Cook v. Triple Transport, Inc.

928 F. Supp. 2d 1061, 84 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 1256, 2013 WL 781046, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 28354, 96 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 44,776
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Arkansas
DecidedMarch 1, 2013
DocketCase No. 4:12-cv-00249-KGB
StatusPublished

This text of 928 F. Supp. 2d 1061 (Cook v. Triple Transport, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Cook v. Triple Transport, Inc., 928 F. Supp. 2d 1061, 84 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 1256, 2013 WL 781046, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 28354, 96 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 44,776 (E.D. Ark. 2013).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

KRISTINE G. BAKER, District Judge.

Plaintiff Patricia Cook brings this action against defendant Triple Transport, Inc. (“Triple Transport”) under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Title I of the Civil Rights Act of 1991. Triple Transport moves for summary judgment (Dkt. No. 11). Ms. Cook has responded (Dkt. No. 17), and Triple Transport has replied (Dkt. No. 21). Triple Transport also moves to strike as untimely Ms. Cook’s response to the motion for summary judgment (Dkt. No. 18). Ms. Cook has responded (Dkt. No. 20), and Triple Transport has replied (Dkt. No. 22). For the following reasons, Triple Transport’s motion to strike and motion for summary judgment are denied.

MOTION TO STRIKE

The Court will address first Triple Transport’s motion to strike Ms. Cook’s response to the motion for summary judgment (Dkt. No. 18). Triple Transport contends that Ms. Cook’s response was untimely filed and, therefore, the Court should refuse to accept the filings and strike from the record all filings in support of the response. Triple Transport acknowledges that Ms. Cook’s response was filed “three days after the time it was due” (Dkt. No. 19, at 3). Triple Transport also acknowledges that Ms. Cook may make an affirmative showing of excusable neglect regarding her untimely filing, citing Huggins v. FedEx Ground Package Sys., 592 F.3d 853, 856 (8th Cir.2010) (Dkt. No. 19, at 3).

In response to the motion to strike, Ms. Cook states that her counsel mistakenly calculated the due date for filing the response by referring to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, without consulting the Local Rules of the Court regarding the reduction of time for responding to a motion for summary judgment (Dkt. No. 20, at 1).

For the purposes of Rule 60(b)(1) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, “[ejxcusable neglect means good faith and some reasonable basis for noncompliance with the rules.” United States v. Puig, 419 F.3d 700, 702 (8th Cir.2005) (quoting Ivy v. Kimbrough, 115 F.3d 550, 552 (8th Cir.1997)). The Eighth Circuit has described excusable neglect as “an elastic concept that empowers courts to provide relief where a party’s failure to meet a deadline is caused by inadvertence, mistake, or carelessness, as well as by intervening circumstances beyond the party’s control.” Kurka v. Iowa Cnty., 628 F.3d [1064]*1064953, 959 (8th Cir.2010) (internal quotation marks omitted) (quoting Chorosevic v. MetLife Choices, 600 F.3d 934, 946 (8th Cir.2010) (reviewing excusable neglect under Fed.R.Civ.P. 6)). “The determination of whether neglect is excusable is at bottom an equitable one, taking account of all relevant circumstances surrounding the party’s omission.” Id.

In determining whether excusable neglect exists, the Eighth Circuit has looked to the following “particularly important” factors: “(1) the possibility of prejudice to the defendant, (2) the length of delay and the potential impact on judicial proceedings, (3) the reason for the delay, including whether the delay was within the party’s reasonable control, and (4) whether the party acted in good faith.” Id. (citing Pioneer Inv. Servs. Co. v. Brunswick Assocs. Ltd. P’ship, 507 U.S. 380, 395, 113 S.Ct. 1489, 123 L.Ed.2d 74 (1993); In re Guidant Corp. Implantable Defibrillators Prods. Liab. Litig., 496 F.3d 863, 866 (8th Cir.2007)).

Applying the Kurka factors here, the Court finds excusable neglect. The delay was three days. Ms. Cook’s counsel has provided a reasonable explanation for the delay, and there has been no showing of a lack of good faith on the part of Ms. Cook. There also has been no showing of prejudice. The Court will consider Ms. Cook’s response and deny Triple Transport’s motion to strike (Dkt. No. 18).

MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

Ms. Cook is a truck driver who has worked in the industry for some time. She applied for a position with Triple Transport but was not hired. She claims she was discriminated against on the basis of her gender. Triple Transport moves for summary judgment on her claims.

I. Factual Background1

Ms. Cook worked as a truck driver for Integrity from approximately August 2009 until August 2010. She was initially interviewed for the position at Integrity by manager George White. Jonathan Kifer was also a manager at Integrity during Ms. Cook’s employment there. Ms. Cook reported to Mr. Kifer and Mr. White. Mr. Kifer approved the hire of every Arkansas driver while employed at Integrity. Mr. White did not have the authority to hire without Mr. Kifer’s approval. Mr. Kifer approved Ms. Cook’s hire at Integrity.

Ms. Cook was involved in two truck accidents while working at Integrity. In the first accident her trailer hit the hood of a Peterbilt tuck, and in the second accident, her truck damaged a gate. Ms. Cook resigned from her position at Integrity because she was romantically involved with a dispatcher, Charles Allshouse.

On May 24, 2011, Ms. Cook applied for a position at Triple Transport’s Quitman location. At that time, she was employed as a driver for JEG. Ms. Cook submitted her application to Randy Thomas, a yard manager for Triple Transport at the Quitman location. Mr. Thomas reported to Mr. Kifer, the same Mr. Kifer with whom Ms. Cook worked at Integrity. Mr. Kifer told Mr. Thomas to put Ms. Cook’s application on his desk and that he would review it when he returned.

During a discussion regarding Ms. Cook’s application, Mr. Thomas suggested to Mr. Kifer that her performance at Integrity would be a concern because she was engaged in a romantic relationship [1065]*1065with her supervisor and that conduct could cause disruption in the work place. Triple Transport claims in its motion for summary judgment that Mr. Kifer told Mr. Thomas Ms. Cook’s personal conduct at Integrity should not be considered. Ms. Cook contends that Mr. Thomas advised her that she would start the day she took her drug test and that he would fax her application to the lady in Judsonia (Dkt. No. 11-2, at 4-5). That same week, Ms. Cook called Mr. Thomas regarding her application, and he informed her that Mr. Kifer wanted to speak with her.

On May 26 or 27, 2011, Mr. Kifer spoke on the phone with Ms. Cook. He informed her that all applications must be processed by Human Resources in Judsonia, Arkansas, and that the woman who processed the applications was on vacation. Ms. Cook continued to text Mr. Kifer about the driver position 21 times, sometimes hourly. Although Ms. Cook was shown text messages during her deposition, she contends that there are some missing texts; she does not think the texts “read right” (Dkt. No. 11-2, at 8). Mr. Kifer talked on the phone with Ms. Cook twice between May 23, 2011 and June 6, 2011.

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928 F. Supp. 2d 1061, 84 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 1256, 2013 WL 781046, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 28354, 96 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 44,776, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cook-v-triple-transport-inc-ared-2013.