Lukie v. Metlife Group, Inc.

CourtDistrict Court, M.D. Florida
DecidedFebruary 24, 2022
Docket8:20-cv-00943
StatusUnknown

This text of Lukie v. Metlife Group, Inc. (Lukie v. Metlife Group, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, M.D. Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lukie v. Metlife Group, Inc., (M.D. Fla. 2022).

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT MIDDLE DISTRICT OF FLORIDA TAMPA DIVISION

MARYBETH LUKIE,

Plaintiff, v. Case No: 8:20-cv-943-TPB-AAS

METLIFE GROUP, INC.,

Defendant. ________________________________________ / ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANT’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

This matter is before the Court on Defendant’s motion for summary judgment filed on June 11, 2021. (Doc. 31). Plaintiff filed a response in opposition on July 1, 2021. (Doc. 32).1 Defendant filed a reply on July 16, 2021. (Doc. 34). Based on the motion, response, reply, court file, and record, the Court finds as follows: Background Plaintiff Marybeth Lukie began working for Defendant Metlife Group, Inc., in December 2007. She was promoted to Vice President and moved to Defendant’s Enterprise Risk group in 2012. Plaintiff’s primary areas of responsibility included operational risk, regulatory risk, third party asset management risk, and governance risk. In 2016, Plaintiff moved from Defendant’s New Jersey offices to Tampa, and from April 2016 until her resignation in May 2017, she reported to Senior Vice President Graham Cox. Plaintiff consistently received good

1 The Court denies Plaintiff’s motion to strike Defendant’s summary judgment motion on the ground that it exceeds the permitted page limits. performance evaluations, a substantial annual base salary ($251,000 in 2016) with raises each year, and bonuses. Plaintiff complains however, that she was subjected to harassment by

coworkers between 2007 and 2011, prior to her promotion and transfer to the Enterprise Risk group, and that Defendant paid her less than other male Vice Presidents in her group. Beginning in 2015, her supervisors increasingly assigned her tasks that she viewed as outside her primary job duties and “administrative” or “feminized” in nature. Plaintiff alleges that she complained about these issues to her supervisors and others in management, and that in April 2017, Cox retaliated

against her by transferring responsibilities relating to third party asset management from Plaintiff to another employee. Plaintiff resigned on May 9, 2017.2 At the time of her resignation Plaintiff was being paid approximately $259,000 per year. On March 5, 2018, Plaintiff dual-filed a charge of discrimination with the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) and the Florida Commission on Human Relations (“FCHR”). On March 18, 2020, she filed

this suit in state court under the Florida Civil Rights Act (“FCRA”), alleging disparate treatment (Count I), hostile work environment (Count II), and retaliation (Count III). Defendant removed the case to federal court and has moved for summary judgment on all counts.

2 Plaintiff had on several previous occasions tendered her resignation, but in each instance she had been persuaded to remain. Legal Standard Summary judgment is appropriate “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.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a). A properly supported motion for summary judgment is not defeated by the existence of a factual dispute. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 249 (1986). Only the existence of a genuine issue of material fact will preclude summary judgment. Id. The moving party bears the initial burden of showing that there are no genuine issues of material fact. Hickson Corp. v. N. Crossarm Co., 357 F.3d 1256,

1260 (11th Cir. 2004). When the moving party has discharged its burden, the nonmoving party must then designate specific facts showing the existence of genuine issues of material fact. Jeffery v. Sarasota White Sox, Inc., 64 F.3d 590, 593-94 (11th Cir. 1995). If there is a conflict between the parties’ allegations or evidence, the nonmoving party’s evidence is presumed to be true and all reasonable inferences must be drawn in the nonmoving party’s favor. Shotz v. City of Plantation, 344 F.3d 1161, 1164 (11th Cir. 2003).

Analysis The FCRA prohibits an employer from discriminating against employees with respect to compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment on account of their race, color, religion, sex, or other protected characteristics. § 760.10(1)(a), F.S. Prohibited discrimination includes both taking tangible adverse employment actions (such as termination) against employees and requiring employees to work in a hostile work environment. See, e.g., Nurse "BE" v. Columbia Palms W. Hosp. Ltd. P'ship, 490 F.3d 1302, 1308 (11th Cir. 2007); Maldonado v. Publix Supermarkets, 939 So. 2d 290, 293 (Fla. 4th DCA 2006) (citing Mendoza v. Borden, Inc., 195 F.3d

1238, 1244 (11th Cir. 1999)).3 The FRCA also prohibits retaliation against employees for opposing unlawful discriminatory practices. § 760.10(7), F.S. Plaintiff asserts that Defendant violated each of these prohibitions. Disparate Treatment (Count I) Plaintiff alleges Defendant engaged in two types of discriminatory tangible employment actions: paying her less than similarly situated men and assigning her

“administrative” tasks that were not assigned to men. Where, as here, “direct evidence of unlawful discrimination is lacking . . . plaintiffs may instead turn to the burden-shifting framework” set out in McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792 (1973) and Texas Dep’t of Cmty. Affairs v. Burdine, 450 U.S. 248 (1981). Flowers v. Troup Cty., Ga. Sch. Dist., 803 F.3d 1327, 1335 (11th Cir. 2015); see also Meeks v. Computer Assoc. Int’l, 15 F.3d 1013, 1018-19 (11th Cir. 1994) (noting that the McDonnell Douglas burden shifting framework applies to claims of gender-

based wage discrimination under Title VII). Under the McDonnell Douglas framework, the plaintiff must make out a prima facie case for intentional discrimination by showing: (1) she belongs to a protected class; (2) she was subjected to an adverse employment action; (3) she was

3 Claims under the FCRA are analyzed under the same framework as claims under Title VII, and courts apply cases construing Title VII to FCRA claims. See, e.g., Harper v. Blockbuster Entm’t Corp., 139 F.3d 1385, 1387 (11th Cir. 1998). qualified to perform the job or receive a higher wage; and (4) her employer treated “similarly situated” employees outside her class more favorably. Lewis v. City of Union City, Ga., 918 F.3d 1213, 1220-21 (11th Cir. 2019) (en banc); Cooper v. So.

Co., 390 F.3d 695, 735 (11th Cir. 2004). Establishing a prima facie case creates an initial presumption of discrimination. Flowers, 803 F.3d at 1336. The burden then shifts to the defendant to “articulate a legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for its actions.” Lewis, 918 F.3d at 1221 (citing Burdine, 450 U.S. at 253). “Once the employer advances its legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason, the plaintiff’s prima facie case is rebutted and all presumptions drop from the case.” Flowers, 803 F.3d

at 1336 (citing Burdine, 450 U.S. at 255).

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