Zolfo v. Westminster Village Incorporated

District Court, D. Arizona·Decided October 27, 2020·No. 2:19-cv-05645·Unknown

Opinion

WO

Giovan na P. Zolfo, ) No. CV-19-05645-PHX-SPL ) ) Plaintiff, ) ORDER vs. ) ) ) Westminster Village Incorporated, ) ) Defendant. ) ) )

Before the Court is Defendant Westminster Village Incorporated’s Motion to Dismiss (Doc. 44) filed pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6). The Motion is fully briefed and ready for consideration. (Docs. 44, 45, 50, & 53). For the following reasons, the Motion will be granted. This case arises out of Plaintiff’s time spent as an employee of Defendant. (Doc. 40 at 1). On July 22, 2013, Plaintiff injured her ankle at work. (Doc. 40 at 1). Plaintiff was cleared to return to work in a restricted capacity the next month. (Doc. 40 at 1). For several months, Plaintiff and Defendant disagreed on what constituted a reasonable accommodation for Plaintiff. (Doc. 40 at 4-11). Plaintiff also alleges Defendant engaged in “sex stereotyping” by urging her to dress more femininely. (Doc. 40 at 6-9). The disputes continued, and ultimately, Plaintiff left in March of 2015 and did not return to work. (Doc. 40 at 10). Plaintiff’s employment benefits were cancelled on April 1, 2017. (Doc. 40 at 11). On April 20, 2015, Plaintiff filed her first charge of discrimination with the EEOC. (Doc. 50-1 at 2-3). In the charge, Plaintiff alleged gender discrimination and failure to accommodate claims under both the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. (Doc. 50-1 at 2-3). On February 23, 2016, Plaintiff filed a second charge with the EEOC. (Doc. 50-1 at 5). The second charge alleged retaliation and hostile work environment allegations based on acts that occurred after the filing of the first charge. (Doc. 50-1 at 5). Plaintiff received her right to sue letter from the EEOC on August 28, 2019. (Doc. 40 at ¶ 8). On November 11, 2019, Plaintiff filed the Complaint in this Court, alleging violations under the ADA and Title VII. (Doc. 1). After conferring with Defendant, Plaintiff filed a First Amended Complaint (the “FAC”) on February 3, 2020. (Doc. 13). In the FAC, consistent with the substantive allegations in the original Complaint, Plaintiff alleged Defendant initially provided her with the necessary accommodations for her to perform her work tasks but thereafter refused to continue providing them. (Doc. 13 at 1-2). In addition, Plaintiff separately alleged Defendant discriminated against her based on her gender.1 (Doc. 13 at 17-15). On July 15, 2020, this Court dismissed the FAC without prejudice for Plaintiff to file a Second Amended Complaint (the “SAC”). (Doc. 38). The Court instructed Plaintiff to file the SAC because the FAC “lumped all the allegations under the ADA into one count and has done the same under Title VII” and, thus, it “constitute[d] impermissible pleading because Plaintiff must prove different elements for each of the four claims asserted.” (Doc. 38 at 3). On July 28, 2020, Plaintiff filed the SAC. (Doc. 40). Most relevantly, the FAC had allegations of hostile work environment woven into the other claims. Thus, the SAC adds claims for “creating a hostile work environment in violation of Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, 42 U.S.C. § 12112” (Doc. 40 at 1, 14-16) and “creating a hostile work environment in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2(a)(1)” (Doc. 40 at 2, 20-21).

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Zolfo v. Westminster Village Incorporated, (D. Ariz. 2020).

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