Bruce v. Levy Premium Foodservices Ltd. P'ship of Tenn.

324 F. Supp. 3d 962
CourtDistrict Court, M.D. Tennessee
DecidedAugust 17, 2018
Docket3:16 C 2734
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 324 F. Supp. 3d 962 (Bruce v. Levy Premium Foodservices Ltd. P'ship of Tenn.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, M.D. Tennessee primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bruce v. Levy Premium Foodservices Ltd. P'ship of Tenn., 324 F. Supp. 3d 962 (M.D. Tenn. 2018).

Opinion

MARVIN E. ASPEN, District Judge:

*964Plaintiff Tina Y. Bruce filed a complaint against her former employer Defendant Levy Premium Foodservices Limited Partnership ("Levy") on October 18, 2016. (Compl. (Dkt. No. 1) ¶¶ 4-5.) Bruce claims Levy violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e, et seq. , by discriminating against her based on her gender and retaliating against her for reporting the sexual harassment of a coworker. (Id. ¶¶ 50-68.) Presently before us is Levy's motion for summary judgment. (Mot. for Summ. J. ("Mot.") (Dkt. No. 34).) We hereby grant Levy's motion for summary judgment as to Count I, which Bruce concedes should be dismissed. (See Resp. (Dkt. No. 39) at 3-4.) For the following reasons, we deny Levy's motion for summary judgment as to Count II.

The trial date remains set for April 16, 2019. (Dkt. No. 54.) In preparation for trial, the parties shall file pretrial materials by the deadlines set forth below.

BACKGROUND

Unless otherwise noted, the facts described herein come from the parties' statements of fact and are undisputed. Levy "provides food and beverage services to the suites at the Bridgestone Arena" in Nashville, Tennessee. (Statement of Material Uncontested Facts ("SOF") (Dkt. No. 35) ¶ 1.) Levy hired Bruce on February 1, 2005 to work seasonally as a suite attendant during events at Bridgestone Arena. (Id. ¶¶ 15-18.) These events included Nashville Predators hockey games, concerts, and other events. (Id. ¶ 18.) During events, Bruce coordinated food and beverage service for assigned suites, including setting up and restocking food and beverage during events, and cleaning up the suites. (Id. ¶ 19.) Levy paid Bruce $10.00 an hour in addition to gratuities she received from her suite patrons. (Id. ¶ 20.) In her 2014 performance evaluation dated January 28, 2015, Tim Halterman, General Manager of the Suites, indicated Bruce's performance was "outstanding" or "very good" in ten out of fourteen categories under review. (SOF ¶ 22; Pl.'s Statement of Additional Uncontested Facts ("PSAF") (Dkt. No. 40) ¶¶ 22-23 (citing Jan. 2015 Review (Dkt. No. 41-8).)

The relevant events to this case began in November 2014, when Jacob Caffey, also a suite attendant, returned to work for Levy at Bridgestone after an extended medical leave of absence. (SOF ¶¶ 32-34.) Shortly after Caffey returned, sometime in November or December 2014, Bruce alleges Caffey began harassing another suite attendant, Kayla Costley. (Id. ¶ 37.)1 Bruce initially heard of the harassment from Costley's mother, who is Bruce's friend, and later personally witnessed Caffey make repeated sexual statements and gestures towards Costley. (Id. ¶¶ 37-39; PSAF ¶¶ 4-5.) Based on these observations, Bruce told Caffey to leave Costley alone, which led to conflict between Bruce and Caffey. (SOF ¶¶ 40-41; PSAF ¶¶ 10-11.) At some point, the timing of which is disputed, Bruce complained about Caffey's harassment of Costley to Halterman.2 (Resp. to SOF (Dkt. No. 42) ¶¶ 22, 42;

*965Dkt. No. 34-9 (February 20, 2018 email from Bruce to Halterman discussing conversation about Caffey).) After Bruce's complaint, Levy terminated Caffey on February 25, 2015. (SOF ¶ 44.)

In the months after Bruce's complaints and Caffey's termination, Bruce claims Halterman's demeanor changed towards her. (SOF ¶ 55.) Specifically, Bruce claims Halterman assigned suites to suite attendants in a manner that was disadvantageous to her, which Bruce complained about to Halterman and Kim Dallaire, Senior Office Manager, and to Levy in an anonymous letter from a "concerned co-worker." (Id. ¶¶ 55, 58-60, 65; April 2015 Letter (Dkt. No. 34-12) (alleging Halterman's favoritism towards certain employees).) Paula Meyer, Levy's Regional Human Resources Manager, investigated the complaints in Bruce's "concerned co-worker" letter and determined the allegations against Halterman were "meritless." (SOF ¶ 66.)

In the same period, Levy received a number of complaints about Bruce. On February 28, 2015, Levy received a complaint from a Levy employee that Bruce and a fellow attendant, Cassie Coleman, made racist comments3 about suite customers during a Charlie Wilson concert a few days earlier. (Id. ¶¶ 68-69.) While investigating this allegation, on March 1, 2015, Meyer and Crystal Parfitt, Director of Operations for Levy at Bridgestone, received three additional statements from Levy team members4 complaining about Bruce's workplace conduct. (Id. ¶¶ 22, 74.) The coworker statements reported that Bruce had spoken to suite runners in "a rude and unprofessional manner," accused a coworker of smoking marijuana, made false accusations, and bragged she would call the corporate office to get coworkers in trouble.5 (Id. ¶¶ 22, 75-77.) Based on the Charlie Wilson concert complaint, on March 19, 2015, Meyer, Parfitt, and Dallaire met with Bruce and issued her a written warning. (Id. ¶¶ 72-73, 78.) In addition, between February 24 and April 17, 2015, Halterman gave Bruce three verbal warnings for clocking in early or late.6 (Resp. to PSAF (Dkt. No. 47) ¶¶ 27-29.)

On April 9, 2015, Emily Roebuck reported to Dallaire that she found a recording *966device in the Bridgestone pantry inside Bruce's purse; Dallaire reported the issue to Parfitt and Meyer. (SOF ¶¶ 83-84.) After receiving Roebuck's April 9, 2015 complaint, Levy received additional statements about Bruce's "bullying" and "threatening" workplace behavior from coworkers Coleman and Shawna Jones; Bruce denies she ever harassed or bullied Jones. (Resp. to SOF ¶¶ 87-93, 97.)

Meyer and Parfitt began investigating Roebuck's complaint about Bruce's recording activities, including taking statements from Bruce, Roebuck, and Costley, whom Roebuck claims witnessed her discovering the recording device in Bruce's purse. (SOF ¶ 85.) Roebuck alleged Bruce had been recording Levy employees in the pantry when Bruce was not present and without the consent of anyone who was present. (Id. ¶ 86.) Bruce admits she recorded others in the workplace, but denies doing so outside her presence. (Id. ¶ 97; Bruce Decl. (Dkt. No. 41-18) ¶ 7 ("If I was recording, I always had the recorder on my person and in my apron. If I wasn't using it, it would be turned off in my purse ....").) On April 25, 2015, Levy suspended Bruce while the company investigated the recording device allegations. (SOF ¶ 94.)

During the days before her termination, on April 20, 2015, Bruce began contacting Rich Johns, Levy's Regional Director of Operations based in Atlanta, Georgia, by email and phone. (PSAF ¶¶ 62-68.) In emails sent on April 20 and April 24, 2015, Bruce sent Johns emails stating she was experiencing retaliation from her coworkers for speaking up about sexual harassment. (Id. ¶¶ 63-64.) On April 21, 2015, Bruce spoke on the phone with Johns. (Id. ¶ 65.) While the parties dispute some specific details of their conversation, they agree that Bruce and Johns discussed reporting sexual harassment, and that she told Johns "she was recording conversations in the workplace" to "prove [her] innocence." (

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Bluebook (online)
324 F. Supp. 3d 962, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bruce-v-levy-premium-foodservices-ltd-pship-of-tenn-tnmd-2018.