O'Neal v. R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.

517 F. Supp. 587, 1981 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13290, 27 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 32,371, 26 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 915
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Georgia
DecidedJuly 1, 1981
DocketCiv. A. No. CV480-364
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 517 F. Supp. 587 (O'Neal v. R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
O'Neal v. R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., 517 F. Supp. 587, 1981 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13290, 27 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 32,371, 26 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 915 (S.D. Ga. 1981).

Opinion

ORDER

BOWEN, District Judge.

Plaintiff Bobby L. O’Neal brought this action seeking recovery under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act [ADEA]. 29 U.S.C. §§ 621 et seq. The case is presently before the Court on the motion of defendant, R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company [RJR], for summary judgment.

Defendant, RJR, is engaged in the manufacture and sale of tobacco products and is an employer within the ambit of the ADEA. 29 U.S.C. § 630(b). It appears that, from an organizational standpoint, RJR formed the South Atlantic Sales Area [SASA] on September 1, 1976. Savannah, Georgia, the area pertinent to this litigation, was in the Charleston Division of the Winston-Salem Region of the SASA. Prior to September 1, 1976, Savannah was in the Charleston Division of the Atlanta Region. In April 1980, Savannah was reassigned to the Macon Division of the Atlanta Region, which, as newly formed, covers all Georgia areas previously assigned to the Charleston Division.

Plaintiff O’Neal, who was born on January 19, 1936, was first employed by RJR on March 6, 1961, in the position of salesman. His employment with RJR was continuous and on June 9,1969, he was appointed Area Sales Representative [ASR], a second level job which entails personal contact with wholesalers and retail merchants to promote the sale of RJR products. O’Neal continued in this position until February 6, 1976, at which time he was terminated for the alleged violation of company rules. Plaintiff had never received written notice that his work was less than satisfactory. Later the same date, O’Neal’s discharge was reduced to a reprimand; he did not lose a day’s pay.

After this incident, O’Neal claims to have suffered severe emotional distress and depression, which first appeared in March, 1976. Affidavit of Plaintiff O’Neal. It appears that O’Neal sought treatment for his depression the same month from his physician, Dr. Melvin Berlin, and then later from a Dr. Safer. In August, 1977, plaintiff was placed on medication and was on sick leave for a period of approximately three weeks. While no significant event relating to O’Neal’s employment occurred between August, 1977 and October, 1978, from October, 1978 until January, 1979, plaintiff was on sick leave for debilitating depression. Upon plaintiff’s return to work in January, 1979, the next event pertinent to this litigation occurred in October, 1979.

[589]*589On October 25, 1979, plaintiff was reprimanded and another employee was terminated for allegedly violating a company rule requiring an ASR to begin his first call by 8:00 a. m. Plaintiff contends that on the date and time in question, he was meeting with another ASR, R. C. Smith, concerning company business. Plaintiff argues that the 8:00 a. m. rule requires ASR employees to be on the job by 8:00 a. m., but does not necessarily mean making the first call by 8:00 a. m. Following this reprimand, plaintiff went on sick leave, and on December 14, 1979, filed a charge of age discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission [EEOC] as follows:

R. J. Reynolds uses selective harassment to force its older employees to resign. If they will not resign, they fire them unjustly. Three years ago, just after my 40th birthday, I was terminated for no reason. After Reynolds discovered that I was seeking legal advice, I was reinstated. After that, I would from time to time receive unwarranted reprimands, after each which I was required to seek medical help.

Then, on October 25, 1979, I was given a “reprimand” for doing something that I had been instructed by my employer to do. The “reprimand” is only a pretext for the company’s harassment of its higher paid older employees. My performance in the job has at all times been satisfactory. The harassment has caused me emotional distress to the point that I am under medical care, unable to work.

O’Neal returned to work from sick leave in February, 1980.

Plaintiff’s continued employment with RJR was uneventful in any pertinent respect, with the exception of the administrative change in the Savannah assignment from the Charleston Division to the Macon Division. This change in divisions resulted in a new division manager overseeing O’Neal’s performance. In August, 1980, upon the recommendation of the new division manager, plaintiff was given a merit pay increase.

On September 22, 1980, O’Neal’s division manager and assistant division manager for the Macon Division came to Savannah and conducted an assignment analysis of O’Neal’s assignment as an ASR. Following this analysis, they held a so-called “sit down session” with plaintiff on September 23, 1980, in which criticism and suggestions were made aimed at improving O’Neal’s performance. As characterized in O’Neal’s affidavit:

The suggestions for improvement in my work which were made at the “Sit Down” sessions would have been impossible for any person to perform. No matter how hard you tried, and no matter how much you followed their directions, you still could not do enough. I do not believe that any reasonable person could have done all the things that were requested of me and other Reynolds employees at the “Sit Down” sessions.

Affidavit of Plaintiff 16. The next morning plaintiff told the division manager that he had all he could take and was leaving RJR.

In this action, the central allegation of plaintiff’s complaint is as follows:

This is a proceeding in equity and at law for restitution, reinstatement, general and specific affirmative injunctive relief and for damages against Reynolds for its discrimination against plaintiff with respect to his terms, conditions and privileges of employment because of his age; and because Reynolds has limited, segregated, and classified plaintiff in ways that deprive and tend to deprive him of employment opportunities and otherwise adversely affect his status as an employee because of his age, all as prohibited by the ADEA, 29 U.S.C. § 623(a).

Specifically, plaintiff avers: (1) that RJR engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination against employees on the basis of age, which caused O’Neal to be unable to perform his duties from October 27,1979, to February 3, 1980, and (2) that pursuant to this pattern or practice of discrimination, O’Neal was constructively discharged on September 24, 1980.

[590]*590Defendant seeks summary judgment on the following grounds:

1. Plaintiff’s claim of constructive discharge is barred.

2. No genuine issues of material fact exist which would support a finding that RJR engaged in a pattern or practice against employees on the basis of age.

3. Plaintiff did not suffer a constructive discharge.

4. Plaintiff did not suffer discrimination which caused him to be unable to work for a period from October 27,1979, to February 3, 1980.

While these grounds will be considered in the order listed, some prefatory comments on the propriety of summary judgments in employment discrimination cases should first be discussed.

The appropriate standard in deciding a motion for summary judgment was recently reiterated by the Fifth Circuit:

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903 F. Supp. 1492 (M.D. Alabama, 1995)

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Bluebook (online)
517 F. Supp. 587, 1981 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13290, 27 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 32,371, 26 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 915, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/oneal-v-r-j-reynolds-tobacco-co-gasd-1981.