Bales v. Md. Judiciary/Administrative Office of the Courts
| Decision Date | 21 November 2016 |
| Docket Number | Civil No. 15-cv-03293-JFM |
| Parties | JAMES H. BALES v. MARYLAND JUDICIARY/ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICE OF THE COURTS |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Maryland |
Plaintiff James H. Bales ("Bales") brings suit against his former employer, the Administrative Office of the Courts ("AOC"),1 alleging the AOC discriminated against him based on his age and disability status. He brings claims for, inter alia, hostile work environment, retaliation, failure to accommodate, and constructive discharge, pursuant to §504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 U.S.C. 794 et seq. ("Rehabilitation Act"), and the Maryland Fair Employment Practices Act ("MFEPA"), Md. Code Ann., State Gov't. § 20-602, et seq. Now pending is the AOC's motion to dismiss Bales' first amended complaint, or in the alternative, for summary judgment. (ECF No. 17). The motion is fully briefed, and no oral argument is necessary. See Local Rule 105.6. For the reasons set forth below, the motion is granted and Counts 1 through 11 are dismissed
At the motion to dismiss stage, this court accepts as true the facts alleged in the plaintiff's complaint. See Aziz v. Alcolac, Inc., 658 F.3d 388, 390 (4th Cir. 2011). Plaintiff Bales is a resident of the State of Maryland, and his address is 1430 Dundalk Avenue, Baltimore, Maryland, 21222. (ECF No. 13, ¶ 3). Defendant AOC, located in Annapolis, Maryland, is a court-supporting agency that "oversees and implements court policies established by the Chief Judge, the Court of Appeals, and the General Assembly." Id. at ¶ 4. The AOC's Judicial Information Systems ("JIS") department hired Bales in 1994, and he worked at JIS in varying capacities until his early retirement in July 2014. Id. at ¶¶ 11, 299. Throughout his period of employment, Bales alleges he was subjected to discrimination and harassment due to his age, disability status, and his engagement in protected activity. Bales' factual allegations, which are numerous, can be separated into three distinct periods of employment: Bales' time at JIS Annex (January 1998 to February 2009), Bales' relocation to JIS Riva (February 2009 to May 2013), and Bales' reassignment to a new position at JIS Riva and his subsequent retirement (May 2013 to July 2014).
Prior to 1998, Bales alleges he was promoted several times, eventually reaching the title of "Information Specialist X" in JIS's LAN Department. Id. at ¶ 12. Bales alleges he was "at all times a model employee who met or exceeded his employer's legitimate performance expectations in these positions, which included receiving a letter of commendation." Id. at ¶ 13. In January of 1998, Bales was transferred to the JIS Annex, located at 2004 Industrial Drive, Maryland, where he continued working as an Information Specialist X. Id. at ¶ 14. At theAnnex, Bales worked with, inter alia, Robert Hannon ("Hannon") and Jason Thomas ("Thomas"). Bales' immediate supervisor was Jim Butler ("Butler"), a Senior Manager in LAN Administration, who in turn reported to Phillip Braxton ("Braxton"), Executive Director of JIS. Id. at ¶¶ 14-17. It was at the Annex where Bales alleges he "became the ongoing victim of office bullying and pranks, primarily at the hands of Messrs. Thomas and Hannon, who came to be his primary tormentors." Id. at ¶ 18. For example, Bales alleges his coworkers would throw pennies in his direction and play various pranks on him including sabotaging his computer equipment, unplugging his keyboard, removing the ball from his computer mouse, and switching network wires on files servers. Id. at ¶¶ 17-18.
Eventually, Bales alleges he started complaining, sometimes on "a daily basis," to his immediate supervisor, Butler. Id. at ¶ 21. However, Bales alleges the conduct did not stop; rather, the nature of the conduct escalated and Butler "would himself engage in very inappropriate conduct." Id. at ¶ 22. For example, Bales contends he was "continually ridiculed about his age with demeaning comments about his sight, hearing, and alleged diminished mental capacity, along with repeated ageist comments that he was 'old.'" Id. at ¶ 23. Furthermore, Bales alleges "Thomas and others would gleefully have farting and belching contests and, on one occasion, deliberately farted on Mr. Bales." Id. at ¶ 24. "On other occasions, Mr. Thomas and others would proceed to lick each others' hands in a perverted manner in an attempt to disgust and provoke Mr. Bales, and further made sexually derogatory comments about Mr. Bales' daughter." Id. at ¶ 25.
By 2004, Bales alleges he was experiencing serious physical and mental complications because of his work environment. Id. at ¶ 29. In response, he allegedly "repeatedly emailed,spoke with and notified" Braxton, Butler's superior, of the "harassing and intolerable behavior taking place at the JIS Annex." Id. Bales alleges he asked to "be relocated out of this antagonistic environment," but Braxton failed to take remedial action or relocate Bales away from the Annex. Id. at ¶¶ 32-33. In March of 2005, Bales claims he sought medical treatment with Dr. Jerome Rubin, PhD, who diagnosed Bales with Chronic Stress Disorder ("CSD"), allegedly resulting from Bales' work environment. Id. at ¶¶ 34-35.
From 2005 to 2007, Bales alleges the harassment continued and he repeatedly complained to superiors and asked to be relocated to a different office at JIS Riva. Id. at ¶¶ 36-50. However, Bales alleges his complaints and requests to be transferred out of JIS Annex to JIS Riva were largely ignored and his coworkers continued their pattern of harassment. Id. For example, on one occasion in November of 2005, Thomas "wildly scratch[ed] his crotch" and then "immediately and purposely touched [] Bales with his crotch scratching hand." Id. at ¶ 44.
On December 18, 2008, finally "[e]xasperated by . . . inactions," Bales claims he filed a written "Grievance" with Braxton asking again to be "relocated to JIS Riva." Id. at ¶¶ 51-54. The grievance also reiterated the conduct Bales had been subjected to at JIS Annex, specifically noting he had suffered "personal attacks, bullying, discredit, personal disrespect, judiciary disrespect, ridicule, provocation, . . . personal family commentary, farting at [his] desk, body slamming, perverted acts of licking each other's hands, equipment and project sabotage, selective persecution, false accusation and antagonism[,] . . . harassment, age commentary, [and] racial commentary." Id. at ¶¶ 54-55. Bales claims, in response to his "Grievance," Braxton sent him a memorandum dated January 15, 2009, indicating Braxton "concluded that [he does] not have adequate 'verifiable' information about these occurrences to reach an informed decision."Id. at ¶ 61. Accordingly, Braxton advised Bales to consider contacting the Office of Fair Practices ("OFP") to investigate his "stress-related physical problems." Id. at ¶ 62.
Bales, instead, escalated his complaint to Human Resources on January 22, 2009, notifying Lee Robinson, manager of the Office of Employee Relations in the Human Resources Department. Id. at ¶ 67. Bales also made "an unusual plea directly to Frank Broccolina," who was the head of the AOC, requesting that Bales be moved to JIS Riva. Id. at ¶ 70. As a result of his complaints, Bales alleges he was subjected to increased scrutiny and false accusations including, inter alia, allegations he was "cursing" at work when he claims he was not, and being limited to a thirty-minute lunch period, "despite the fact that other employees at the JIS Annex routinely enjoyed an hour or more for lunch each day and numerous breaks during the day." Id. at ¶ 79. Bales alleges he reported these incidents to the Human Resources Department, expressing his concerns these actions were "retaliatory because of recent complaints and grievances." Id. at ¶ 80.
In February of 2009, the Department of Human Resources transferred Bales to JIS Riva while OFP continued its investigation into Bales' claims. Id. at ¶ 81. Unfortunately for Bales, OFP advised him on May 18, 2009 its investigation was complete and it did "not substantiate [his] claim of discrimination." Bales alleges these were "sham" findings and, as a result, he "was subjected to continued harassment, discrimination and retaliation from after from the latter parts of 2009 up through the time he was compelled to retire" in 2014. Id. at ¶¶ 82-84. For example, Bales claims the relocation from JIS Annex to JIS Riva was "held against him in his performance evaluations" in 2009 and 2010. Id. at ¶¶ 82-84 And on January 6, 2012, Balessuffered a heart attack allegedly "stemming from the ongoing constant harassment and hostile work environment that exacerbated his underlying anxiety and stress disorder." Id. at ¶ 89.
Bales alleges the harassment continued at an off-site training in March 2012 that was also attended by Thomas from JIS Annex. Id. at ¶ 94. During the course of the class, Bales claims Thomas repeatedly harassed him by, inter alia, revealing personal information pertaining to his divorce, making "numerous ageist comments to Mr. Bales[,] . . . sarcastically suggesting that he lacked the mental capacity to complete very basic tasks and assignments discussed at the class," and repeatedly slamming his desk chair into Bales' desk. Id. at ¶¶ 92-102. Bales complained about this incident, but the AOC found no evidence to support Bales' claim of discrimination at the training. Id. at ¶¶ 106, 109.
On April 25, 2012, Bales was diagnosed with symptoms consistent with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder ("PTSD"), which Bales alleges stemmed "from the stress and anxiety attributable to [his] working environment." Id. at ¶¶ 116-17. After this diagnosis, Bales engaged in discussions with the Office of Legal Counsel regarding "a reasonable accommodation under the ADA." Id. at ¶ 118-20. On June 7, 2012, while on approved Family and Medical Leave ("FMLA"), the AOC's...
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