An Ohio state appeals court has reversed a lower court and found that a country club did not terminate its head golf professional, who was a woman, for the stated reasons, but at least in part because of her gender.
The plaintiff was Faith Egli, who, according to the court, had a “formidable golfing background” as both a professional golfer and as a teaching professional.
In March 1996, she became an assistant to Don Miller, the head golf professional at Congress Lake Golf Club. In 2000, Miller was given the title “director of golf,” and Egli that of “head golf professional.” When Miller retired in 2002, Congress Lake conducted a nationwide search for his replacement, finally choosing Egli to exercise full power as head golf professional.
Congress Lake Country Club is a corporation, governed by a board of eight voting directors. There is also a president and secretary. The president only votes to break ties between the directors. The secretary does not vote. The board generally meets once a month. The board at the time Egli resigned from Congress Lake in October 2007 consisted of President Tom Lombardi, Vice President Dominic Bagnoli, M.D., Treasurer John Finnucan, Secretary Craig Pelini, Frank Provo, David Scaglione, Rob Stradley, Tom Tschantz, Tom Wichert, and Scott Smart.
Congress Lake has a general manager who reports to the board, and directs the club’s operations. For most of the period during which Egli served as head golf professional, the general manager was Joe DeWitt. Egli reported directly to him.
Congress Lake also had various committees overseeing particular aspects of its operation. These included the golf committee, which oversaw the club’s various golf programs. The chairman of this committee from 2005 through 2007 was club member Bob Hendrickson. As head golf professional, Egli sat in on meetings of the golf committee, which met about once a month during the golfing season. She worked closely with Hendrickson, who was a strong supporter of Egli.
According to Egli, at the time she assumed responsibilities as head golf professional in 2002, the then-club president, Bill Allen, along with the general manager, DeWitt, and the head of the personnel committee, met with her, and told her that she could only hire male assistants, due to sex bias against her by certain club members.
Bagnioli deposed that, as a member of the board of directors in 2005, he was approached by various club members with complaints concerning Egli’s appearance, management of club golf tournaments, accessibility to members, management of subordinates and new member orientation. Bagnioli obtained letters from dissatisfied club members, including one from Pelini, later club secretary at the time of Egli’s resignation, and one signed collectively by various members, including Tschantz. The board then instructed the general manager, DeWitt, to discuss these concerns with Egli. According to both Egli and Hendrickson, head of the golf committee, Dewitt felt the various complaints lacked substance; Hendrickson attributed the complaints to sex bias. He further asserted that DeWitt indicated Egli would probably lose her position due to her sex.
Various members of the board deposed asserted that complaints regarding Egli’s handling of the various golf programs at Congress Lake, including tournaments and the junior golf program, continued to be lodged; and, that she continued to have difficulty with subordinates and relations with certain members. According to Egli, her direct supervisor, DeWitt, continued to support and praise her efforts until July 2007, when he left his position as general manager.
On Oct. 2, 2007, the board met and a vote was taken to request Egli’s resignation. Of the seven voting board members present, five were in favor of the motion; one, Provo, voted against it; and one, Smart, abstained. Two days later, Lombardi, the club’s president, and Pelini, the secretary, met with Egli to inform her that the board requested her resignation. The club offered to pay her salary through Dec. 31, 2007, and to continue to sell her merchandise at the pro shop through the same date, and to purchase the remaining inventory thereafter. Egli resigned in emails addressed to Lombardi and the board on or about Oct. 5, 2007.
She thereafter attempted to rescind her resignation through her attorney, which attempt Congress Lake refused. On or about Oct. 20, 2007, she was ordered off the club’s premises; on or about Nov.20, 2007, she was given three days’ notice to remove her inventory from the club’s pro shop. She was paid through the end of the year.
Considerable uproar ensued at Congress Lake. Some 95 members signed a petition critical of the board’s treatment of Egli. Dissatisfied stockholders in the club forced a special meeting on Nov.7, 2007, where the board, however, refused to answer any questions regarding Egli’s employment. A man was eventually hired to replace Egli.
On Aug. 11, 2008, Egli filed her complaint with the trial court, alleging violations of R.C. 4112.02(A), prohibiting employment discrimination based on sex, and R.C. 4112.99. Congress Lake moved for summary judgment. On Aug.18, 2009, the trial court granted Congress Lake’s motion, leading to an appeal.
Egli advanced two arguments:
“[1.] Whether Appellant presented direct evidence of gender discrimination sufficient to preclude summary judgment as a matter of law.
“[2.] Whether Appellant presented indirect evidence of gender discrimination sufficient to create genuine questions of material fact over whether Appellee’s reasons for discharge were pretextual.”
The appeals court sided with her on the first issue, finding that she “presented direct evidence that unlawful bias played at least some part in her termination.”
“Under her second issue, Egli contends she presented sufficient evidence to withstand summary judgment regarding whether the reasons advanced by the board for requesting her resignation were pretextual. This issue relates to whether she made a prima facie case using an indirect evidence analysis of her employment discrimination claim. The trial court concluded she did so, but that she failed to show the complaints regarding her performance as head golf professional were mere pretext for requesting her resignation.”
“Indirect evidence employment discrimination cases are analyzed under a burden-shifting test established by the United States Supreme Court in McDonnell Douglas,” wrote the appeals court.
After finding that the plaintiff established a prima facie case, or “an inference of discrimination,” the court turned to whether the employer “articulated a legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for the plaintiff’s discharge.” To the contrary, could the plaintiff “prove that the employer’s articulated nondiscriminatory reason for its action was merely pretext for unlawful discrimination?”
The appeals court cited the importance of indirect evidence, that the conduct of other non-decision makers could impact such findings.
“The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, in considering the termination of a female athletic coach under the McDonnell Douglas test, specifically considered the testimony of student athletes and fellow coaches in finding pretextual the alleged nondiscriminatory reasons for termination presented by appellee athletic department, university, and university trustees,” wrote the appeals court, citing Peirick v. Ind. University-Purdue Univ. Indianapolis Ath. Dep’t (C.A.7, 2007), 510 F.3d 681, 691-694. “Significantly, the Seventh Circuit commented: ‘Although the opinions of non-decision makers as to [appellant’s] performance cannot carry the day, their responses to the termination decision provide some indication of the type of conduct historically considered termination worthy.’ Id. at 693.”
To that point, “the testimony of Hendrickson and Burke is the type of evidence found by the Risch and Peirick courts to be sufficient to establish pretext in summary judgment proceedings under the McDonnell Douglas test. Hendrickson was not a decision-maker. However, as head of the club’s golf committee, he worked closely with Egli, and the board, on many of the issues the Congress Lake cites as supporting her termination. He testified that the reasons advanced by the board were untrue, and were pretextual. He reported that the general manager, DeWitt, believed the same. Burke, Egli’s assistant, testified via affidavit that the criticisms of her handling of the club’s golf programs and her subordinates, were untrue. Given the position these men occupied at Congress Lake, their testimony buttresses the other evidence previously cited that Egli was terminated, not for the reasons advanced by the club, but due to her sex.”
Faith Egli v. Congress Lake Club, et al.; Ct. App. Ohio, 5th App. Dist.. Stark Co. CASE NO. 2009CA00216, 2010 Ohio 2444; 2010 Ohio App. LEXIS 2003; 109 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 832l 6/1/10
Attorneys of Record: (For Appellant) Darrell N. Markijohn, Darrell N. Markijohn, Esq., LLC, Canton, OH and Homer R. Richards, Homer R. Richards Co., LPA, Canton, OH. (For Appellee) John W. McKenzie and Thomas Evan Green, Akron, OH.
