Virginia Pollard worked as a cashier and clerk for Teddy’s Supplies, a family-owned chain of film production equipment supply stores in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. During a routine performance evaluation, Virginia's supervisor at Teddy's complained that she made too many personal phone calls when she worked in the West Orange store. The supervisor noted this on Virginia's annual review, and warned her to keep personal calls to a bare minimum while at work. Soon thereafter, Teddy transferred Pollard to guard film equipment in the main warehouse behind the storefront; Virginia couldn't make personal calls there, and her work became exemplary. Her performance evaluation three months after her transfer was "meeting expectations" with no negative comments.