Moore v. Brennan

CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Texas
DecidedAugust 9, 2023
Docket4:21-cv-02322
StatusUnknown

This text of Moore v. Brennan (Moore v. Brennan) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Moore v. Brennan, (S.D. Tex. 2023).

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT August 09, 2023 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS Nathan Ochsner, Clerk HOUSTON DIVISION

SYLVIA MOORE, § § Plaintiff, § § VS. § CIVIL ACTION NO. 4:21-CV-2322 § LOUIS DEJOY, Postmaster General, § United States Postal Service, § § Defendant. § §

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

Pending before the Court is a motion for summary judgment filed by Defendant Louis DeJoy, Postmaster General of the United States Postal Service (“USPS”). (Dkt. 21). Having reviewed the pleadings, the entire record and the applicable law, the motion is GRANTED. BACKGROUND Plaintiff Sylvia Moore has worked for USPS in various capacities since 1989. She is currently employed as a carrier technician. She suffered an on-the-job injury in 2004 that impaired her mobility and placed limitations on the amount of weight she can carry. Ten years after Moore suffered the injury, she began having conflicts with two of her supervisors regarding her work restrictions and light-duty requests. After a series of negative encounters between Moore and her supervisors, Moore contacted an Equal Employment Opportunity counselor. She was eventually afforded the right to make a formal complaint, which resulted in an investigation. Following the investigation, Moore was given the opportunity to amend her complaint to add further incidents that, per Moore, were examples of unlawful retaliation against her for initiating the complaint process in the

first place. USPS issued a Final Agency Decision (“FAD”) nearly two years later, wherein USPS concluded that Moore failed to establish that she experienced discrimination. After Moore appealed the FAD, further investigation into Moore’s claims of retaliation was ordered. A new FAD was issued, which was then appealed by Moore. After the new FAD

was affirmed, Moore timely filed a complaint in this Court. Moore’s Amended Complaint presents claims of disability discrimination, gender discrimination, age discrimination, and retaliation, and further alleges that USPS subjected her to a hostile work environment. USPS moved for summary judgment. The Court considers USPS’s motion below.

LEGAL STANDARD Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56 provides that summary judgment is proper when “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 fact is material if it might affect the outcome of the suit, and a factual dispute is genuine if the evidence is such that a reasonable jury

could return a verdict for the nonmoving party.” Estate of Miranda v. Navistar, Inc., 23 F.4th 500, 503 (5th Cir. 2022). To survive summary judgment, the nonmovant must “present competent summary judgment evidence to support the essential elements of its claim.” Cephus v. Tex. Health & Hum. Servs. Comm’n, 146 F. Supp. 3d 818, 826 (S.D. Tex. 2015). The nonmovant’s “burden will not be satisfied by some metaphysical doubt as to

the material facts, by conclusory allegations, by unsubstantiated assertions, or by only a scintilla of evidence.” Boudreaux v. Swift Transp. Co., 402 F.3d 536, 540 (5th Cir. 2005) (quotation omitted). Rather, the “nonmovant must identify specific evidence in the record and articulate how that evidence supports that party’s claim.” Brooks v. Houston Indep. Sch. Dist., 86 F. Supp. 3d 577, 584 (S.D. Tex. 2015). In ruling on a motion for summary

judgment, the Court must construe “the evidence in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party and draw all reasonable inferences in that party’s favor.” Cadena v. El Paso Cnty., 946 F.3d 717, 723 (5th Cir. 2020). ANALYSIS Moore’s Amended Complaint brings claims of disability discrimination under Title

VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title VII”) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”), gender discrimination under Title VII and the Texas Commission on Human Rights Act (“TCHRA”), age discrimination under Title VII and the TCHRA, retaliation under Title VII and the TCHRA, and hostile work environment under Title VII.1 As discussed below, the parties now agree that certain claims fall under different federal

statutes. The Court reviews USPS’s arguments for summary judgment below.

1 The Amended Complaint brings these claims against a former Postmaster General of the USPS, Megan Brennan. The proper party is the current Postmaster General of the USPS, Louis DeJoy. FED. R. CIV. P. 25(d). I. Moore has not raised genuine issues of material fact on her gender- discrimination claims under Title VII or her age-discrimination claims under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act.

Moore claims that USPS unlawfully discriminated against her on the basis of her gender and age. Moore’s gender-discrimination claim is brought under Title VII, which prohibits “discharg[ing] any individual, or otherwise discriminat[ing] against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment because of such individual's race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.” 42 U.S.C. § 2000e–2(a)(1).2 Moore’s age-discrimination claim is brought under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (“ADEA”), which prohibits employers from firing, refusing to hire, or otherwise discriminating against any individual with respect to her compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of her age. 29 U.S.C. § 623(a)(1).3 A plaintiff can prove intentional discrimination through either direct or

circumstantial evidence. Turner v. Baylor Richardson Med. Ctr., 476 F.3d 337, 345 (5th Cir. 2007). When discrimination claims are based on circumstantial evidence, courts apply the McDonnell Douglas burden-shifting framework. McCoy v. City of Shreveport, 492 F.3d 551, 556 (5th Cir. 2007) (citing McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 802

2 Both parties now appear to agree that Moore, as a federal employee, cannot bring discrimination claims under the TCHRA See Jackson v. Widnall, 99 F.3d 710, 716 (5th Cir. 1996) (citation omitted) (“[T]itle VII provides the exclusive remedy for employment discrimination claims raised by federal employees.”). Thus, the Court grants summary judgment in USPS’s favor on Moore’s claims under the TCHRA. 3 Moore originally brought her age-discrimination claim under Title VII, but both parties now agree that Moore’s age-discrimination claim falls under the ADEA. See Chhim v. Univ. of Houston Clear Lake, 129 F. Supp. 3d 507, 513 n.5 (S.D. Tex. 2015) (Atlas, J.) (“An age discrimination claim is properly brought under the ADEA, not Title VII.”). (1973)); see also Jackson v. Cal-W. Packaging Corp., 602 F.3d 374, 378 (5th Cir. 2010) (applying the McDonnell Douglass framework to ADEA claim). Here, the burden-shifting framework is applicable because Moore presents circumstantial evidence in support of her

gender- and age-discrimination claims. Under the burden-shifting framework, a plaintiff first must present a prima facie case of discrimination. McDonnell Douglas, 411 U.S. at 802. To establish a prima facie case of discrimination, a plaintiff must show that (1) she belongs to a protected class; (2) she was qualified to do his job; (3) she suffered some adverse employment action by her

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Moore v. Brennan, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/moore-v-brennan-txsd-2023.