astec employees. (Doc. 30, at 132-33.) For example, McMahan avers that Richardson routinely approved invoices without department head or other approval, which required her to review a bill, analyze it, and decide whether it should be paid. (Id. at 132.) According to McMahan, Richardson also "routinely directed the work of her direct reports, Ann Daniel, Debbie Daugherty, and Maureen Grisham" and "had a say in how her own *987direct reports received raises." (Id. at 134.) According to McMahan, Richardson also had the ability to hire and fire employees. (Doc. 21, at 120-23.) While Richardson acknowledges that she interviewed candidates "once or twice," she avers she only asked questions related to experience. (Id. at 189.) Richardson further avers that she never made hiring or firing decisions and did not have the authority to hire or fire employees. (Id. )

Joe Oswald, Astec's Assistant Controller, also maintains that Richardson exercised significant discretion regarding how she executed her responsibilities as Accounting Manager. (Id. at 172-73.) For example, Oswald testified that Richardson elected to review the payroll registry manually rather than rely on other systems available to her. (Id. ) Oswald further testified that when performing sales tax functions for Astec, Richardson had the discretion to decide when, where, how often, and at what rate such taxes should be paid. (Id. at 175.)

According to Richardson's yearly performance appraisals between 2011 and 2015, McMahan's assessment of Richardson's work was very favorable. (See Doc. 21, at 199-214, Doc. 25-1, at 30.) In Richardson's 2011 performance evaluation, McMahan noted that Richardson is a "pleasure" to work with, "self-motivated," requires "little to no supervision," and has been an "[e]xcellent employee since I became her supervisor in 2005." (Doc. 21, at 202.) In 2012, McMahan commented that Richardson is an "[e]xcellent employee" and that "I wish I had 10 more employees like [Richardson]." (Id. at 206.) In 2013, McMahan noted that Richardson "is a self conscious worker and gives 100% to be a top performer. Having this quality has made her well respected by her direct reports, coworkers, and management." (Doc. 21, at 209.) McMahan also noted that "[Richardson] is not afraid to tell you what she thinks. That is very valuable whether you like it or not." (Id. at 210.) In 2014, McMahan noted that Richardson "maintains a professional attitude even when dealing with difficult people," "[s]he is professional in all aspects of her work," and her "work ethic dependability and teamwork makes her an outstanding employee." (Id. at 213.) In 2015, McMahan again characterized Richardson as an excellent employee and noted that "[Richardson's] work ethic, dependability and teamwork makes her an outstanding employee." (Doc. 21, at 143-46; Doc. 25-1, at 30.) Malcom Swanson, Astec's President at the time, did, however, note on Richardson's 2015 performance review that "[Richardson] does a good job & is 'Astec to the core' but she must be careful to live by all four [Astec] core values including 'Respect for All Individuals.' " (Doc. 21, at 143.)

On June 13, 2016, Richardson received an "Employee Warning/Reprimand" stating that she violated Astec's core values and exhibited "unacceptable manager behavior." (Doc.

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366 F. Supp. 3d 983, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/richardson-v-astec-inc-tned-2019.