Dunlap v. Kansas, Department of Health & Environment

211 F. Supp. 2d 1334, 2002 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14305, 2002 WL 1798535
CourtDistrict Court, D. Kansas
DecidedJuly 31, 2002
DocketCase 00-4185-RDR
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 211 F. Supp. 2d 1334 (Dunlap v. Kansas, Department of Health & Environment) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Kansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Dunlap v. Kansas, Department of Health & Environment, 211 F. Supp. 2d 1334, 2002 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14305, 2002 WL 1798535 (D. Kan. 2002).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

ROGERS, Senior District Judge.

Plaintiff, a German-born female who is a naturalized citizen of the United States, asserts discrimination and retaliation claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title VII”), 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq. Specifically, she claims *1337 that during the course of her employment with the State of Kansas she has (l)-been subjected to. a hostile work environment; (2) received disparate treatment in the terms and conditions of her employment; and (3) been retaliated against by her supervisor for filing a complaint with the Kansas Human Rights Commission (“KHRC”). Presently before the court is defendant’s motion for summary judgment in which defendant asserts that it is entitled to summary judgment on each of plaintiffs claims. For the reasons stated below, the court grants defendant’s motion.

In considering the defendant’s motion for summary judgment, the court must view all the evidence in the light most favorable to the plaintiff. MacDonald v. Eastern Wyo. Mental Health Ctr. 941 F.2d 1115, 1117 (10th Cir.1991). Under Fed. R.Civ.P. 56(c), summary judgment is only appropriate “if the pleadings, deposition's, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue of material fact, and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” The initial burden is on the moving party to demonstrate that there is no genuine issue of material fact. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). This burden can be met by showing that there is insufficient evidence to support the nonmoving party’s ease. Id. at 325, 106 S.Ct. 2548. Once this burden has been met, the burden shifts over to the party resisting the motion to show that there is a genuine issue of material fact. Id. The nonmoving party must “make a showing sufficient to establish the existence of an element essential to that party’s case, and on which that party will bear the burden of proof at trial.” Id. at 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548. The nonmoving party “may not rest upon the mere allegations or denials of his pleadings” to avoid summary judgment. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). “The mere existence of a scintilla of evidence in support of plaintiffs position [is] insufficient; there must be evidence on which the jury could reasonably find for the plaintiff.” Id. at 252, 106 S.Ct. 2505.

BACKGROUND

The following facts are either uncontro-verted or viewed in the light most favorable to the plaintiff. Facts that are immaterial have been omitted.

Plaintiff has been employed by the State of Kansas, and more specifically, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (“KDHE”) since October 28, 1992. On October 15, 1997, plaintiff began working in the Office of Information Systems at Forbes Field. Initially, she was supervised by Jim Green. Later in March or April of 1998, Phil Breedlove replaced Jim Green as plaintiffs supervisor. Many of the events which plaintiff complains of occurred while she was under Breedlove’s supervision.'

The “Mocking” of Female KDHE Employees

According to plaintiff, in May of 1998 she began overhearing Breedlove “make fun” of female KDHE employees who spoke with accents. More specifically, plaintiff alleges that Breedlove would gather with co-workers after computer classes that he taught and use a Spanish accent to mimic unintelligent questions that had been asked by female students during class. Plaintiff claims that initially she tried to ignore the mocking, but after she “got sick and tired of it” she approached Breedlove on several occasions and requested him to stop. In her deposition, plaintiff stated, “I told him I didn’t think that [it] was nice and that I spoke with an accent, you know, and it didn’t-feel good *1338 when you hear that people make fun of you....” Pit’s Depo. at 19:20-24.

When, despite plaintiffs efforts, the mocking did not stop, plaintiff claims that she then complained to Breedlove’s supervisor, Pam Tierce. Plaintiff also vaguely testified during her deposition that she telephoned the Personnel Department of KDHE to complain about Breedlove’s conduct. According to plaintiff, no action was taken by anyone at KDHE, including Tierce, to correct Breedlove’s conduct.

Plaintiff claims that she continued to overhear the mocking until her work station was moved in April 1999 to a location from which she could no longer hear the mocking. The frequency of the mocking is not clear from reading the plaintiffs deposition. She vaguely estimated that the mocking would occur at least weekly and in some cases three times a day, but “it depended on how often he would have a foreigner in his class.... ” Pit’s Depo. at 178:24-25.

Plaintiff has never heard Breedlove mimic a German accent, nor has she ever heard Breedlove make any derogatory comments concerning people of German ancestry or national origin. Plaintiff does claim, however, that Breedlove would sometimes amuse himself by pretending not to understand her accent in order to force her to repeat words that she had a hard time pronouncing.

The Cowboy Hat Incident

Sometime in February 1999, Barry Greis, a high-level employee known for wearing cowboy hats, left KDHE. On February 26,1999, Tierce and Breedlove saw a cowboy hat on plaintiffs work station with an attached note which read “RIP.” Both Tierce and Breedlove interpreted the hat and accompanying note to be a symbol of celebration of Greis’s departure from KDHE. Plaintiff was not present at work the day the RIP sign appeared on the cowboy hat and denies all involvement with placing the note on the hat. Plaintiff, however, does not deny that the cowboy hat had been at her work station for about a week prior to the incident.

Tierce, while Breedlove was present, called and reported the incident to Craig Peterson in KDHE Personnel. Breedlove claims that the fact that plaintiff was not at work that day was communicated to Peterson. Although it is not clear what actions the KDHE Personnel Office subsequently took, on March 2, 1999, plaintiff received a letter of reprimand 1 from the Secretary of KDHE, Clyde Graeber, regarding the cowboy hat. In this letter, Secretary Graeber stated that he viewed the cowboy hat as an “outward demonstration” that was “disrespectful to [his] office” and a demonstration that “cause[d] undue disruption to the workplace.” Pit’s Ex. 2. The letter of reprimand was not placed in plaintiffs official personnel file.

The plaintiff believes that because Breedlove knew the cowboy hat did not belong to her and that she was not present at work the day the note appeared on the hat, he must have lied to the Secretary’s Office about plaintiffs involvement with the cowboy hat.

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Bluebook (online)
211 F. Supp. 2d 1334, 2002 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14305, 2002 WL 1798535, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dunlap-v-kansas-department-of-health-environment-ksd-2002.