Sattler v. Natick Animal Clinic, Inc.

14 Mass. L. Rptr. 45
CourtMassachusetts Superior Court
DecidedSeptember 20, 2001
DocketNo. 00203
StatusPublished

This text of 14 Mass. L. Rptr. 45 (Sattler v. Natick Animal Clinic, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Massachusetts Superior Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Sattler v. Natick Animal Clinic, Inc., 14 Mass. L. Rptr. 45 (Mass. Ct. App. 2001).

Opinion

Gants, J.

The plaintiff, Kristy Sattler (“Sattler”), was employed by the Natick Animal Clinic, Inc. (“the Clinic”) until her termination on October 27, 1998. Sattler has filed suit, contending that her termination was motivated by the Clinic’s intent to discriminate against her on the basis of her gender and her handicap. The Clinic now moves for summaiy judgment on all counts in the complaint. After hearing and for the reasons stated below, the defendant’s motion for summary judgment is ALLOWED.

BACKGROUND

In evaluating a motion for summaiy judgment, I must rely on facts not in dispute as well as disputed facts viewed in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. Beal v. Board of Selectmen of Hingham, 419 Mass. 535, 539 (1995). Consequently the facts stated below are presented in the light most favorable to Sattler and should not be misunderstood as findings of the Court.

On or about March 3, 1998, the Clinic hired Sattler to work as an assistant in the Clinic’s boarding kennel. Sattler was an at-will employee; she had no employment contract. As a kennel assistant, Sattler’s job required her to clean up after the animals, feed and bathe them and otherwise look after their welfare, and keep the facility clean. Sattler was having difficulty getting along with another kennel worker and asked to be transferred to the job of receptionist. The Clinic granted her request and she began work as a receptionist in or about mid-April 1998.

As a receptionist, Sattler’s duties included greeting clients, checking animals in and out, carrying dog food, taking the boarding animals to the kennel, and assisting the veterinarians in the examination rooms. On June 1, 1998, Sattler acknowledged being late for work three times in the same week and received a written reprimand for her tardiness. Under the Clinic’s Employment Benefits & Policy Manual (“the Manual”), “Failure to report for work without prior authorization may be grounds for immediate dismissal.”

On September 24, 1998, Sattler received a second written reprimand for tardiness. She signed the reprimand, acknowledging that she had called in at 11 a.m. to tell the Clinic that she would be late for her 12 noon shift, and did not arrive until 2 p.m. Sattler testified that she had gotten into her car that morning to go to work and her brakes failed. She had to call her sister in California to obtain permission to borrow her sister’s car in order to get to work.

On October 2, 1998, Sattler received her third written reprimand. According to the written reprimand, Sattler had taken in a dog as a boarder at the Clinic at 6:10 p.m., and left work without ensuring that the dog had been properly checked in and the necessary information input into the computer. Sattler admits that this happened but denies that it was her fault. She explained that she was in the office with two other receptionists at the end of the day when a customer arrived with a dog to be boarded. Sattler said that she had already shut down the computers, and had to re-boot them while the two other receptionists began to prepare the necessary paperwork. When the computers had finally been re-booted and were ready for operation, the dog was already in the back. One of the other receptionists said that they should not worry about inputting the necessary information, and that she would do it the next day. The second receptionist offered to stay late to input the information, but the first receptionist had the only key to the office and was in a hurry to get home. As a result, Sattler again turned off the computers without inputting any information, including the required information about vaccination history. In short, Sattler admits that she left the office that day without having ensured that the necessary information about this dog, including its vaccination history, had been entered into the Clinic computer, but claims that this was the fault of one of the other receptionists.

Under the Manual, ‘Three written warnings may result in termination.” The Clinic, however, did not fire Sattler after the third written reprimand, but it did remove her from her position as a receptionist and transferred her to work in the kennel for the kennel manager. Although Sattler had informed the Clinic in August 1998 that she was pregnant, Sattler does not contend that this transfer was motivated by her pregnancy.

In her new job working for the kennel manager, Sattler was on her feet eight hours per day. In view of her pregnancy, she was not required to climb on ladders, take food down from the cages, clean up after the cats, transport large dogs, or clean up fecal matter, but she had to perform all the other physical kennel duties. Although she had been told prior to the transfer that she would be doing more secretarial work than kennel work in this new position, she actually performed little secretarial work other than tally up the day’s sales for fifteen minutes each day and prepare reminder cards one day every other week.

As a result of her pregnancy, Sattler developed a sciatic nerve problem that resulted in her being physically unable to stand on her feet for eight hours a day and performing her assigned duties in the kennel. On or about October 26, 1998, she presented the Clinic with a letter from her obstetrician, who wrote that he had advised her, because of her sciatic nerve problems, to avoid prolonged periods on her feet and to limit her bending. Sattler asked the Clinic to transfer her back to her job as a receptionist, but the Clinic refused. Sattler also asked for a full-time or part-time secretarial position. She was not offered either position; nor was she offered a leave of absence.1 Sattler acknowledged that nobody at the Clinic had a secretarial position, and that the only secretarial duties she knew were being performed were being handled by receptionists or by her as a kennel worker. On October 28, 1998, the Clinic provided Sattler with a letter that [47]*47declared she had been terminated from her employment on October 27, 1998. The letter concluded:

When Kristy became pregnant, she apparently developed problems staying on her feet, and bending over. Since the nature of our work can be very fast-paced and often strenuous, we terminated her employment. She is, however, welcome to reapply after her child is bom.

DISCUSSION

To prevail on summaiy judgment, the moving party must establish that there is no genuine issue of material fact on every element of a claim and that it is entitled to judgment on that claim as a matter of law. See generally Mass.R.Civ.P. 56(c); Highlands Insurance Co. v. Aerovox, Inc., 424 Mass. 226, 232 (1997). Where, as here, the party opposing summary judgment has the burden of proof at trial, the moving party is entitled to summary judgment if it “demonstrates, by reference to material described in Mass.R.Civ.P. 56(c), unmet by countervailing materials, that the party opposing the motion has no reasonable expectation of proving an essential element of that party’s case.” Kourouvacilis v. General Motors Corp., 410 Mass. 706, 716 (1991). ‘To be successful, a moving party need not submit affirmative evidence to negate one or more elements of the other party’s claim.” Id. It is sufficient to demonstrate that “proof of that element is unlikely to be forthcoming at trial.” Flesner v. Technical Communications Corp., 410 Mass. 805, 809 (1991).

Satüer contends that the Clinic’s termination was motivated by her pregnancy and her pregnancy-related handicap — the sciatica.

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Bluebook (online)
14 Mass. L. Rptr. 45, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sattler-v-natick-animal-clinic-inc-masssuperct-2001.