Schack v. Parallon Enterprises, LLC

CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Virginia
DecidedFebruary 8, 2021
Docket7:19-cv-00767
StatusUnknown

This text of Schack v. Parallon Enterprises, LLC (Schack v. Parallon Enterprises, LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Virginia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Schack v. Parallon Enterprises, LLC, (W.D. Va. 2021).

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT POR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF VIRGINIA ROANOKE DIVISION CLARA SCHACK, ) Plaintiff, Civil Action No. 7:19¢v00767 v. MEMORANDUM OPINION PARALLON ENTERPRISES, LLC ef a/., ) By: Hon. Thomas T. Cullen ) United States District Judge Defendants. )

Plaintiff Clara Shack brought this case under the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, and Virginia contract law, alleging that defendant Parallon Enterprises discriminated against her on the basis of a pregnancy-related disability and fraudulently induced her to resign her job with promises of a new one. ‘The case is now before the court on defendant’s motion for summary judgment. Because the undisputed evidence shows no contract and because Schack’s absenteeism places her outside the protection of the laws she has invoked, the court will grant summary judgment to Parallon on all claims. I. On July 23, 2018, Plaintiff Clara Schack began employment at Montgomery Hospital as a part-time registrar, working 25 to 30 hours a week. (See ECF No. 46-1 at 18.) Within the first two weeks of her employment, on August 1, Schack called out of work. (See id. at 40.) This constituted an “occurrence” under Parallon’s attendance policy. (See zd; ECF No. 44-3 at 1.) The accumulation of three occurrences within the first 90 days of employment with

Parallon is grounds for termination. (See ECF No. 44-3 at 2.) Other than this absence, the first month of Schack’s employment passed without incident. The events leading to this lawsuit began on August 30, 2018, when Schack informed

Lisa Albert, her supervisor, and Suzanne Caldwell, Albert’s supervisor, that she was pregnant. Schack’s pregnancy brought on extreme nausea and dehydration (Hyperemesis Gravidarum), causing her to have trouble attending work. She arrived late on September 4 and called out of work entirely on September 6 and 13. (See ECF No. 44-1 at 42–43.) On September 13, Schack contacted Harriet Spencer-Bennett, the assistant director of human resources at Parallon and requested an accommodation for her pregnancy-related symptoms. Spencer-Bennett informed

Schack that she needed to fill out a reasonable accommodation request form and provide a doctor’s note certifying her need for an accommodation. (See ECF No. 44-10 at 1.) She also requested that Schack complete the relevant paperwork by September 24. Schack did not immediately provide a note and, following her conversation with Spencer-Bennett, called out of work on September 18, 24, 27, and October 1. (See ECF No. 44-1 at 50.) Finally, on October 3, Schack provided a doctor’s note to Parallon. The note was signed

on September 28 and excused Schack from two weeks of work following that date. But Schack’s doctor did not excuse her earlier absences. (See ECF Nos. 44-13; 44-1 at 51.) After Parallon received the note, it excused Schack from attending work (despite her having accumulated three occurrences under the attendance policy, rendering her eligible for termination) until her proposed return-to-work date of October 16. (See ECF No. 44-14.) The day before she was scheduled to return, Schack emailed Spencer-Bennett and informed her

that she would not be able to return to work the next day and was attempting to obtain a doctor’s note extending her leave. (See ECF Nos. 44-1 at 55–57, 93–94; 44-15.) Two hours after sending that email, Schack again contacted Spencer-Bennett to tell her that she would, in fact, be returning to work, but would be requesting shorter shifts. (See ECF Nos. 44-1 at 55–

57, 93–94; 44-16.) Spencer-Bennett informed Schack that she would need a doctor’s note to support her request. (See ECF No. 44-17.) Schack never produced such a note. Schack returned to work on October 16 but quickly began calling out again. She missed work on October 25 and 26 due to a family emergency unrelated to her medical condition, finding a replacement for the latter date but failing to inform her manager of such. This violated Parallon’s policies. (See ECF No. 44-1 at 59–61.) Schack called out again on

November 1 for unknown reasons not related to her medical condition. (See id. at 61–62.) Continuing this pattern, she called out of work on November 3 and 6, failing to abide by Parallon’s policies on both occasions. (See id. at 61–62, 70.) After these repeated absences, Schack received a “corrective action” notice from her supervisors. This written discipline informed her that she had missed scheduled shifts, failed to follow call-out procedures, had uncompleted training courses, and that her productivity was

unsatisfactory on the shifts she had attended. (See ECF No. 44-18 at 1–2.) Some time after Schack received this corrective action, Jennifer Gillespie, the Regional Director at Parallon and Caldwell’s supervisor (Schack’s supervisor’s supervisor’s supervisor), received a call from Schack’s father, who was upset about the corrective action. Gillespie recalls that the call was threatening in nature and that Mr. Schack informed her he was a local law enforcement officer and implied he would “make things right” on his daughter’s behalf. (See ECF No. 44-19 at 42–

44.) Around this time, Gillespie also engaged plaintiff Schack in a conversation about finding a different position within Parallon more suited to her needs. There is some dispute about exactly how the conversation progressed, but eventually the two discussed Schack moving to a clerk position in the records department. (See ECF Nos. 44-1 at 78; 44-19 at 50- 51.) There is much dispute about what happened next. Schack’s filings allege that Gillespie promised her the clerk position outright. (See ECF Nos. 1 at 7-8; 46 at 16.) Her deposition, on the other hand, tells a much milder story. There, she says that Gillespie told her that the position would “be a lateral move” and “made it seem” like Schack would get the position. (ECF No. 44-1 at 79-81.) For her part, Gillespie denies having any conversation with Schack about helping her secure the clerk position.’ (See ECF No. 44-19 at 56-58.) After discussing the clerk position with Gillespie, Schack applied for it on November 10. Then, on November 12, Schack resigned from her position as a registrar. She alleges that Gillespie told her she had to resign in order to “move to” the clerk position, (see zd. at 81-82), a contention Gillespie disputes, (see zd. at 60-61). On November 13, Schack recetved an email from the recruiter for the clerk position requesting permission to contact Schack’s prior manager to confirm approval of her application, a necessary step because Schack had been employed at Parallon for less than six months. (See ECF No. 44-22.) Schack texted Gillespie a screenshot of this email to “see what the next step is and if [she] needed to get approval.” (ECF No. 46-27 at 7.) Gillespie responded, “Tl reach out!” Ud. at 8.) Gillespie testified that she reached out to Caldwell and asked her to contact the department hiring the clerk. (See ECF 44-19 at 57.) The hiring manager for the position cannot recall whether Caldwell reached out

| For purposes of this motion, the court adopts Schack’s version, as outlined in her deposition testimony. 4.

to her regarding Schack’s application, (see ECF No. 46-33 at 20), and the recruiter for the position does not remember anyone reaching out regarding Schack’s application, (see ECF No. 44-23 at 10). Schack herself never responded to the recruiter’s email or reached out to her

manager. (See ECF No. 44-1 at 90.) Because Schack never responded to the email giving the recruiter authorization to contact her manager, the recruiter automatically rejected her application for the clerk position. (See id.

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Schack v. Parallon Enterprises, LLC, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/schack-v-parallon-enterprises-llc-vawd-2021.