Frost v. State of Maine Dept. of Transportation

Superior Court of Maine·Decided October 7, 2005·No. KENcv-02-237·Unpublished

Opinion

STATE OF MAINE SUPERIOR COURT CIVIL ACTION

KENNEBEC, ss. DOCKET NO. CV-02-237

WANITA FROST, n:l I

- . 0 5

Plaintiff

DECISION AND ORDER

STATE OF MAINE, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION,

Defendant

T h s matter is before the court on defendant's motion for partial summary judgment (defendant's first motion); plaintiff's motion for partial summary judgment; defendant's motion for partial summary judgment (defendant's second motion); all pursuant to M.R. Civ. P. 56.

The present action arises primarily under the Maine Human Rights Act, 5 M.R.S.A. § 4551 et seq., alleging gender-based discrimination, hostile worlung environment, and retaliation. Plaintiff Wanita Frost ("plaintiff" or "Frost") also asserts a separate count in her complaint allegng breach of contract.

Frost began worlung for defendant Maine Department of Transportation ("defendant" or "MDOT") as a light equipment technician in 1994. Later that same year, the plaintiff was re-assigned to work as a heavy equipment techrucian. In September of 1998, Frost filed a complaint with the Maine Human Rights Commission ("MHRC"). In her complaint, the plaintiff alleged that she was the subject of unlawful gender-based discrimination in the terms and conditions of her employment, and that she was subject to a hostile and inappropriate worlung environment. On October 21, 1999, WIDOT and Frost entered into a written Settlement Agreement ("the Agreement")

under whch the defendant conceded that Frost had indeed been subjected to unlawful discrimination because of her sex, as described in the MHRC complaint. The Agreement also provided a mechanism to address future perceived inequities, and required NDOT management to take prompt and appropriate action. In addition, the parties contemplated that both State and Federal Courts, as well as the MHRC, would play a role in addressing further disputes that should arise implicating the terms of settlement.

On January 8, 2001, the plaintiff filed a second complaint with the MHRC a l l e ~ n gcontinued unlawful gender discrimination and retaliation for having filed her initial MHRC complaint. Unlike the first charge, however, h s subsequent action was dismissed by the Commission on September 24,2001.

Frost filed the present action on November 13, 2002.' The defendant filed its first motion for partial summary judgment on March 9,2004.

The plaintiff filed her motion for partial summary judgment on April 8, 2004.

The defendant filed its opposition on May 3, 2004, four days late. Frost timely filed her reply on June 14,2004 in accordance with a court-ordered extension.

1 The plaintiff subsequently filed two amended complaints. The second amended complaint, which was filed on December 16, 2003, is in five counts. Count I asserts a claim for hostile work environment based on gender under the MHRA; count I1 claims retaliation under the MHRA in that MDOT failed to protect her from harassment when she returned to work following settlement of her original MHRC charge; count I11 claims retaliation under the MHRA in that she was denied a supervisory position for which she was qualified; count N sounds in unlawful gender discrimination under the MHRA relative to being denied the supervisory position; and count V alleges breach of contract for MDOT's failure to advise her of actions taken in response to her post-settlement agreement complaints, as required under the terms of the Agreement.

The court notes MDOT's assertion that it was never served with the initial complaint, and hence, its insistence that January 23, 2003, the day Frost filed the first amended complaint, is the operative date for statute of limitations purposes. Whether the court relies on November 13, 2002, the unserved complaint, or January 23, 2003, the served complaint, the complained of activities extending into the Spring and Summer of 2001 clearly fall within the statutory limitation of 5 M.R.S.A. Ej 4613(2)(C).

MDOT filed its second motion for partial summary judgment on April 8, 2004.

After receiving an extension, the plaintiff timely filed her opposition on May 28, 2004. The defendant filed its reply on June 11,2004, seven days late.

The Law Court has explained that:

Summary judgment is no longer an extreme remedy. It is simply a procedural device for obtaining judicial resolution of those matters that may be decided without fact-finding. Summary judgment is properly granted if the facts are not in dispute or, if the defendant has moved for summary judgment, the evidence favoring the plaintiff is insufficient to support a verdict for the plaintiff as a matter of law.

Curtis v. Porter, 2001 ME 158, ¶ 7, 784 A.2d 18, 21-22. Summary judgment is proper if the citations to the record found in the parties' Rule 56(h) statements demonstrate that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. See Dickinson v. Clark, 2001 ME 49, ¶ 4, 767 A.2d 303, 305. The party opposing summary judgment will be given the benefit of any reasonable inferences that can be drawn from the presented facts. See Perkins v. Blake, 2004 ME 86, ¶ 7, 853 A.2d 752, 755. "A fact is material if it has the potential to affect the outcome of the case under governing law." Lmine v. R.B.K. Caly Coy., 2001 ME 77, ¶ 4, n.3, 770 A.2d 653, 655, n.3 (citing Burdzel v. Sobus, 2000 ME 84, 9 6, 750 A.2d 573, 575). "The invocation of the summary judgment procedure does not permit the court to decide an issue of fact, but only to determine whether a genuine issue of fact exists. The court cannot decide an issue of fact no matter how improbable seem the opposing party's chances of prevailing at trial". Searles v. Trustees of St. Joseph's College, 1997 ME 128, ¶ 6, 695 A.2d 1206, 1209 (quoting Tallwood Land & Dev. Co. v. Botka, 352 A.2d 753, 755 (Me. 1976)). To avoid a judgment as a matter of law for a defendant, a plaintiff must establish a prima facie case for each element of her cause of action. See Fleming v. Gardner, 658 A.2d 1074,1076 (Me. 1995).

Defendant's First Motion In the defendant's first motion, MDOT does not address the substance of plaintiff's claims, but rather, it presents arguments that go to what it considers procedural issues. In particular, the defendant argues that (1) certain of the plaintiff's claims are outside of the MHRA statute of limitations; (2) Frost seeks civil penal and punitive damages that are not available to her by law; (3) Frost has failed to exhaust administrative avenues of relief and is thus not entitled to certain remedies, including a jury trial, damages, and attorney's fees; (4) Frost's signing of the Agreement terminates her right to bring suit based on events occurring prior thereto; and (5) no civil penal damages are available under the Agreement because the MHRC has not determined that MDOT committed a breach.

One of the main points in issue concerns whether this court should adopt certain of the holdings espoused in National Railroad Passenger Corporation v. Morgan, 536 U.S. 101 (2002). Similar to the present case, Morgan involved claims of dscrimination, hostile working environment, and retaliation under Title VII of the Civil fights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq., whch is the federal analogue to the MHRA. In t h s context, the Morgan Court discussed several potentially relevant points, not the least of which is the difference between violations occasioned by discrete versus continuing conduct. The Court explained that discrete acts, cited examples of whch include termination, failure to promote, and similar actions it deemed "easy to identify", "are not actionable if time barred, even when they are related to acts alleged in timely filed charges". Morgan, 536 U.S. at 113. The Court did state, however, that an untimely, and thus non-actionable event may still be used by a complaining employee as background evidence in support of a timely discrete claim. See id.

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