In re Envirosolutions of New York, LLC

476 B.R. 88, 2012 WL 2953724, 2012 Bankr. LEXIS 3308
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, S.D. New York
DecidedJuly 19, 2012
DocketNo. 10-11236 SMB
StatusPublished

This text of 476 B.R. 88 (In re Envirosolutions of New York, LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re Envirosolutions of New York, LLC, 476 B.R. 88, 2012 WL 2953724, 2012 Bankr. LEXIS 3308 (N.Y. 2012).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM DECISION AND ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART MOTION IN LIMINE

STUART M. BERNSTEIN, Bankruptcy Judge.

Bernard Griggs (“Griggs”), Norwood Sloan (“Sloan”), James Stephens (“Stephens”) and Matthew Dougbey (“Doug-bey”) (collectively, the “Claimants”) each filed proofs of claim against the bankruptcy estates of one or more of the Debtors, alleging racial discrimination and retaliation under Title VII.1 The Debtors objected to their claims, the Claimants submitted responses, and the parties each submitted proposed joint pre-trial orders.2

The Debtors argue that the facts and issues asserted in the Claimants PTO vastly expanded the scope of the permissible claims asserted in this case as limited by the charges that the Claimants presented to the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”). They have moved in limine to preclude the Claimants from presenting evidence relating to (i) hostile work environment claims, (ii) events falling outside of the applicable statute of limitations, (iii) disparate treatment asserted by employees of the Debtors other than the Claimants, and (iv) “class action” theories (the “Motion”). (See The PDS Debtors’ Memorandum in Support of their Motion in Limine, dated January 20, 2012 (“Motion”) (ECF Doc. # 505).) The Claimants submitted their opposition to the Motion (see Claimants’ Memorandum of Law in Opposition to Debtors’ Motion in Limine, dated February 3, 2012 (“Opposition”) (ECF Doc. # 507)) and the Debtors filed a reply. (See The PDS Debtors’ Reply to Claimants’ Opposition to the PDS Debtors’ Motion in Limine, dated February 10, 2012 (“Reply ”) (ECF Doc. # 508).)

The Court heard oral argument on February 16, 2012. (See Transcript of the hearing held February 16, 2012 (“Tr. (2/19/12)”) (ECF Doc. #510).) At oral argument, the parties agreed that the Court could treat the Motion as seeking to strike or dismiss the Claimants’ hostile [93]*93work environment claims on the grounds that they were not administratively exhausted, and therefore, are time-barred. (See id. at 5-6.) As noted, the Motion raises other evidentiary issues. For the reasons that follow, the Motion is granted to the extent of striking any hostile work environment claims asserted by Dougbey, Sloan and Stephens, and is otherwise denied.

BACKGROUND

The Claimants are African-American, current or former employees of Potomac Disposal Service of Virginia, LLC (“PDS”). 0Claimants PTO at ¶¶ (D)(1),(2).) PDS is one of the debtors in the jointly administered chapter 11 cases of EnviroSolutions of New York, LLC (“EnviroSolutions New York”) and its affiliates, and is a wholly owned subsidiary of debtor EnviroSolu-tions, Inc. (“ESI,” and together with PDS and EnviroSolutions New York, the “Debtors”). The Debtors operate solid waste collection, transfer, disposal and recycling businesses in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions of the United States. PDS is one of their hauling companies, and operates in Virginia. Generally, it provides collection services for municipal solid waste, and construction and demolition debris. (See Affidavit of Marc L. Bourhis, Chief Financial Officer of EnviroSolutions Holdings, Inc. and Vice President of the Debtors, in Support of Chapter 11 Petitions and First Day Pleadings, sworn as of Mar. 9, 2010, at ¶¶ 10, 20 (ECF Doc. #3).)

Stephens, Sloan and Griggs started working at PDS in 2004, 2005, and 2006, respectively, and currently work as roll-off drivers.3 (Debtors PTO at ¶¶ (D)(2)-(6).) They are members of Local 639 of the International Brotherhood of the Teamsters (the “Union”), and Sloan and Stephens are union stewards. (Id. at ¶¶ (D)(2)-(4).) Dougbey started working as a driver in PDS’s residential department in June 2008 and was eventually moved to the roll-off division. PDS terminated Dougbey’s employment on January 8, 2010. (Id. at ¶¶ (D)(6)-(7).) At the relevant times, the Claimants were supervised by Ray Quinlan (“Quinlan”), a White male. PDS terminated Quinlan’s employment on March 3, 2010. (Id. at ¶ (D)(8).)

A. The Claimants’ EEOC Charges

Between November 2009 and March 2010, the Claimants filed administrative charges with the EEOC against PDS or ESI asserting claims under Title VII based on race discrimination and retaliation. The parties generally agree that the EEOC complaints circumscribe the scope of the Claimants’ bankruptcy claims although they strongly disagree on that scope. Because the factual allegations in the EEOC charges are important to this decision, each EEOC charge is described in detail and quoted below.

1. Griggs’s Charge

Griggs filed his EEOC charge against PDS on December 3, 2009.4 He alleged that (1) after he complained about Quin-lan’s discriminatory conduct towards him on two separate occasions, Quinlan retaliated by “disciplining” him on several isolated dates and suspending him from employment twice without pay; (2) Quinlan discriminated against him by denying him [94]*94the same opportunities and pay incentives as similarly-situated White roll-off drivers; (3) Quinlan subjected his work to heightened scrutiny, such as unnecessarily calling him during his shift; and (4) Quinlan gave him improper work assignments to set him up to be disciplined. Griggs’s charge stated:

I have been employed as a Rolloff Driver since May 2006. On or about August 26, 2008 and on or about November 12, 2009, I complained about discriminatory treatment by my immediate supervisor, Ray Quinlan, Rolloff Supervisor. After I complained, Mr. Quinlan disciplined me. Specifically, in retaliation for my complaint, Mr. Quinlan disciplined me in the beginning of August 2009, on or about September 3, 2009, and November 23, 2009. Mr. Quinlan also suspended me in the beginning of August 2009 and December 2 to December 3, 2009 with no pay. Since approximately September 15, 2008, and continuing to today, Mr. Quinlan has denied me equal opportunity to be paid higher incentives for work I completed, while other White Rolloff Drivers are paid the higher incentives, sometimes for the same routes and work. Since approximately February 6, 2009, and continuing to today, Mr. Quin-lan has subjected my work to heighten scrutiny, such as unnecessarily calling me during my shift. Since approximately February 6, 2009, and continuing to today, Mr. Quinlan has repeatedly made me choose between working beyond a DOT hour restriction to accomplish extra tasks he assigns and get written up or decline the extra tasks and get written up.
I believe that I have been discriminated against based on my race, Black, and in retaliation for my protected activity, in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended.

2. Dougbey’s Charge

Dougbey filed his EEOC charge against ESI on March 26, 2010.5 Of the four Claimants, Dougbey’s charge is the most straight-forward: he alleged that because of his race, he was discriminated against with respect to route assignments and “disciplinary write-ups” and, ultimately, was terminated. Unlike the other Claimants, his allegations did not mention Quin-lan. Specifically, he alleged as follows:

In 06/2007, I was hired by the respondent to work as a Driver.

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Bluebook (online)
476 B.R. 88, 2012 WL 2953724, 2012 Bankr. LEXIS 3308, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-envirosolutions-of-new-york-llc-nysb-2012.