Flagg v. Staples the Office Superstore East, Inc.

138 F. Supp. 3d 908, 25 Wage & Hour Cas.2d (BNA) 748, 2015 WL 5730704, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 131337
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Ohio
DecidedSeptember 29, 2015
DocketCASE NO. 1:14CV0004
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 138 F. Supp. 3d 908 (Flagg v. Staples the Office Superstore East, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Ohio primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Flagg v. Staples the Office Superstore East, Inc., 138 F. Supp. 3d 908, 25 Wage & Hour Cas.2d (BNA) 748, 2015 WL 5730704, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 131337 (N.D. Ohio 2015).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

CHRISTOPHER A. BOYKO, United States District Judge:

This matter is before the Court on Defendants Motion for Summary Judgment (ECF #32). For the following reasons, the Court grants, in part, and denies, in part, Defendants’ Motion.

According to Plaintiffs Second Amended Complaint, Plaintiff April Flagg (“Flagg”) was 'employed by Defendant Staples the Office Superstore East, Inc. (“Staples”) in March of 2010. During her employment with Staples, Flagg was pregnant three times. In April 2011, she gave birth to her first child and in December 2012, gave birth to her second. Plaintiff contends Defendants discriminated, harassed and retaliated against her based on her pregnancies and her request for leave due to her pregnancies. It further discriminated, harassed and retaliated against her for her need to express breast milk. Plaintiff alleges claims of unlawful discrimination under Ohio and federal law, Retaliation for use of Family Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”) leave, Interference with her FMLA leave and Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress.

Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment

Defendants Staples The Office Superstore East, Inc. (“Staples”) and Matt Mah-ran (“Mahran”) move for summary judgment on all Flagg’s claims, contending Flagg was discharged due to her inappropriate aggressive conduct towards another employee. Staples alleges Flagg was hired in March of 2010 as a part-time cashier in Mentor, Ohio. Defendant Mah-ran was the General Manager of the store and Flagg’s supervisor. When she was hired, Flagg received Staples’ Associate Handbook and signed an acknowledgment that she read and understood its contents. [913]*913The Handbook contains Staples’ policy forbidding harassment and provides internal policies for addressing harassment in the workplace. It further contains Staples’ Guidelines for Conduct addressing conduct Staples deems unacceptable and subject to immediate termination. Terminable conduct includes direct or indirect threats made to supervisors, fellow employees or customers.

In October 2011, Mahran promoted Plaintiff to Customer Service Lead and in January 2012 Plaintiff went full time. In June 2012, Plaintiff became an Inventory Associate which involved no change in her pay or full time status.

In June. 2013, Mahran was informed that Flagg had been screaming in the store and had grabbed a phone out of the hands of a co-worker, Breanna Dale, who was trying to contact her manager to intervene in the situation. Flagg allegedly followed • Dale to the manager’s office while yelling at Dale. Flagg then crossed her name off the schedule and left. Mahran was not at the store on the day this incident occurred. The following day, Mahran- contacted Human Resources, which began an investigation of the incident. Statements were obtained from employees who were present and witnessed the incident. These witness statements were sent to Lorna Wood, Senior Human Resources Manager for Defendant, who reviewed the witness statements and made the decision to terminate Flagg for violating Staples’ Guidelines for Conduct.

In their Motion for Summary Judgment, Defendants argue they did not engage in discriminatory conduct resulting in Flagg’s termination. Instead, Flagg was terminated for threatening a co-worker in violation of Staples’ Guidelines for Conduct. They further argue Flagg’s Title VII discrimination claim fails because Flagg failed to exhaust her administrative remedies since she never filed a charge of discrimination with the EEOC. Defendants contend Flagg’s state law discrimination claim fails because she cannot show a similarly situated individual outside -her protected class was treated more favorably. Furthermore, according to Defendants, Flagg’s FMLA Interference claim must fail because Flagg received all the FMLA leave to which she was entitled and her FMLA Retaliation claim fails because her termination was not pretextual, and was not related in any way to her use of FMLA leave. Lastly, Defendants contend Plaintiffs Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress claim fails because her transfer to Inventory Specialist was not outrageous.

. LAW AND ANALYSIS

Standard of Review

Summary judgment is proper “if the movant shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” See Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(a). The burden is on the moving party- to conclusively show no genuine issue of material fact exists, Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986); Lansing Dairy, Inc. v. Espy, 39 F.3d 1339, 1347 (6th Cir.1994); and the court must view the facts and all inferences in thé' light most favorable to the nonmoving party, Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 587, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986). Once the movant presents evidence to meet its burden, the nonmoving party- may not rest on its pleadings, but must come forward with some significant probative evidence to support its claim. Celotex, 477 U.S. at 324, 106 S.Ct. 2548; Lansing Dairy, 39 F.3d at 1347. This Court does not have the responsibility to search the record sua sponte for genuine issues of material fact. Betkerur v. Aultman Hosp. Ass’n., 78 F.3d 1079, 1087 (6th [914]*914Cir.1996); Guarino v. Brookfield Township Trs., 980 F.2d 399, 404-06 (6th Cir. 1992). The burden falls upon the nonmov-ing party to. “designate specific facts or evidence in dispute,” Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 249-50, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986); and if the nonmoving party fails to make the necessary showing on .an element upon which it has the burden of proof, the moving party is entitled to summary judgment. Celotex, 477 U.S. at 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548. Whether summary judgment is appropriate depends upon “whether the evidence presents a sufficient disagreement to require submission to a jury or whether it is so one-sided that one party must prevail as a matter of law.” Amway Distribs. Benefits Ass’n v. Northfield Ins. Co., 323 F.3d 386, 390 (6th Cir.2003) (quoting Anderson, 477 U.S. at 251-52, 106 S.Ct. 2505).

Title VII Discrimination based on Gender and Pregnancy

In Counts I and II- of her Second Amended Complaint, Flagg alleges unlawful discrimination based on .her gender and on account of her pregnancies. . These claims arise under both federal and state law. Staples contends Flagg’s Title VII claims fail because Plaintiff failed to..exhaust her administrative remedies prior to filing suit. Defendants contend failure „to do so deprives the Court of subject matter jurisdiction over Flagg’s Title VII claims.

Flagg responds that Sixth Circuit precedent holds that a -failure to exhaust administrative remedies does not deprive the Court of jurisdiction.

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138 F. Supp. 3d 908, 25 Wage & Hour Cas.2d (BNA) 748, 2015 WL 5730704, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 131337, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/flagg-v-staples-the-office-superstore-east-inc-ohnd-2015.