In re Rodriguez
| Decision Date | 27 June 2007 |
| Docket Number | No. 06-1988.,06-1988. |
| Citation | 487 F.3d 1001 |
| Parties | In re Jose Antonio RODRIGUEZ, Debtor. Stuart Gold, Trustee for the Estate of Jose Antonio Rodriguez, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. FedEx Freight East, Inc., Defendant-Appellee. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit |
D. Rick Martin, Detroit, Michigan, for Appellant. Laura A. Brodeur, Honigman, Miller, Schwartz & Cohn, Detroit, Michigan, for Appellee.
ON BRIEF:
D. Rick Martin, Detroit, Michigan, for Appellant. Laura A. Brodeur, Matthew S. Disbrow, Honigman, Miller, Schwartz & Cohn, Detroit, Michigan, for Appellee.
Before: KEITH, BATCHELDER, and MOORE, Circuit Judges.
MOORE, J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which KEITH, J., joined. BATCHELDER, J. (pp. ___-___), delivered a separate concurring opinion.
Plaintiff-Appellant Jose Antonio Rodriguez ("Rodriguez") sued his former employer, Defendant-Appellee FedEx Freight East, Inc. ("FedEx"), in a Michigan state court, alleging that FedEx discriminated and retaliated against him on the basis of his race, in violation of Michigan's Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act ("ELCRA"), MICH. COMP. LAWS §§ 37.2101 et seq. Citing the parties' diversity of citizenship, FedEx removed the suit to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. Rodriguez subsequently filed for bankruptcy in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Michigan (the "bankruptcy court"), and his claims became assets of the bankruptcy estate. Accordingly, when FedEx moved for summary judgment on both of Rodriguez's claims, the district court referred the motion to the bankruptcy court for resolution. The bankruptcy court granted the motion, dismissing Rodriguez's claims with prejudice, and the district court affirmed that judgment. Rodriguez now appeals. For the reasons set forth below, we AFFIRM IN PART and VACATE IN PART the district court's judgment and REMAND this case for further proceedings.
Rodriguez began working for American Freightways ("American") as a truck driver in 1999, under the supervision of Regional Human Resource Manager Rodney Adkinson ("Adkinson"). Rodriguez subsequently resigned to go into business with his brother, but was rehired by American in December 2000. In February 2001, FedEx acquired American, and both Rodriguez and Adkinson became FedEx employees. Rodriguez was based at FedEx's facility in Romulus, Michigan but spent most of his time in his truck, making deliveries. Adkinson worked mainly in Indiana but visited the Romulus facility once or twice a month.
In June 2002, Rodriguez told Adkinson that he (Rodriguez) was interested in becoming a FedEx supervisor. Adkinson recommended that Rodriguez take FedEx's Leadership Apprentice Course ("LAC"), and Rodriguez subsequently enrolled in that program. While Rodriguez was taking LAC classes, three supervisory positions became vacant. According to then-Customer Service Manager Jon McKibbon ("McKibbon"), Rodriguez applied and was twice interviewed for at least one of those positions. McKibbon found Rodriguez to be qualified for the position and claims that he would have hired Rodriguez but for Adkinson's stated concern that Rodriguez's accent and speech pattern would adversely impact Rodriguez's ability to rise through the company ranks. Former FedEx Manager Dale Williams ("Williams") similarly avers that, when he asked Adkinson why Rodriguez had not been selected for promotion, Adkinson replied with disparaging remarks concerning Rodriguez's "language" and "how he speaks" and stated that Rodriguez was difficult to understand. Joint Appendix ("J.A.") at 328 (Williams Aff. at 2 ¶ 8).
According to Rodriguez, both McKibbon and Williams told him of Adkinson's derogatory remarks about Rodriguez's accent and ethnicity and statements to the effect that Adkinson "would not allow [Rodriguez] to become a supervisor at FedEx because of [Rodriguez's] Hispanic speech pattern and accent." J.A. at 428-29 (Rodriguez Aff. at 2-3 ¶¶ 9-10). Rodriguez asserts that he complained to various FedEx managers as well as to Adkinson's direct supervisor, John Ravenille ("Ravenille"), about this discrimination, but that no corrective action was taken. FedEx employee Kelly Scrimenti overheard Rodriguez complain to Ravenille on one occasion.
Adkinson denies ever having commented to anyone about Rodriguez's accent and, in fact, avers that Rodriguez does not have a noticeable accent. Adkinson claims, instead, that he did not consider Rodriguez for promotion "due to [Rodriguez's] lack of commitment to the LAC," which Rodriguez concededly never completed and which, according to Adkinson, was a prerequisite of promotion at FedEx. J.A. at 112-13 (Adkinson Aff. at 2-3 ¶ 9, 11). Adkinson further asserts that Rodriguez never formally applied for a supervisory (or, indeed, for any other) position with FedEx and that McKibbon never, to Adkinson's knowledge, interviewed Rodriguez for a supervisory position. Adkinson also mentions that he himself played a role in McKibbon's subsequent termination, implying that McKibbon may have personal reasons for bolstering Rodriguez's claims.
On July 30, 2003, Rodriguez resigned from his employment with FedEx, citing FedEx's "refus[al] to address [his] numerous complaints of being discriminated against because of [his] race as an Hispanic-American." J.A. at 507 (Rodriguez Resignation Letter). He subsequently filed suit in Michigan state court, alleging racial1 discrimination and retaliation in violation of the ELCRA. FedEx removed the case to federal court on the basis of the parties' diversity of citizenship and moved for summary judgment. Rodriguez then filed for bankruptcy, and the district court referred FedEx's summary judgment motion to the bankruptcy court, which granted it. Rodriguez appealed to the district court, which affirmed the bankruptcy court's judgment. Rodriguez now appeals the district court's judgment.
The district court had jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a)(1) and (c)(1), based on the parties' diversity of citizenship, as Rodriguez is a citizen of Michigan and seeks damages in an amount greater than $75,000, and FedEx is an Arkansas corporation with its principal place of business in Arkansas. We possess appellate jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291.
Summary judgment is appropriate "if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law." FED.R.CIV.P. 56(c); see also Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322-23, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). "The moving party bears the initial burden of showing the absence of a genuine issue of material fact." Plant v. Morton Int'l, Inc., 212 F.3d 929, 934 (6th Cir.2000). Once the movant has satisfied its burden, the nonmoving party must produce evidence showing that a genuine issue remains. Id.
The court must credit all evidence presented by the nonmoving party and draw all justifiable inferences in that party's favor. Id. The nonmovant must, however, "do more than simply show that there is some metaphysical doubt as to the material facts." Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 586, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986). Summary judgment is proper when the nonmoving party has had adequate time for discovery and yet "fails to make a showing sufficient to establish the existence of an element essential to that party's case, and on which that party will bear the burden of proof at trial." Celotex, 477 U.S. at 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548. We review a district court's grant of summary judgment de novo. See, e.g., Spencer v. Bouchard, 449 F.3d 721, 727 (6th Cir.2006).
"Cases brought pursuant to the ELCRA are analyzed under the same evidentiary framework used in Title VII cases." Humenny v. Genex Corp., 390 F.3d 901, 906 (6th Cir.2004). "Intentional discrimination can be proven by direct and circumstantial evidence." DeBrow v. Century 21 Great Lakes, Inc., 463 Mich. 534, 620 N.W.2d 836, 838 (2001). "In discrimination cases, direct evidence is that evidence which, if believed, requires the conclusion that unlawful discrimination was at least a motivating factor in the employer's actions." Jacklyn v. Schering-Plough Healthcare Prods. Sales Corp., 176 F.3d 921, 926 (6th Cir.1999). "Consistent with this definition, direct evidence of discrimination does not require a factfinder to draw any inferences in order to conclude that the challenged employment action was motivated at least in part by prejudice against members of the protected group." Johnson v. Kroger Co., 319 F.3d 858, 865 (6th Cir.2003). "In direct evidence cases, once a plaintiff shows that the prohibited classification played a motivating part in the employment decision, the burden of both production and persuasion shifts to the employer to prove that it would have terminated the employee even if it had not been motivated by impermissible discrimination." Nguyen v. City of Cleveland, 229 F.3d 559, 563 (6th Cir.2000).
"A plaintiff who lacks direct evidence of discrimination may still establish a prima facie case of discrimination by proving the elements of [his] cause of action as set out in federal discrimination jurisprudence." Tinker v. Sears, Roebuck & Co., 127 F.3d 519, 522 (6th Cir.1997). Michigan courts utilize the federal McDonnell Douglas burden-shifting framework for evaluating discrimination claims founded upon circumstantial evidence. Hazle v. Ford Motor Co., 464 Mich. 456, 628 N.W.2d 515, 520-21 (2001); Humenny, 390 F.3d at 906. The McDonnell Douglas analysis requires a plaintiff first to establish a prima facie case of discrimination by...
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