Palmer v. Federal Express Corp.

235 F. Supp. 3d 702, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 180538, 2016 WL 8677234
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedDecember 30, 2016
DocketCivil Action No. 15-202
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 235 F. Supp. 3d 702 (Palmer v. Federal Express Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Palmer v. Federal Express Corp., 235 F. Supp. 3d 702, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 180538, 2016 WL 8677234 (W.D. Pa. 2016).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

Cathy Bissoon, United States District Judge

I. MEMORANDUM

For the reasons that follow, Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 39) will be granted.

Jerae Palmer (“Palmer” or “Plaintiff’) brings this lawsuit against Federal Express Corporation (“FedEx” or “Defendant”), under the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”), 42 U.S.C. § 12112, et seq., the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title VII”), 42 U.S.C. § 2000e, as amended by the Civil Rights Act of 1991, 42 U.S.C. § 1981a,1 and the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act (“PHRA”), 43 Pa. Stat. §§ 951-963, alleging discrimination because of sex, including termination and harassment, in violation of Title VII (Count I), (Doc. 1 at ¶¶ 15-33), and the PHRA2 (Count III), (Doc. 1 at ¶49), and alleging failure to reasonably accommodate and retaliatory termination for requesting a reasonable accommodation in violation of the ADA. (Count II). (Doc. 1 at ¶¶ 34-47).

BACKGROUND3

Palmer worked as a courier at FedEx’s AGCA station in the Three Rivers District from 2004 until her termination on March 31, 2011. (ASOF at ¶ l).4 At the beginning of her employment with FedEx, she signed an employment agreement, which provides: “To the extent the law allows an employee to bring legal action against FedEx Express, I agree to bring that complaint within the time prescribed by law or 6 months from the date of the event forming the basis of my lawsuit, whichever expires first.” (ASOF at ¶ 2).

Plaintiff received review ratings on a seven point scale of 6.5 in 2007, 6.1 in 2008 and 5.6 in 2009, but did not receive any performance reviews after 2009. (PSOF at ¶43, 44).5 Plaintiff did, however, receive praise in the form of an online compliment on July 22, 2010, stating that she “did [an] outstanding job with all of her BP methods. Jerae’s pace was perfect. She was very professional and polite to all of her customers thanking them all for their business. Thank you Jerae for delivering the purple promise to all of your customers.” (PSOF at ¶ 32; Doc. 50-2 at 3).

During her employment with FedEx, Palmer was out on workers’ compensation leave on several separate occasions due to work related injuries: from February 15, 2007 though April 3, 2007, due to frostbite [709]*709(PSOF at IF 43); from January 28, 2009 through April 13, 2009, due to frostbite (PSOF at ¶ 44); from May 3, 2010 through July 8, 2010, and from December 23, 2010 through March 3, 2011, due to a head injury (PSOF at ¶ 45).

FedEx has a policy entitled “Acceptable Conduct Policy” (hereinafter “conduct policy”). (ASOF at ¶ 4; Doc. 41 Ex. A). The policy provides guidelines for conduct and identifies conduct subject to serious disciplinary action, up to and including termination. (ASOF at ¶ 4, 5); Doc. 41 Ex. A. The conduct policy also prohibits the use of violent, threatening, intimidating, coercing or abusive language or displaying blatant disrespect toward or about any employee. (ASOF at ¶5). Plaintiff read the policy to understand what was considered acceptable conduct. (ASOF at ¶ 6).

FedEx also has a policy entitled “Performance Improvement Policy” (hereinafter “performance policy”). (ASOF at ¶ 7). Under the performance policy, employees may be given documented counselings, performance reminders and warning letters. (Doc. 41 at 8, 9, 17,19). FedEx refers to counseling notices as OLCCs. (ASOF at ¶ 8). As provided in the performance policy, “[a] documented counseling/OLCC entry is not disciplinary in nature, but it may be considered as a factor when determining whether discipline (i.e., Warning Letter, Performance Reminder, termination, etc.) is warranted.” (Doc. 41, Ex. B at 117).

The performance policy further provides that:

Termination normally results upon receipt of
• Three unsatisfactory performance reviews, or
• Three performance reminders, or
• a combination of any type of notification (including warning letters for misconduct) totaling three within a 12-month period.
* * #
Termination Option Not exercised. If a manager chooses not to discharge an employee who has three notifications of deficiency, the manager must prepare a written explanation of the rationale and maintain it in a department/station file. An information copy must be sent to the matrix HR manager.

Id. at 120. Thus, according to the policy, although termination normally results it is not mandatory for three notifications.

FedEx also has a procedure entitled “Guaranteed Fair Treatment Procedure/Internal EEO Complaint Process.” (Doc. 41, Ex. C); (ASOF at ¶ 9). The Guaranteed Fair Treatment Procedure (“GFTP”) is the internal procedure used by FedEx to handle employee complaints regarding discipline and other issues, which include application of compensation and benefit policies, terminations, performance review and work assignments presumed to be either unsafe or for which training has not been provided. (ASOF at ¶ 10). A complaint made through GFTP must be submitted electronically within five calendar days of the challenged event or occurrence. (ASOF at ¶ 10). The procedure states: “All complaints will be promptly and thoroughly investigated as a confidential a manner as possible.” (Doc. 41, Ex. C at 338); (ASOF at ¶ 11).

If an employee believed that they have been subjected to discrimination, they could file an Internal Equal Employment Opportunity (“IEEO”) Complaint. (ASOF at ¶ 11). Anytime Plaintiff expressed a “complaint” or complained of discrimination she was provided the appropriate paperwork for pursuing a formal IEEO complaint. (ASOF at ¶ 12; PSOF at ¶ 48). For example, Plaintiff was provided the appropriate EEO paperwork on five separate [710]*710occasions: March 2005, when she informed management that she “felt” intimidated by a discussion from a fellow employee;' October 2005 when she notified management about the use of profanity by fellow employees; October 2005 when she felt that “Rad” in dispatch treated her differently than “other employees,” presumably males; May 2007 when she felt discriminated against on the .distribution of hours; and August 2010 when, she stated she felt she had a target on her back .since her head’injury.. (PSOF at,¶33-37, 47, 48); Doc. 50-2 at 6. At no time did she pursue the formal EEO complaint process. (ASOF at ¶ 12.)

Between February 22, 2010, and her termination date of March 31, 2011, FedEx issued three warning letters to Plaintiff: February 22, 2010 for unprofessional messages .and behavior directed at the dispatch department, (ASQF at ¶ 13);, July 9, 2010 for unacceptable actions and communications with a Safety .Specialist, (ASOF at ¶ 14); and finally, March 31, 2011 for her conduct on or about March 23» 2011, yelling at another employee, calling him a “nebstrt” and telling him “mind your damn business.” (ASOF at ¶ 16). The Court will address the specific conduct leading to the warning letters more fully in its analysis.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
235 F. Supp. 3d 702, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 180538, 2016 WL 8677234, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/palmer-v-federal-express-corp-pawd-2016.