CRISCI v. BRIDGEVILLE RESTAURANT GROUP, LLC

CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedAugust 6, 2025
Docket2:23-cv-01909
StatusUnknown

This text of CRISCI v. BRIDGEVILLE RESTAURANT GROUP, LLC (CRISCI v. BRIDGEVILLE RESTAURANT GROUP, LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
CRISCI v. BRIDGEVILLE RESTAURANT GROUP, LLC, (W.D. Pa. 2025).

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA MARY CRISCI,

2:23-CV-01909-CCW Plaintiff,

v.

BRIDGEVILLE RESTAURANT GROUP, LLC; MT. NEBO FOODS, LLC; MICHAEL MCMULLEN; AND JAMES A. IRVINE,

Defendants.

OPINION Plaintiff Mary Crisci claims that Defendants discriminated against her on the basis of her sex (female) by paying her less than her male coworkers, in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and the federal Equal Pay Act; and retaliated against her for engaging in protected activity, in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). She also brings various state law claims. Defendants have moved for summary judgment on all claims. ECF No. 44. For the reasons that follow, the Court will grant Defendants’ Motion. I. Material Facts

The following facts are drawn from the parties’ Concise Statements of Material Facts, ECF Nos. 46, 55, 57, and are undisputed unless otherwise noted.1 Defendant Bridgeville Restaurant Group, LLC (“BRG”) operates various Dee Jay’s restaurants in Pennsylvania, with locations in Wexford, Collier/Bridgeville, and Washington. ECF

1 Ms. Crisci’s Statement of Material Facts and Responses to Defendants’ Statement of Material Facts, ECF No. 55, contain citations to documents that appear to be notes of deposition testimony and contain charts with excerpts of the deposition testimony. Defendants contend, however, that the cited excerpts do not align with the actual deposition testimony. Citing to notes of the deposition testimony, instead of the deposition transcript itself, does not comply with the Local Civil Rules which require a “cite to a particular pleading, deposition, answer to interrogatory, admission on file or other part of the record.” L. Civ. R. 56.B. The Court will address the relevant factual disputes below. No. 55 ¶ 2. Defendant Mt. Nebo Food Group operates a Dee Jay’s restaurant in Weirton, West Virginia. Id. ¶ 3. Defendants James Irvine and Michael McMullen are partial owners of both BRG and Mt. Nebo. Id. ¶ 4. At Defendants’ restaurants, there is a hierarchical chain-of-command with Mr. McMullen at the top, followed by Mr. Irvine as the second-in-command. ECF No. 57 ¶¶ 15–

16. Regional or district managers occupy the third-in-command position, followed by the general managers, with the assistant general managers and kitchen managers both occupying the fifth-in- command position. Id. ¶¶ 17–19. On June 9, 2022, BRG hired Plaintiff Mary Crisci, an adult female, at the Collier/Bridgeville location. ECF No. 55 ¶¶ 2, 5. Ms. Crisci started as a service manager/front house manager2 with a salary of $52,000 per year. Id. ¶ 13. Although Ms. Crisci did not work at the Mt. Nebo location in West Virginia, some of Ms. Crisci’s paychecks were issued by Mt. Nebo, instead of BRG. Id. ¶ 11. In September 2022, Ms. Crisci was promoted to general manager of BRG and given a salary increase to $60,000 per year. Id. ¶ 16. As a general manager, Ms. Crisci “was responsible for handling and investigating sexual harassment complaints [and s]he also had the authority to fire employees.”3 Id. ¶ 35. Ms. Crisci contends that Mr. Irvine asked her “to train

managers in West Virginia to schedule the West Virginia employees in a manner to force them to quit.” Id. ¶¶ 39, 40. Defendants deny this assertion. Id. While Ms. Crisci worked for Defendants, BRG employed two male kitchen managers, William Bieber and JD Rau, who were paid more than Ms. Crisci. Id. ¶ 27. As kitchen managers, Mr. Bieber and Mr. Rau had different training and duties than Ms. Crisci as they attended culinary

2 Ms. Crisci does not explain what level a service manager or front house manager occupies in the chain-of-command. See generally ECF Nos. 46, 55, 57.

3 Ms. Crisci does not elaborate on her responsibilities as a general manager, nor does she explain what her duties were as a service manager/front house manager. school and were responsible for cooking food for the restaurant. Id. ¶¶ 28, 29. In May 2022, BRG hired Jeff Datres as an assistant general manager and paid him $60,000. ECF No. 57 ¶¶ 8, 11. In September 2022, he was promoted to general manager. Id. Defendants maintain that when Mr. Datres was promoted to general manager his salary remained $60,000 per year, while Ms. Crisci

contends that his salary increased. ECF No. 55 ¶ 32 (asserting that Mr. Datres was paid $60,000 per year as a general manager); ECF No. 57 ¶ 12 (asserting that Mr. Datres surely received a pay raise as general manager). On January 22, 2023, Mr. McMullen decided to terminate Ms. Crisci’s employment based on her allegedly poor management of the restaurant, customer and staff complaints, and missing cash from the safe. ECF No. 55 ¶¶ 59, 60. On April 18, 2023, Ms. Crisci filed a sex discrimination complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and requested that it be cross- filed with the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission. ECF No. 57 ¶ 58. On November 3, 2023, Ms. Crisci filed a complaint against Defendants in this Court, and on January 16, 2024, she filed her Amended Complaint. ECF Nos. 1, 19. In her Amended Complaint, Ms. Crisci brings

multiple claims under state and federal law, including a claim for unlawful retaliation and termination, in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), 29 U.S.C. § 201, et seq., as well as West Virginia state laws (Counts I and III); sex discrimination, in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2(a)(1), the Equal Pay Act, 29 U.S.C. § 206, et seq., and Pennsylvania state law (Count II); failure to pay wages in violation of Pennsylvania state law (Count IV); and civil conspiracy in violation of Pennsylvania law (Count V).4 ECF No. 19. Defendants now move for summary judgment on all of Ms. Crisci’s claims. ECF No. 44. With briefing complete, the Motion is ripe for adjudication. ECF Nos. 44, 45, 46, 54, 55, 57, 59.

4 The Court has jurisdiction over the FLSA, Title VII, and Equal Pay Act claims, which raise federal questions, under 28 U.S.C. § 1331. The Court has supplemental jurisdiction over the state-law claims under 28 U.S.C. § 1367. II. Legal Standard

To prevail on a motion for summary judgment, the moving party must establish that “there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a). “A factual dispute is ‘genuine’ if the ‘evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party.’” Razak v. Uber Techs., Inc., 951 F.3d 137, 144 (3d Cir. 2020) (quoting Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248 (1986)). “A factual dispute is ‘material’ if it ‘might affect the outcome of the suit under the governing law.’” Id. (quoting Anderson, 477 U.S. at 248). “Where the record taken as a whole could not lead a rational trier of fact to find for the non-moving party, there is no genuine issue for trial.” NAACP v. N. Hudson Reg’l Fire & Rescue, 665 F.3d 464, 475 (3d Cir. 2011) (alteration omitted) (quoting Matsushita Elect. Indus. Co., Ltd. v.

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

Related

McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green
411 U.S. 792 (Supreme Court, 1973)
Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc.
477 U.S. 242 (Supreme Court, 1986)
Beatriz Rhoades v. Young Womens Christian Assn
423 F. App'x 193 (Third Circuit, 2011)
Wetzel v. Tucker
139 F.3d 380 (Third Circuit, 1998)
Mary Burton v. Teleflex Inc
707 F.3d 417 (Third Circuit, 2013)
Greene v. Virgin Islands Water & Power Authority
557 F. App'x 189 (Third Circuit, 2014)
Cathalene Johnson v. Federal Express Corp
604 F. App'x 183 (Third Circuit, 2015)
Cononie v. Allegheny General Hospital
29 F. App'x 94 (Third Circuit, 2002)
Florida-Kaclik C. SSPC: Society for Protective Coatings
124 F. App'x 707 (Third Circuit, 2005)
Kaucher v. County of Bucks
455 F.3d 418 (Third Circuit, 2006)
Debra Steele v. Pelmor Laboratories Inc
642 F. App'x 129 (Third Circuit, 2016)
Tribune Media Company v.
902 F.3d 384 (Third Circuit, 2018)
Smith v. City of Allentown
589 F.3d 684 (Third Circuit, 2009)
Brobst v. Columbus Services International
761 F.2d 148 (Third Circuit, 1985)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
CRISCI v. BRIDGEVILLE RESTAURANT GROUP, LLC, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/crisci-v-bridgeville-restaurant-group-llc-pawd-2025.