Picard v. Louisiana ex rel. Department of Justice

931 F. Supp. 2d 731, 27 Am. Disabilities Cas. (BNA) 1842, 20 Wage & Hour Cas.2d (BNA) 1231, 2013 WL 1087620, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 35300, 118 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 760
CourtDistrict Court, M.D. Louisiana
DecidedMarch 14, 2013
DocketCivil Action No. 10-868-JJB
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 931 F. Supp. 2d 731 (Picard v. Louisiana ex rel. Department of Justice) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, M.D. Louisiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Picard v. Louisiana ex rel. Department of Justice, 931 F. Supp. 2d 731, 27 Am. Disabilities Cas. (BNA) 1842, 20 Wage & Hour Cas.2d (BNA) 1231, 2013 WL 1087620, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 35300, 118 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 760 (M.D. La. 2013).

Opinion

RULING ON DEFENDANT’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

JAMES J. BRADY, District Judge.

This matter is before the Court on a Motion for Summary Judgment (Doe. 40) by the Defendant, the State of Louisiana, through Department of Justice, Office of Attorney General. The Motion is opposed (Docs. 44 and 47), and the Defendant filed a reply (Doc. 53). Jurisdiction exists pursuant to Title 28 of the United States Code, Sections 1331 and 1343. Oral argument is not necessary.

I. Discovery Issue

As a preliminary matter, the Plaintiff argues the Defendant never provided ini[734]*734tial disclosures, has not identified witnesses and exhibits, and should be subjected to evidentiary sanctions under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 37(c). The Plaintiff argues any late-filed pleading identifying witnesses and exhibits would be prejudicial, as the Defendant failed to identify exhibits and witnesses in the pretrial order (Doc. 29), and she should not be required to expend additional resources responding to late-disclosed materials and engaging in discovery.

As the following summary judgment analysis shows, a ruling on this issue in favor of either party does not change the outcome of this Ruling, so the Court does not address the issue.

II. Facts

The following facts are either undisputed or taken as true based on evidence submitted by the non-movant Plaintiff. The Plaintiff, Laura Picard, is an attorney formerly employed as an Assistant Attorney General by the Louisiana Department of Justice, Office of the Attorney General, in its Alexandria office, beginning in August or September of 2004. The office chief, James Calhoun, was the Plaintiffs supervisor. The Plaintiff had a caseload of sixty to seventy eases, and the essential functions of the Plaintiffs position were defending tort cases, filing pleadings, making decisions on tactics and strategy, implementing those decisions, and going to trial.

The Plaintiff was in a car accident in 2006, causing her serious injuries. After this accident, the Plaintiff was diagnosed with Dercum’s disease, which is characterized by multiple painful lipomas, fatty tissue deposits or tumors underneath the skin. The Plaintiff had lipomas in various parts of her body, including in the back of her knees and her abdominal region. Her condition caused her pain, and made it difficult to climb stairs and eat. The Alexandria office has two reserved parking spaces near the front door of the building, reserved for Calhoun and Attorney General James “Buddy” Caldwell, or his representative, Joe Fuller. In late 2006, the Plaintiff obtained a temporary handicap parking permit, which expired in late 2007, and the Plaintiff did not renew it. For some time during the Plaintiffs employment, she requested a disabled or reserved parking space. Elevator outages occurred periodically at the building housing the Alexandria office. Whenever the elevator was not working, Calhoun would give the Plaintiff the option of going to a coffee shop, the library, or home.

In April of 2009, the Plaintiff was pregnant. In September of 2009, the Plaintiff was involved in another car accident, and was hospitalized overnight for observation purposes. Her physician advised her to stay on bedrest for three days. On or about September 25, 2009, the Plaintiff requested verbally from James Calhoun that she be able to work from home. The Plaintiff also requested to work from home some days when the elevator was not working.

By this time, the Plaintiff had been the “first chair” lawyer for five to six years on the Byrd-Starr case, a high-profile case involving drunk driving, which was set for trial on October 27, 2009. Victoria Murry was assigned as “second chair” on the case. In early September of 2009, a telephone conference was held, involving representatives of the Defendant, discussing contracting out the handling of the Byrd-Starr case to an outside law firm. Calhoun told the Plaintiff that they wanted to contract the case out because the Plaintiff was pregnant and because they were worried about her pregnancy. Calhoun told the Plaintiff that the meeting was because they wanted to reassign the case because of the Plaintiffs pregnancy. The telephone [735]*735conference included a discussion that they were worried that the Plaintiff was pregnant and that it would somehow interfere with the trial. At this time, the Plaintiff had not had any complications with her pregnancy. The Plaintiff was very vocal that she wanted to stay in the case and that she was prepared.

During the time which the Plaintiff was on bedrest, she was informed that she would not be working on the Byrd-Starr case anymore. The Plaintiff returned to work in October of 2009, but she then stayed on bedrest for the remainder of her pregnancy, delivering a baby on October 26, 2009. Around the time in which the baby was born, an employee of the Alexandria office brought Family and Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”) paperwork to the Plaintiff in the hospital, and she submitted a request for FMLA leave. After returning to work, the Plaintiff was informed she had to send a memo to get the FMLA leave, and she did so on January 4, 2010. On January 8, 2010, the Plaintiffs employment was terminated. The Defendant claims the termination was the result of the Alexandria office losing the Plaintiffs position, and because the Plaintiff made false representations to the presiding judge and opposing counsel in the Byrd-Starr case that the Attorney General had a personal interest in the case and would not settle.1 The Plaintiff denies this allegation.

The Plaintiff filed a Charge of Discrimination with the Louisiana Commission on Human Rights on June 19, 2010. The charge states discrimination took place August 1, 2009 at the earliest and January 8, 2010 at the latest. The charge alleges discrimination based on sex, retaliation, and disability. The charge includes a seetion for particulars, which states in part: “[o]n September 4, 2006, I asked for and was denied a reasonable accommodation. On January 8, 2010,1 was discharged.” It continues:

According to the company, I was discharged due to budget cuts.
I believe I have been discriminated against because of my sex, pregnancy, and retaliated against in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, in that, while I was out on FMLA comments were made about me missing work and being a ‘burden’ on the office.

The Plaintiff filed this lawsuit in state court on November 10, 2012, bringing claims of pregnancy discrimination under Title VII, denial of reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”), interference and retaliation under the FMLA, and intentional infliction of emotional distress under Louisiana law.2 The case was removed to this Court on December 30, 2010. The Defendant now moves for summary judgment on all claims other than intentional infliction of emotional distress.

III. Summary Judgment Standard

Summary judgment is appropriate when “the movant shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact.” Fed. Rule Civ. P. 56(a). The party seeking summary judgment carries the burden of demonstrating that there is an absence of evidence to support the non-moving party’s case. Celotex Corp. v.

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931 F. Supp. 2d 731, 27 Am. Disabilities Cas. (BNA) 1842, 20 Wage & Hour Cas.2d (BNA) 1231, 2013 WL 1087620, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 35300, 118 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 760, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/picard-v-louisiana-ex-rel-department-of-justice-lamd-2013.