Thompson v. Donahoe

961 F. Supp. 2d 1017, 2013 WL 3286196, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 91403
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. California
DecidedJune 27, 2013
DocketNo. C 11-01670 EDL
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 961 F. Supp. 2d 1017 (Thompson v. Donahoe) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Thompson v. Donahoe, 961 F. Supp. 2d 1017, 2013 WL 3286196, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 91403 (N.D. Cal. 2013).

Opinion

ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANT’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

ELIZABETH D. LAPORTE, United States Chief Magistrate Judge.

Pending before the Court is Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment. For reasons set forth below, the Court GRANTS this motion.

I. Factual Background

At all times relevant to this lawsuit, Plaintiff Tracey Thompson was a part-time regular mail handler for the United States Postal Service (USPS) at the Napoleon Street Annex in San Francisco. (Reding Decl. Ex. A, Pl.’s Dep. at 30, 58; PL’s Decl. ¶ 3.) Plaintiff joined the Napoleon Street Annex as a mail handler in November 2007, after settling a previous grievance with the USPS. (PL’s Dep. at 30, 92-93; PL’s Deck ¶ 3.) Plaintiffs employment with the USPS was facilitated by the California Department of Rehabilitation. (PL’s Dep. at 93-94; Reding Deck Ex. 9 at 147,149.)

When Plaintiff began at the Napoleon Street Annex, her supervisor was Roland Maples. (PL’s Deck at 57.) Maples was a customer service supervisor at the Napoleon Street Annex until August 2010, when he was transferred to a different facility. (Maples Deck ¶¶ 1-2.) Plaintiff subsequently was transferred from the Napoleon Street Annex to the Evans Street Facility, where she had a number of supervisors, none of whom were Ma-[1023]*1023pies. (Pl.’s Dep. at 62.) In October 2011, Plaintiff took a leave of absence for a medical procedure. (PL’s Dep. at 271.) Since that time Plaintiff has been on leave, and the USPS received a notice of resignation from Plaintiff on April 14, 2013. (Reding Decl. Ex. B.)

During Plaintiffs employment with the USPS, she filed a number of informal administrative claims and formal administrative complaints alleging discrimination, starting in August 2007.1 She settled her first claim and filed additional claims in November 2008, June 2009, February 2010. June 2010, August 2010, and April 2011. (Def.’s Mot. Summ. J. at 5-8 (citing Patterson Decl. and exhibits filed in connection with Def.’s Mot. Dismiss, Dkt. 44).) These claims concerned many of the incidents later alleged in this action.

II. Procedural History

On April 6, 2011, Plaintiff, proceeding pro se, filed a complaint against Defendant Patrick R. Donahoe, Postmaster General of the USPS, alleging that the USPS discriminated against her on the basis of race, sex, national origin, and disability. Plaintiff also alleged that Defendant retaliated against her for filing previous EEO claims. Defendant moved to dismiss the complaint for lack of jurisdiction and failure to state a claim. The Court granted Defendant’s motion to dismiss but granted Plaintiff leave to amend her complaint. (Dkt. 32.)

Plaintiff, now represented by counsel, filed an amended complaint on January 12, 2012. In this first amended complaint, Plaintiff brought claims for: (1) sexual harassment and hostile work environment in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act; (2) retaliation in violation of Title VII; (3) disability discrimination in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act; and (4) violation of the “No Fear” Act. (Dkt. 41.) Defendant again moved to dismiss. Plaintiff opposed dismissal of the sexual harassment claim and sought leave to amend the complaint to add allegations regarding the other claims. The Court denied the motion to dismiss the sexual harassment claim, dismissed the No Pear Act claim with prejudice, and dismissed the discrimination and retaliation claims with leave to amend. (Dkt. 51.)

Plaintiff then filed a second amended complaint (“SAC”) containing three claims. (Dkt. 52.) The first claim is for hostile work environment in violation of Title VII. Plaintiff alleges that her supervisor, Ronald Maples, subjected her to “a pattern of sexual harassment by creating an ongoing and continuously hostile work environment” by hugging kissing, grabbing, and otherwise touching a female co-worker “in a sexually explicit manner in front of Plaintiff.” (SAC ¶ 19.) Plaintiff further alleges that Maples gave that co-worker preferential treatment. (Id. ¶¶ 20-22.)

The second claim in the SAC is for retaliation in violation of Title VII. Plaintiff alleges that she filed a number of Equal Employment Opportunity (“EEO”) claims, that her supervisors knew of the settlement agreement to rehire Plaintiff in 2007 and knew or should have known of the EEO claims, and that “[biased on Plaintiff engaging in the aforementioned protected activity, Defendant USPS and specifically her supervisor, Roland Maples has retaliated against Plaintiff in the following ways.... ” (SAC ¶ 27.) Plaintiff then lists a number of actions allegedly [1024]*1024taken against her, some of which Defendant now argues Plaintiff failed to exhaust.

Plaintiffs third claim is for disability discrimination in violation of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Plaintiff alleges that she has a “specific learning disability” and record of that disability, that USPS employees, including Roland Maples, knew of Plaintiffs disability, and that Defendant and his employees, including Roland Maples, discriminated against Plaintiff based on her disability. (SAC ¶¶28, 37-39). Much of the allegedly discriminatory conduct overlaps with the alleged acts of retaliation, and Defendant argues that Plaintiff failed to exhaust some of them.

In the pending motion for summary judgment, Defendant seeks judgment in his favor on all claims of the SAC. (Dkt. 72.) Defendant first argues that only a few of the alleged retaliatory and discriminatory claims have been administratively exhausted. Defendant also contends that Plaintiff cannot establish sexual harassment, disability discrimination, or retaliation claims. In response, Plaintiff argues that there are disputed issues of material fact that preclude summary judgment.

III. Discussion

A. Legal Standard

Summary judgment shall be granted if “the pleadings, discovery and disclosure materials on file, and any affidavits show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). Material facts are those which may affect the outcome of the case. See Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). A dispute as to a material fact is genuine if there is sufficient evidence for a reasonable jury to return a verdict for the nonmoving party. Id. The court must view the facts in the light most favorable to the non-moving party and give it the benefit of all reasonable inferences to be drawn from those facts. Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 587, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986). The court must not weigh the evidence or determine the truth of the matter, but only determine whether there is a genuine issue for trial. Balint v. Carson City, 180 F.3d 1047, 1054 (9th Cir.1999).

A party seeking summary judgment bears the initial burden of informing the court of the basis for its motion, and of identifying those portions of the pleadings and discovery responses that demonstrate the absence of a genuine issue of material fact.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
961 F. Supp. 2d 1017, 2013 WL 3286196, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 91403, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/thompson-v-donahoe-cand-2013.