Manning v. Chevron Chemical Co., LLC

• Decision Date: 13 June 2003
• Docket Number: No. 01-41222.,01-41222.
• Citation: 332 F.3d 874
• Parties: Ronald H. MANNING, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. CHEVRON CHEMICAL COMPANY, LLC, Defendant-Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit

332 F.3d 874

Ronald H. MANNING, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. CHEVRON CHEMICAL COMPANY, LLC, Defendant-Appellee.

No. 01-41222.

United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit.

June 13, 2003.

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Victoria L. Plante (argued), Houston, TX, for Plaintiff-Appellant.

Holly Harvel Williamson (argued), Littler Mendelson, Houston, TX, for Defendant-Appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.

Before HIGGINBOTHAM, EMILIO M. GARZA and DENNIS, Circuit Judges.

EMILIO M. GARZA, Circuit Judge:

Ronald H. Manning ("Manning") appeals the district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of Chevron Chemical Company, LLC ("Chevron"). Manning filed this employment discrimination lawsuit against Chevron, claiming that the company discriminated against him on the basis of his race, gender, and disability, and retaliated against him for seeking redress for these alleged wrongs, in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e, et seq. ("Title VII"), and the Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. § 12101, et seq. ("ADA"). We conclude that the district court properly granted Chevron's motion for summary judgment, and therefore affirm.

I

For approximately 23 years, Manning, an African American male, worked at a Chevron facility in Orange, Texas. In 1998, Manning applied for a promotion to the position of Technician 1 ("T-1"). Chevron decided not to promote Manning, and instead selected Peggy Williams (an African American female) and Fred Noyes (a Caucasian male) for the two open positions.

On October 26, 1998, after learning that he was not selected for a T-1 position, Manning filed a charge of discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC"), alleging race and gender discrimination as well as retaliation.¹ Manning did not check the box labeled "disability" (for an allegation of disability discrimination) on that original charge.

Manning subsequently consulted an attorney about his case. The attorney noticed that Manning had a tendency to stutter as he spoke, and suggested that Manning might also have a disability discrimination claim. At his counsel's suggestion, on November 20, 1999, Manning amended his charge of discrimination to include an ADA claim. He then filed the instant lawsuit, raising race, gender, disability, and retaliation claims for Chevron's failure to promote him to a T-1 position.

A few months later, Chevron began reorganizing its workforce² and informed Manning that he was among the employees who might be terminated during this process. Chevron offered Manning (along with many of the other employees facing layoff) the opportunity to apply for positions at other Chevron facilities. Manning subsequently applied for transfers to the Cedar Bayou Chemical Plant and the Kingwood technology facility. Manning did not obtain a position at either location. As a result, he amended his federal complaint against Chevron to include disability discrimination and retaliation claims for the company's failure to transfer him.

Chevron offered most of the employees facing layoff a severance package valued at approximately $45,000.00. Chevron informed Manning that, in order to receive the package, he would have to sign a release form, waiving all claims against the company. Manning refused to sign the release and did not receive any severance pay. Manning alleged in his federal lawsuit that Chevron's failure to provide him with the severance package was another instance of retaliation.

The district court found that Manning had failed to raise a genuine issue of material fact as to any of his race, gender, or retaliation claims. The court also concluded that Manning's disability discrimination claim regarding the T-1 position was timebarred, because Manning had failed to file a timely charge of disability discrimination with the EEOC. Therefore, the district court granted Chevron's motion for summary judgment.

On appeal, Manning contends that (1) his ADA claim regarding the T-1 position is not time-barred; (2) even if that first ADA claim is time-barred, his additional disability discrimination claim (regarding the Cedar Bayou transfer positions) is subject to equitable tolling; (3) Chevron engaged in race and gender discrimination when it failed to promote Manning to the T-1 position; and (4) Chevron's failure to transfer him and its refusal to award him the severance package constituted retaliation. We address each claim in turn.

II

We review the district court's ruling on a motion for summary judgment de novo, applying the same legal standard as the district court. Wyatt v. Hunt Plywood Co., 297 F.3d 405, 408 (5th Cir.2002). Summary judgment should be granted only when there is "no genuine issue as to any material fact[.]" FED. R. CIV. P. 56(c); Wyatt, 297 F.3d at 408-09. An issue of fact is material only "if its resolution could affect the outcome of the action." Wyatt, 297 F.3d at 409.

In determining whether there is a dispute as to any material fact, we consider all of the evidence in the record, but we do not make credibility determinations or weigh the evidence. Reeves v. Sanderson Plumbing Prods., Inc., 530 U.S. 133, 150, 120 S.Ct. 2097, 147 L.Ed.2d 105 (2000). Instead, we "draw all reasonable inferences in favor of the nonmoving party[.]" Id.; Wyatt, 297 F.3d at 409. If we determine, after giving credence to the facts as presented by the nonmoving party, that "the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law," we affirm the grant of summary judgment. FED. R. CIV. P. 56(c).

The district court found that Manning's disability discrimination claim regarding the T-1 position was untimely. As the district court recognized, under the ADA, Manning had to file a charge of discrimination within 300 days of the alleged discriminatory act. See 42 U.S.C. § 12117 (incorporating 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(e)). The limitations period began to run from the time Manning "[knew] or reasonably should have known that the challenged act [had] occurred." Vadie v. Miss. State Univ., 218 F.3d 365, 371 (5th Cir.2000).

Manning learned that he did not receive the T-1 position on June 16, 1998. He had 300 days from that date (or until April 12, 1999) to file his charge of discrimination. Manning did file a timely charge on October 26, 1998, but that charge alleged only race, gender, and retaliation claims. Manning did not amend his charge to include an ADA claim until November 20, 1999, after the expiration of the 300-day period. As a result, the district court concluded that his disability discrimination claim was untimely.

Manning argues that the district court erred in holding that his ADA claim was time-barred. He contends that the court should have found that his amended charge, alleging disability discrimination, "relates back" to the date of his (timely filed) original charge.

As Manning appears to recognize, EEOC regulations allow a claimant to amend a charge of discrimination to "cure technical defects or omissions" or to "clarify and amplify" the initial allegations. 29 C.F.R. § 1601.12(b). If the amendments involve acts that "relate[] to or grow[] out of the subject matter of the original charge," the amendments will "relate back to the date the charge was first received." Id.; see 29 C.F.R. § 1626.8(c). Manning contends that his amendment, which added a disability discrimination claim, is sufficiently related to the subject matter of his original charge (i.e., his race, gender, and retaliation claims) to "relate back" to the date of his original charge. As a result, he claims, his disability discrimination claim should be deemed timely.

Generally, amendments that raise a new legal theory do not "relate back" to an original charge of discrimination. See, e.g., EEOC v. Miss. Coll., 626 F.2d 477, 483-84 (5th Cir.1980) (observing that "[b]ecause [the claimant's] allegations of racial discrimination do not relate to or grow out of the allegations of sex discrimination advanced in the original charge, that aspect of the amended charge does not relate back to the time of filing of [the] original charge"); Simms v. Oklahoma ex rel. Dep't of Mental Health & Substance Abuse Servs., 165 F.3d 1321, 1327 (10th Cir.1999) (holding that the plaintiff's amended charge did not relate back under § 1601.12(b), because the original charge alleged only race discrimination, while the amended charge included "a new theory of recovery" — retaliation); Fairchild v. Forma Scientific, Inc., 147 F.3d 567, 575 (7th Cir.1998) ("[A]n untimely amendment that alleges an entirely new theory of recovery does not relate back to a timely filed original charge."); id. at 576 (concluding that an amendment containing a claim of disability discrimination did not relate back to the original charge, which alleged age discrimination); Evans v. Tech. Applications & Serv. Co., 80 F.3d 954, 963-64 (4th Cir. 1996) (holding that the plaintiff's age discrimination claim did not relate back to the originally filed charge of sex discrimination).

This rule has an important policy justification. One of the central purposes of the employment discrimination charge is to put employers on notice of "the existence and nature of the charges against them." EEOC v. Shell Oil Co., 466 U.S. 54, 77, 104 S.Ct. 1621, 80 L.Ed.2d 41 (1984). In order to adequately notify employers about the nature of the charges against them, employees must inform their employers from the outset about their claims of discrimination. See Simms, 165 F.3d at 1327 ("Prohibiting late amendments that include entirely new theories of recovery furthers the goals of the statutory filing period — giving the employer notice and providing opportunity for administrative investigation and conciliation."); Fairchild, 147 F.3d at 575 ("The charge filing requirement ensures that the employer has adequate notice of the charges and promotes conciliation at the administrative level.").

Despite the...