Abdulnour v. Campbell Soup Supply Co., L.L.C.

• Decision Date: 31 October 2006
• Docket Number: No. 3:05 CV 7205.,3:05 CV 7205.
• Citation: 464 F.Supp.2d 711
• Parties: Sarmad ABDULNOUR, Plaintiff, v. CAMPBELL SOUP SUPPLY COMPANY, L.L.C. et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of Ohio

464 F.Supp.2d 711

Sarmad ABDULNOUR, Plaintiff, v. CAMPBELL SOUP SUPPLY COMPANY, L.L.C. et al., Defendants.

No. 3:05 CV 7205.

United States District Court, N.D. Ohio, Western Division.

October 31, 2006.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Milton E. Pommeranz, Richard R. Malone, Gregory C. Farell, Malone, Ault & Farell, Toledo, OH, for Plaintiff.

John J. Siciliano, Mechelle Zarou, Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick, Toledo, OH, for Defendants.

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

ZOUHARY, District Judge.

INTRODUCTION

This matter is before the Court on Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. No. 38), Plaintiff's Opposition (Doc. No. 53) and Defendants' Reply (Doc. No. 55). Plaintiff Sarmad Abdulnour was employed by Defendant Campbell Soup Supply Co. (Campbell Soup) from April 2003 until October 2003 when he was terminated. He filed suit against his employer and four members of its management — Leonard Giesige, Alan Rippee, Kevin Rippee, and Nick Martinez — under 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2 et seq. (Title VII), OHIO REV. CODE § 4112.02(A) and (J), and common law alleging discrimination based on national origin, negligent supervision and retention, breach of implied contract, and promissory estoppel. This Court has subject matter jurisdiction over Plaintiff's claims pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(f) and 28 U.S.C. § 1331, and supplemental jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1367.

Plaintiff fails to establish his claims against Defendants. After drawing all inferences in favor of Plaintiff, there is no genuine issue of material fact and Defendants are entitled to judgment as a matter of law.

BACKGROUND

Sarmad Abdulnour is an Iraqi national and holds dual citizenship in both Iraq and Canada (Abdulnour Dep. 14). He received U.S. permanent resident status in November 1999, but continued to live and work in Canada. Id. at 42, 45. Plaintiff began searching for U.S. employment in late 1999, and received an interview with Campbell Soup in February 2003. Id. at 66. Plaintiff visited the Napoleon, Ohio plant in March 2003 and met with management representatives. Id. at 76. In March 2003, Plaintiff had a telephone interview with the Operations Manager. Id. at 83. Later that month, Plaintiff received a phone call offering him employment, which Plaintiff accepted. Id. at 85. Plaintiff signed an employment application acknowledging he was an employee at will. Id. at 72.

Plaintiff began working in Napoleon, Ohio in April 2003 while his family resided in Canada until August. Id. at 90. During this time, Plaintiff participated in the Campbell Soup Employee Relocation Plan, which gave him the option to attempt to sell his Canadian residence on his own, or have Campbell Soup facilitate a sale if he was unable or unwilling to sell it on his own after ninety days (Pl.Memo. Opp.Summ. J., Ex. C). The Plan also included moving expenses, storage expenses, assistance in finding local housing and payment of closing costs. Id. Plaintiff was unable to sell his Canadian home by the end of July, and Flemming Scott, a Human Resources Manager, encouraged Plaintiff to sell it through the Campbell Soup Plan, which Plaintiff did (Abdulnour Dep. 207, 211-12, & 226-27). Plaintiff purchased a home in Ohio in October 2003 and was granted an extension of storage benefits by Flemming for thirty days. Id. at 192-93.

Shortly after beginning work in April, Plaintiff attended a training program that lasted one week, but some initially scheduled training sessions were not completed. Id. at 99, 201-03. After his week-long program, Plaintiff began work as an area supervisor in the filling department. Id. at 112. Kevin Rippee, Plaintiff's immediate supervisor, claims that in May and June 2003 he spoke with Plaintiff about performance concerns, such as lack of communication, "failure to be on the floor often enough," a "lack of understanding of what is occurring in his area" and "poor level of involvement in his area" (Abdulnour Aff. ¶ 3; K. Rippee Aff. ¶ 6). Although Plaintiff disputes that these conversations ever took place (Abdulnour Dep. 117), Operations Manger Leonard Giesige confirms these concerns were conveyed to him (K. Rippee Aff. ¶ 8; Giesige ¶ 4).

In July 2003, Plaintiff was transferred to the second shift, and in August 2003 Alan Rippee became Plaintiff's immediate supervisor. Id. at ¶¶ 5, 8. Alan Rippee experienced many similar problems with Plaintiff and also conveyed his concerns to Giesige about Plaintiff's lack of communication, absence from the floor, and personal phone and internet usage (A. Rippee Aff. ¶¶ 5 and 8; Giesige ¶ 4).

Fred Avalos and Glen Lockhart, two long-term hourly employees who served as senior coordinators, also contacted Giesige about Plaintiff (Lockhart Aff. ¶ 3; Avalos Aff. ¶ 5; Giesige Aff. ¶ 5). They told Giesige that Plaintiff was uncommunicative, demeaning to employees, especially women, and "not engaged with the production process" (Lockhart Aff. ¶ 3; Avalos Aff. ¶ 5; Giesige Aff. ¶ 5).

Giesige personally observed Plaintiff ignore a light indicating that a line was down in his work area on five to ten occasions. Based upon his personal observations and complaints from the Rippees, Lockhart and Avalos, Giesige spoke with Human Resources Director Nick Martinez and decided to terminate Plaintiff (Giesige Aff. ¶ 6).

On October 14, 2003, Plaintiff met with Giesige and Martinez who, although they did not specify any misconduct, did inform Plaintiff that his employment was not working out due to conflict of "management style or personality" (Abdulnour Dep. 174-77, 183; Giesige Aff. ¶ 7) and that it was similar to a marriage where "it's not working and they get a divorce." Id. At 175. Plaintiff responded that he did not "marry to get divorcee to which Giesige responded that "maybe it was the people of Northwest Ohio [who] have a problem with you." Id.

Whether Plaintiff was expressly told that he was terminated on October 14 is disputed. What is undisputed is that Plaintiff continued to work for an additional week, received an additional four weeks of pay, and refused an offered severance package. Id. at 180, 191. Plaintiff filed charges with the Ohio Civil Rights Commission alleging national origin discrimination, which were dismissed for lack of probable cause in December 2004 (Gubernath Aff. ¶ 7). Plaintiff filed this action in May 2005.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

Pursuant to FED.R.CIV.P. 56(c), summary judgment is appropriate where there is "no genuine issue as to any material fact" and "the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Id. When considering a motion for summary judgment, the Court must draw all inferences from the Record in the light most favorable to the non-moving party. Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co., Ltd. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986). The Court is not permitted to weigh the evidence or determine the truth of any matter in dispute; rather, the Court determines only whether the case contains sufficient evidence from which a jury could reasonably find for the non-moving party. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248-49, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986).

NATIONAL ORIGIN DISCRIMINATION

In order to establish a prima facie Title VII discrimination claim, a plaintiff may prove direct or circumstantial evidence of discrimination. DiCarlo v. Potter, 358 F.3d 408, 414 (6th Cir.2004). Plaintiff concedes that he has not offered any direct evidence of discrimination (Pl.Memo. Opp.Summ. J. 13).

Circumstantial evidence can be used to raise an inference of discrimination by applying the burden shifting framework of McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 802, 93 S.Ct. 1817, 36 L.Ed.2d 668 (1973). A prima facie case of discrimination exists if the plaintiff can show that he: (1) is a member of a protected class; (2) was terminated; (3) was qualified for the position; and (4) was replaced by a person outside the class, or was treated differently than similarly-situated, non-protected employees. DiCarlo v. Potter, 358 F.3d 408, 415 (6th Cir.2004). Defendants do not contest Plaintiff's prima facie case for the purposes of summary judgement (Def.Memo.Supp.Summ. J. 18).

Once Plaintiff establishes a prima facie case of discrimination, Defendants must articulate a legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for Defendants' action. Di-Carlo, 358 F.3d at 414. Defendants only have a burden of production, not a burden of persuasion, and this Court does not undertake a credibility analysis. Reeves v. Sanderson Plumbing Products, 530 U.S. 133, 142, 120 S.Ct. 2097, 147 L.Ed.2d 105 (2000). Defendants stated that they based Plaintiff's termination on his "poor performance and the undisputed complaints from the hourly workers he supervised and the Rippee brothers about plaintiff's poor performance as a supervisor" (Def.Memo.Supp.Summ. J. 18). This "poor performance" included the management style and personality conflicts discussed by Giesige and Martinez (Giesige Aff. ¶¶ 4, 5; A. Rippee Aff. ¶¶ 6-8; K. Rippee Aff. ¶¶ 6-7). These stated reasons are legitimate and nondiscriminatory grounds for termination.¹

Once Defendants articulate a legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for termination, Plaintiff must show that Defendants' reason was a pretext for discrimination. Di-Carlo, 358 F.3d at 414-15. Pretext can be established by showing that Defendants' reason: (1) had no basis in fact; (2) did not actually motivate the decision to terminate; or (3) was insufficient to warrant the decision to terminate. Manzer, 29 F.3d at 1084. "A plaintiff must do more than simply impugn the legitimacy of the asserted justification for [the] termination; in addition, the plaintiff `must produce sufficient evidence from which the jury may reasonably reject the employer's explanation.'" Warfield v. Lebanon Correctional Inst., 181 F.3d 723, 730 (6th Cir.1999) (citing Manzer, 29 F.3d at 1083).

The first Manzer method of proving pretext is to show the nondiscriminatory reason had no basis in fact....