Burnley v. Bosch Americas Corp.

75 F. App'x 329
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
DecidedAugust 27, 2003
DocketNo. 02-5953
StatusPublished
Cited by23 cases

This text of 75 F. App'x 329 (Burnley v. Bosch Americas Corp.) 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
Burnley v. Bosch Americas Corp., 75 F. App'x 329 (6th Cir. 2003).

Opinion

KEITH, Circuit Judge.

Plaintiff-Appellant Terra L. Burnley (“Burnley”) appeals the district court’s order denying her motion under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b)(1) for relief from the order dismissing her claim under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act as amended, 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000e et seq., against her former employer, Defendant-Appellee Bosch Americas Corp. (“Bosch”). In her Title VII claim, Burnley alleged that she was discharged as a result of racial discrimination. The district court granted Bosch’s motion for summary judgment on this claim with prejudice, finding that Burnley, who had failed to respond to Bosch’s motion, failed to establish a prima facie case of racial discrimination, and that Bosch presented a legitimate non-discriminatory justification for Burnley’s discharge. Burnley filed a motion under Rule 60(b)(1) requesting relief from summary judgment. The district court denied Burnley’s motion finding that: (1) Bosch would have suffered substantial prejudice if this motion were granted because the district court granted summary judgment on the merits of this case: and (2) Burnley failed to present a meritorious defense. For the reasons explained below, we AFFIRM the district court’s order.

I. BACKGROUND

This appeal stems from Burnley’s Title VII complaint, alleging that Bosch discharged her because of her race. From 1996 until 1998, Burnley, an African-American woman, was employed as a welder at Bosch’s plant in Gallatin, Tennessee. Bosch manufactures power brake boosters for automobile braking systems. On November 5, 1998, Bosch replaced the cardboard totes its welders used for transporting threaded screws (“studs”) with lighter plastic totes. Bosch made this change for ergonomic and economic reasons.

Upon arriving at work that morning, Burnley complained to Charles Andrews (“Andrews”), the plant’s Kaizen Technician,1 about the new plastic totes because [331]*331she felt that they did not fit on the tote stands as easily as the cardboard totes, and because she believed that the new totes made it difficult for her to perform ergonomic exercises. Andrews submitted an affidavit stating that during this conversation, Burnley was “angry and that she behaved very rudely” and that she raised her voice and pointed her finger. (J.A. at 49.)

Later that day, Burnley approached David Krebs (“Krebs”), President of Bosch Operations, during his customary walk around the plant floor, and she expressed to him her dissatisfaction with the new plastic totes. This exchange lasted between ten and fifteen minutes. Stephanie Sadler, (“Sadler”), a white woman who worked in another welding area, was also present during this exchange and expressed her dissatisfaction with the new plastic totes. Krebs later recounted that during this exchange, Burnley was “practically shouting” and that when he turned to walk away. Burnley said something to the effect of “ ‘[t]um around, don’t you walk away from me.” ’ (J.A. at 45.) Mike Clem, the plant’s Operations Manager, witnessed this exchange and submitted an affidavit stating that Burnley was “agitated and talking in a loud voice.” (J.A. at 56.) The exchange ended when Krebs walked away and told Burnley to get back to work.

A few hours later, Pam Whittaker (“Whittaker”), the Team Development and Training Leader at Bosch’s Gallatin plant, met with Burnley in order to discuss her conduct earlier that day. During this meeting, Whittaker informed Burnley that her conduct was grounds for termination, and that she was being suspended pending an investigation.

During the investigation, Aletha Searcy, the Human Resources Representative at Bosch’s Gallatin plant, spoke with several witnesses about Burnley’s conduct during her conversation with Krebs. Searcy submitted an affidavit stating that all of the witnesses she interviewed indicated that Burnley was very agitated and raised her voice during her conversation with Krebs, and that Sadler’s conduct was not comparable to Burnley’s conduct. While the investigation was pending, Krebs recommended to Searcy that Burnley be fired for insubordination. On November 10, at the close of its investigation, Bosch finalized the decision to discharge Burnley for insubordination. Sadler was neither discharged nor suspended.

On September 19, 2000, Burnley filed a pro se employment discrimination claim against Bosch under Title VII, alleging that she was discharged because of her race. On February 26, 2001, Bosch moved for summary judgment against Burnley’s claim, arguing that Burnley failed to establish a prima facie case of discrimination, and that she did not present evidence to rebut Bosch’s legitimate non-discriminatory reason for discharging Burnley - her insubordination. In support of its motion for summary judgment, Bosch submitted several affidavits indicating that Sadler’s conduct was not as egregious as Burnley’s conduct, and that Burnley was extremely agitated and had raised her voice during her conversation with Krebs.

After Bosch moved for summary judgment, Burnley retained counsel. Burnley’s attorney, James Harris (“Harris”), was given additional time to respond to Bosch’s motion. However, Harris failed to file a timely response. Harris later testified that he inadvertently overlooked the deadline for filing a response in this case because his scheduling calendar was misplaced when he moved his office. On Sep[332]*332tember 19, 2001, after evaluating the strength of Bosch’s motion against Burnley’s complaint, the district court granted Bosch’s motion for summary judgment with prejudice. Specifically, the district court found that Burnley failed to bear her ultimate burden of proof that she was discharged because of her race.

Two days later, Burnley filed a motion pursuant to Rule 60(b)(1), requesting relief from the order of dismissal, on the grounds that her counsel’s inadvertence constituted excusable neglect, and that Bosch would not be prejudiced if she were granted relief because no trial date had been set. Burnley also filed a motion to accept her late response to Bosch’s motion for summary judgment. The district court granted Burnley’s motion to file a late response.

In her response, Burnley denied yelling during her conversation with Krebs, and argued that she had established a prima facie case of racial discrimination under Title VII. The only additional evidence submitted with this response was Sadler’s affidavit, in which Sadler noted that she said just as much as Burnley during the conversation with Krebs. Sadler also noted that Burnley’s tone was different from hers because “she is black and I am white. Perhaps she uses more slang than I do.” (J.A. at 150.)

Upon considering Burnley’s response, the district court denied Burnley’s request for relief under Rule 60(b)(1) finding that: (1) Bosch would suffer substantial prejudice if Burnley were granted relief from the order of dismissal because the district court already dismissed the case on its merits; and (2) Burnley failed to establish a meritorious defense because she did not present evidence substantiating her allegations of racial discrimination. Burnley filed this timely appeal. She argues that the district court erred when it denied her relief from the order granting summary judgment in favor of Bosch, because she presented sufficient evidence to substantiate her claim of racial discrimination.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
75 F. App'x 329, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/burnley-v-bosch-americas-corp-ca6-2003.