Miller v. Federal Express Corp.

186 F.R.D. 376, 1999 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7676, 1999 WL 329846
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Tennessee
DecidedMay 11, 1999
DocketNo. 98-2290DV
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 186 F.R.D. 376 (Miller v. Federal Express Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Tennessee primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Miller v. Federal Express Corp., 186 F.R.D. 376, 1999 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7676, 1999 WL 329846 (W.D. Tenn. 1999).

Opinion

ORDER ON PLAINTIFF’S DISCOVERY MOTIONS

VESCOVO, United States Magistrate Judge.

Plaintiff, Mary Miller, a black female, brought this Title VII action against defendant, Federal Express Corp., alleging that she was discriminated against on the basis of her race. Specifically, plaintiff contends that after racial harassment charges were leveled at her by a fellow employee, she was disciplined more harshly than other similarly situated white managers. On March 22, 1999, plaintiff filed a motion to compel defendant to respond to several of her discovery requests, to compel the production of Tom Nottingham for deposition, to compel the re-opening of the deposition of Henry Bartosch, and to impose sanctions upon defendant including attorney’s fees and reasonable expenses incurred as a result of this motion.

This motion was referred to the United States Magistrate Judge for determination. For the reasons stated below, the motion is granted in part and denied in part.

I. BACKGROUND

Plaintiff is an operations manager in defendant’s Memphis Hub and has been employed by defendant since November 25, 1981. On June 10, 1996, plaintiff was allegedly overheard boisterously making derisive comments about Asians in the presence of other employees. Specifically, it is alleged that plaintiff used the terms “ching chang, ying yang” and referred to an Asian shopkeeper as stupid while mimicking his pronunciation of the word “dollar.” Fellow manager, Paul Go, an Asian-American, overheard these comments and was offended. After another employee told plaintiff that Go appeared offended, plaintiff approached Go and tried to explain. The end result of that conversation was plaintiffs assertion that if Go was offended by what was said then that was Go’s problem because she was not going to change the way she talked for anyone.

On June 11,1996, Go submitted an internal complaint to his Personnel Representative, Dee Cadden, alleging racial harassment on the part of plaintiff. As is standard company procedure, defendant investigated the charge. Plaintiff is alleged to have been extremely uncooperative in conjunction with defendant’s investigation into Go’s charge. Plaintiff was loud, interruptive, and refused to disclose details such as the names of the individuals present in her cubicle at the time. Further, plaintiff offered contradictory explanations for her behavior. At one point, plaintiff asserted that what Go overheard was a private conversation about her trip to Korea; later, plaintiff claimed that Go must have heard her at a time when she was filled with the spirit and speaking in tongues.1 Plaintiff flatly refused to apologize for her statements.

On July 26, 1996, plaintiff was suspended. During the period of suspension, the Personnel Department recommended that plaintiff be terminated, and the Employee Relations Department concurred. In accordance with these recommendations, Henry Bartosch, plaintiffs director, instructed Manager Brad Ammer to terminate plaintiffs employment which he did on August 1, 1996. The basis for the termination was plaintiffs “violation of the Acceptable Conduct Policy (2-5)/lead[382]*382ership failure.” Plaintiffs “leadership failure” derived from the combination of her racially insensitive remarks, her unwillingness to apologize, and her uncooperative, recalcitrant behavior during the investigation. In response to the termination decision, on August 2, 1996, plaintiff filed an internal grievance pursuant to defendant’s Guaranteed Fair Treatment Procedure/Equal Employment Opportunity (GFTP/EEO) process. On August 7, 1996, plaintiff also filed a charge of racial discrimination with the EEOC contesting her suspension and termination.2

On August 13,1996, the Legal Department informed Employee Relations that an EEOC charge had been filed by plaintiff and instructed Employee Relations to begin an investigation into plaintiffs claim. Employee Relations designated Edith Kelly-Green as the individual heading up the investigation into plaintiffs claims that she had been discriminated against. Upon completion of her investigation, Kelly-Green sent her report to the Legal Department seeking its review and approval prior to release. As a result of Kelly-Green’s investigation, plaintiffs termination was overturned and, on February 14, 1997, she was reinstated with full back pay. Plaintiff received reduced discipline in the form of the five-day suspension previously imposed between July 26 and August 1 as well as a warning letter. Plaintiff appealed the reduced discipline to the defendant’s appeals board, but the reduced discipline decision was upheld.

On December 31, 1997, plaintiff received her notice of right to sue from the EEOC. Plaintiff filed suit on March 30, 1998 alleging that she had been the victim of unlawful discrimination on the basis of race in violation of Title VII and provisions of the Tennessee Human Rights Act.3 Essentially, plaintiff argues that she received harsher discipline from defendant than other similarly situated white employees.

Plaintiff seeks the court’s intervention in resolving a number of outstanding discovery disputes between the parties. Specifically, plaintiff seeks: (1) an order compelling defendant to respond to three interrogatories and one request for production contained in plaintiffs First Set of Interrogatories and Requests for Production of Documents, (2) an order compelling defendant to respond to its Second Set of Interrogatories and Requests for Production of Documents, (3) an order determining whether defendant is entitled to claim attorney-client privilege and/or work product protection with regard to the documents listed in defendant’s Second Amended Privilege Log, (4) an order requiring defendant to produce Tom Nottingham for deposition in Memphis, (5) an order allowing plaintiff to re-open the deposition of Henry Bartosch, and (6) an order awarding sanctions to plaintiff, including the assessment of reasonable attorney’s fees and expenses incurred in filing this motion, for what it labels as defendant’s gamesmanship and abusive discovery tactics.

II. ANALYSIS

A. Plaintiff’s First Set of Interrogatories and Requests for Production of Documents

This portion of plaintiffs motion to compel seeks responses to three interrogatories and [383]*383one request for production. As to each of the requested interrogatories, defendant objected on grounds that they were overbroad. Defendant objected to the production request on the grounds that it was overbroad and unduly burdensome.4

1. Interrogatories 17, 19, and 20

Interrogatory 17 asks defendant to “identify all managers and supervisors at the Memphis Hub who, since January 1, 1993, have received any form of discipline related to either ‘conduct’ or ‘employee relations’ issues.” This interrogatory also asks that defendant provide the name, race, and job title of each manager/supervisor, the date of disciplinary action, a description of the action taken, and whether any appeal was filed and the final disposition of any such appeal. Interrogatory 19 asks defendant to “identify each and every person in management at the Memphis Hub who filed internal EEO grievances and who subsequently received favorable outcomes to said since January 1, 1993.” Interrogatory 20 asks defendant to “identify each and every person listed in Interrogatory No.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
186 F.R.D. 376, 1999 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7676, 1999 WL 329846, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/miller-v-federal-express-corp-tnwd-1999.