Bui v. Milton Mfg., Inc.

• Decision Date: 23 March 2021
• Docket Number: Case No. 18-13520
• Parties: PHAT BUI, Plaintiff, v. MILTON MANUFACTURING, INC., Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Michigan

PHAT BUI, Plaintiff, v. MILTON MANUFACTURING, INC., Defendant.

Case No. 18-13520

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN SOUTHERN DIVISION

March 23, 2021

OPINION AND ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANT'S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT IN PART AND DISMISSING THE REMAINING STATE LAW COUNT WITHOUT PREJUDICE

I. INTRODUCTION

Plaintiff Phat Bui sues Defendant Milton Manufacturing, Inc. alleging violations of both state and federal employment discrimination statutes. Plaintiff asserts that he was harassed and eventually terminated from his position as a senior mechanic in Defendant's Detroit plant because of his national origin and age. Defendant now moves for summary judgment on all eleven counts. The motion has been fully briefed, and the court concludes that a hearing is not necessary. See E.D. Mich. 7.1(f)(2). For the reasons stated below, the court will grant Defendant's motion for summary judgment as to ten of the counts, and it will decline to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over the remaining state law claim.

II. BACKGROUND

Plaintiff Phat Bui was born in 1971 in Vietnam and is of Asian descent. (ECF No. 1, PageID.3.) On November 14, 2016, Plaintiff was hired by Defendant Milton Manufacturing, Inc., at their Detroit plant. (Id.) Defendant is a component supplier for both the automotive and defense industries and produces various vehicle parts at its Detroit facility. (ECF No. 17-2, PageID.141.) Plaintiff was hired as a senior mechanic to operate and maintain CNC metal lathes in Defendant's machining department. (ECF No. 17-3, PageID.161, 181-82.)

Defendant's facility is a "union shop" represented by UAW Local 155. (See ECF No. 17-23.) Consequently, work terms and wage rates are governed by a union contract. (Id.) The agreement provides that bargaining unit employees, like Plaintiff, must abide by Defendant's separately promogulated attendance policy. (Id., PageID.376.) The attendance policy provides that "[e]mployees will be allowed twelve (12) points for unplanned/unscheduled/unexcused absences, early quits and tardiness during the most recent 365-day period." (ECF No. 17-5, PageID.282.) Points are awarded according to the type of absence.

Clocking in more than two minutes after scheduled start time or returning to work

station late from break or lunch.

.25 point

Clocking in one (1) hour or more after the scheduled start time or punching out or

leaving work station before the scheduled end of the employee's shift (including

overtime).

.50 point

Full day absence*

1 point

Full day absence without calling in to the attendance hotline before the scheduled start

of the employee's shift.

2 points

^*In the event an employee is absent from work (with proper notice to the company) for two (2) or more consecutive days and presents a doctor's note verifying that the employee was unable to report to work on the days at issue, the period of absence will be considered as one (1) occurrence and the employee will only be charged one (1) point.

(Id. at 283.) Under the policy, employees are subject to progressive disciplinary steps when they accumulate points starting with verbal warnings, then suspensions, and finally termination. (Id.) Employees who accumulate 12 points or more points "will be terminated pending review." (Id.) The policy also provides for a reduction of up to one point for each 30-day period of "perfect attendance." (Id.)

The attendance policy is administered by Defendant's H.R. Manager Belinda Cunningham. (ECF No. 17-2, PageID.116, 128.) She tracks an employee's unexcused absences, decides how points should be assessed, and ultimately determines when an employee should be terminated under the policy. (Id.) According to Defendant, after accumulating 16.75 points in under a year of employment, Plaintiff was terminated by Cunningham for a violation of the attendance policy on October 16, 2017. (ECF No. 17-4, PageID.278.)

Plaintiff asserts that the decision to terminate him was actually based on discriminatory motives—age and national origin—not his poor attendance record. (ECF No. 1, PageID.3.) Plaintiff alleges that throughout his employment he was regularly ignored in social settings by his supervisor and coworkers. (Id., PageID.3.) In his complaint, Plaintiff alleged that both his "coworkers and supervisors would laugh and yell at Plaintiff daily, as compared to persons whose national origin and race differed from Plaintiff." (Id.) However, in his deposition, Plaintiff "walked back" some of his allegations stating that only his coworkers, and not his supervisors, would regularly laugh and yell at him based on his accent. (See ECF No. 17-3, PageID.172; ECF No. 21-2, PageID.626.)) And Plaintiff stated that such alleged comments by coworkers occurred, at most, a "couple times a week"—not "daily" as originally asserted. (Id., PageID.173.)

Plaintiff testified that his African American direct supervisor, Rick Hayes, also engaged in harassing conduct. (ECF No. 17-3, PageID.216; 235-36, 240.) He recounted the following alleged incidents:

• On February 17, 2017, he heard Hayes say, while talking to coworkers, that they should "get that motherfucker out of the facility," while looking and pointing toward Plaintiff. (ECF No. 21-2, PageID.552.)

• On April 21, 2017, Hayes told Plaintiff that he would "suffer [here] because you took a white man's job." (ECF No. 1, PageID.3 ¶ 15).¹

• After Plaintiff refused to continue training one of his coworkers, Hayes yelled at Plaintiff during a May 25, 2017 team meeting, telling Plaintiff that "you are not welcome here," and "the door is open, you can walk out any time." (Id. at ¶ 16; ECF No. 17-3, PageID.235-36.)

• On September 9, 2017, Hayes did not invite Plaintiff to a meeting with the rest of Hayes's team. (ECF No. 21-2, PageID.685.)

• On September 29, 2017, Hayes and plant manager Randy Gawel came to Plaintiff's workstation and questioned his decision to work on production for a particular program, but they backed off after he explained his cost saving rationale. (Id., PageID.687-68.)

While Plaintiff does not directly contest most of his recorded absences, he does contend that he was assessed attendance points by Cunningham in situations where other employees would not have been disciplined. (ECF No. 21, PageID.404.) Despite not contesting the attendance points when issued, Plaintiff now argues that a number of the points assessed were improper. (Id., PageID.404-05.) He also notes two incidents where he successfully challenged attendance points while employed at Milton and had the points removed from his record. (Id., PageID.405.) He argues that on the whole, the record shows he was assessed "bogus" attendance points to hide the true reasons for his termination. (Id.)

In his deposition, Plaintiff theorized, based on rumors he had heard, that other employees wanted to push him out to make room for another younger, white employee, Nicholas Keifer to "get his old position" back in his machine shop. (ECF No. 21-2, PageID.565.) Cunningham's affidavit however attests that "Mr. Kiefer was never employed in Plaintiff's position prior to Plaintiff's hiring." (ECF No. 17-4, PageID.278.)

Plaintiff testified he was aware of Defendant's harassment and discrimination policy. (See ECF No. 17-15, PageID.326; ECF No. 17-22, PageID.346-50.) During his time working for Defendant, Plaintiff filed multiple official complaints pursuant to the policy alleging that he was being mistreated under a number of varying theories, and Cunningham provided a response to each of the complaints. First on February 23, 2017, he sent an email to Cunningham complaining that a hostile work environment existed between management and employees and stated that "by accident I walked into this civil war, please let me a [sic] chance to walk out." (ECF No. 17-10, PageID.314.) On April 23, 2017, he sent another complaint alleging that coworkers were spreading false rumors about Plaintiff because he refused to join the union.² (ECF No. 17-10, PageID.314.) The rumors consisted of allegations that his coworkers in the machine shop were either taking vacation time or finding new jobs to avoid having to work with him. (Id.) On April 27th, he sent another email to Cunningham complaining about a verbal warning he received for attendance violations, and he linked the warning to his refusal to join the union, implying retaliation. (ECF No. 17-14, PageID.324.)

Finally, on May 22, 2017, Plaintiff filed an official complaint with the EEOC. (ECF No. 17-16, PageID.333.) It was this complaint that for the first time raised the issue of harassment based on national origin. (Id.) However, the complaint alleged harassment only by the "Plant Manager." (Id.) Plaintiff also sent a follow-up email to Cunningham the next day, asserting that plant manager Randy Gawel "has been emotionally abusing me for the past few months." (ECF No. 17-17, PageID.335.) The email's explanation of the harassment is largely incomprehensible, but it does not allege any harassment by Plaintiff's coworkers and makes reference only to the "white man's job" comment without specifying the speaker. (Id.) On October 4, 2017, the EEOC notified Plaintiff that it had declined to pursue his complaint. (ECF No. 17-18, PageID.338.)

Plaintiff was terminated on October 16, 2017 for a violation of "Milton's Attendance Policy" by Cunningham. (ECF No. 17-4, PageID.277.) Cunningham testified that the firing was not at all related to his on the job performance, only his attendance. (ECF No. 21-1, PageID.429.) After Plaintiff's termination, Cunningham's affidavit states that Plaintiff's responsibilities were redistributed among other Milton employees. (ECF No. 17-4, PageID.277.) It was only in January 2020 that another employee, Nicholas Keifer, was elevated to Plaintiff's former position. (Id.)

Following Plaintiff's termination in October 2017, he filed a complaint with the EEOC. (ECF No. 17-20, PageID.342.) In his new EEOC complaint, Plaintiff alleged that he was...