Stubbs v. McDonald's Corp.

224 F.R.D. 668, 94 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1846, 2004 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 23336
District Court, D. Kansas·Decided November 12, 2004·No. No. 04-2164-GTV·Published·Cited by 10 cases

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

VANBEBBER, Senior District Judge.

Plaintiff Jerry Stubbs brings this putative class action for employment discrimination against his former employer, Defendant McDonald’s Corporation. Plaintiff, an African-American man, claims that he was forced to resign after it became apparent that he would not be promoted because of his race. He brings claims pursuant to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as amended, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq. (“Title VII”), and the Civil Rights Act of 1871 as amended in 1991, 42 U.S.C. § 1981 (“Section 1981”) for failure to promote, constructive discharge, hostile work environment, pay disparity, failure to hire, and “terms and conditions” of employment.

Defendant originally filed a motion to dismiss and strike class allegations (Doc. 2), and Plaintiff filed an amended complaint. Based on the amended complaint, Defendant filed a second motion to dismiss and strike class allegations (Doc. 18). The court denies Defendant’s first motion as moot (Doc. 2), but grants Defendant’s second motion in part and denies it in part (Doc. 18). Plaintiff may pursue his individual Title VII claims for failure to promote and constructive discharge. He may pursue his individual § 1981 claims for failure to promote, constructive discharge, hostile work environment, and pay disparity. The court dismisses Plaintiffs other claims and strikes Plaintiffs class action allegations.

[671]*671 I. STANDARD FOR JUDGMENT

Defendant moves to dismiss Plaintiffs amended complaint pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.

A Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss will be granted only if it appears beyond a doubt that the plaintiff is unable to prove any set of facts entitling him to relief under his theory of recovery. Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 45-46, 78 S.Ct. 99, 2 L.Ed.2d 80 (1957). “All well-pleaded facts, as distinguished from conclusory allegations, must be taken as true.” Swanson v. Bixler, 750 F.2d 810, 813 (10th Cir.1984). The court must view all reasonable inferences in favor of the plaintiff, and the pleadings must be liberally construed. Id.; Fed.R.Civ.P. 8(f). The issue in reviewing the sufficiency of a complaint is not whether the plaintiff will prevail, but whether the plaintiff is entitled to offer evidence to support his claims. Scheuer v. Rhodes, 416 U.S. 232, 236, 94 S.Ct. 1683, 40 L.Ed.2d 90 (1974), overruled on other grounds by Harlow v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. 800, 102 S.Ct. 2727, 73 L.Ed.2d 396 (1982).

II. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

The following facts are based upon the allegations in Plaintiffs amended complaint.

Plaintiff Jerry Stubbs is an African-American man who was hired as a Second Assistant Manager at a McDonald’s restaurant in Kansas City, Kansas in 1996. Plaintiff also worked at three McDonald’s restaurants in Johnson County, Kansas before he resigned in January 2003.

Plaintiff claims that he was never promoted to First Assistant Manager or Store Manager, despite seven years of good and loyal service. Plaintiff repeatedly saw Caucasian employees promoted above him. Mr. Stubbs claims that a Caucasian Assistant Manager who requested a transfer to a Kansas City, Missouri restaurant was informed that he was “the wrong color” to work at that store. He also claims that when he complained about his lack of promotion, management suggested that his prospects for promotion would be better if he volunteered to be transferred to an inner-city store on Prospect Avenue in Kansas City, Missouri. At one point, McDonald’s stated that “we don’t need any more black managers in Johnson County.”

Plaintiff claims that the Second Assistant Manager position was an undesirable management position, and received the least attractive shifts and duties. He claims that he and other African-American employees received comparably lower compensation than similarly-situated Caucasian employees, and that McDonald’s has a pattern or practice of discriminatory treatment of African-Americans. According to Plaintiff, the hostile work environment at McDonald’s was so intolerable that he was constructively discharged.

Plaintiff claims that Defendant engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination. He seeks to represent a class of “all African-American persons currently employed by Defendant McDonald’s and who were employed at any time since 1996 at McDonald’s restaurants owned and/or operated by McDonald’s Corporation.”

III. DISCUSSION

A. Title VII Claims

1. Failure to Exhaust Administrative Remedies

Before bringing a Title VII action, a plaintiff must exhaust his or her administrative remedies. See Aramburu v. Boeing Co., 112 F.3d 1398, 1409 (10th Cir.1997) (citing Jones v. Runyon, 91 F.3d 1398, 1399 (10th Cir.1996)). Specifically, a plaintiff must file an administrative charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The purpose of this prerequisite is to ensure that employers have notice of the charges and to provide employers with an opportunity to voluntarily alter any illegal behavior. See Aguirre v. McCaw RCC Communications, Inc., 923 F.Supp. 1431, 1433 (D.Kan.1996). After a plaintiff has complied with this administrative requirement, he or she may file suit. “The suit may include allegations of discrimination reasonably related to the allegations listed in the administrative charge, including new acts occurring during the pendency of the administrative [672]*672charge.” Aramburu, 112 F.3d at 1411 (citing Brown v. Hartshorne Pub. Sch. Dist. No. 1, 864 F.2d 680, 682 (10th Cir.1988)). But courts will disregard allegations not “reasonably related” to the listed allegations; to allow consideration “ ‘would circumvent the administrative agency’s investigatory and conciliatory role as well as deprive the charged party [of] notice of the charge.’ ” Smith v. Bd. of Pub. Utils., 38 F.Supp.2d 1272, 1284 (D.Kan.1999) (quoting Harrell v. Spangler, Inc., 957 F.Supp. 1215, 1219 (D.Kan.1997)) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). “[W]here a retaliatory act occurs prior to the filing of a charge and the employee fails to allege the retaliatory act or a retaliation claim in the subsequent charge, the retaliatory act ordinarily will not reasonably relate to the charge.” Seymore v. Shawver & Sons. Inc., 111 F.3d 794, 799 (10th Cir.1997).

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Stubbs v. McDonald's Corp., 224 F.R.D. 668, 94 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1846, 2004 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 23336 (D. Kan. 2004).

224 F.R.D. 668 (Stubbs v. McDonald's Corp.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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