Roelen v. Akron Beacon Journal

199 F. Supp. 2d 685, 2002 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7712, 2002 WL 857586
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Ohio
DecidedApril 25, 2002
Docket501CV2087
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 199 F. Supp. 2d 685 (Roelen v. Akron Beacon Journal) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Ohio primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Roelen v. Akron Beacon Journal, 199 F. Supp. 2d 685, 2002 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7712, 2002 WL 857586 (N.D. Ohio 2002).

Opinion

ORDER

GWIN, District Judge.

On February 25, 2002, Defendants Akron Beacon Journal and Dan Lias moved this Court for summary judgment as to Plaintiff Bernice L. Roelen’s claims of employment discrimination, sexual harassment, retaliation, and intentional infliction of emotional distress [Doc. 101]. With regard to Plaintiff Roelen’s claim of sexual discrimination, the defendants argue that Roelen cannot show she suffered a materially adverse employment action. In other words, defendants say that Roelen’s claim of sexual discrimination fails because she is in substantially the same position that she enjoyed before.

As to Roelen’s claim of sexual harassment, defendants say that Roelen fails to show that the alleged sexual conduct was sufficiently severe or pervasive enough to alter the conditions of her employment and to create a hostile or abusive work environment. Even if Plaintiff Roelen could show sufficiently abusive conditions, the defendants say her sexual harassment claim must be dismissed because Roelen failed to report harassing behavior under Defendant Akron Beacon Journal’s harassment policy.

The defendants say that Plaintiff Roelen cannot establish a claim for retaliation. They say that her claim fails because she can show neither an adverse employment action nor the requisite causal connection between her engaging in protected activity and an adverse employment action.

Finally, the defendants seek dismissal of Plaintiff Roelen’s state law claim of intentional infliction of emotional distress. As to the intentional infliction of emotional *688 distress claim, defendants say that Roelen offers no evidence of sufficiently outrageous behavior and offers no evidence of emotional distress sufficiently serious to make out a claim.

Finding that Plaintiff Roelen fails to show a legally sufficient adverse employment action, that she fails to show that she utilized an available mechanism for redressing sexual harassment, and that the defendants’ conduct was insufficient to make out a claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress, the Court grants the defendants’ motion for summary judgment.

I. Factual background

Plaintiff Roelen complains about the conditions surrounding her employment at the Defendant Akron Beacon Journal. She also makes claim against Akron Beacon Journal manager Dan Lias, who she claims discriminated against her, sexually harassed her, and caused her severe emotional distress.

The Akron Beacon Journal hired Plaintiff Roelen on May 28, 1997, as a District Manager in circulation. In that position, Roelen worked with independent contractors, newspaper carriers, who delivered papers within the geographical area assigned to Roelen. Because of the difficulty with insuring that the independent contractors properly completed paper deliveries, the District Manager position could be difficult, especially in areas with less rehable independent contractors.

As a District Manager, Roelen’s employment was controlled by a collective bargaining agreement between the Akron Beacon Journal and the Teamsters Union Local 473. Under that agreement, District Managers select districts based upon their seniority. District Managers with more seniority have first choice of the district they bid into, whereas District Managers with less seniority have lesser ability to select desirable districts. Under this scheme, Plaintiff Roelen bid into District 10, which operates out of the Gilchrist Road Distribution Center.

Defendant Dan Lias supervised Roelen for approximately one year, between November 1998 and December 1999. At that time, Defendant Lias served as a Zone Manager and supervised the District Managers operating out of the Gilchrist Road Distribution Center. As Zone Manager, Defendant Lias was responsible for the delivery of newspapers within his zone, including the delivery of newspapers within Roelen’s district.

Regarding her gender discrimination claim, Plaintiff Roelen complains that Lias mistreated her, treatment that she contends was worse than the treatment given by Defendant Lias to other District Managers. Although she seems to concede that Lias treated everyone badly, Roelen says he treated her worse than the other District Managers. Roelen describes Lias’s conduct as generally abusive:

Q. Do you remember exactly what he would yell about?
A. You need to get this district together, can’t you do your job. Screaming at me in front of — in the middle of the warehouse. Not only — you know, he could take me into his office and tell me these things. He doesn’t have to belittle me in front of my carriers. If they see that he disrespects me for the job that I do, how am I going to get respect from my carriers.

(Roelen Dep. at 124.)

Acknowledging his criticism of Roelen, Lias says that the criticism was motivated by problems with the delivery of newspapers in Roelen’s district. (Roelen Dep. at 81-82.) Describing one incident in which she claims Lias overreached, Roelen testified:

*689 Q. And did you believe that Mr. Lias was upset because the papers were going to be delivered late?
A. Yes.

(Roelen Dep. at 132.)

Although intemperate to her, Roelen acknowledged that Lias was also intemperate to men and other employees, 1 and that his aggressiveness seemed motivated by his concern for the delivery of newspapers.

During these times, the Akron Beacon Journal had a policy for the receipt of complaints of sexual harassment, a procedure that Roelen admittedly did not use. In November 1997, the Akron Beacon Journal distributed a policy statement to all employees regarding harassment. Roe-len received the policy. In June 1998, the Akron Beacon Journal conducted a harassment training session with a representative from the Ohio Civil Rights Commission. Roelen attended this session. The Akron Beacon Journal repeated information about its policy forbidding sexual harassment in handouts and notices.

Under the Akron Beacon Journal’s sexual harassment policy, complaints about sexual harassment were to be made to the Akron Beacon Journal’s human resources department. Roelen worked for Lias for almost a year before she made a complaint. When she did complain in November 1999, 2 however, instead of following the policy’s guidelines, Roelen made a complaint to Home Delivery Manager James DeLuca. Plaintiff Roelen described the complaint:

A. Yes, I told him about each episode that happened that I told you, how [Lias] would scream at me, belittle me. Just he would say his one-liners and just — he was just nasty.

(Roelen Dep. at 147.)

After receiving Roelen’s complaints, De-Luca counseled Lias about Roelen’s stated concerns with the treatment she was receiving. Lias then apologized to Roelen. 3 Plaintiff Roelen did not complain further to DeLuca, and in her complaints to DeLu-ca in November 1999, she never mentioned any sexual comments made by Lias.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Fox v. Yates Services, LLC
232 F. Supp. 3d 971 (M.D. Tennessee, 2017)
Hunt v. City of Toledo Law Department
881 F. Supp. 2d 854 (N.D. Ohio, 2012)
Irvin v. City of Shaker Heights
809 F. Supp. 2d 719 (N.D. Ohio, 2011)
Kendel v. Local 17AUnited Food &, Commercial Workers
748 F. Supp. 2d 732 (N.D. Ohio, 2010)
Santana v. U.S. Tsubaki, Inc.
632 F. Supp. 2d 720 (N.D. Ohio, 2009)
Rodriguez v. City of Cleveland
619 F. Supp. 2d 461 (N.D. Ohio, 2009)
Kasprzak v. DaimlerChrysler Corp.
395 F. Supp. 2d 636 (N.D. Ohio, 2005)
Collette v. Stein Mart, Inc., et
126 F. App'x 678 (Sixth Circuit, 2005)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
199 F. Supp. 2d 685, 2002 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7712, 2002 WL 857586, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/roelen-v-akron-beacon-journal-ohnd-2002.