Rohan v. Networks Presentation, LLC.

• Decision Date: 03 December 2001
• Docket Number: No. JFM-01-CV-1749.,JFM-01-CV-1749.
• Citation: 175 F.Supp.2d 806
• Parties: Tess ROHAN, Plaintiff v. NETWORKS PRESENTATION LLC, Defendant
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Maryland

Page 806

175 F.Supp.2d 806

Tess ROHAN, Plaintiff v. NETWORKS PRESENTATION LLC, Defendant

No. JFM-01-CV-1749.

United States District Court, D. Maryland.

December 3, 2001.

Jonathan C. Dailey, Dailey and Associates Chtd, Washington, DC, Peter Cohen, Rockville, MD, for plaintiff.

Bruce L. Marcus, Marcus and Bonsib, Greenbelt, MD, for defendant.

MEMORANDUM

MOTZ, District Judge.

Plaintiff Tess Rohan, an actress with a touring theater company, has brought an action for employment discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA," or "the Act"), 42 U.S.C. § 12101 et seq., adding related common law tort and contract claims. Defendant Networks Presentation LLC ("Networks") has moved to dismiss for failure to state a claim under Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6). For the reasons stated below, the motion will be granted as to two of the ADA claims, failure to accommodate and breach of confidentiality, but denied as to the ADA claim of wrongful discharge and as to the two common law claims.

I.

Rohan appeared in a touring production of "Jekyll & Hyde" until she was fired on December 6, 2000. (Compl.¶¶ 44, 97-98.) On January 2, 2001, Rohan filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC"), alleging that the owner of the theater company, Networks, had discriminated against her on the basis of her sex and disability. (Def.'s Mem.App. 1.) The EEOC investigated and concluded that Rohan's claim lacked merit. It issued a right to sue letter to her on March 19, 2001. (Id. App. 2.)

Rohan states that she suffers from mental disabilities stemming from past incest and sexual abuse by her father. (Compl.¶¶ 53-54.) Specifically, Rohan claims she suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), depression, dissociation, and abreactions. (Id. ¶ 53.)¹ Her mental disabilities, Rohan claims, caused her to suffer flashbacks that "visibly affected [her] outward behavior and demeanor." (Id. ¶¶ 70-71.) Additionally, she felt depressed and socially withdrawn, suffered sleep disturbances, and had difficulty interacting with people, particularly with men who reminded her of her father and with people who expressed anger by raising their voices or yelling, actions which could trigger Rohan's symptoms. (Id. ¶¶ 80, 85, 88-90.)

Several of Defendant's managers knew about Plaintiff's disabilities. Prior to being hired by Networks. Plaintiff told Patricia Gentry, Networks' vice president and secretary, "the nature of her mental impairment, what it stemmed from, and the facts that she was taking medication and receiving professional help for her condition." (Id. ¶¶ 20, 154.) After she was hired, Plaintiff provided the same information to Gretchen Pfamer, Networks' company manager for the "Jekyll & Hyde" production, and to unidentified "others in management." (Id. ¶¶ 63, 155.)

On September 13, 2000, after having suffered an unspecified "episode[]" during a rehearsal, Rohan claims that Pfamer told her she had to inform her fellow cast members about her disabilities. (Pl.'s Opp'n at 4-5.) According to Rohan, Pfamer told her "that the entire company needed to know everything (meaning my disability). She told me either I could say something during the company orientation or that they (management) would do it. People had complained about not knowing and felt they had a right to know" (emphasis omitted). (Id.) Rohan states that she was called to the front of a theater in Charleston, South Carolina, and forced to reveal to at least 30 fellow cast members that she was an "incest survivor" and suffered from the disorders listed above. (Id. at 5; see also Compl. ¶¶ 124-131.)

Rohan's EEOC complaint mentions the September 13 incident as well as sexual harassment as motivating her grievances. (Def.'s Mem.App. 1.) In her suit, however, Rohan does not pursue the allegations of sexual harassment. Instead, she pleads five counts three under the ADA, for wrongful discharge, failure to accommodate, and violation of confidentiality; a common law tort claim for invasion of privacy, stemming from the September 13 incident; and a common law claim for breach of contract.

II.

Networks challenges the ADA claims on the ground that Rohan failed to assert them in the charge she filed with the EEOC. Defendant's argument has merit only with regard to Plaintiff's failure to accommodate claim.

A.

Before addressing the merits of Defendant's motion, I first consider a procedural point. Defendant's Motion to Dismiss Counts I, II, and III on the ground that they have not been administratively exhausted requires me to consider documents extrinsic to the pleadings notably, Plaintiff's EEOC charge of discrimination (Def.'s Mem.App. 1; Pl.'s Opp'n App. 4), the ADA form Plaintiff completed at the EEOC in conjunction with her charge of discrimination (Pl.'s Opp'n App. 2), and a supplementary 17-page statement Plaintiff provided to EEOC investigators (Pl.'s Opp'n App. 5).² Because I am considering these extrinsic documents, I must convert Defendant's Motion to Dismiss under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) to a Motion for Summary Judgment under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56. See Laughlin v. Metro., Washington Airports Auth., 149 F.3d 253, 260-61 (4th Cir.1998); see also Lane v. Wal-Mart Stores East, Inc., 69 F.Supp.2d 749, 750, 756 (D.Md. 1999) (converting motion to dismiss to motion for summary judgment in employment discrimination case so as to consider such "relevant documentation" as an ADA information form).³ However, because the focus of the extrinsic documents Plaintiff submitted is administrative exhaustion, I convert the Motion to Dismiss to a Motion for Summary Judgment only as to this argument. Defendant's other objections to Plaintiff's claims are considered under Rule 12(b)(6).

B.

Before bringing suit under the ADA, a litigant must have exhausted the administrative process at the EEOC. That process starts with a charge of discrimination filed by the aggrieved worker. The charge forms the basis for an investigation by the agency. The agency's investigation, in turn, establishes the parameters for any subsequent employment discrimination suit by the employee. See Hubbard v. Rubbermaid, Inc., 436 F.Supp. 1184, 1188 (D.Md.1977). In Chisholm v. United States Postal Serv., 665 F.2d 482, 491 (4th Cir.1981), the Fourth Circuit explained the relationship between the administrative case and civil suit:

An administrative charge of discrimination does not strictly limit a Title VII suit which may follow; rather, the scope of the civil action is confined only by the scope of the administrative investigation that can reasonably be expected to follow the charge of discrimination.

See also Evans v. Tech Applications & Serv. Co., 80 F.3d 954, 963 (4th Cir.1996) (explaining that the only claims that can be maintained in a Title VII lawsuit are those stated in the initial charge, reasonably related to claims in the initial charge, or developed by reasonable investigation of the original complaint); Hubbard, 436 F.Supp. at 1188 (explaining that "the `scope' of the judicial complaint is limited to the `scope' of the EEOC investigation which can reasonably be expected to grow out of the charge of discrimination").

In this case, Rohan checked both the "sex" and "disability" boxes when responding to a question on her EEOC charge of discrimination about the type of discrimination she faced. (Def.'s Mem. App. 1.) Rohan's narrative on the charge form cited "various forms of sexual harassment" that she had encountered at work, and her futile efforts to get management to respond to her complaints. (Id.) She also noted the incident involving the disclosure of her disabilities, stating, "I was required to inform the entire cast of my condition. I was also required to inform them of the diagno[sis,] the symptoms and what to do if they saw one." (Id.) She then wrote about her firing, stating that she had been told it was because of "a culmination of ... issues and ... was for my own good." (Id.) The charge concludes, "I believe that I was terminated and subject to a sexually hostile environment in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, as amended." (Id.)

A reasonable investigation that could be expected to follow from this charge of discrimination would have included both the allegation of wrongful discharge due to disability and the allegedly forced disclosure of Rohan's disabilities, which constitute Counts I and III of her complaint, respectively. Rohan specifically referred to the September 13 disclosure incident in her charge of discrimination. Thus, it is clear that the EEOC's investigation would have encompassed it. See Evans, 80 F.3d at 963 (finding actionable claims that are "stated in the initial charge"). Likewise, an investigation into wrongful discharge also would follow from the complaint, given that Rohan stated that she believed she had been terminated from her job "in violation of ... the Americans with Disabilities Act...." See id.

On the other hand, Rohan does not mention anywhere on the charge form a failure by Networks to accommodate her disabilities. Moreover, on an ADA form that Rohan completed in conjunction with the charge of discrimination, she was specifically asked whether she could perform her essential job functions without "reasonable accommodation (some help from the organization)" (emphasis in original). (Pl.'s Opp'n App. 2.) Rohan's answer was: "Don't need accommodations [sic] — performed better than those around me." (Id.) Rohan's silence on the charge form as to the need for or denial of any accommodation, coupled with her flat denial on the ADA form about any need for an accommodation would have foreclosed an EEOC investigation into whether Networks failed to accommodate Rohan.⁴ Cf. Sharafeldin v. Maryland Dep't of Pub. Safety & Corr. Servs., 94 F.Supp.2d 680, 687 (D.Md.2000) (finding harassment form to "constitute[] evidence that ... additional...