Trane v. Northrop Grumman Corp.

94 F. Supp. 3d 367, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 29192, 2015 WL 1057864
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. New York
DecidedMarch 10, 2015
DocketNo. 11-CV-4040 (WFK)(AKT)
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 94 F. Supp. 3d 367 (Trane v. Northrop Grumman Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Trane v. Northrop Grumman Corp., 94 F. Supp. 3d 367, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 29192, 2015 WL 1057864 (E.D.N.Y. 2015).

Opinion

DECISION AND ORDER

WILLIAM F. KUNTZ, II, District Judge:

Plaintiff John Trane (“Plaintiff’) brings this suit against Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation (“Defendant”) under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000e et seq., the Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 12101 et seq., and New York State Executive Law § 296, alleging (1) discrimination based on national origin and disability, and (2) retaliation for complaints of discrimination. Plaintiff alleges that he was given negative evaluations, transferred to a program intended to make it impossible to fulfill his responsibilities adequately, and eventually terminated because of Defendant’s employees’ animus against his Iranian national origin, their resentment at making reasonable accommodation for his disability, and in retaliation for Plaintiffs complaints regarding said discrimination. Defendant’s motion for summary judgment is before this Court. As discussed below, Plaintiff has failed to provide evidence showing that Defendant’s non-diserimina-tory and non-retaliatory reasons for negatively evaluating, transferring, and terminating Plaintiff are pretexts. Plaintiff has also failed to show that discrimination was a motivating factor in Defendant’s termination of his employment. For these reasons and others explained below, Defendant’s motion for summary judgment is GRANTED.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

I. Facts

The events recounted below are undisputed or described in the light most favorable to Plaintiff, the non-moving party. See Capobianco v. City of New York, 422 F.3d 47, 50 n. 1 (2d Cir.2005).

On November 17, 2008, Plaintiff began his employment with Defendant as a Level 4 Reliability Electrical Engineer. Dkt. 31 [372]*372(Affidavit of Jason D. Burns in Support of Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment) (“Burns Aff.”), Ex. 13 (Defendant’s Records Data concerning Plaintiff); Dkt. 1 (“Complaint”) at ¶ 15. Upon hiring Plaintiff, Wayne Anstey (“Anstey”) told Plaintiff that Stanley Murn (“Murn”) would be Plaintiffs manager and that Plaintiff would be working on the U.S. Navy EA-6B aircraft, of which Anstey was the Functional Manager. Dkt. 34 (“Trane Deck”), Ex. 6 (Deposition of John Trane Part I) (“Trane I”) at 40; Dkt. 24 (Memorandum of Law in Support of Motion for Summary Judgment) (“SJ Motion”) at 6. Within the first few weeks of Plaintiffs employment with Defendant — that is, in November or December of 2008 — Murn (the Lead Engineer on the EA-6B aircraft project, see SJ Motion at 6) inquired about Plaintiffs accent and questioned his national origin in the presence of another employee, Frank Perazzo. Plaintiff responded that he was of Iranian descent. Trane I at 52-55. After this incident, Perazzo talked about Plaintiffs Iranian descent on multiple occasions. Trane I at 61. On a separate occasion at an unspecified time, Defendants’ employees Thomas Hanft (“Hanft”) and Michael Jordan (“Jordan”) questioned Plaintiff about the origin of his last name and his national origin, to which Plaintiff again responded that he was of Iranian descent. Trane I at 83-85. Apart from the above incidents, Plaintiff does not allege any references or discussions, derogatory or neutral, of his national origin while he was in Defendant’s employ. Trane I at 85-87.

On December 31, 2008, Plaintiff received an evaluation of his work performance to date, which was graded on a scale of 1 (“needs improvement”) to 4 (“outstanding”). Plaintiff received a performance grade of 2 (“meets performance requirements”). Burns Aff. Ex. 19 (Plaintiffs 2008 performance evaluation). However, in or around February 2009, Plaintiff began to have conflicts with co-workers and managers. Murn expressed concerns about Plaintiff sending out emails to improperly broad distribution lists, about Plaintiff leaving work early, and about the inadequacy of Plaintiffs work. Dkt. 26 (“Murn Deck”) at ¶¶ 9-17; Burns Aff. Ex. 18 (Notes prepared by Wayne Anstey entitled “Personnel Discussions” — John Trane level 4 R & M Manager) at 1. After these complaints, Anstey spoke with Timothy Grevstad from Human Resources and Rich Leyble (Plaintiffs immediate supervisor) and decided to speak with Plaintiff about Plaintiffs performance. Burns Aff. Ex. 18 at 1. Before speaking to Plaintiff, Anstey spoke with Frank Perazzo and asked for his opinion of Plaintiffs work. Perazzo said Plaintiff was seldom at his desk after 4:00 p.m., could be arrogant with co-workers and suppliers, and was a satisfactory but not outstanding engineer. Id. at 2. After these discussions, Anstey did in fact speak with Plaintiff in February 2009 regarding his performance. Trane I at 145-147.

In April 2009, Plaintiff had a disagreement with Jordan via email in which Jordan claimed that Plaintiffs email contained a “misrepresentation.” Hanft responded to the emails stating that it was more of a “miscommunieation” and that both Plaintiff and Jordan were correct. Trane Deck, Ex. 2 (Email chain between John Trane and various employees of Defendant). Also in April 2009, Hanft asked Murn to review Plaintiffs emails because Hanft had concerns about the distribution list, about Plaintiffs unclear conclusions, and about Plaintiffs failure to copy Murn. Burns Aff., Ex. 20 (Email string dated April 30, 2009); Burns Aff., Ex. 22 (Email dated April 30, 2009). Murn met with Plaintiff to discuss those concerns and reported to Grevstad and Anstey that Plaintiff responded bellig[373]*373erently. Burns Aff. Ex. 22. On or about May 22, 2009, Plaintiff and Anstey had a subsequent meeting in which the subject of Plaintiff being transferred to another program was raised. Plaintiff refused. Burns Aff. Ex. 18 at 5-6; Dkt. 32 (Opposition Memorandum to Motion for Summary Judgment) (“Opp. Memo”) at 4-5.

In June 2009, Plaintiff was injured in a car accident and did not return to work until August 2009, at which point he used a walker and was only medically permitted to work ten to sixteen hours per week. Opp. Memo at 5-6. At some unspecified point following Plaintiffs return to work, he entered a conference room with his walker; Hanft and Joel Silber (“Silber”), another employee, then began to laugh. Opp. Memo at 6. After his return to work, Plaintiff was transferred to a new program to accommodate his need for reduced hours. SJ Motion at 3-4.

In January 2010, Plaintiff received a midyear evaluation rating for 2009 of 1 (“needs improvement”). Burns Aff., Ex. 29 (Plaintiffs mid-year 2009 performance evaluation). Plaintiff responded by sending a letter to Michael Riley (“Riley”), his new Functional Manager, calling Jordan (who had prepared the evaluation) a liar, rude, and unprofessional. Burns Aff., Ex. 17 (Defendant’s internal Human Resources investigation file concerning Plaintiff); Burns Aff., Ex. 29. Plaintiff also stated that Jordan was extremely curious about Plaintiffs last name and its origin, and that Hanft and another person (identified in Plaintiffs opposition papers as Silber) had laughed at Plaintiffs use of a walker. Burns Aff., Ex. 17. On March 25, 2010, Riley and Stephen Maniscalco (“Maniseal-co”) (the Reliability and Maintanability (“R & M”) Group Manager) met with Plaintiff to give him his full-year review for 2009. Dkt. 28 (“Riley Deck”) at ¶ 18. Plaintiff again received a rating of 1. Riley Deck at ¶ 19; Burns Aff. Ex. 30 (Plaintiffs final 2009 performance evaluation).

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94 F. Supp. 3d 367, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 29192, 2015 WL 1057864, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/trane-v-northrop-grumman-corp-nyed-2015.