MONACHINO v. Bair

769 F. Supp. 2d 431, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10978, 2011 WL 349392
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedFebruary 1, 2011
Docket09 Civ. 3939 (VM)
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 769 F. Supp. 2d 431 (MONACHINO v. Bair) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District 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
MONACHINO v. Bair, 769 F. Supp. 2d 431, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10978, 2011 WL 349392 (S.D.N.Y. 2011).

Opinion

DECISION AND ORDER

VICTOR MARRERO, District Judge.

Plaintiff John Monachino (“Monachino”) brought this action against defendant Sheila Bair, Chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”), asserting claims for discrimination, retaliation, and hostile work environment arising under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title VII”), 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq.; the Rehabilitation Act (“Rehabilitation Act”), 29 U.S.C. § 791 et seq.; and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (“ADEA”), 29 U.S.C. § 621 et seq. The FDIC now moves for summary judgment on all claims pursuant to Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (“Rule 56”). For the reasons listed below, the Court GRANTS the FDICs motion in its entirety.

I. BACKGROUND 1

Monachino, a 59-year-old white male of Italian origin, joined the FDIC in 1989. In April 2003, he became an Examination Specialist (IT) in the FDIC’s New York Regional Office (“NYRO”). At approximately the same time, Linda Smith Packer (“Smith Packer”) was also selected for an Examination Specialist (IT) position in the NYRO. Both Monachino and Smith Packer were supervised by Assistant Regional Director Edwin Lloyd (“Lloyd”). In January 2005, Assistant Regional Director Gregory Bottone (“Bottone”) replaced Lloyd as Monaehino’s direct supervisor,

On April 4, 2006, Bottone issued a Letter of Warning to Monachino. The Letter *435 of Warning stated that certain e-mails that Monachino had sent to another FDIC employee were “unprofessional” in that “they contained language that was argumentative, accusatory, and demeaning.” Bottone met with Monachino on April 24, 2006, to discuss the Letter of Warning. At that meeting, Monachino expressed the belief that he was subject to a “hostile work environment” that was causing him stress and anxiety. Specifically, Monachino believed that Smith Packer was a “difficult” person who was “territorial” and did not communicate with him regarding several work-related matters. (Monachino Dep. 130:17, 130:24.) Monachino also believed that Lloyd was “a very difficult individual” and “a very poor manager.” (Id. at 43:11-12, 44:13-14.)

Frustrated by what he perceived to be management’s lack of response to his concerns, Monachino took leave beginning June 14, 2006 2 and contacted an Equal Employment Opportunity (“EEO”) counselor on July 25, 2006. Although Monachino had been approved to take annual leave, he sought to convert some or all of the time to sick leave. Bottone advised Mona-chino by e-mail that Monachino did not have any accrued sick leave remaining and that, consequently, the time would be charged to annual leave unless Monachino provided medical documentation that would support advanced sick leave. Mona-chino did not provide the requested medical documentation, and ultimately the time was charged to a combination of annual leave, sick leave and compensatory time.

As Monachino’s scheduled return to work on August 21, 2006, approached, Monachino sought permission to telework from August 21 through August 24, 2006, to “catch up” on e-mails accumulated during his absence. Bottone denied the request to telework, advising Monachino that telework was inappropriate because he “ha[d] been out of the office for over three months [including an out-of-office detail prior to his leave] and ha[d] no outstanding work assignments.” Additionally, Bot-tone, uncertain when, if ever, Monachino would return to work, cancelled Monachino’s attendance at two information technology (“IT”) seminars that Monachino had been slated to attend in September 2006. Monachino believed that Bottone’s denial of his request to telework and cancellation of his seminar attendance constituted retaliation for Monachino’s EEO contact, of which Bottone was aware.

Monachino filed a formal complaint of discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) on September 16, 2006, and he filed six subsequent complaints of discrimination, retaliation and hostile work environment over the course of the following year. Monachino often requested “official time” — that is, time that he would otherwise spend on work assignments — to prepare and support his EEOC complaints. Bottone granted Monachino official time on several occasions, but he sometimes allowed fewer hours than Monachino had requested. Monachino took these reductions to be further evidence of Bottone’s discrimination and retaliation.

Monachino returned to work on September 18, 2006. Prior to Monachino’s return to work, Bottone received a letter from Monachino’s primary care physician, Scott M. Klares (“Klares”), stating that Mona-chino “currently suffers from significant anxiety and depression [which affects] his cognitive abilities.” Klares opined that “I do not feel [Monachino] is able to perform his duties as an IT specialist for the FDIC.”

*436 On September 20, 2006, Bottone had a telephone meeting with Monachino and others to discuss Klares’s letter (the “September 20 Meeting”). At the meeting, Bottone agreed to provide Monachino with a detailed request for medical information, and Monachino agreed to obtain the information requested. Monachino was referred to a psychiatrist, Joel Wolfson (“Wolfson”), for evaluation. On September 21, 2006, Wolfson called Bottone and agreed to provide medical documentation. Wolfson eventually provided a handwritten note indicating that Monachino needed sick leave for the week of October 16, 2006, but he never provided documentation of the kind Bottone requested at the September 20 Meeting. Monachino submitted Wolfson’s bill for $1,050 for reimbursement via the FDIC s Electronic Travel Voucher (“ETV”) system. The ETV system — which is intended to process vouchers for travel-related business expenses, not medical bills — generated an automatic payment to Monachino. Monachino had also requested, and received, reimbursement for Wolfson’s services from his health insurance plan and flexible spending account, but he believed he was entitled under the collective bargaining agreement to reimbursement from the FDIC. Nonetheless, Monachino was aware that his use of the ETV system was improper and described it as “standing up to management” and “ma[king] a point.”

During the September 20 Meeting, Bot-tone gave Monachino a special assignment, pending additional information about Monachino’s ability to work, to prepare a presentation on data security breaches. Bottone cancelled Monachino’s attendance at a training in October 2006 and told Monachino to focus on the special assignment. Monachino believed that the special assignment was “make-work” of no real importance to the FDIC. Perhaps in fulfillment of that prophecy, he submitted a final work product that appeared to be cobbled together from various Internet sources and was not used by the FDIC.

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