Tolene v. T-Mobile, USA, Inc.

178 F. Supp. 3d 674, 26 Wage & Hour Cas.2d (BNA) 551, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 44111, 2016 WL 1266924
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Illinois
DecidedMarch 31, 2016
DocketCase No. 14 C 2671
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 178 F. Supp. 3d 674 (Tolene v. T-Mobile, USA, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Tolene v. T-Mobile, USA, Inc., 178 F. Supp. 3d 674, 26 Wage & Hour Cas.2d (BNA) 551, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 44111, 2016 WL 1266924 (N.D. Ill. 2016).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

Joan H. Lefkow, United States District Judge

Plaintiff Samantha Tolene filed this case against T-Mobile, USA, Inc. (T-Mobile) alleging five counts: termination in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1983 (FLSA), 29 U.S.C. §§ 207(r), 215(a)(2)-(3); termination in violation of the Illinois Nursing Mothers in the Workplace Act (INMWA), 820 Ill. Comp. Stat. 260; termination in violation of the Illinois common law tort of retaliatory discharge; termination in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII), 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000e-2, 2000e~3(a); and termination in violation of the Illinois Human Rights Act (IHRA), 775 Ill. Comp. Stat. 5. (Dkt. 22 (Sec. Amend. Compl.).) T-Mobile has moved for summary judgment on all counts. (Dkt. 38.) For the reasons stated below, T-Mobile’s motion for summary judgment (dkt. 38) is granted.1

BACKGROUND2

Tolene is a former T-Mobile employee. (Dkt. 40 (Def.’s Local Rule 56.1 Statement [677]*677of Material Facts (Def.’s LR 56.1)) ¶5; Dkt. 48 (PL Resp. to Def.’s LR 56.1) ¶5.) From August 2010 to May 2011, she worked as a retail sales associate (RSA) at T-Mobile’s Orland Park, Illinois store. ( Def.’s LR 56.1 ¶¶ 10-11.) Beginning in July 2012, she became the retail sales manager (RSM) at the T-Mobile store in Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood. (Id. ¶ 13.)

In December 2013, while Tolene was on Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) leave after child birth, she contacted her district manager, Nemanja Bulic, and told him that she wanted to (1) transfer to a store closer to home, (2) work part-time, and (3) take a voluntary demotion to a RSA position. {Id. ¶¶ 23-24.) She asked Bulic “to limit [transfer] options to the Orland or Joliet areas based on her child care location.” (Id. ¶ 25.) Tolene never mentioned her need for a private space to pump breast milk during the transfer discussions. {Id. ¶ 27.)

This was the first time Bulic had been presented with such a request while an employee was on maternity leave. (Id. ¶26.) As such, he thought that T-Mobile would be able to transfer Tolene to the Orland Store while she was still out on leave. (Id.) On December 30, 2013, Andrea Williams, Human Resources Business Partner, told Bulic that Tolene’s transfer could not be processed until Tolene returned to work because “(1) employees must return to their same or similar position when they are on FMLA leave, and (2) T-Mobile is unable to make changes to employee records in its internal systems when an employee is out on leave.” (Id. ¶ 28.)

On January 12, 2014, Tolene’s FMLA leave ended and she returned to work the following day. (Id. ¶ 33.) She worked January 13 and 14 and completed employee reviews for the Lakeview store. (PI. Resp. to Def.’s LR 56.1 ¶ 86.) On January 16, she met with Kristin Wunderlich, RSM for the Orland store. (PI. Resp. to Def.’s LR 56.1 ¶ 37; Def.’s LR 56.1 ¶ 37.) Wunderlich told Tolene that she would need to work full time at the store until her transfer was processed. (Id.) During this meeting, To-lene did not tell Wunderlich that she would need a private place to pump while at work at the Orland store. (Id. ¶ 38.) Later that day, Tolene texted Adam Thurston, .the district manager for Chicago Metro South, and asked him whether there was anything that could be done about working the full time hours she was told she would have to work for the next two weeks because she did not have someone to watch her baby full time. (Id. ¶ 39). Later that evening, Tolene spoke to Williams about the situation but could not recall whether she told Williams that she needed a place to pump at the Orland store or whether she only told Williams that she could not work full time because of the baby.3 (Id. ¶ 41.)

Tolene was scheduled to work at the Orland store on January 17, 2014, at 9:30 a.m. That morning, at 8:17 a.m. she texted Wunderlich and told her that she was not feeling well and that she would let Bulic know about her absence because “technically they hadn’t officially sent [her] the offer letter” for the Orland store position. (Id. ¶¶ 42-43.) It is implicit, then, that Tolene understood that she was still responsible for reporting to Bulic, her man[678]*678ager. On January 18th, Tolene was scheduled to work at 10:00 a.m. (Id. ¶ 45.) When she failed to report to work or call in, Wunderlich texted her at 10:08 a.m. (Id.) At 12:23 p.m. Bulic texted her and told her that “they needed to talk about her attendance because he had received a call from Thurston to let him know that Tolene had not worked her scheduled days at the Or-land store.” (Id. ¶46.) At 9:19 p.m. that night, Tolene sent Williams an email which stated, among other things, “that (1) she could not 'work an entire shift without feeding the baby or pumping,’ (2) there was no place at the Orland Store where she could pump during the day and it was not feasible to go home during her break, and (3) she had not talked to Bulic or Thurston about her need for a place to pump.” (Id. ¶ 48 (quoting dkt. 40-1, Ex. C, Tolene’s email).) This was the first time Tolene informed Williams of her need for a private space to pump. (Id.)

At 9:22 p.m., Tolene responded to Wun-derlich’s text from' that morning. (Id. ¶¶45, 49.) Tolene texted Wunderlich and told her (1) that she did not report to work because she was sick, and (2) she could not “work all day without feeding or pumping and there isn’t anywhere at work to do that.” (Id. ¶ 49.) This was the first time Tolene informed Wunderlich that she needed a place to pump. (Id.)

The following afternoon, January 19, at 2:19 p.m., despite not typically working on Sundays, Williams responded to Tolene’s email and informed Tolene that she was “planning to work with Adam to ensure [Tolene] ha[d] a private and clean space to pump until the transition into [her] new role.” (Id. ¶ 52.) Immediately after sending this email, Williams emailed Thurston and asked him to call her in the morning to discuss Tolene’s transition plan and to ensure she had a clean and private space to pump. (Id. ¶ 53.) The following day, January 20, Williams informed Tolene that it was not feasible to construct a space for her to pump at the Orland store. Bulic also called Tolene that day and directed her to report to the Lakeview store because it had two private office spaces where she could pump and because she was still the RSM there. (Id. ¶ 56.)4

On January 21, 2014, Bulic spoke with Tolene and once again told her to report to the Lakeview store. (Id. ¶58.) Bulic also directed Tolene to call Buhe back later that evening so that she could confirm that she would be reporting to the Lakeview store. (Id.) When she failed to call Bulic by the end of the day on January 21st, Bulic called her at 5:39 p.m. (Id. ¶ 61.) On January 22, 2014, after Tolene failed to report to- the Lakeview store, Bulic emailed WiUiams and asked her whether he should call Tolene again. (Id. ¶ 63.) Williams told Buhe to reach out to Tolene again and that if she did not respond back within twenty-four hours, they would need to discuss what to do next. (Id.) On January 23, 2014, once again, .

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Bluebook (online)
178 F. Supp. 3d 674, 26 Wage & Hour Cas.2d (BNA) 551, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 44111, 2016 WL 1266924, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/tolene-v-t-mobile-usa-inc-ilnd-2016.