Austin v. Mac-Lean Fogg Co.

999 F. Supp. 2d 1254, 2014 WL 769451, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 23462, 121 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1596
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Alabama
DecidedFebruary 25, 2014
DocketCivil Action No. 2:12-cv-04057-AKK
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 999 F. Supp. 2d 1254 (Austin v. Mac-Lean Fogg Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Austin v. Mac-Lean Fogg Co., 999 F. Supp. 2d 1254, 2014 WL 769451, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 23462, 121 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1596 (N.D. Ala. 2014).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

ABDUL K. KALLON, District Judge.

Latarsha C. Austin pursues this claim against Mac-Lean Fogg Company for sexual harassment, retaliation, and discriminatory discharge based on race and gender under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq. (Title VII), and for the torts of outrage and invasion of privacy. Doc. 1 at 6-8. Austin contends that Mac-Lean Fogg discharged her because she rebuffed the sexual advances of her supervisor, Paxton Young, and that although Mac-Lean Fogg ostensibly discharged her due to poor production rates, she actually maintained production rates superior to those of at least one coworker outside her protected class. Id. at 5. Mac-Lean Fogg moves to dismiss Austin’s claims in their entirety, doc. 19, and the motion is fully briefed and ripe for review, docs. 22, 26, 27, and 28. Based on a review of the evidence and the law, the court finds that Austin has presented a prima facie claim of sexual harassment, and consequently Mac-Lean Fogg is not entitled to summary judgment on that matter. However, Austin’s Title VII retaliation claim fails because Austin did not engage in protected activity prior to her termination, and therefore no causal link exists between her protected activity and her termination. Similarly, Austin’s invasion of privacy claim fails because Young’s alleged behavior does not entitle Austin to recovery. Lastly, Austin abandoned her remaining claims by failing to respond to Mac-Lean Fogg’s arguments concerning them. For these reasons, except for the sexual harassment claim, Mac-Lean Fogg’s motion is due to be granted.

I. SUMMARY JUDGMENT STANDARD OF REVIEW

Under Rule 56(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, summary judgment is proper “if the movant shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” “Rule 56[] mandates the entry of summary judgment, after adequate time for discovery and upon motion, against a party who fails to make a show[1257]*1257ing sufficient to establish the existence of an element essential to that party’s case, and on which that party will bear the burden of proof at trial.” Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986) (alteration in original). The moving party bears the initial burden of proving the absence of a genuine issue of material fact. Id. at 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548. The burden then shifts to the non-moving party, who is required to “go beyond the pleadings” to establish that there is a “genuine issue for trial.” Id. at 324, 106 S.Ct. 2548 (citation and internal quotation marks omitted). A dispute about a material fact is genuine “if the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party.” Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986).

The court must construe the evidence and all reasonable inferences arising from it in the light most favorable to the non-moving party. Adickes v. S.H. Kress & Co., 398 U.S. 144, 157, 90 S.Ct. 1598, 26 L.Ed.2d 142 (1970); see also Anderson, 477 U.S. at 255, 106 S.Ct. 2505 (all justifiable inferences must be drawn in the non-moving party’s favor). Any factual disputes will be resolved in the non-moving party’s favor when sufficient competent evidence supports that party’s version of the disputed facts. See Pace v. Capobianco, 283 F.3d 1275, 1276, 1278 (11th Cir.2002) (a court is not required to resolve disputes in the non-moving party’s favor when that party’s version of events is supported by insufficient evidence). However, “mere conclusions and unsupported factual allegations are legally insufficient to defeat a summary judgment motion.” Ellis v. England, 432 F.3d 1321, 1326 (11th Cir.2005) (per curiam) (citing Bald Mountain Park, Ltd. v. Oliver, 863 F.2d 1560, 1563 (11th Cir.1989)). Moreover, “[a] mere ‘scintilla’ of evidence supporting the opposing party’s position will not suffice; there must be enough of a showing that the jury could reasonably find for that party.” Walker v. Darby, 911 F.2d 1573, 1577 (11th Cir.1990) (citing Anderson, 477 U.S. at 252, 106 S.Ct. 2505).

II. FACTUAL ALLEGATIONS

The following facts reflect an assessment of the record in the light most favorable to Austin. On May 12, 2012, Austin began working as an Assembler at Mac-Lean Fogg’s Pelham plant. Doc. 19-1 at 7. Austin reported directly to Paxton Young. Id. at 7-8. Consistent with Mac-Lean Fogg’s agreement with the union that represents its Assemblers, new hires must complete a sixty-day probationary period before becoming eligible to join the collective bargaining unit. Id. at 7. During the probationary period, supervisors evaluate probationary employees after fifteen, thirty, and forty-five days. Id. at 8. Probationary employees who do not meet Mac-Lean Fogg’s attendance or work performance standards are discharged before the end of the sixty-day period. Id.

As an Assembler, Austin was responsible for assembling metal parts. Id. Assemblers work on various types of parts, and each part takes a different amount of time to assemble. Id. Accordingly, rather than evaluate Assemblers’ performance based on the number of parts they produce, Mac-Lean Fogg evaluates them according to their effectivity rate. Id. at 8-9. To calculate an Assembler’s effectivity rate, Mac-Lean Fogg divides the number of parts the Assembler produces in one hour by the amount of time it takes to produce the part.1 Id. at 9. Mac-Lean [1258]*1258Fogg expects Assemblers to maintain an effectivity rate of at least eighty percent upon hire, with the long-term goal of improving to one hundred percent. Id. at 9. During Austin’s employment, Mac-Lean Fogg relied on self-prepared, handwritten reports indicating how many parts an Assembler completed, which each assembler turned into his supervisor at the end of a shift, to calculate effectivity rates. Doc. 26 at 3. The supervisor then inputted each assembler’s effectivity rate into Mac-Lean Fogg’s computer system. Id. at 3-4.

Mac-Lean Fogg’s records indicate that Austin struggled to meet production expectations. Doc. 22-7. According to those records, Austin’s effectivity rate exceeded eighty percent during only eight of her total twenty-six shifts. Austin disputes the accuracy of these records. See doc. 26 at 11 (Austin’s response to Mac-Lean Fogg’s motion for summary judgment, noting that Austin “has disputed that her scores were recorded fairly”); see also doc. 25-1 at 27, 29 (Austin’s deposition testimony that Mac-Lean Fogg’s records of her effectivity rates differed from her recollection of those rates).

Austin received two performance evaluations from Young during her employment. Doc.

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999 F. Supp. 2d 1254, 2014 WL 769451, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 23462, 121 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1596, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/austin-v-mac-lean-fogg-co-alnd-2014.