Rosalind Norman v. Kmart Corp

485 F. App'x 591
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Third Circuit
DecidedJune 27, 2012
Docket11-3560
StatusUnpublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 485 F. App'x 591 (Rosalind Norman v. Kmart Corp) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Rosalind Norman v. Kmart Corp, 485 F. App'x 591 (3d Cir. 2012).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

FUENTES, Circuit Judge.

Rosalind Norman was a store manager at a Pennsylvania Kmart when she was terminated for manipulating payroll records and engaging in fraudulent behavior. She filed suit in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania alleging that she was terminated because of her age and gender. After discovery, the District Court granted Kmart’s motion for summary judgment dismissing all of her claims. Norman appeals and we will affirm.

I.

Because we write primarily for the parties, we set forth only the facts relevant to *592 our conclusion. Rosalind Norman was the store manager at the Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania Kmart until July 2005, when she was fired for payroll manipulation and fraud. An investigation into Norman’s conduct revealed that she requested employees to work off the clock, 1 compensated them with cash vouchers or personal time, allowed them to be clocked-in when they were not working, and paid nonem-ployees to work. 2 Norman admitted to these actions in her deposition and in writing. Appendix (“App.”) at 67, 1240, 1247. These actions violated Kmart’s policy against fraud, which forbids “[fjalse, fictitious, or misleading entries or reports,” App. at 1276, and its prohibition on manipulation of payroll expenses, which forbids “allowing associates to work off the clock, manipulating time clock punches to reduce hours worked, and deferring the payment of any wages through the use of cash vouchers,” App. at 1320.

Because of the seriousness and extent of these violations, Norman was terminated. She was 54 years old at the time. After her termination, Kmart hired Frank Mus-sich, an older male, to replace Norman. 3 He worked for approximately one year before leaving Kmart on his own accord for medical reasons.

After being terminated, despite having admitted in her deposition that she believed she was treated more harshly than older employees, Norman pointed to younger employees and male employees who she believed committed similar violations but were not terminated. However, these employees each committed either one of the several violations Norman committed, did not actually commit any violations, or acted at Norman’s direction.

Norman filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania against Kmart, asserting it terminated her because of her age and gender in violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (“ADEA”), 29 U.S.C. § 628(a), and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2(a) (“Title VII”). The District Court granted Kmart’s motion for summary judgment and dismissed Norman’s claims. This appeal followed. 4

II.

Our review of a District Court order granting summary judgment is plenary. Watson v. Eastman Kodak Co., 235 F.3d 851, 854 (3d Cir.2000). As there is no direct evidence of discrimination, we apply the three-part burden-shifting framework from McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 93 S.Ct. 1817, 36 L.Ed.2d 668 (1973) to Norman’s ADEA and Title VII claims. Newman v. GHS Osteopathic, Inc., Parkview Hosp. Div., 60 F.3d 153, 157 (3d Cir.1995). Under this framework, the plaintiff first must carry the initial burden of establishing a prima facie case of discrimination. McDonnell Douglas, 411 U.S. at 802, 93 S.Ct. 1817.

If the plaintiff establishes a prima facie case of discrimination, the burden of pro *593 duction shifts to the employer to demonstrate that the plaintiff was terminated for some legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason. Id. at 802, 93 S.Ct. 1817. Lastly, “should the defendant carry this burden, the plaintiff then must have an opportunity to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the legitimate reasons offered by the defendant were not the true reasons, but were a pretext for discrimination.” Jones v. Sch. Dist. of Phila., 198 F.3d 403, 410 (3d Cir.1999). 5

A.

Kmart has articulated a legitimate, nondiscriminatory explanation for its termination of Norman, and has thus satisfied the second prong of the burden-shifting framework. Kmart put forth evidence that Norman repeatedly manipulated payroll expenses and engaged in fraudulent behavior as the reason she was terminated. These infractions suffice as a legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for termination, which has no relation to her age or gender, because Kmart is explicit that they can result in termination. See Reeves v. Sanderson Plumbing Prods., Inc., 530 U.S. 133, 142, 120 S.Ct. 2097, 147 L.Ed.2d 105 (2000) (finding employee’s failure to keep accurate records and adhere to general work rules amounted to a legitimate reason for termination); see also Glanzman v. Metro. Mgmt. Corp., 391 F.3d 506 (3d Cir.2004) (finding that evidence of employee’s violations of company policies sufficed as proof employer would have fired employee without consideration of her age).

B.

Norman fails to introduce any evidence that sufficiently demonstrates that

Kmart’s legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for terminating her was a pretext. To do so, Norman must point to evidence from which a jury could reasonably “(1) disbelieve the employer’s articulated legitimate reasons; or (2) believe that an invidious discriminatory reason was more likely than not a motivating or determinative cause of the employer’s action.” Fuentes v. Perskie, 32 F.3d 759, 764 (3d Cir.1994). She need not introduce evidence beyond her prima facie case, but must point to “weaknesses, implausibilities, inconsistencies, incoherencies, or contradictions in the employer’s proffered legitimate reasons” to show that they were not the true motivation. Simpson v. Kay Jewelers, Div. of Sterling, Inc., 142 F.3d 639, 644 (3d Cir.1998) (quoting Ezold v. Wolf, Block, Schorr and Solis-Cohen,

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
485 F. App'x 591, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rosalind-norman-v-kmart-corp-ca3-2012.