Elkins v. American Showa, Inc.

219 F.R.D. 414, 2002 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 27184, 2002 WL 32317643
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Ohio
DecidedJune 4, 2002
DocketNo. 1:99-CV-00988-HJW-JS
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 219 F.R.D. 414 (Elkins v. American Showa, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Ohio primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Elkins v. American Showa, Inc., 219 F.R.D. 414, 2002 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 27184, 2002 WL 32317643 (S.D. Ohio 2002).

Opinion

ORDER

HERMAN J. WEBER, Senior District Judge.

This matter is before the Court upon plaintiffs’ motion to certify a class (doc. 47), defendant’s opposing memorandum filed under seal (doc. 75), plaintiffs’ proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law in support of the motion to certify a class highlighted by defendant (doc. 94), defendant’s proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law highlight[416]*416ed by plaintiff (doc. 102), and plaintiffs reply memorandum (doc. 103). Also pending before the Court is defendant’s motion for a view of its plant by the Court (doc. 79).

I. Introduction

Plaintiffs filed this action on November 24, 1999. They move the Court to certify this action as a class action under Fed.R.Civ.P. 23. They allege that the action is properly brought under Rule 23(b)(2) and (b)(3). The proposed class consists of “all women who worked at defendant’s Blanchester, Ohio facility at any time from January 1,1994 to the present,” excluding officers and directors of the company (Motion for class certification, doc. 47, p. 2). The five named plaintiffs are Ramona Jean Coleman, Victoria NMN El-kins, Holly Lewis, Patricia Sue Sandlin, and Melissa Straight.1 Plaintiffs bring the following claims for relief: (1) Discrimination on the Basis of Sex in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act-Hostile Work Environment; (2) Discrimination on the Basis of Sex in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Ach-Terms and Conditions of Employment; (3) Violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act-Retaliation for Exercise of Protected Rights; and (4) Discrimination on the Basis of Sex in Violation of the Ohio Civil Rights Law. As relief, plaintiffs seek an order certifying the lawsuit as a class action; a permanent injunction enjoining defendant from continuing its discriminatory and unlawful practices; all compensatory and punitive damages permitted by federal and Ohio state law; and for such other and further relief as the court deems appropriate. Specifically, plaintiffs seek injunctive relief on behalf of the entire class requiring defendant to implement and enforce a policy for the prevention of sexual harassment and any other forms of discrimination based on sex, impose substantial discipline such as suspension without pay, demotion or termination upon any supervisor of manager who engages in sexual harassment or sex discrimination or permits it to occur in areas or among employees under his supervision or who retaliates against anyone who complains of same, revise defendants’ supervisory appraisal process to include performance evaluations for the handling of equal employment opportunity issues, and provide sexual harassment training to all employees.

The Court held an evidentiary hearing on the motion for class certification on March 7 and 8, 2002. The parties presented the testimony of witnesses, offered exhibits, and presented oral arguments. The Court took the matter under submission following the hearing.

II. Plaintiffs’ arguments in support of class certification

Plaintiffs allege that the class consists of hundreds and perhaps thousands of persons so that joinder of all members is impracticable; there are questions of law or fact common to the class which predominate over any questions affecting only individual members regarding the severity and pervasiveness of the environment, defendant’s knowledge of the environment, and defendant’s failure to take reasonable steps to prevent plant-wide harassment; the claims asserted are typical of the claims of the class; plaintiffs will fairly and adequately protect the interests of the class and have retained counsel experienced in class action and complex litigation, including sexual harassment litigation; defendant has refused to act on grounds generally applicable to the class in that it has failed to take reasonable steps to prevent class-wide sexual harassment; and final injunctive and other equitable relief is appropriate for the entire class.

Plaintiffs also contend that a class action is superior to other available methods since absent class members have no substantial interest in the prosecution of individual actions given the size of the individual claims, the expense of litigating those claims, and the potential for retaliation; defendant’s liability can be adjudicated on a class-wide basis; a class action will result in an orderly and expeditious administration of the class and insure uniformity of decisions; other [417]*417available means of adjudicating the claims are impracticable and inefficient; class members will continue to suffer damages without a class action; and this action presents no difficulties that would impede management of it as a class action.

Plaintiffs allege that even if the “predominance” or “superiority” requirements of Rule 23(b)(3) have not been met, the Court should certify a class under Rule 23(b)(2) with respect to their claims for injunctive relief. Plaintiffs assert that the Court could find that certification is appropriate on the question of whether defendant’s plant was a hostile environment for women and then, in a second stage, allow individual women employees to demonstrate that they suffered personal loss.

III. Defendant’s arguments in opposition to class certification

In opposition to the motion to certify a class, defendant alleges that plaintiffs cannot satisfy the prerequisites of Rule 23(a) because the named plaintiffs are not adequate class representatives. Specifically, defendant contends that the claims of several class representatives are barred by the statute of limitations; former employees have no standing; there are conflicts of interest among current and former employees, temporary and other employees, and supervisors and non-supervisors; the subjective element of hostile work environment discrimination prevents due process where the representatives’ perceptions diverge from those of the putative class members; available defenses create conflicts as to claims that invoke different legal standards; proposed representatives who have perjured themselves and been convicted of false statements have interests antagonistic to the alleged interests of a class; plaintiffs whose claims present unique fact patterns and circumstances are inadequate representatives; disciplinary work records create a conflict between would-be representatives and putative class members; preoccupation with retaliation claims renders plaintiffs inadequate class representatives; plaintiffs who fail to state a claim and who have been recruited are not adequate class representatives; and plaintiffs have not consistently protected the interests of the class.

In addition, defendant argues that plaintiffs cannot demonstrate that the class of persons affected is so numerous as to make joinder impracticable and that anecdotal allegations of harassment do not demonstrate numerosity. Defendant also argues that plaintiffs fail to demonstrate that there are questions of law or fact common to the proposed class. Defendant contends that the subjective element of a hostile environment claim weighs against commonality, plaintiffs are not in the same objective environment, plaintiffs have not shown that there are common issues of discrimination in terms, conditions or privileges of employment, and retaliation claims are inherently unsuitable for certification.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
219 F.R.D. 414, 2002 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 27184, 2002 WL 32317643, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/elkins-v-american-showa-inc-ohsd-2002.