Amy MacDonald-Bass v. JE Johnson Contracting, Inc.

493 F. App'x 718
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
DecidedAugust 13, 2012
Docket10-2318
StatusUnpublished
Cited by28 cases

This text of 493 F. App'x 718 (Amy MacDonald-Bass v. JE Johnson Contracting, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Amy MacDonald-Bass v. JE Johnson Contracting, Inc., 493 F. App'x 718 (6th Cir. 2012).

Opinions

OPINION

PER CURIAM.

Plaintiff-Appellant Amy MacDonald-Bass timely appeals the district court order granting summary judgment to her former employer, Defendant-Appellee J.E. Johnson Contracting, Inc. MacDonald-Bass alleges that JEJ terminated her on account of her sex and in retaliation for filing a worker’s compensation claim. We AFFIRM.

I.

Neither party disputes the facts as set forth in the district court’s opinion, Macdonald-Bass v. JE Johnson Contr., Inc., 2010 WL 2990100, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 75961 (E.D.Mich. July 28, 2010), so we reprint them in full:

[720]*720Plaintiff is female, approximately thirty-seven years old, 5' 1" tall, and weighs 125 pounds. Defendant is a full service mechanical contractor providing process piping, plumbing, and heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (‘HVAC’) services. In October 2006, Jim Bass, an employee of Defendant, asked his supervisor, mechanical and general superintendent Ray Johnson, to consider hiring Plaintiff. During his interview with Plaintiff, Johnson expressed concern about Plaintiffs ability to physically lift the weight of the pipe and plumbing products. Plaintiff indicated that she did not want any special treatment and stated that she could repeatedly lift 50 pounds or more. Ultimately, Johnson ‘agreed to give the Plaintiff the same opportunity to work at J.E. Johnson as everyone else despite her small physical size and lack of experience.’ When Plaintiff was hired on October 23, 2006, she was the only female employee in the pipefitting department.
Plaintiff began employment as a ‘helper’ at a pay rate of $ 8.50 per hour for forty hours a week. Her job required her to ‘safely perform assigned tasks related to the layout and installation of the various system related to commercial, industrial and institutional systems.’ Assigned tasks included, but were not limited to, lifting heavy pipes, retrieving parts, cutting, grinding, beveling a variety of pip-ings and fittings, painting the back room ceilings, and the overall cleanup of the shop area. Plaintiff was required to be able to meet certain physical requirements, including: (1) the ability to stand for prolonged periods of time; (2) the ability to stand and walk throughout project sites and machine shop; (3) a full range of body movements including use of hands to finger, handle, or feel objects, computer equipment and peripherals; (4) the ability to bend, stoop, and crouch; (5) the ability to climb stairs and ladders; (6) the ability to operate a motor vehicle; (7) a command of the senses of sight, hearing and touch; and (8) the ability to lift up to fifty pound loads.
In February 2007, Plaintiff received a sixty to ninety day performance evaluation. Her supervisors noted that her skill level matched her wages, and that the ‘ABC Wheels of Learning’ program would help improve her skills. On March 12, 2007, Plaintiff received a $ 1.50 per hour wage increase. The wage increase form, signed by Plaintiffs supervisor, David Shenkel, noted that Plaintiff was a ‘fast learner’ and ‘has self motivation to become better in the field.’ Plaintiffs first full performance evaluation was conducted on March 29, 2007, and signed by Shenkel. Plaintiffs overall performance rating was 82.63%, id., which Johnson confirmed was an ‘acceptable’ rating. This evaluation noted that Plaintiff was a ‘good worker’ and ‘listen’s (sic) well to instruction’; however, she needed improvement in areas including ‘ISO orientation,’ ‘hands on fitting skills,’ ‘spec reading,’ and ‘testing.’ In April 2007, Plaintiff had a meeting with Johnson and Schenkel, and was offered a position as a pipefitter. During this meeting, Plaintiff was told that Greg Younk, Defendant’s Vice President and General Manager, wanted Plaintiff to be the fitter ‘up front’ in the shop area. Schenkel told Plaintiff that Younk had said ‘why hire someone when we have somebody capable of doing it.’ Schenkel told Plaintiff that he did not want her to do the job, that he thought it was ‘ridiculous.’ Yet, Plaintiff testified that during this meeting, no one expressed any concern about her physical ability to do the job, read isometric drawings, or perform other fitter functions.

[721]*721In approximately May 2007, after Plaintiff had finished two semesters at the ‘ABC’ academy, Plaintiffs job classification changed from helper to apprentice pipe fitter one. As a pipe fitter one, Plaintiff had to perform the same basic functions and the same physical demands as for the helper position. She was also required to find fittings for the journeymen, measure and prep welds, and fit up welds.

Plaintiff asserts that she was not given the hands-on work needed to learn the trade. After about three months, Plaintiff approached Younk about the issue. Plaintiff testified that he said, ‘I was afraid this was going to happen.’ Younk and Plaintiff then spoke with Johnson and Steven Marker, Operations Manager. Johnson told Marker that he did not know why Plaintiff was not being allowed to fit. Marker said that he would look into the situation, but Plaintiff contends that nothing happened. Every two or three weeks, Plaintiff raised the issue with Johnson and he told her that it was not his responsibility.

On August 1, 2007, Plaintiff received a $ 1.85 per hour wage increase. Johnson recommended Plaintiff for the wage increase. On the wage increase form, Johnson noted that Plaintiff was a ‘Level 1 fitter’ and ‘is a good worker who wants to learn.’ Johnson testified that Defendant placed Plaintiff with a mentor, journeyman Kevin Roberson, to see if he could assist her in improving her performance. Johnson testified that Plaintiff seemed unable to retain the information provided by Roberson and Plaintiff continued to have performance problems identifying specific fittings and interpreting ISO drawings as well as lifting the bigger bore piping. Johnson discussed these concerns with Plaintiff. Defendant again praised Plaintiff in her September 2007 evaluation, but noted that Plaintiff needed to improve in certain areas, including “tracing,” “testing,” “flame cutting,” “specs & P & ID’s,” “ISO reading,” and “layout.” The evaluation noted that Plaintiff had improved in “reading ISO’s” and “layout.” The evaluation notes that Plaintiff “would like more opportunity to get out of the back room” and “wants to learn more fitting skills.” Plaintiff asserts that male employees, such as Jake Rowley, were permitted to perform pipefitting duties, advancing past Plaintiff in their skills because they were permitted to obtain hands-on experience.

Defendant emphasizes that the job took a physical toll on Plaintiff and highlights the following medical evidence:

08/14/2007 ... Right-sided shoulder pain ... chronic right shoulder pain over the past half year or so if not prior to that ... As a whole, I suspect this is more of an overuse injury rather than any specific trauma. She denies any specific injuries or accidents. She has a lot of problems with her right shoulder specifically with any abduction and adduction ... A lot of specific things that aggravate her including grinding, etc....
05/30/2007 ... Right shoulder pain ... this has been going on for some time, probably a few months ... the past several weeks it has been worsening ... She notices taking off her shirt or lifting the right arm hurts. She did have one episode of numbness in all the fingers of her right hand about 1 week ago ... She has not had any specific injury ...

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493 F. App'x 718, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/amy-macdonald-bass-v-je-johnson-contracting-inc-ca6-2012.