Opinions of the United 2007 Decisions States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit

12-6-2007

Dumann v. Equitable Res Inc Precedential or Non-Precedential: Non-Precedential

Docket No. 06-4614

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UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT

No. 06-4614

LINDA DUMANN, Appellant v.

EQUITABLE RESOURCES, INC.

APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA (D.C. Civ. No. 05-cv-01113) District Judge: Honorable Terrence F. McVerry

Submitted Under Third Circuit L.A.R. 34.1(a) November 1, 2007

Before: RENDELL, WEIS and NYGAARD, Circuit Judges.

(Filed: December 6, 2007)

OPINION

WEIS, Circuit Judge.

Plaintiff has brought this action alleging that she was discharged from her

employment at Equitable Resources, Inc. because of her age in violation of the Age

1 Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967,

et seq., and the

Pennsylvania Human Relations Act 43, Pa. Stat. § 951 et seq. She also claims gender

discrimination in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e

et seq. and the PHRA.

Plaintiff was employed in the customer service department of Equitable Gas

Company, an operating arm of Equitable Resources. In mid-October 2001, she began

serving as the Supervisor of the Billing & Audit group and also later acted as the

Customer Service Department’s representative on the Mobile Data Project Team. In

January 2001, Equitable Services initiated a revised employee performance evaluation

system. In February 2002, plaintiff received a “L” performance rating, a category used

generally for those in the lowest 10% of each department. As a result, plaintiff was

placed on a performance improvement plan. On August 30, 2002, the plaintiff’s

employment was terminated because of poor performance and her failure to meet the

plan’s objectives.

The case was assigned to a Magistrate Judge who prepared an exhaustive

report examining and quoting from the extensive discovery material. The report

recommended the entry of summary judgment for the defendant on all counts. The

Report found that defendant had articulated legitimate business reasons for the plaintiff’s

discharge, and that plaintiff did not provide evidence that the reasons were pretext for

discrimination. The district judge adopted the report and entered judgment for the

defendant.

2 We have reviewed the briefs of the parties and studied the comprehensive

report of the Magistrate Judge. We agree that plaintiff has not shown that her discharge

resulted from gender or age discrimination.

Accordingly, we will affirm the judgment of the District Court.

3