Stultz v. Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles

185 F. Supp. 3d 890, 2015 WL 4648001, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 102812
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Virginia
DecidedAugust 5, 2015
DocketCivil Action No. 7:13CV00589
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 185 F. Supp. 3d 890 (Stultz v. Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles) 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
Stultz v. Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles, 185 F. Supp. 3d 890, 2015 WL 4648001, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 102812 (W.D. Va. 2015).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

GLEN E. CONRAD, Chief Judge.

This case is presently before the court on the defendants’ motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. For the reasons stated in open court on July 2, 2015, and for those set forth below, the motion will be granted in part and denied in part.

Background

The following facts, taken from the plaintiffs amended complaint, are accepted as true for purposes of the defendants’ motion to dismiss. See Erickson v. Pardus, 551 U.S. 89, 94, 127 S.Ct. 2197, 167 L.Ed.2d 1081 (2007).

Plaintiff David Lee Stultz was employed by the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) from 2005 until he-was terminated on April 16, 2013. For approximately two and a half years prior to his termination, Stultz served as the Special Agent in. Charge (SAC) of the. Law Enforcement Services Section of the Appomattox Division of the DMV, which was headquartered at the DMV’s Customer Service Center in Lynchburg, Virginia.

Upon being appointed to the SAC position, Stultz began to receive complaints regarding Jennifer Dawson, a Program Support Technician who performed clerical functions for the Law Enforcement Services Section. The complaints increased after Stultz began working full-time at the Lynchburg office, and Stultz, himself, witnessed actions taken by Dawson that [894]*894raised safety concerns. For instance, Dawson possessed a weapon on DMV property,, hid under her desk in the dark, claimed that her stepson was going to murder her, and indicated that she was contemplating suicide.

Stultz relayed his concerns regarding Dawson’s behavior to a number of DMV officials, including Richard D. Holcomb, Commissioner of the DMV; Joseph Hill, Assistant Commissioner; Jeannie Thorpe, Human Resources Director; Donald Boswell, Director of Law Enforcement Services; and Thomas Penny, Director of Field Operations. Unbeknownst to Stultz, Dawson had a “personal connection” to Virginia State Senator Steve Newman, who agreed to reach out to Holcomb to help Dawson keep her job. Am. Compl. ¶43. As a result of Senator Newman’s involvement, the DMV officials declined to take any actions against Dawson. Instead, Boswell directed Stultz to implement a policy prohibiting DMV law enforcement officers from working alone with Dawson in the Lynchburg office. This policy resulted in the need for an extra officer to remain in the building with Dawson at all times, “thereby diverting and wasting limited public resources.” Id. at ¶ 47.

On October 17, 2011, following continued problems with Dawson, Stultz utilized the State Employee Fraud, Waste, and Abuse Hotline to lodge a complaint regarding Dawson’s behavior and the DMV’s inadequate response to the concerns raised by Stultz and other DMV employees. The complaint was disclosed to a number of DMV officials, including Holcomb, Hill, Thorpe, and Boswell. Stultz alleges that Hill interfei-ed with the investigation of the complaint, and that he and other DMV officials conspired to retaliate against him for pursuing it. Ultimately, “no action was taken by the Fraud, Waste, and Abuse auditor to address the complaint[ ], and the safety, waste, and abuse [concerns] created by ... Dawson in the Lynchburg office continued unabated.” Id, at ¶ 62.

On March 15, 2012, Stultz and Assistant Special Agent in Charge (ASAC) Robert Supinger met with Holcomb to discuss the ongoing issues involving Dawson. On the following day, the DMV announced that it was transferring Supinger from Lynch-burg to Waynesboro. Although Supinger, who is Caucasian, and his wife, who is Asian, had worked for the DMV on different floors of the same building for over twelve years, Supinger was advised that the transfer was necessary to comply with the DMV’s nepotism policy.

Supinger filed a grievance challenging the transfer. Stultz, as Supinger’s immediate supervisor, was the first level respondent to the grievance. Stultz advised his superiors, including Boswell, Hill, and Thorpe, that he could find no violation of the nepotism policy, and that it appeared that Supinger and his wife were the only mixed-race or mixed-nationality couple against whom the policy was being enforced. Boswell and Thorpe pressured Stultz to attempt to convince Supinger to withdraw the grievance, and warned Stultz “not to get in the middle of it” because Holcomb would “destroy” him. Id. at ¶¶ 93-94. Ultimately, the DMV failed to resolve the grievance.

In June of 2012, Stultz “reported the unlawful, unsafe, wasteful, and retaliatory actions” taken by DMV officials to Sean Connaughton, the Secretary of Transportation for the Commonwealth of Virginia, and to Georgia Esposito, the Executive Assistant to the Secretary. Id. at ¶¶72 and 96. Rather than conducting an independent investigation, Connaughton and Esposito relayed Stultz’s concerns to Holcomb, which resulted in Stultz being identified as a “whistleblower.” Id. at ¶ 73. A few weeks later, Holcomb and Hill an[895]*895nounced that the DMV was reorganizing, effective October 1, 2012. The reorganization would result in the elimination of the Appomattox Division and the creation of a larger Roanoke District.

When the reorganization plan was originally disseminated,.the plan called for Su-pinger and a female ASAC to work in the new Roanoke District. However, iii August of 2012, Stultz and Supinger learned that Supinger would be transferred out of Law Enforcement Services to a different work unit, and that the female ASAC, who had less seniority, would remain in the Roanoke District.

Supinger also filed a grievance regarding this transfer decision. When Stultz investigated the grievance, he was told that the reason Supinger was chosen for the transfer was the fact that the other ASAC was “a female with young children.” Id at ¶ 106. Although Stultz expressed the opinion that the proposed transfer “constituted gender discrimination in violation of law,” -Hill, Boswell, and Thorpe refused to permit Stultz to resolve Supinger’s grievance appropriately. Id. at ¶ 109. They insisted that ,the transfer was “what the Commissioner wanted,” and discouraged Stultz from opposing it. Id. at ¶ 113.

Stultz continued, to believe that the DMV’s decisions to transfer Supinger, first to another division and then to another unit, were unlawful. Stultz shared his opinions with his superiors, including Hill, Boswell, and Penny, and advised them that he opposed the unlawful employment practices that were being perpetrating against Supinger. In response, the DMV officials advised Stultz that his efforts to assist Supinger in contesting the transfers could negatively affect Stultz’s own employment with the DMV. .

After the DMV elected not to overturn its transfer decisions, Supinger filed charges of discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). DMV officials later learned that Stultz was a participant in Supinger’s EEOC , proceedings arising from the charges.

Stultz and other employees met with Sénator Steve Newman and advised him of their ongoing concerns regarding Dawson’s workplace behavior, and the effects that her behavior could have on the safety of employees and the public. During the meeting, Stultz also expressed his opinion that Supinger was being unfairly treated and unlawfully discriminated against by the' DMV.

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Related

Supinger v. Virginia
167 F. Supp. 3d 795 (W.D. Virginia, 2016)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
185 F. Supp. 3d 890, 2015 WL 4648001, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 102812, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/stultz-v-virginia-department-of-motor-vehicles-vawd-2015.