Virts v. Consol. Freightways Corp. of Delaware

• Decision Date: 04 April 2002
• Docket Number: No. 00-5501.,00-5501.
• Citation: 285 F.3d 508
• Parties: David VIRTS, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. CONSOLIDATED FREIGHTWAYS CORPORATION OF DELAWARE, Defendant-Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit

285 F.3d 508

David VIRTS, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. CONSOLIDATED FREIGHTWAYS CORPORATION OF DELAWARE, Defendant-Appellee.

No. 00-5501.

United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit.

Argued September 14, 2001.

Decided and Filed April 4, 2002.

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Robert W. Ash (briefed), American Center for Law & Justice, Virginia Beach, VA, Larry L. Crain (argued and briefed), Law Office of Larry L. Crain, Brentwood, TN, for Plaintiff-Appellant.

David P. Jaqua (argued and briefed), J. Wilson Eaton, III (briefed), The Kullman Firm, Memphis, TN, for Defendant-Appellee.

Before: SILER and CLAY, Circuit Judges; GRAHAM, District Judge.^*

OPINION

CLAY, Circuit Judge.

Plaintiff, David Virts, appeals from the district court's judgment entered on February 25, 2000, denying Plaintiff's motion for partial summary judgment, and granting summary judgment to Defendant, Consolidated Freightways Corporation of Delaware, Plaintiff's employer, on Plaintiff's claims brought under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq. ("Title VII"), for religious discrimination and retaliatory discharge. For the reasons set forth below, we AFFIRM.

BACKGROUND

Procedural History

Plaintiff filed suit on April 29, 1998, against Defendant seeking relief under Title VII for Defendant's alleged religious discrimination for failing to accommodate Plaintiff's religious beliefs. Plaintiff filed an amended complaint on May 13, 1998, adding a count for retaliatory discharge in violation of Title VII. Plaintiff filed a motion for partial summary judgment on January 14, 2000, and Defendant filed its motion for summary judgment on both claims on January 18, 2000.

In a memorandum opinion and order dated February 25, 2000, the district court granted Defendant's motion for summary judgment, denied Plaintiff's motion for partial summary judgment, and dismissed Plaintiff's suit. The district court entered its corresponding judgment, and Plaintiff thereafter filed a motion for reconsideration. The district court denied Plaintiff's motion for reconsideration, and Plaintiff filed this timely appeal.

Facts

Plaintiff began working for Defendant on April 2, 1986, as what Plaintiff terms "an over-the-road truck driver," at Defendant's facility in Lincoln, Nebraska. Plaintiff transferred to Defendant's facility in Nashville, Tennessee, in October of 1995. Defendant's truck drivers at the Nashville terminal are represented by Local 480 of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, and the terms and conditions of their employment are governed by the National Master Freight Agreement, Southern Supplement ("NMFA"). As described in the NMFA, Article 42, Section 4, the Nashville terminal uses a "call block" procedure for dispatching drivers on runs. Defendant has call blocks every three hours, beginning each day at midnight. When runs are available, Defendant's dispatcher calls the driver at the top of the list (i.e., the driver with the most seniority), tells the driver of the choice of runs available for that block, if there is more than one run, and dispatches the driver on the run. Under this system, the more seniority a driver has, the more choices he has from which to select regarding the run. However, according to Article 42 of the NMFA, if a driver is called by the dispatcher, a driver cannot decline to accept a run. If the dispatcher reaches the end of the call block before all of the runs are dispatched, he will draft drivers from the bottom of the call board and go up, in order of least seniority to highest, and place drivers in runs they did not request.

At all times relevant to the matter at hand, Plaintiff was what Defendant refers to as an "extra board driver." Out of all of Defendant's drivers, seventy-five percent of the runs made out of Nashville are made by drivers who have bid to make specific types of runs such as sleeper runs; the other twenty-five percent of the runs are completed by drivers who have signed up for "extra board runs." Plaintiff belongs to the latter group of drivers. An extra board driver may be dispatched on three maintypes of runs: 1) a "turn run," meaning a run where the driver makes a delivery and returns to the Nashville terminal on the same day; 2) a "lay-down run," meaning a run where the driver has an overnight stay before returning to the home terminal; and 3) a "sleeper run," meaning a run where two drivers are dispatched in a sleeper truck. In addition, an extra board driver may place his name on a call block and restrict his availability by selecting a "no sleeper" on the board, meaning that he will accept all but sleeper runs, or by selecting "turn runs." Plaintiff did not place any restrictions by his name, inasmuch as, according to Plaintiff, refusing to do "sleeper runs" could significantly impact Plaintiff's income, particularly in slow periods. Moreover, Defendant agrees that just because a driver places a restriction by his name does not necessarily mean that he will never be required to make a sleeper run.

A. Plaintiff's First Incident of Refusal to do a "Sleeper Run" with a Female

On or about December 28 or 29, 1995, Plaintiff received a telephone call from Dispatcher Danny Bennett dispatching Plaintiff on a sleeper run. Bennett gave Plaintiff a choice of two different sleeper runs, and Plaintiff chose the one with "Carter." When Plaintiff arrived at the Nashville terminal for the run, he asked who "Carter" was, and Plaintiff was informed that "Carter" was Linda Carter, a female. Plaintiff told Bennett at that time that he could not accept a dispatch on a sleeper run with a female driver because of his religious convictions. According to Plaintiff, having been "born again" as a Christian in 1963, it is against his religious beliefs to travel in this fashion with a female. Plaintiff claims that the Bible commands that a Christian should avoid the appearance of evil, and that when people see him on a sleeper run with a female, they either think that the two are husband and wife, or they wonder what kind of "hanky panky" is going on. Plaintiff also believes that sleeper runs can lead to lustful thoughts and sexual temptation inasmuch as the drivers disrobe in the sleeper cab. Defendant, however, contends that because each sleeper tractor is equipped with a thick curtain hanging between the driver area and the sleeper area, if a driver chooses to disrobe at all, he or she can do it behind the privacy of a curtain.

Due to the time factor as well as the fact that another sleeper run team was leaving at the same time, someone representing Defendant and a Union representative made arrangements to switch loads, and told the individuals involved that they must get with the Local 480 Business Agent and the Dispatch Manager upon return to review work rules and contract procedures. Defendant contends that by allowing such a swap, the seniority provisions of the NMFA Article 42 were violated. Upon Plaintiff's return from his run, he was informed that the next time that he was paired with a female on a sleeper run dispatch, he must accept it.

B. Plaintiff's Second Incident of Refusal to do a "Sleeper Run" with a Female

On May 30, 1997, Plaintiff placed his name on the extra board for the 3:00 a.m. call block. Dispatcher Bennett called Plaintiff to dispatch him on a run, and told Plaintiff that the only run left was a sleeper run with "Savage." The "Savage" to whom Bennett was referring was Cindy Savage, one of Defendant's female drivers; however, Plaintiff claims that he did not realize that Savage was female until after he accepted the assignment and ended his conversation with Bennett. Plaintiff states in his complaint that he did not realize that Savage was female because during the conversation with Bennett, Plaintiff asked what was "his" name, meaning the name of the other driver, to which Bennett replied, "Savage," and partly because Plaintiff inquired as to whether "he" smoked, meaning the driver, to which Bennett replied that he did not know.

After Plaintiff realized that Savage was female, he telephoned Bennett and told him that he could not accept the dispatch because of his religious beliefs. Bennett, in turn, informed Plaintiff that he was required to make the run or he would be deemed to have voluntarily quit. Plaintiff did not report to make the run as dispatched; that afternoon, Dispatch Operations Manager Greg Heard called Plaintiff to tell him that a meeting had been scheduled on June 2, 1997 to discuss Plaintiff's failure to report for the run.

The meeting was held on June 2, 1997, as scheduled. Those in attendance included Plaintiff, International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 480 Business Agent Jerry Seaborn, Union Steward Lloyd VanZandt, Nashville Terminal Manager Gary Tankersley, and Dispatch Operations Manager Heard. Plaintiff's pastor was also in attendance and explained Plaintiff's religious beliefs in connection with his refusal to go on sleeper runs with females. Plaintiff as well explained his religious beliefs regarding the matter; at the end of the meeting, Plaintiff was told that he would be notified regarding the final decision concerning his employment. Two days later, on June 4, 1997, Tankersley and Heard telephoned Plaintiff and informed him that Defendant's position was that Plaintiff voluntarily quit because Plaintiff failed to accept a dispatch on May 30, 1997. Defendant followed up with a letter to Plaintiff explaining that by Plaintiff's refusal to ride with qualified female drivers on sleeper runs, as well as Plaintiff's request to not to be asked to ride on sleeper runs with females in the future, Defendant was being forced "to discriminate and violate the seniority rights of [Plaintiff's] fellow employees." (J.A. at 266.) The letter concluded:

Therefore, by being given prior notice on May 30, 1997, and follow-up meeting held on above listed date [June 2, 1997], you have been given more than one opportunity to reconsider your refusal...