Morning Star Baptist Church v. James City County Police

480 F. Supp. 2d 853, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 23518, 100 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 790, 2007 WL 943492
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Virginia
DecidedMarch 30, 2007
DocketCivil Action 4:05cv47
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 480 F. Supp. 2d 853 (Morning Star Baptist Church v. James City County Police) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Virginia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Morning Star Baptist Church v. James City County Police, 480 F. Supp. 2d 853, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 23518, 100 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 790, 2007 WL 943492 (E.D. Va. 2007).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

WALTER D. KELLEY, JR., United States District Judge.

Since 1987, plaintiff Ned N. Cary, Jr. (“Cary”) has filed at least eight separate *855 actions in state and federal court. Each lawsuit, including this one, concerns his former employment at defendant Anheu-ser Busch, Inc. (“Anheuser Busch”). Cary summarily lost all of those cases, and, in his most recent state court case, the Circuit Court of the City of Williamsburg and James City County sanctioned him with attorneys’ fees and a pre-filing injunction. Because Cary seeks to relitigate in this action claims that have been decided multiple times, the Court GRANTS defendants’ Motions to Dismiss (Docket Nos. 32, 34, & 37) 1 and imposes the same sanctions as the court in Williamsburg.

I. Facts and Procedural History

Plaintiff Cary was employed at a brewery in Williamsburg that is owned and operated by Anheuser Busch. Cary is also an ordained minister at plaintiff Morning Star Baptist Church. 2 Cary’s employment with Anheuser Busch ended on or about May 4,1992.

Cary’s problems with Anheuser Busch began at some point in 1987 after he had a conversation with God. As Cary recounted the conversation to a coworker, God said that He would allow Cary to take two people with him “to the other side,” and that the coworker was one of the chosen two. Anheuser Busch ordered Cary to undergo psychological counseling after the coworker complained.

Cary thereafter fired the first shot in what would become a litigation war of attrition. He complained to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) that Anheuser Busch had coerced him into receiving medical treatment in violation of his First Amendment right to religious freedom. After the EEOC declined to pursue the claim, Cary sued Anheuser Busch and two of its employees. Cary v. Anheuser-Busch, Inc., 741 F.Supp. 1219 (E.D.Va.1988). Judge Doumar of this Court found that the employees were improper defendants and granted summary judgment to Anheuser Busch. Id. at 1221-23. That decision was affirmed by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, 904 F.2d 699 (4th Cir.1990), and the United States Supreme Court denied Cary’s Petition for Writ of Certiorari. 498 U.S. 907, 111 S.Ct. 276, 112 L.Ed.2d 232 (1990).

The next battle erupted when Anheuser Busch terminated Cary’s employment in May 1992. Cary refused to sign a consent form before submitting to mandatory drug testing. The form was required by the collective bargaining agreement between Anheuser Busch and the Teamsters Local 95 union. Cary asserted that signing the form would somehow conflict with his First Amendment right to religious freedom. After several rounds of negotiation, Cary was fired. Cary’s subsequent claim for unemployment compensation was denied when the Virginia Employment Commission (“VEC”) ruled that Anheuser Busch fired him for misconduct. Cary appealed the adverse unemployment decision to the Circuit Court of the City of Williamsburg and James City County. Both the Circuit Court and the Court of Appeals of Virginia affirmed the VEC’s decision. Cary v. Va. *856 Employment Comm’n, No. 1192-93-1, 1993 WL 381453, 1993 Va.App. LEXIS 472 (Va.Ct.App. Sept. 28, 1993). Anheuser Busch was a named defendant in this action. Id.

Cary then executed a flanking maneuver, taking the battle to federal court. He first filed suit against the union that had negotiated the collective bargaining agreement. Cary v. Teamsters Local 95, Civ. Action No. 4:93cv8, 1993 WL 816915 (E.D.Va.1993) (Doumar, J.). Cary lost that case on summary judgment, and Judge Doumar’s decision was affirmed on appeal. Cary v. Teamsters Local Union No. 95, 23 F.3d 400, 1994 U.S.App. LEXIS 18456 (4th Cir.1994).

Unsatisfied with that result, Cary instituted another action in this Court under the style of Cary v. Carmichael, 908 F.Supp. 1334 (E.D.Va.1995). This action alleged that Anheuser Busch, two Anheu-ser Busch employees, and the business agent for the union violated Title VII by failing to accommodate those religious beliefs that prevented Cary from signing the drug testing consent forms. Judge Dou-mar (who by this time had become Cary’s personal judge 3 ) held that the claim against the union agent was barred by res judicata as a result of Cary’s 1993 suit in this Court. Judge Doumar further held that the two Anheuser Busch employees were improper defendants in a Title VII claim. Finally, the Court granted summary judgment to Anheuser Busch on Cary’s Title VII claim. Id. at 1339, 1353.

Stymied in federal court, Cary retreated back to the state courts. This time he sued Anheuser Busch and Cigna Insurance Company, contending “that the Workers’ Compensation Commission erred in finding that he failed to prove he sustained an occupational disease arising out of and in the course of his employment with Anheu-ser Busch.” Cary v. Anheuser Busch, No. 0781-97-1, 1997 WL 374852, at *1, 1997 Va.App. LEXIS 462, at *1 (Va.Ct.App. July 8, 1997). Cary argued that Anheuser Busch viewed his religion as a disease that required treatment because Anheuser Busch had recommended psychological counseling after Cary’s refusal to sign the consent form for religious reasons. Thus, Cary “sought compensation for the occupational disease of Christianity.” Id. at *1, 1997 Va.App. LEXIS 462, at *2. Not surprisingly, the Workers’ Compensation Commission denied Cary’s claim and that decision was affirmed on appeal. Id. at *1, 1997 Va.App. LEXIS 462, at *3.

Instead of conceding defeat, Cary charged the hill yet again. He sued An-heuser Busch and the Workers’ Compensation Commission over the circumstances of his dismissal. He requested that the Workers’ Compensation Commission order reinstatement of his employment due to his allegedly unlawful termination. Cary v. Anheuser-Busch, Inc., No. 2179-99-1, 1999 WL 1134697, 1999 Va.App. LEXIS 619 (Va.Ct.App. Nov. 9, 1999). The Workers’ Compensation Commission rejected Cary’s claim on the grounds of lack of subject matter jurisdiction (the Commission is without authority to adjudicate Title VII claims or order reinstatement of employment) and res judicata. Id. at *1, 1999 Va.App. LEXIS 619, at *2. Again, this decision was affirmed on appeal. Id.

Thus, as of November 1999, Cary had filed no less than six actions in state and federal court concerning the intersection of his religious beliefs and his employment. Cary lost all of those cases. Anheuser *857 Busch was a named defendant in at least five of the six cases. Eight other individuals also had to defend against Cary’s litigation carpet-bombing.

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480 F. Supp. 2d 853, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 23518, 100 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 790, 2007 WL 943492, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/morning-star-baptist-church-v-james-city-county-police-vaed-2007.