Grant v. Revera Inc./Revera Health Systems

655 F. App'x 914
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Third Circuit
DecidedJuly 20, 2016
Docket15-3758
StatusUnpublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 655 F. App'x 914 (Grant v. Revera Inc./Revera Health Systems) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Grant v. Revera Inc./Revera Health Systems, 655 F. App'x 914 (3d Cir. 2016).

Opinion

*916 OPINION *

PER CURIAM

Francienna B. Grant appeals from orders of the District Court granting summary judgment to the defendants, denying her motions for reconsideration, and denying a motion seeking an order dismissing a counterclaim and seeking an extension of time to appeal. For the reasons that follow, we will dismiss the appeal for the most part for lack of jurisdiction and affirm in part to the extent of our jurisdiction.

Grant initially filed her complaint in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Grant, a physical therapist, alleged that the defendants, Revera Inc./Revera Health Systems, Premier Therapy Services, and Priscilla Miller, engaged in discriminatory and retaliatory conduct after she suffered a work-related shoulder injury. 1 The action was transferred to the District of New Jersey, and, following discovery, the parties filed cross-motions for summary judgment. Grant claimed that the defendants (1) failed to accommodate her disability; (2) failed to accommodate her religion; (3) failed to intervene in the face of workplace harassment; (4) subjected her to unequal terms- and conditions of employment; (5) wrongfully terminated and retaliated against her in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 12112-12117 (“ADA”); (6) breached her employment contract; and (7) committed fraud by terminating her from her position at the Linwood Care Center pursuant to false allegations. The defendants argued that termination was proper due to certain issues concerning Grant’s time records and her allegedly poor communication with her supervisor regarding her work limitations. In their answer to the complaint, defendants Revera Health Systems and Premier Therapy Services asserted a counterclaim against Grant for $2,500.00 pursuant to the terms of a Sign-On Bonus Agreement which required her to remain employed for two years.

In a thorough decision and order entered on the docket on December 23, 2014, the District Court awarded summary judgment to the defendants. The Court concluded that Grant failed to exhaust her religious accommodation claim, and adduced no, or insufficient evidence, in support of any legally cognizable claims for breach of contract, fraud, and/or ADA discrimination under any theory. The District Court dismissed the defendants’ counterclaim for breach of contract without prejudice to reinstatement should they choose to pursue it.

On January 20, 2015, Grant filed her first motion for “reargument of dispositive motions.” In an order entered on February 24, 2015, the District Court denied the motion, concluding that Grant failed to identify any basis for reconsideration. Rather, she had merely reiterated in identical fashion all of her prior arguments concerning the record evidence in support of her various claims. Nevertheless, the Court proceeded to briefly address each of her claims anew, and found that none warranted reconsideration. Insofar as this motion for reconsideration was timely filed under Fed. R. Civ. P. 59(e), it tolled the time for appealing the District Court’s December 23, 2014 summary judgment decision. Grant had thirty (30) days from the District Court’s February 24, 2015 order, or until March 26, 2015, in which to appeal to this Court, see Fed. R. App. P. *917 4(a)(1)(A) (providing for a 30 day appeal period), and obtain review of the District Court’s decision awarding summary judgment to the defendants. Instead of taking an appeal by that date, on March 17, 2015, Grant filed a second, untimely motion for reconsideration of the District Court’s December 23, 2014 decision. Grant alleged that reconsideration was warranted because the District Court failed to render a ruling on her motion for summary judgment, and because the Court deprived her of her right to be heard through oral argument.

In an order entered on July 8, 2015, the District Court denied the second motion for reconsideration, concluding that the local rules did not contemplate second motions for reconsideration; rather, the appropriate procedure was for Grant to appeal to the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit pursuant to Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 4(a). The Court reasoned that, in any event, Grant had failed to identify an intervening change in controlling law, the presence of new, previously unavailable, evidence, or the need to correct a clear error of law or to prevent manifest injustice. Instead, she had again merely reiterated her contrary view of the record evidence considered by the Court in its December 23, 2014 decision, and revisited in its February 24, 2015 decision.

On September 2, 2015, Grant filed a notice of appeal from the District Court’s July 8, 2015 order, resulting in an appeal docketed at C.A. No. 15-3165. Our Clerk advised Grant in a letter that her appeal would be submitted to a motions panel for possible dismissal due to two jurisdictional defects, the possibility of an outstanding counterclaim and the untimeliness of the appeal. In response to this letter, on September 22, 2015, Grant filed a motion in the district court seeking an order dismissing the counterclaim, and seeking an extension of time to appeal the District Court’s July 8, 2015 order. In essence, Grant sought to cure the jurisdictional defects associated with her appeal.

In an. order entered on October 26, 2015, the District Court denied the motion as moot to the extent that Grant sought dismissal of the breach of contract counterclaim. The Court reasoned that it already had dismissed the counterclaim without prejudice, and that the defendants clearly had exhibited no intention of pursuing it. Therefore, no counterclaim remained to be adjudicated. The Court then considered whether an extension of time to appeal the order entered on July 8,2015 was warranted under Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 4(a)(5) but held that it was not for two reasons. First, Grant did not request an extension until September 22, 2015, over 45 days after the expiration of the normal appeal period, and thus her request for an extension was untimely under the Rule 4(a)(5)(A)®. Second, she had shown neither good cause nor excusable neglect, in that she offered no explanation for why she did not file a notice of appeal within the required time, provided no facts to support her request for an extension, and had filed frivolous motions for reconsideration. Meanwhile, on October 6, 2015, our Clerk dismissed the appeal docketed at No. 15-3165 for failure to prosecute because Grant did not pay the filing fees.

On November 12, 2015 Grant filed a notice of appeal, seeking review in this Court of the District Court’s July 8, 2015 and October 26, 2015 orders, resulting in the instant appeal. But in her brief on appeal, Grant primarily challenges the District Court’s summary judgment decision, and the Court’s orders denying her first and second motions for reconsideration. To a limited extent, she has argued that the Court’s October 26, 2015 order denying

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Bluebook (online)
655 F. App'x 914, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/grant-v-revera-increvera-health-systems-ca3-2016.