Smith v. Virgin Islands Port Authority

46 V.I. 466, 10 Wage & Hour Cas.2d (BNA) 315, 16 Am. Disabilities Cas. (BNA) 584, 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 56, 95 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 713
CourtDistrict Court, Virgin Islands
DecidedJanuary 2, 2005
DocketCiv. No. 2002-227
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 46 V.I. 466 (Smith v. Virgin Islands Port Authority) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, Virgin Islands primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Smith v. Virgin Islands Port Authority, 46 V.I. 466, 10 Wage & Hour Cas.2d (BNA) 315, 16 Am. Disabilities Cas. (BNA) 584, 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 56, 95 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 713 (vid 2005).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM

(January 2, 2005)

The defendants have filed a motion to dismiss the complaint for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted, pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. For the reasons explained below, I find that, of the nine counts alleged in her amended complaint, the plaintiff has alleged facts sufficient to support a cause of action against the Virgin Islands Port Authority [“VIPA”] for breach of contract, constructive discharge, violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, violation of section 531 of Title III of the Virgin Islands Code, and violation of the Family Medical Leave Act. The plaintiff has also sufficiently alleged that all of the defendants violated her procedural due process rights. For reasons also explained below, I will dismiss all other claims against VIPA and the individual defendants. I will therefore grant in part and deny in part the defendants’ motion to dismiss.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Pro se plaintiff Shirley Smith has filed a twenty-nine page complaint that levies a wide range of charges against the defendants, including nine specified counts that allege, among other claims, breach of contract, unfair labor practices, invasion of privacy, wrongful suspension, civil conspiracy, violation of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution, hostile work environment, intentional discrimination, violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act, intentional infliction of extreme emotional distress, and constructive discharge.

Sometime in March or April of 1999, Smith interviewed for the position of public information officer for VTPA. (Am. Compl ¶¶ 16-17.) Apparently, during her interview for the position with defendant Gordon [470]*470A. Finch, Smith informed him that she had lost her voice in 1996 due to a rare disorder but had made a miraculous recovery. (Id. ¶¶ 18-19.) Finch allegedly asked several other questions about Smith’s health. Smith was hired and began her tenure as VIPA’s public information officer on April 12,1999. (Id. ¶ 8.)

Smith alleges that she began experiencing difficulties soon after joining VIPA. She complains that her assistant was inadequate, which required her to take on a heavier work load. (Id. ¶ 21.) Smith also alleges that “since the commencement of my employment, I have had to endure constant provocation, harassment, including sexual harassment....” (Id. ¶ 10.) After allegedly enduring several months of this constant sexual harassment, sometime in June of 1999 the plaintiff reported to Finch that she was sexually harassed by former VIPA board members Sidney Lee and Hector Peguero. (Id. ¶¶ 30, 61.) Smith complains that Finch and other officials failed to follow proper procedures in responding to her allegations. (Id. ¶ 30.) The stress of her work environment allegedly caused her to suffer a relapse of her rare disorder, resulting in her once again losing her voice. This relapse prevented her from working from approximately December 2000 until April 23, 2001. (Id. ¶ 73.) When she returned to work, she claims she was not told of important meetings, she was asked to take a drug test, and that her duties had been reassigned to other staff members.

On May 15, 2001, Smith’s working environment allegedly took a turn for the worse when she claims she was physically attacked by Barbara Donastorg, another employee at VIPA. (Id. at ¶¶ 41-43.) Smith claims that this attack was orchestrated by certain unspecified staff members who were participating in a “civil conspiracy” to provoke her. (Id. ¶ 46.) The next day, Smith was informed that she had to attend an administrative hearing on May 17, 2001 before VIPA Assistant Executive Director David Mapp and other VIPA officials, presumably to address her conduct in the altercation. Smith attended the hearing with attorney Robert Leycock, whom she claims was standing in for her regular attorney, Arturo Watlington. (Id. ¶¶ 52-53.) At the start of the hearing, Mapp denied Leycock’s request to continue the hearing to allow Watlington to attend. Smith responded by immediately leaving the meeting. The meeting continued in Smith’s absence, and at its completion, a letter from Mapp was delivered to Smith informing her [471]*471that she was suspended for thirty days for insubordination and refusal to attend the meeting. (Id. ¶ 56.)

On May 21, 2001, Smith filed an appeal with what she calls the VPA Governing Board [“VPA Board”]. (Id. ¶ 59.) Smith alleges she was instead granted a hearing on June 7, 2001 before the Personnel Committee. Smith claims that several members of this committee' were biased against her, including Hector Pequero and Don Mills. The Personnel Committee elected to uphold Smith’s suspension.

Following the completion of her thirty-day suspension, Smith returned to work at VPA on June 22, 2001. (Id. ¶ 62.) On June 25, 2001, Finch held a second administrative meeting. (Id.) It is unclear from the amended complaint what happened at this meeting. Smith alleges that on June 29, 2001, Finch informed her that she would have to take an anger management course or be subjected to another thirty day suspension without pay. (Id. ¶ 64.) Smith chose the suspension. The VPA Governing Board voted on July 18, 2001 to uphold the second suspension. (Id. ¶ 66.)

In the meantime, Smith allegedly suffered another relapse of her rare disorder and once again lost her voice. She took sick leave on July 18, 2001 and, when her sickness continued, applied for donated sick leave on August 27, 2001. (Id. ¶75.) Two days later, Finch denied Smith’s application for sick leave, allegedly in part because he did not consider Smith’s medical condition serious. (Id. ¶ 76.) On October 8, 2001, Smith renewed her effort to obtain donated leave by submitting to Finch a letter from Dr. Ira Buchalter allegedly stating that she had a serious medical condition. (Am. Compl. ¶ 82.) Apparently, VPA did not request a second opinion after receiving Buchalter’s letter.

On November 6, 2001, Smith applied for leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act [“FMLA”]. The VPA Board allegedly denied this application on November 30, 2001, according to Smith, by “stating once again, that there was no evidence that I was suffering from a serious medical condition, despite Dr. Buchalter’s letter of October 8, 2001.” (Id. ¶ 86.) Smith nevertheless continued to request FMLA leave from VPA, and, as alleged in the amended complaint, the VPA reversed course by granting her FMLA leave on January 16, 2002. (Id. ¶ 91.) The plaintiff also alleges she was granted unpaid leave after the VPA Board initially denied her FMLA leave request. (Id. ¶ 89.) The amended complaint does [472]*472not specify the duration and precise timing of the FMLA leave or the unpaid leave.

Presumably in the midst of Smith’s lengthy leave of absence due to her alleged medical condition, VIPA ordered her to return to work on June 3, 2002. (Id ¶94.) A month after returning to work, Smith requested that an instructor come to VIPA to teach sign language classes to aid Smith in communicating with her co-workers. (Id. ¶ 95.) She asserts that VIPA denied this and other proposed efforts to accommodate her illness.

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46 V.I. 466, 10 Wage & Hour Cas.2d (BNA) 315, 16 Am. Disabilities Cas. (BNA) 584, 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 56, 95 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 713, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/smith-v-virgin-islands-port-authority-vid-2005.