Bordeaux v. Halstead Prop. Dev. Mktg.

• Decision Date: 16 February 2022
• Docket Number: 20-cv-1347 (LJL)
• Parties: AMY BORDEAUX, Plaintiff, v. HALSTEAD PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT MARKETING LLC, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of New York

AMY BORDEAUX, Plaintiff,
v.
HALSTEAD PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT MARKETING LLC, Defendant.

No. 20-cv-1347 (LJL)

United States District Court, S.D. New York

February 16, 2022

OPINION AND ORDER

LEWIS J. LIMAN, United States District Judge.

Plaintiff Amy Bordeaux (“Bordeaux” or “Plaintiff”) brings claims against her former employer Halstead Property Development Marketing LLC (“Halstead PDM” or “Defendant”) for discrimination based on disability and for retaliation under the Americans with Disabilities Act, the New York State Human Rights Law, and the New York City Human Rights Law. Dkt. No. 1. Defendant moves pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56 for summary judgment dismissing the claims of Plaintiff. Dkt. No. 38.

For the following reasons, the Court grants Defendant's motion for summary judgment with respect to Plaintiff's ADA claims and declines to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over Plaintiff's claims under state and local law.

BACKGROUND

The following facts are undisputed for purposes of this motion except where otherwise indicated.

Bordeaux was employed at-will at Halstead PDM as a sales coordinator and administrative assistant for approximately six months, from on or about December 10, 2018

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through May 30, 2019. Dkt. No. 38-2 ¶ 10. Before then, she worked for Halstead PDM through a “temp agency.” Id. ¶ 9. Halstead PDM provides sales and marketing services in connection with property development and is engaged by condominium sponsors to provide sales and marketing services on-site at buildings being developed. Id. ¶¶ 6-7.

During her employment, Bordeaux was assigned to work on-site at a newly developed condominium building called “The Rennie.” Id. ¶ 11. Bordeaux's duties included greeting visitors (buyers, prospective buyers, vendors, delivery persons, and others) in a friendly and professional manner; organizing storage closets and other facilities; tracking and following up on supply orders; monitoring voice mail; and managing requested projects, brokers lists, and other tasks. Id. ¶ 13. Bordeaux reported to and took instruction from the entire sales team on-site at The Rennie. Id. ¶ 14. Bordeaux was sometimes required to be at The Rennie by herself as the only Halstead PDM representative. Id. ¶ 15.

Several months into her employment, on April 16, 2019, Bordeaux emailed one of her supervisors at the time, Andrea M. Beckley, requesting a performance review and stating that she “was also wondering if [they] could talk about an internal transfer to a different team.” Id. ¶ 44; see also Dkt. No. 39-11. Bordeaux stated:

I do think I'd be a bigger advantage to a team that needs a more experienced admin or needs help setting up their new offices/systems. This company has been really good to me and I'd just like to be able to put my skills and organization to better use. Please let me know if this is an option at all, I wouldn't mind waiting a few months for a transfer

Dkt. No. 39-11. Bordeaux's request for a review and a transfer was referred to Vice President of Sales Vanessa Connelly (“Connelly”) who was then Bordeaux's supervisor. Dkt. No. 38-2 ¶ 45.

The parties dispute what prompted Bordeaux's request for a transfer. It is undisputed that, while Bordeaux understood when she took the job that there would be times when she might be alone and that she was not allowed to leave the place unattended, she did not expect to

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spend as much time as she did alone. Id. ¶ 46. The fact that she was required to be alone made her unhappy and, because of that, she preferred to have a different job at Halstead PDM. Id. Though Plaintiff does not dispute this, Plaintiff further states that she requested the transfer “because [she] was really depressed at [her] current position and [she] wanted to see if there was someplace they could transfer [her] to help it.” Dkt. No. 44-1 at 76; see also Dkt. No. 46 ¶¶ 4344.

Two weeks after Bordeaux's email, on April 30, 2019, Connelly met with Bordeaux for the requested performance review. Dkt. No. 38-2 ¶ 50. During the review, Connelly learned that Bordeaux was unhappy because she did not like being in the office and having to be in the office while members of the sales team had more flexibility to move in and out of the office. Id. Bordeaux also raised the issue of a more consistent lunch break. Id. ¶ 52. Connelly's takeaway from the meeting was that “a lot of the issues that [Bordeaux] was having with the job were related to the actual work for the job.” Id. ¶ 55 (quoting Dkt. No. 39-5 at 46). For example, according to Connelly, Bordeaux “seemed upset about having to organize closets, ” “felt like the job was not offering enough for her, ” and did not “want[] to . . . track Staples packages.” Id. (quoting Dkt. No. 39-5 at 46-47). At her deposition, Connelly testified that she did not remember Bordeaux discussing during the meeting that she suffered from depression. Dkt. No. 39-5 at 31; see also Dkt. No. 38-2 ¶ 51. Plaintiff disputes this account of the meeting but does so only to the extent that it fails to acknowledge that Plaintiff “advised Connelly that she was requested [sic] a transfer because she was depressed.” Dkt. No. 46 ¶¶ 50-52, 55-56 (citing Dkt. No. 44-1 at 76, 77-78). More specifically, according to the relevant cited portion of Plaintiff's deposition, Bordeaux testified: “I had told [Connelly] that I was depressed at The Rennie and if there was some place they she [sic] could transfer me to.” Dkt. No. 44-1 at 77. It is undisputed

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that, as for the transfer request, Connelly told Bordeaux that Halstead PDM “did not have another position for her to be transferred to.” Dkt. No. 38-2 ¶ 53.

The day after the performance review, on or about May 1, 2019, Connelly sent the following email to Bordeaux and others on The Rennie team and copied Human Resources Director Judith Caplan (“Caplan”):

Hi Team:

Amy and I met yesterday afternoon. Pursuant to my conversations with all, several issues were identified which need to be addressed and we need to enact some changes. Based on the feedback I received from each of you, here are the concerns.

Amy has asked that she has and keeps one hour of lunch break per day. I explained due to the nature of the industry things can push 15-20 minutes here or there based on how long the appointments run but the team will do their best to honor the time requested and will always make sure she gets one hour a day.

Amy, the concerns we spoke about regarding your performance are below.

Presentation to BRP employees-we discussed the two instances that were brought up by the sponsor and they are:

1. There was an issue of a delivery man being spoken to rudely which the sponsor commented on. It is imperative that all visitors/buyers or otherwise are greeted kindly and treated respectfully by you.

2. There was also an instance of your checking your stocks and discussing checking your stocks. Please limit personal tasks like checking in on your personal email and websites to your break periods or lunch hour. It is important the sponsor knows you are focused and working on project related business during business hours.

• TV watching-in the same category as above. I appreciate there have been moments where the team watched something together, however this should not be done. This applies to all team members.

• Office Maintenance- Organization of storage closets- this should be done on a bi-weekly basis to avoid future issues. Please confirm that you understand all of the required steps involved for this.

• Follow up on supply orders-I appreciate that Staples can be frustrating with new addresses, but all orders will need to be tracked and followed up on until delivery.

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• Voicemail- Please send an email as a first task in the morning and last email at night with messages broken down. If no messages were received, please still send with that noted.

• Managing requested projects. We discussed the example of Jeff [Krantz's] request for a broker list that took over one week to complete. I appreciate you were reaching out with questions to parties behind the scenes, however there needs to be open communication with Jeff and Kristin [Krantz] on what is happening. They need to know you will actively manage the requested tasks and keep them in the loop of the progress. If you are experiencing difficulties or roadblocks, please inform them. Once they are aware, they can get you the proper resources to help you, that you will then have in place for future requests.

These are some fundamental things that will help the office run properly. I would like to circle back and meet with you and Kristin in a few weeks to make sure that things have improved and these are no longer an issue.

Please let me now [sic] if anything above is unclear or if you have any questions or concerns. Thank you al [sic] in advance for your attention to the items above.

Id. ¶ 57; see also Dkt. No. 39-12.

It is undisputed that Bordeaux had an unpleasant interaction with a delivery man who had looked at the sales list and asked about one of the condominium units. Dkt. No. 38-2 ¶ 60. In the presence of others, Bordeaux said, “Yeah, sure, if you can afford it, ” which made him feel insulted and to which he took offense and considered rude. Id. The incident was reported to Halstead PDM and to Connelly, and Bordeaux was called by one of the sales agents to whom she reported and admonished “that's not who we are.” Id. It is undisputed that, when asked at her deposition if there was ever a time when she was checking stocks, personal email, and websites while she was on the job, Bordeaux responded, “Yes.” Id. ¶ 62. It is also undisputed that Bordeaux made personal phone calls using her cell phone while on the job at Halstead PDM. Id. ¶ 63.

The parties dispute whether Bordeaux made disclosures about her...