Mast v. Imco Recycling of Ohio, Inc.

58 F. App'x 116
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
DecidedFebruary 3, 2003
DocketNo. 01-3657
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 58 F. App'x 116 (Mast v. Imco Recycling of Ohio, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Mast v. Imco Recycling of Ohio, Inc., 58 F. App'x 116 (6th Cir. 2003).

Opinion

RUSSELL, District Judge.

Plaintiff Tammy Mast brought the present action against defendants IMCO Recycling of Ohio, Inc. (“IMCO Ohio”), and Robert Rehrman, an IMCO Ohio employee, alleging a hostile work environment based on sexual harassment and retaliation in violation of Ohio’s employment discrimination statute, O.R.C. § 4112, et seq., as well as various state law claims. Plaintiff subsequently amended her complaint to add federal claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e, et seq., and to add IMCO Ohio’s parent company, IMCO Recycling, Inc., as a defendant. IMCO Recycling, Inc. removed the case to federal court.

The district court granted summary judgment to all defendants, finding that it lacked personal jurisdiction over IMCO Recycling, Inc. and that Plaintiffs Title VII claims lacked merit. Specifically, the district court reasoned that the company was not liable upon Plaintiffs harassment because the harassment was not motivated by sex or gender and because the harassment was not so “sufficiently severe and pervasive” to create a genuine issue of material fact concerning IMCO Ohio’s liability. On the retaliation claim, the district court held that the plaintiff (1) did not suffer an adverse employment action through constructive discharge and (2) the environment was not sufficiently hostile to create a jury question concerning retaliatory harassment. The district court declined to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over Plaintiffs state law claims and dismissed them without prejudice.1 For the reasons that follow, we AFFIRM the judgment of the district court.

Plaintiff Tammy Mast was hired by IMCO Ohio, an aluminum recycling facility, in late 1998. She left the job in December 1999, citing mental health reasons. She was a union member of the United Mine Workers of America during her tenure at IMCO Ohio. At the time of her hire, defendant Robert Rehrman was the Plant Superintendent2 and Mark Mantooth was [118]*118the Plant Manager. IMCO Ohio has a sexual harassment policy in place explaining, among other things, the procedure to follow when reporting harassment. The specific incidents that comprise the bases for plaintiffs claims of sexual harassment and retaliation will be discussed below.

I.

Sexual Harassment

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 forbids employers from engaging in actions that “discriminate against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of such individual’s ... sex.” 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2(a)(l). A plaintiff may establish a violation of Title VII by proving that discrimination based on sex created a hostile or abusive work environment. Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson, 477 U.S. 57, 66, 106 S.Ct. 2899, 91 L.Ed.2d 49 (1986); Black v. Zaring Homes, Inc., 104 F.3d 822, 825 (6th Cir. 1997). Such a showing requires that the plaintiff demonstrate both that the harassment was because of her sex and that it created a hostile work environment.

The requirement that harassment be “because of sex” does not mandate that the harassment be sexual in nature. Bowman v. Shawnee State Univ., 220 F.3d 456, 463 (6th Cir.2000); Williams v. Gen. Motors Corp., 187 F.3d 553, 565 (6th Cir.1999); Carter v. Chrysler Corp., 173 F.3d 693, 701 (8th Cir.1999). Nonetheless, where the complained-of behavior is not overtly or explicitly sexual, the plaintiff must present sufficient evidence to create an inference that but for the plaintiffs sex, the behavior would not have been undertaken. See Bowman, 220 F.3d at 463-64; Williams, 187 F.3d at 565-66. The “critical issue” is whether “members of one sex are exposed to disadvantageous terms or conditions of employment to which members of the other sex are not exposed.” Bowman, 220 F.3d at 463-64 (quoting Oncale v. Sundowner Offshore Servs., Inc., 523 U.S. 75, 80, 118 S.Ct. 998, 140 L.Ed.2d 201 (1998)); see also Williams, 187 F.3d at 565 (plaintiff must show that but for the fact of her sex, she would not have been subjected to harassment).

To create a sufficiently hostile work environment, the harassment must be so severe and pervasive that it creates a work atmosphere so hostile as to constitute a change in the terms or conditions of the plaintiffs employment. A mere unfriendly work environment is insufficient to establish liability; rather, “the workplace [must be] permeated with discriminatory intimidation, ridicule, and insult that is sufficiently severe or pervasive to alter the conditions of the victim’s employment and create an abusive working environment.” Harris v. Forklift Sys., Inc., 510 U.S. 17, 21, 114 S.Ct. 367, 126 L.Ed.2d 295 (1993)). The harassment must create a work atmosphere that is both objectively and subjectively hostile — that is, “the conduct must be severe or pervasive enough to create an environment that a reasonable person would find hostile or abusive[,] and the victim must subjectively regard that environment as abusive.” Bowman, 220 F.3d at 463. In determining whether the conduct is severe or pervasive enough to constitute a hostile work environment, a court may consider “the frequency of the discriminatory conduct; its severity; whether it is physically threatening or humiliating, or a mere offensive utterance; and whether it unreasonably interferes with an employee’s work performance.” Id. (quoting Harris, 510 U.S. at 23, 114 S.Ct. 367).

[119]*119Once a plaintiff has demonstrated that the harassment was because of sex and was sufficiently severe or pervasive, she must show that her employer bears responsibility for the harassment. If the harassing party was the plaintiffs supervisor, the employer will be strictly hable where the harassment culminated in a tangible employment action against the plaintiff. See Faragher v. City of Boca Raton, 524 U.S. 775, 807, 118 S.Ct. 2275, 141 L.Ed.2d 662 (1998); Burlington Indus., Inc. v. Ellerth, 524 U.S. 742, 765, 118 S.Ct. 2257, 141 L.Ed.2d 633 (1998).

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Bluebook (online)
58 F. App'x 116, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mast-v-imco-recycling-of-ohio-inc-ca6-2003.