Zottola v. Anesthesia Consultants of Savannah, P.C.

169 F. Supp. 3d 1348, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 190184, 2013 WL 11311736
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Georgia
DecidedMarch 29, 2013
DocketCV 411-154
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 169 F. Supp. 3d 1348 (Zottola v. Anesthesia Consultants of Savannah, P.C.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Zottola v. Anesthesia Consultants of Savannah, P.C., 169 F. Supp. 3d 1348, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 190184, 2013 WL 11311736 (S.D. Ga. 2013).

Opinion

ORDER

J. RANDAL HALL, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

Presently pending before the Court is Defendant’s motion for summary judgment (doc. no. 33) and motion to strike the declaration of Matthew Espinoza (doc. no. 45).

I. BACKGROUND

A. Factual Background
1. Plaintiff’s Employment with Defendant

This case arises from Plaintiffs termination of employment with Defendant. On March 13, 2006, Plaintiff began her employment with Defendant as an assistant office manager. (Zottola Dep. at 9.) On that same day, Plaintiff executed the Introductory Statement acknowledging that she received, read, and would comply with Defendant’s Employment Policies Manual, (Id. at 31-32; Doc. no. 30, Ex. 1.) In pertinent part, the employment manual provides that “[i]t is the policy of [Defendant] as a privately held corporation to comply with all laws governing [Defendant’s] operations and to conduct its affairs in keeping with the highest moral, legal, and ethical standards. [Defendant] has adopted a zero tolerance for illegal, improper, or unethical behavior.” (See Doc. no. 30, Ex. 2 at 9; Zottola Dep. at 39-40.) The employment manual further provides that “[a]ny clear infraction of the applicable laws or of recognized ethical business standards will subject a physician or employee to disciplinary action, which may include reprimand, probation, suspension, reduction in salary, demotion, or dismissal, depending on the seriousness of the offense.” (Doc. no, 30, Ex. 2 at 9.) Additionally, the employment manual provides that all employment with Defendant is on an “at will basis.” (Id., Ex. 1.)

In June 2006, Plaintiffs employment title with Defendant was changed to office manager. (See Zottola Dep. at 9-10.) In September 2006, Defendant hired Diane Thistlethwaite to be the practice administrator. (Id. at 10.) As practice administrator, Ms. Thistlethwaite was Plaintiffs supervisor. (Id. at 88.)

2. Plaintiff’s First Maternity Leave

On September 24, 2007, Plaintiff gave birth to her first child. (Zottola Dep. at 63.) Plaintiff intended to take maternity leave until December 17, 2007. (Id. at 63-64.) On November 12, 2007, Ms. Thistlethwaite requested that Plaintiff provide her with information on the work Plaintiff performed for Defendant while on maternity leave. (Doc. no. 30, Ex. 4.) Plaintiff cannot recall whether she ever responded to Ms. Thistlethwaite’s request. (Zottola Dep. at 44.) On November 19, 2007, Ms. Thist-lethwaite asked Plaintiff to come back to work before Plaintiffs planned return date of December 17, 2007. (Zottola Dep. at 65; Zottola Decl. ¶ 30.)

On November 28, 2007, Ms. Thistleth-waite presented Plaintiff with a detailed list of items of concern and for correction regarding Plaintiffs performance of her job duties. (Zottola Dep. at 32; Doc. no. 30, Ex. 5.) Plaintiff understood that she was being asked to correct these items of concern listed on that document. (Zottola Dep. at 34.) On that same day, Ms. Thist-lethwaite documented a memorandum to Plaintiffs file regarding the meeting she had with Plaintiff to discuss these items of concern. (See Doc. no. 31, Ex. 6.)

At the end of 2007, Plaintiff did not receive a bonus. (Zottola Dep. at 72-73.) Plaintiff was told she did not receive the [1354]*13542007 year-end bonus due to time discrepancies. (Id. at 72.)

3. Pregnancy Related Comments

While Plaintiff was employed with Defendant, Ms. Thistlethwaite made several comments about Plaintiffs two pregnancies. In March 2007, in front of Plaintiff and two software vendors, Ms. Thistleth-waite stated that “[Plaintiff] went and got pregnant on me.” (Zottola Decl. ¶ 27.) Also, Jamie Hoffman, a former employee of Defendant, states that when she told Ms. Thistlethwaite about Plaintiffs pregnancy, Ms. Thistlethwaite responded with a smirk and replied “Oh great.” (Hoffman Decl. ¶2.) Additionally, during Plaintiffs 2007 maternity leave, Paula Gower, a former employee of Defendant, states that Ms. Thistlethwaite complained numerous times about the burden that Plaintiffs pregnancy leave placed on Ms. Thistleth-waite. (Gower Decl. ¶ 4.)

On December 10, 2007, after Plaintiff returned from her first maternity leave, Ms. Thistlethwaite posted an advertisement for • Plaintiffs job on savan-nahjobs.com. (Thistlethwaite Dep. at 66.) Ms. Thistlethwaite intended to replace Plaintiff if she could find a qualified candidate. However, Ms. Thistlethwaite did not find a suitable replacement, and Plaintiff continued in her position as office manager. (Id. at 67.) After finding the job posting in January 2008, Plaintiff confronted Ms. Thistlethwaite and offered her resignation. (Zottola Decl. ¶ 5.) Ms. Thist-lethwaite told Plaintiff she did not want her to resign, but that Plaintiff had really “dumped on her” because of Plaintiffs 2007 maternity leave absence. (Id.; Thist-lethwaite Dep. at 66.)

In March 2009, Plaintiff informed Ms. Thistlethwaite that she was pregnant again, to which Ms. Thistlethwaite responded “Well, I don’t envy you, that’s for sure.” (Zottola Decl. ¶ 35.) During this conversation, Plaintiff told Ms. Thistleth-waite that she “didn’t want things to be the way they were last time” in reference to Plaintiffs 2007 maternity leave. (Id. ¶ 36.) Ms. Thistlethwaite responded that “we had a lot going on last time, especially with you being out.” (Id.)

In April 2009, Brandi Deas, a former employee of Defendant, heard another employee ask Ms. Thistlethwaite whether she had heard that Plaintiff was having a baby girl. (Deas Decl. ¶ 2.) Ms. Thistlethwaite responded “Good, maybe she’ll be done then!” (Id.) Likewise, Ms. Gower heard Ms. Thistlethwaite say in reference to Plaintiffs 2009 pregnancy, “I hope she’íl have a girl this time, then maybe she’ll stop having babies.” (Gower Decl. ¶ 3.)

4. QuickBooks Deposits

While employed by Defendant, one of Plaintiffs job responsibilities involved entering daily deposits from the practice into QuickBooks. (Id. at 49.) In order to enter the daily deposits into QuickBooks, Plaintiff needed to have a printout from Defendant’s online bank accounts. (Id. at 49-50.) Plaintiff had full access to Defendant’s online bank accounts, possessed the log-in and password for these accounts, and had the ability to print out the daily deposits in order to enter that information into QuickBooks. (Id. at 50, 51.)

However, Plaintiff testifies that the customary practice was for Ms. Thistlethwaite to print out the deposit sheets and provide them to Plaintiff to input into QuickBooks. (Zottola Decl. ¶ 21; Zottola Dep. at 58; see also Deas Decl. ¶¶ 3, 4; Gower Decl. ¶ 9.) Ms. Thistlethwaite confirms that this was the normal practice. (Thistlethwaite Dep. at 99-100, 130.) Ms. Thistlethwaite, however, contends that the practice changed at the beginning of 2009. (Id. at 130.) Ms. Thistlethwaite testifies that in early 2009, she instructed Plaintiff that it was now Plaintiffs responsibility to print the daily deposit sheets from the online bank ac[1355]*1355counts. (Id. at 130-31.) Plaintiff, however, states that there was never a change in policy relieving Ms.

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169 F. Supp. 3d 1348, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 190184, 2013 WL 11311736, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/zottola-v-anesthesia-consultants-of-savannah-pc-gasd-2013.