Cook v. Life Credit Union

138 F. Supp. 3d 981, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 134596, 2015 WL 5774585
CourtDistrict Court, M.D. Tennessee
DecidedSeptember 30, 2015
DocketCase No. 3:14-cv-00371
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 138 F. Supp. 3d 981 (Cook v. Life Credit Union) 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
Cook v. Life Credit Union, 138 F. Supp. 3d 981, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 134596, 2015 WL 5774585 (M.D. Tenn. 2015).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM

WILLIAM J. HAYNES, JR., Senior District Judge.'

Plaintiff, Ross Cook, filed this action under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, 42 U.S..C. § 2000e et seq., as amended, the Tennessee Human Rights Act, Term.Code. Ann. § 4-21-101 et seq., the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (“ADA”), 42 U.S.C. § 12117, and the Tennessee Disability Act, Term.Code Arm. § 8-50-103 against Defendant, Life Credit Union, Plaintiffs former employer. Plaintiffs claims arise out of his termination that he contends was discriminatory because of his-gender and his disability. Plaintiff also 1 asserts claims for sexual harassment and retaliation.

Before the Court is the Defendant’s motion for summary judgment (Docket Entry No. 18), contending, in sum, that Plaintiffs proof fails to establish his claims, and that even if Plaintiffs claims were proven, Defendant can show a non-discriminatory reason for Plaintiffs termination. In response, Plaintiff asserts that his 'evidence is sufficient to support his claims. (Docket Entry No. 27).’ • In his response, Plaintiff also concedes his disability discrimination claims.

For the reasons set forth below, the Court concludes that Defendant’s motion for summary judgment (Docket Entry No. 18) should be granted because Plaintiffs proof fails to meet the standards for a judgment on his claims.

A. Findings of Fact1

Defendant is a credit union with its offices- in Nashville, Tennessee. (Docket Entry No. 1, Complaint at l).2 At the time of Plaintiff s employment, Pam Tenpenny was Defendant’s Chief Executive Officer, and Benita Harp was Defendant’s- Chief Operating Officer. (Docket Entry No. 21-2, Tenpenny Affidavit, at 1ÍT; Docket Entry No. 21-3, Harp Affidavit, at 11). Harp had complete authority to hire and fire employees without Tenpenny’s authorization. (Docket Entry No, 27-1, Tenpenny Deposition, at p. 9). -

[984]*984On November 29, 2012, Defendant sent a letter offering Plaintiff the position of Branch Manager. (Docket Entry No. 21-4). This was a new position and the offer letter stated that “[Plaintiffs] first 90 days of employment with the credit union are considered an introductory period. Completion of this introductory period does not guarantee continued employment for any specified period of time, nor does it require that a termination be based on ‘cause.’” (Docket Entry No. 21-1, Cook Deposition, at pp. 38-39; Docket Entry No. 21-4, Offer Letter, at 2). Plaintiff accepted the Defendant’s offer on November 30, 2012 and began work on January 2, 2013. (Docket Entry No. 21-4 at 4, 3).

Plaintiffs direct supervisor was Christa Elliot. Id. at 2. During the introductory period, Plaintiff was trained primarily by Christy Skinner. (Docket Entry No. 21-1 at p. 67). Plaintiff immediately began complaining about his training. “At first ... [Skinner] would try to train me some. It was hit or miss[.]” Id. During his first week of work, Plaintiff was included on an email from a client that indicated that Plaintiff worked in collections. Id. at p. 68. Skinner worked in collections, and Plaintiff describes Skinner as angry that Plaintiff was included on the email. Id. at pp. 68, 73-74. Tenpenny approached Plaintiff and told him to disregard the email and that Skinner could handle the duties of collections. Id. at p. 71. Skinner agreed that Tenpenny spoke to Plaintiff regarding responsibilities for collections, but denies that she confronted Plaintiff about the email. (Docket Entry No. 27-5, Skinner Deposition, at pp. 25-26). There were hot any further conversations about the email. (Docket Entry No. 21-1 at p. 74-75).

Plaintiff asserts that after this email, his relationship with Skinner “started going down.” Id. at p. 68. Plaintiff asserts that Skinner would ignore him, give “short answers” and “tell [him] she would be in there in a minute to help [him],” but would “never come.” Id. at p. 69. After the conversation regarding the email, Skinner would train Plaintiff a “[l]ittle bit.” Id. at p. 75. Life Credit Union’s computer system differed from the system of Plaintiff s prior credit union. Id. at p. 76. Plaintiff agreed that he had a “[b]ig learning curve.” Id. at p. 77. Skinner also acknowledged that learning the system required extra work and “getting used to it,” (Docket Entry No. 27-5 at p. 31).

Plaintiff utilized an office guide book and online training to learn the Defendant’s computer system. (Docket Entry No. 21-1 at pp. 77-78). Plaintiff did not find these helpful and preferred to be trained in person on the operation of the Defendant’s computer system. Id. at p. 88. Plaintiff also asked other employees for help when he needed it immediately. Id at p. 79. In late January or early February, Elliot told Skinner that Plaintiff “fe[lt] as if [Skinner had] been ignoring him.” (Docket Entry No. 27-5 at p. 36). Skinner and Elliot immediately called Plaintiff into Elliot’s office to discuss the issue. Id. at pp, 36-37. Plaintiff stated that his “primary problem [with Skinner was] the training.” (Docket Entry No. 21-1 at p. 80).

By February, Plaintiff considered his job in jeopardy. (Docket Entry No. 21-1 at pp. 96-97). Elliot and Harp came into Plaintiffs office “almost a(sic) weekly.” Id. at p. 97. Once, Harp asked him why he should remain in his position.3 Id. at [985]*985pp. 97-98 Plaintiff requested a meeting with Harp to answer his question. Id. at p. 98. Plaintiff “felt like no one was willing to train [him] because they didn’t feel there was a reason.” Id. According to Harp, all staff completed the same exercise, based on training program at Apple, (Docket Entry No. 27-3, Harp Deposition, at pp. 55-56).

According to Plaintiff, other employees also complained of a lack of training. (Docket Entry No. 21-1 at p. 81). Casey Midgett, a male employee, told Plaintiff that training at Life Credit Union was “basically non-existent” and could take up to six months, and advised Plaintiff to “just stick with it.” Id. at pp. 81-82. Plaintiff acknowledged that he was making errors and attributed the errors to the lack of training. Id. at p. 99. Within six weeks of starting the job, Plaintiff believed that he would be terminated. Id. at p. 129. Plaintiff expressed his concerns to Tenpenny once and to Harp once or twice. Id. at p. 82. Plaintiff also emailed Elliot about lack of training. Id. at p. 99.

According to Plaintiff, he was called into Elliot’s office in mid-February where Elliot asked Plaintiff “do you work out” and “how big are your arms.” Id. at pp. 101-02. Plaintiff testified that Elliot remarked, “I bet you have huge biceps.” Id. at p. 102. Skinner, who was present, purportedly stated, “you can tell he works out. Look at his shoulders in that shirt.” Id. at p. 106. Plaintiff did not respond to these comments. Id. According to Plaintiff, Elliot grabbed Plaintiffs arm, laughed, and said “don’t turn me in or make a big deal about it.” Id.

According to Elliot, Plaintiff was not called into the office, “[h]e just came in, conversation” and Plaintiff asked about Elliot’s weight loss program. (Docket Entry No. 27-2, Elliot Deposition, at pp. 42-43).

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138 F. Supp. 3d 981, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 134596, 2015 WL 5774585, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cook-v-life-credit-union-tnmd-2015.