Conditions Were Not Sufficiently Severe Or Pervasive To Constitute Racially Hostile Work Environment
Donna E. Peterson served as the Human Resources Officer of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in Little Rock, Arkansas. Her immediate supervisor was Joseph Manuel, a white employee. Peterson's second line supervisor was Kalven Trice, the State Conservationist for Arkansas and the chief NRCS official in the state. Trice is African-American. Peterson supervised Sandra L. O'Brien, a Human Resources Specialist. O'Brien's position entails rating and ranking job applicants, including utilizing the Delegated Examining Unit (“DEU”) to rank applicants from outside the Agency.
In 2003, O'Brien was undergoing chemotherapy following several cancer surgeries. Trice did not respond to O'Brien's request to work from home in May 2003. Trice approved O'Brien's second request in September 2003. On October 9, 2003, Trice held a meeting in which he informed O'Brien of what Trice perceived to be deficiencies with the list O'Brien issued of the best qualified candidates for two secretarial positions. According to O'Brien, Trice was upset that a friend of his, an African-American, was not on the list of rated applicants. During the meeting, both Trice and O'Brien raised their voices, and O'Brien was reduced to tears. Subsequently, O'Brien filed a complaint of discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission; Peterson provided a supportive statement.
Following their EEOC activity, Trice scrutinized Peterson’s and O’Brien’s travel documents arising out of a training session they attended in San Diego, California and issued a memorandum stating that they had acted improperly in relation to their travel vouchers; did not allow Peterson to serve as acting state administrative officer though Manuel had designated her to do so; suspended O'Brien's DEU authority; sent partial files concerning the secretarial applicants to regional and national headquarters to be reviewed; did not allow O'Brien to attend a training session in Texas; failed to respond to Peterson's request to work from home in a sufficient manner; denied O'Brien a performance award; discussed suspending them; and attempted to institute disciplinary action against them. In addition to the discrete events described above, Peterson and O’Brien claimed, without specificity, that Trice: interfered with their work on a daily to weekly basis; embarrassed, isolated, and ostracized them; closely scrutinized and criticized their work; and increased their workload.
Peterson and O’Brien filed this action against the USDA under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, claiming hostile work environment based on race discrimination and retaliation. Peterson also alleged constructive discharge.
The district court granted the USDA summary judgment on all claims. On appeal, the 8th Circuit affirmed, holding that: (1) the employees' working conditions were not so severe or pervasive that they rose to the level of a racially hostile work environment; 2) the constructive discharge claims were premised on the same allegations as the hostile work environment claims and were therefore insufficient; and 3) the retaliation claim failed because the employees failed to establish that either one suffered a materially adverse employment action.
O'Brien v. Dep't of Agric.
The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals’ jurisdiction includes North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri and Arkansas.