Zeller v. Canadian National Railway Co.

666 F. App'x 517
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
DecidedDecember 22, 2016
Docket15-1863
StatusUnpublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 666 F. App'x 517 (Zeller v. Canadian National Railway Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Zeller v. Canadian National Railway Co., 666 F. App'x 517 (6th Cir. 2016).

Opinions

[519]*519HOOD, District Judge.

Plaintiff-Appellant Sarah Ann Zeller (“Zeller” or “Plaintiff’) appeals the decision of the district court granting Defendants-Appellants’ Motions for Summary-Judgment and dismissing, among other things, her claims against Stellar Distribution Services, Inc., Grand Trunk Western Railroad Company, Illinois Central Railroad Company, and Canadian National Railway Company for relief under Title VII, concluding that Plaintiff had failed to exhaust her administrative remedies for claims as to these Defendants. She further appeals the district court’s decision to dismiss her Title VII claim against CN Customs Brokerage Services after holding that the entity was not a covered employer and that the claim failed on the merits. Zeller also appeals the district court’s decision to dismiss her claim against Canadian National Railway Company under the Federal Employers Liability Act, concluding that there was no evidence of a master-servant relationship between that defendant and her direct employer that would support liability and, furthermore, that the FELA claim failed on the merits. For the reasons stated below, we AFFIRM.

I.

Plaintiff Sarah Zeller began working as a junior, customs analyst for Defendant CN Customs Brokerage Services (USA), Inc. (“CNCB”), based in Port Huron, Michigan, in March 2011. CNCB generally assisted customers with the processing of U.S. Customs entries and facilitated filings, customs clearance, and payments. CNCB was a wholly-owned subsidiary of IC Financial Services Corporation, which was, in turn, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Illinois Central Corporation, which was, in turn, owned by Grand Trunk Corporation. Grand Trunk Corporation was a wholly-owned subsidiary of Defendant Canadian National Railway Company (“CNR”). CNCB performs its services for CNR as well as for hundreds of other customers.

Plaintiffs office was located in a trailer, where CNCB was based and which CNCB shared with Defendant Stellar Distribution Services (“Stellar”) in the Port Huron rail-yard owned by Defendant Grand Trunk Western Railroad Company (“GTW”), which was a wholly-owned subsidiary of Grand Trunk Corporation. Pete Bistis, an employee of Illinois Central Railroad Company (“ICRC”), was superintendent of the yard. Because the trailer had no restroom, Zeller and other employees of CNCB and Stellar walked to and used a restroom in another building in the railyard, which housed a yard office owned by GTW.1 As is [520]*520evidenced by the office space, CNCB was a small operation, Zeller was CNCB’s third employee and reported to Roger Wilson, CNCB’s on-site manager and licensed customs broker. CNCB and Stellar employees had no authority to and did not direct the work of employees of one another, nor did CNCB employees receive daily work direction or supervision from Stellar management, CNR, GTW, or ICRC, or vice versa.2

During Zeller’s employment, CNCB maintained an anti-harassment and anti-retaliation policy and complaint procedure. The policy provided that sexual harassment and retaliation were prohibited, and it outlined a complaint procedure that was available to employees who had concerns about workplace conduct that was contrary to CNCB’s clearly articulated expectations. CNCB made clear that allegations of harassment should be reported immediately, and Zeller received and understood the harassment policy and complaint procedure.

Around May 1, 2012, Zeller alleges that she was pushed against a wall near the restroom and fondled by a male employee. She recounts that, when she began to cry, the man covered her mouth and said “shut up bitch.” Plaintiff did not report the assault out of fear, embarrassment, and intimidation. Then, in June 2012, she found a note that read “I want to fuck you” along with a used condom on her car in the GTW rail yard. She did not keep the note, but she eventually told her supervisor, Roger Wilson, that she was experiencing harassment at work. Wilson did not report her complaint to anyone in Human Resources. Nonetheless, Zeller has testified that she did not tell anyone about any “harassment” until September 2012. She also reported to the EEOC that another note containing a sexually charged and explicit message was left on her car in July 2012: “you have great tits, I can’t wait to suck them,” but, again, Zeller did not report this note during her term of employment.

Then on September 1, 2012, which was the Saturday of the Labor Day holiday weekend, Plaintiff became upset at work after going to the restroom and finding that the lock on the women’s restroom was not working properly. A conversation took place among Zeller and several Stellar personnel, including Jeffrey Caplinger, regarding the broken bathroom door handle in the GTW yard office. In that conversation, Zeller told Caplinger and others that in May of 2012, an unidentified man told her he wanted to have sex with her in the restroom as she was leaving the trailer where it was located. Zeller was not a Stellar employee, and so Caplinger informed Wilson of Zeller’s concerns when Wilson returned to work on Tuesday, September 4, 2012, following the holiday weekend. Wilson discussed Zeller’s concerns with her when she next appeared for work on Thursday, September 6, and Zeller told Wilson that a man told her he wanted to have sex with her in the bathroom. Zeller also stated that she did not want to report the issue if she could not be anonymous, but Wilson promptly alerted his manager, CNCB Vice President of Operations Alice Peres da Silva.

Prior to the time of Zeller’s complaints, CNCB had contracted for human resources services through a General Sales and Administrative Services Agreement, but, at the time of Zeller’s complaint, there was a temporary vacancy in the position that normally provided human resources services to CNCB. Therefore, Peres da [521]*521Silva informed Susan Ward, a human resources contact at CNR with whom she was familiar, of Zeller’s concern. Ward coordinated with the human resources department of ICRC, and a human resources representative was promptly assigned to investigate Zeller’s concerns on behalf of CNCB.3

ICRC Human Resources Associate Veronica Loewy reached out to Zeller on Monday, September 10, and they spoke about Zeller’s concerns the following day. Zeller told her that she did not see the face of the man who had threatened her in May and that he had said, “I want to fuck you in the bathroom.” Loewy interviewed eight individuals identified by Zeller who might have information; however, none had witnessed the incident in May 2012, and none could identify the man who might have made the comment to Zeller outside the restroom. On September 21, 2012, Loewy called Zeller and said she had been unable to identify the harasser through investigation. Zeller again confirmed she did not know who made the comment to her outside the restroom, and she did not provide any further detail to support any allegations; she did indicate she thought a camera should be placed by the bathroom. Apparently, there had been some tension in the women’s earlier conversations because Zeller also apologized to Loewy for the way she had previously spoken to her, indicating she had been upset. Loewy said there was no need, and to call if Zeller experienced any further issues. On October 1, Loewy sent a letter to Zeller confirming the conclusion of the investigation.

CNCB made arrangements to ensure Zeller was not scheduled to work alone at any time, including on weekends, after October 14, 2012.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
666 F. App'x 517, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/zeller-v-canadian-national-railway-co-ca6-2016.