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BLACKMAN v. VISITING NURSES ASS'N5/1/1997
In this appeal from the grant of summary judgment against an employee who claimed she was discharged on account of her nationality and race, we hold that the official who made the decision to terminate the employee for violating company policy is not tainted with the alleged discriminatory animus of the employee's immediate supervisor where the immediate supervisor was not involved in the decision to terminate but only provided the decisionmaker with information about conduct by the employee which violated company policy. Therefore, we affirm.
I.
Waveney Blackman was born and raised in Guyana and is of African descent. She had been employed for five and one-half years as an account representative in the billing department of the Visiting Nursing Association ("VNA"). She received a "proficient" rating in an April 1994 job evaluation. Her immediate supervisor in the VNA billing department was Irene Barnes, an African-American woman born and raised in the United States. Barnes supervised a total of five employees at the time of Blackman's employment, all of whom were of African descent, and all but one born and raised in the United States. Linda Maurano, who is Caucasian, was the President of VNA at all times pertinent to
Blackman's allegations which led to the instant action.
Early in 1994, Blackman requested two weeks annual leave to be taken in August 1994, so that she could travel to Guyana. Barnes approved this leave in the spring of 1994. Blackman had a chronic condition in her left knee which flared up in July 1994. Blackman's condition was evident to her co-workers and to Barnes. On Tuesday, July 26, 1994, Blackman had an appointment with Dr. Robert Collins to have her knee examined. Dr. Collins treated her knee, prescribed medication, and requested that Blackman schedule a follow-up appointment. Although the medical report from Dr. Collins stated that Blackman was "probably going to need arthroscopic surgery," Blackman later maintained that Dr. Collins told her that she was definitely going to have surgery on her knee. Immediately after seeing Dr. Collins, Jules Proctor, an assistant in Dr. Collins's office, prepared a medical leave slip for Blackman which authorized medical leave from August 1, 1994, to August 5, 1994. Blackman asserts that Proctor signed Dr. Collins's name to the form and that he assured Blackman he was authorized to do so. According to Blackman, Proctor initially wrote the date of her examination, July 26, 1994 (Tuesday), on the medical leave form, but changed it to July 29, 1994 (Friday).
Blackman worked on both the following Wednesday and Thursday (July 27 and 28) of that week. Blackman also went to work on Friday, July 29, 1994. Because Barnes was away on vacation, Blackman left several items on Barnes's desk, including the medical leave form, the time sheets, and a written request to substitute five days of sick leave, as prescribed on the medical leave form, in lieu of the first week of annual paid vacation. Blackman included a note on her leave form stating that she was to have knee surgery "as a result of dislodged cartilage in my knee." Blackman then departed for Guyana.
Barnes returned from her vacation the following Monday, August 1, and found the documents left by Blackman. After reviewing the medical leave form, Barnes observed that the date on the form had been altered and that the form was not completed in full. According to Barnes, she also determined that Blackman had left the documents on her desk during the morning hours of Friday, July 29, which puzzled Barnes because she had approved three and one-half hours of sick leave for Blackman's doctor's appointment for the afternoon of July 29, 1994. Barn
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