Williams v. Delta Zeta Sorority

District Court, M.D. Louisiana·Decided March 27, 2024·No. 3:23-cv-00268·Unknown

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT MIDDLE DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA

BERNADINE WILLIAMS CIVIL ACTION v. NO. 23-268-JWD-RLB DELTA ZETA SORORITY, ET AL.

RULING AND ORDER

This matter comes before the Court on the Defendant College Fresh’s Motion to Dismiss (Doc. 7) filed by Defendant College Fresh (“College Fresh” or “Defendant”). Plaintiff Bernadine Williams (“Plaintiff” or “Williams”) opposes the motion. (Doc. 13.) College Fresh has filed a reply. (Doc. 14.) Oral argument is not necessary. The Court has carefully considered the law, facts in the record, and arguments and submissions of the parties and is prepared to rule. For the following reasons, Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss is granted. I. RELEVANT FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY This action arises from the alleged racial employment discrimination suffered by Williams while working as a House Chef at the Sigma Chapter of Delta Zeta House Corporation (“Delta Zeta house”). The following factual allegations are primarily taken from Plaintiff’s Complaint, (Doc. 2). On August 17, 2020, Williams began working for College Fresh as a Round Chef at the Alpha Phi Fraternity House on Louisiana State University’s (“LSU” ’s) campus. (Complaint, Doc. 2, ¶ 10.) However, on August 28, 2020, College Fresh promoted Williams to House Chef of the Delta Zeta house on LSU’s campus. (Id. ¶ 11.) During her first year at the Delta Zeta house, Williams worked under a Caucasian Food Coordinator, Debbie. (Id. ¶ 12.) Debbie was responsible for providing Williams with recipes to cook for the Sorority Sisters and also approved or denied menus that Williams created. (Id.) Debbie consistently gave Williams positive reviews and ratings in regard to the food Williams cooked for the Sorority Sisters. (Id. ¶ 13.) In October of 2021, Suzette Say, a Caucasian woman, replaced Debbie as the Food Coordinator at the Delta Zeta house. (Id. ¶ 14.) During their first interaction, Say allegedly

questioned Williams’s chef skills and qualifications and also stated that she did not agree with certain food items that Williams cooked. (Id. ¶ 15.) After this interaction, Say allegedly no longer met with Williams and ignored Williams around the Delta Zeta house. (Id. ¶ 18.) Ultimately, in November of 2021, Say allegedly made a comment in front of Williams and several Sorority Sisters that she would prefer if Delta Zeta had a Caucasian chef. (Id. ¶ 19.) Following these events, Williams filed a grievance with the President of Delta Zeta, to no avail. (Id. ¶ 20.) Williams also informed College Fresh of this grievance, and College Fresh told Williams that they could not help her. (Id. ¶ 22.) Thereafter, on December 28, 2021, College Fresh informed Williams that she would no longer be working at the Delta Zeta house and that she would no longer be a House Chef. (Id. ¶ 27.) As such, College Fresh demoted Williams to a Round Chef,

which was a serious reduction in hours worked and pay. (Id.) Say’s alleged negative behavior and Williams’s demotion created such a hostile work environment for Williams that Williams filed three separate incident reports with College Fresh. (Id. ¶ 24.) College Fresh ultimately responded to these incident reports on February 23, 2022, claiming that the appropriate actions had been taken to ensure that the conduct would not repeat itself. (Id. ¶ 25.) On September 20, 2022, Williams filed a lawsuit against Defendants, alleging violations of Title VII, Section 703(a)(1) of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as well as 42 U.S.C. § 1983. (Id. ¶¶ 30–31.) However, Williams failed to file a charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) before seeking a remedy in federal court. (Doc. 7-1 at 2.) Accordingly, Williams voluntarily dismissed her lawsuit and proceeded with her charge before the EEOC. (Id.) The EEOC issued a right-to-sue letter on January 3, 2023. (Id.) Williams filed her current lawsuit on April 11, 2023. (Complaint, Doc. 2.) In response, College Fresh filed the present Motion to Dismiss pursuant to Federal Rule of

Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). (Doc. 7.) Specifically, College Fresh claims that Williams’s suit should be dismissed because her Title VII claim is time barred and she cannot assert a § 1983 claim against a private entity. (Doc. 7-1 at 3.) Williams filed an opposition, claiming that her Complaint contains a “short and plain statement of the claim showing that the [plaintiff] is entitled to relief” per Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8(a)(2). (Doc. 13-1 at 2.) College Fresh replied to Williams’s opposition, again stating that Williams’s Title VII claim is time barred and that she cannot assert a § 1983 claim against a private entity. (Doc. 14 at 1–2.) Defendants submitted Plaintiff’s EEOC right-to-sue letter into the record on March 18, 2024, which indicates that the letter was issued on January 3, 2023. (Doc. 29-1.) Thereafter, Plaintiff submitted a notice stating that her attorney “has reviewed his file in this case and has no

evidentiary proof of the date that Attorney Jim Holt received the Right to Sue letter for Plaintiff Bernadine Williams.” (Doc. 31.) II. RULE 12(b)(6) STANDARD “To survive a motion to dismiss, a complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to ‘state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.’ ” Hamilton v. Dall. Cnty., 79 F.4th 494, 499 (5th Cir. 2023) (quoting Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009) (quoting Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570 (2007))). “A claim has facial plausibility when the plaintiff pleads factual content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged.” Id. (quoting Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678). “To be plausible, the complaint’s ‘[f]actual allegations must be enough to raise a right to relief above the speculative level.’ ” In re Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Co. LLC, 624 F.3d 201, 210 (5th Cir. 2010) (alteration in original) (quoting Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555). “In deciding whether the complaint states a valid claim for relief, we accept all well-pleaded facts as true and

construe the complaint in the light most favorable to the plaintiff.” Id. (citing Doe v. MySpace, Inc., 528 F.3d 413, 418 (5th Cir. 2008)). The Court does “not accept as true ‘conclusory allegations, unwarranted factual inferences, or legal conclusions.’ ” Id. (quoting Ferrer v. Chevron Corp., 484 F.3d 776, 780 (5th Cir. 2007)). “A claim for relief is implausible on its face when ‘the well-pleaded facts do not permit the court to infer more than the mere possibility of misconduct.’ ” Harold H. Huggins Realty, Inc. v. FNC, Inc., 634 F.3d 787, 796 (5th Cir. 2011) (citing Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 679). The Court’s “task, then, is ‘to determine whether the plaintiff has stated a legally cognizable claim that is plausible, not to evaluate the plaintiff’s likelihood of success.’ ” Doe ex rel. Magee v. Covington Cnty. Sch. Dist. ex rel. Keys, 675 F.3d 849, 854 (5th Cir. 2012) (quoting

Lone Star Fund V (U.S.), L.P. v. Barclays Bank PLC, 594 F.3d 383, 387 (5th Cir.

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