Bakhit v. Safety Markings, Inc.

33 F. Supp. 3d 99, 2014 WL 2871585, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 85349, 98 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 45,103
CourtDistrict Court, D. Connecticut
DecidedJune 23, 2014
DocketCivil Action No. 3:13-CV-1049 (JCH)
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 33 F. Supp. 3d 99 (Bakhit v. Safety Markings, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Connecticut primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bakhit v. Safety Markings, Inc., 33 F. Supp. 3d 99, 2014 WL 2871585, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 85349, 98 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 45,103 (D. Conn. 2014).

Opinion

RULING RE: DEFENDANTS’ MOTION TO DISMISS (Doc. No. 21)

JANET C. HALL, District Judge.

Plaintiffs Yosif Bakhit and Kiyada Miles' bring this action- against their former employer, defendant corporation Safety Markings, Inc. (“Safety Markings”), and individual defendants Mark Kelly (president of Safety Markings), Ray Vezina (foreman), Phil Brininger (foreman), James Cody (superintendent), Jeff Perra (foreman), and Tom Hanrahan (lead fore[102]*102man) (collectively, “the defendants”).1 The Complaint claims that Safety Markings and the individuals named are each liable to each of the plaintiffs for the torts of intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligent infliction of emotional distress. See Complaint (“Compl.”) (Doc. No. 1) at 18-19. It also claims that the defendants discriminated against the plaintiffs on the basis of race in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1981. See id. at 16-18. The defendants filed a Motion to Dismiss parts of Count I and the entirety of Counts II, IV, V, VI, VII, and VIII. See Motion to Dismiss (Doc. No. 21); Memorandum in Support of Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss (“Defs.’ Mem.”) (Doc. No. 22); Plaintiffs’ Opposition to Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss (“Pis.’ Opp.”) (Doc. No. 26). For the reasons that follow, the Motion to Dismiss is granted as to the claims for negligent infliction of emotional distress (Counts VII and VIII) and as to the retaliation claim in Count I (with leave to amend as to that claim) and is otherwise denied.

I. FACTS2

Bakhit is a dark-skinned Muslim immigrant from Sudan. Compl. at ¶ 6. Miles is a black American from Trumbull, Connecticut. Id. at ¶¶ 9-10. Safety Markings is a business that stripes and marks roadways. Id. at ¶ 15. Both Bakhit and Miles began working for Safety Markings in 2008. Id. at ¶¶ 7,11.

Throughout the course of their employment with Safety Markings, the plaintiffs have been subject to a hostile environment that has been rife with the use of racial and ethnic slurs and derogatory remarks and jokes. Terms used included “n-r,” “camel jockey,” “bomber,” and “terrorist.” Id. at ¶¶ 26-27. At one point, when Miles, defendant Vezina, and two other employees (one of them black) were working on a job, the other black employee began to step out of the truck; Vezina drove the truck as the black employee hung on for nearly two blocks. Id. at ¶ 46. He then stated, “At least I can die knowing I dragged a black man from the back of my truck.” Id. At another point, Vezina had Bakhit open a medicine bottle for him. Id. at ¶ 58. Complying, Bakhit pulled out the cotton ball from the bottle. Id. Vezina explained, “I just wanted to see [a] black man pick cotton.” Id. Yet another time, Bakhit was at a gas station with defendant Ryan and others, when Ryan offered Bak-hit a banana — “Here Yosif.... They are two-for-one” — comparing Bakhit to a nonhuman primate. Id. at ¶ 62. In the middle of painting a highway, defendant Bri-ninger told Bakhit, “I should paint you white.” Id. At another point, Vezina intentionally sprayed Miles’ arm white, pointing to it and stating, “That’s the only way you are going to move up in the company.”3 Id.

In response to these and similar occurrences, both Miles and Bakhit complained to their immediate supervisors and to Kelly, the company’s president. Id. at ¶¶ 33, 37, 73. Despite these attempts to improve the situation by working with individuals [103]*103at the company, the supervisors to whom they complained did not make positive changes to the working environment, and conditions did not improve. See, e.g., id. at ¶¶ 34, 38, 65, 76. Additionally, nineteen days after he filed a formal written complaint with Kelly, Bakhit discovered that his car’s windshield had been smashed and reported it to the police and (through counsel) to Safety Markings, which responded that it would arrange for antidis-crimination training for its employees. Id. at ¶¶ 74-75.

Despite receiving very favorable performance reviews, Bakhit never advanced beyond the lowest of six ranks for employees in the company. Id. at ¶ 88. Miles at one point advanced from the lowest to the next rank. Id. at ¶ 89. When Miles sought an additional promotion in December 2012, in front of other employees Kelly called him “stupid” and advised him that he was being demoted back to the lowest rank — to which he was indeed demoted, and where he remains. Id. Meanwhile, white employees with similar or less experience have been given more favorable treatment. Id. at ¶¶ 90-96. White employees have also received unmerited comparatively favorable treatment in terms of the difficulty or desirability of the work they have been assigned and the guidance, training (and consequent opportunities for advancement), and actual promotions that they have received. Id.

Faced with these and other torments from the defendants, Bakhit was eventually unable to return to work. Id. at ¶ 77. He made clear to Kelly that he wanted no further contact, but after a contested unemployment hearing in 2013, Kelly continued to contact Bakhit repeatedly. Id. at ¶¶ 79-80.

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW

On a motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6), a court takes all of the well-pleaded “factual allegations of the complaint to be true and draw[s] all reasonable inferences in the plaintiffs favor.” Warren v. Colvin, 744 F.3d 841, 843 (2d Cir.2014). Dismissal of a claim is appropriate if, despite this favorable reading, the complaint fails to allege “enough facts to state a claim for relief that is plausible on its face.” Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 547, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007). The requirement to allege “facts” means that “bald assertions” and “merely conclusory allegations” do not suffice. Jackson v. Cnty. of Rockland, 450 Fed.Appx. 15, 19 (2d Cir.2011); see also Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009). A complaint is “plausible on its face” if the facts that the plaintiff pleads “allow[ ] the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged.” Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937. That is, the complaint must raise “more than a sheer possibility that a defendant has acted unlawfully.” Id. “Determining whether a complaint states a plausible claim for relief [is] a context-specific task that requires the reviewing court to draw on its judicial experience and common sense.” Id. at 679, 129 S.Ct. 1937.

III. DISCUSSION

A. Intentional infliction of emotional distress (Connecticut common law), Counts V and VI

The plaintiffs bring claims for intentional infliction of emotional distress (IIED) under Connecticut common law against all of the defendants in Counts V (Bakhit) and VI (Miles) of the Complaint. The defendants argue that these counts fail to state cognizable claims because the conduct alleged is not sufficiently “extreme and outrageous.” Defs.’ Mem. at 13-14. The [104]

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33 F. Supp. 3d 99, 2014 WL 2871585, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 85349, 98 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 45,103, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bakhit-v-safety-markings-inc-ctd-2014.