Sanders v. Tyco Electronics Corp.

235 F.R.D. 315, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 20241, 2006 WL 983898
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. North Carolina
DecidedApril 12, 2006
DocketNo. 1:05CV316
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 235 F.R.D. 315 (Sanders v. Tyco Electronics Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. North Carolina primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Sanders v. Tyco Electronics Corp., 235 F.R.D. 315, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 20241, 2006 WL 983898 (W.D.N.C. 2006).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

THORNBURG, District Judge.

THIS MATTER came before the Court for a show cause hearing conducted on February 23, 2006.

I. PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On August 20, 2003, Lenda Littlejohn, who is the same person as the Plaintiff in this action, filed suit in this Court against Tyco Electronics, the same Defendant as in this action. Littlejohn v. Tyco Electronics, Civil Case No. 1:03cv193 (Littlejohn I). In that action, the Plaintiff, proceeding pro se, alleged primarily that Tyco had discriminated against her on the basis of her race by demoting her to a different position. The case proceeded to trial and a jury was selected on November 8, 2004. After business hours on that date (6:40 p.m.), the Plaintiff filed a motion to dismiss the action in which she wrote the following:

The plaintiff chose to dismiss her claims due to Unethical Conduct in many areas. This action could have been settle (sic) at the Pre-trial Conference, after the Honorable Lacy Thornburg left the Plaintiff, Defendant, and one of his witness (sic) to discuss a Settlement!.] She [the Plaintiff] offered the Defendant to pay her back wages, all attorney fees, And the cost of all certified mailing etc. His response was we’re not paying you Nothing! Vengeance is mines (sic), “saith the Lord” and the Plaintiff forgives all of those Who cause this action and all of the suffering of emo[317]*317tional distressed (sic) that she had Experienced throughout the last two years of dealing with this ordeal. Please Forgive me of any thing that I have said to offend anyone also!

Motion to dismiss claims, filed November 8, 2004.

On November 9, 2004, the undersigned received a letter, which was filed of record, from the attorneys for the Defendants in Littlejohn I advising the Court that the Plaintiff had accused defense counsel of ex parte contact with the Court. Letter of November 5, 2004, from Joseph A. Rhodes, Jr., filed November 9, 2004 (Plaintiff was provided with a copy of the letter). According to counsel, the Plaintiff threatened that she would file more lawsuits against the Defendant “because this is not over.” Id., at 1.

On November 12, 2004, the undersigned dismissed Littlejohn I with prejudice. Order of Dismissal, filed November 12, 2004.

On October 17, 2005, the Plaintiff filed this action, this time represented by counsel. Complaint, filed October 17, 2005 (Littlejohn II). Here, she raises the same claims as previously made in the first action and an additional claim that although in December 2003 she was promoted, her promotion was at a lower pay level than a white female employee similarly promoted. She also alleged that she was ultimately terminated from employment in February 2005 in retaliation for filing a charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Id., at 2. In its Answer, the Defendant raised res judicata as an affirmative defense based on the previous dismissal. It was also noted that the Plaintiff had failed to provide a copy of the right to sue letter from the EEOC, thus failing to show administrative exhaustion. Answer, filed November 7, 2005, at 2-3. In response, Plaintiffs attorney filed a motion to amend the complaint, claiming that the proposed amended complaint and the EEOC right to sue letter were attached thereto; they were not. Motion to Amend, filed December 21, 2005. Neither the proposed amended complaint nor copies of the EEOC charge and right to sue letter were ever provided to the Court. Plaintiff, therefore, failed to establish that she had exhausted her administrative remedies or initiated suit within the applicable time period.

On January 6, 2006, some two weeks after the motion to amend was filed, the Plaintiff, in a pro se capacity, wrote to the Court advising that her attorney would shortly move to dismiss this action as well. Letter, dated January 5, 2006, filed January 6, 2006. In the letter, the Plaintiff complained about her attorney’s performance. Id.

On January 18, 2006, the Plaintiffs attorney did, in fact, file a motion to dismiss the action without prejudice. Motion to Dismiss without Prejudice, filed January 18, 2006. No grounds for the dismissal were alleged. On that same date, the attorney filed a motion to be relieved as counsel. As grounds for that motion, counsel wrote that the Plaintiff had threatened him and

refus[ed] to cooperate with counsel who has insisted that she refrain from her bad faith misrepresentations and insistence upon using said counsel to pursue this frivolous action for the sole purpose of harassing the Defendant herein.

Motion to be Relieved as Counsel, filed January 18, 2006.

On January 23, 2006, the undersigned dismissed this action with prejudice based on res judicata and the Plaintiffs failure to file proof that administrative remedies had been exhausted and the action had been timely filed. The dismissal was also based on the Plaintiffs request that the action be dismissed although she requested a dismissal without prejudice.

In the order dismissing the action, the undersigned ordered Plaintiff to show cause why she should not be sanctioned pursuant to the Court’s inherent powers and Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11. The Plaintiff was provided an opportunity to respond at a hearing on February 23, 2006.

II. THE HEARING

At the hearing, the Plaintiff was provided an opportunity to explain why sanctions should not be imposed against her for her conduct in this case. However, instead of addressing that issue, the Plaintiff repeatedly [318]*318attempted to explain why her first action, Littlejohn I, was a valid one. Transcript of Order to Show Cause Proceeding, filed February 24, 2006, at 1-10. When admonished that the hearing was not an opportunity to re-try her first lawsuit, which she voluntarily dismissed, the Plaintiff responded, “No, I’m not trying to. I’m really not. I’m not trying to. I just want to bring out what I tried to do at the first case and I never had the opportunity to do it[.]” Id., at 10. The Plaintiff again reiterated that unethical conduct occurred in connection with her first lawsuit and accused defense counsel of intentionally presenting false documents to the Court. Id., at 10-11.

When urged to move forward to address the lawsuit at hand, the Plaintiff than launched an attack against Theo Mitchell, the attorney she hired to bring this suit. Id., at 12-13. When asked to explain the difference between the first and second lawsuits, the Plaintiff responded that the first suit was based on a demotion whereas the present suit was based on a promotion. Id., at 13. In other words, in the present lawsuit she alleged that she was discriminated against by the Defendant because she received a promotion. The discriminatory conduct, she claimed, stemmed from the fact that a white female employee who was also promoted at about the same time was placed in a higher pay level than the Plaintiff.

The Plaintiff then proceeded to accuse Mr. Mitchell of unethical conduct because she claimed that he filed motions without signing pleadings.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
235 F.R.D. 315, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 20241, 2006 WL 983898, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sanders-v-tyco-electronics-corp-ncwd-2006.