Conners v. Spectrasite Communications, Inc., No. 1:04-cv-673.

• Decision Date: 12 October 2006
• Docket Number: No. 1:04-cv-673.
• Parties: Thomas CONNERS, Jr., Plaintiff, v. SPECTRASITE COMMUNICATIONS, INC., Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of Ohio

465 F.Supp.2d 834

Thomas CONNERS, Jr., Plaintiff, v. SPECTRASITE COMMUNICATIONS, INC., Defendant.

No. 1:04-cv-673.

United States District Court, S.D. Ohio, Eastern Division.

October 12, 2006.

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Tod Joseph Thompson, Randolph Harry Freking, Freking and Betz, Cincinnati, OH, for Plaintiff.

Dane A. Mize, Michael A. Moffatt, Robert Frederick Seidler, Ogletree, Dearins, Nash, Smdak & Stewart, PC, Indianapolis, IN, Gretchen W. Ewalt, Ogletree Deakins Nash Smoak & Stewart PC, Raleigh, NC, for Defendant.

Opinion and Order

GRAHAM, District Judge.

This matter comes before the Court on Defendant, SpectraSite Communications, Inc.'s ("SpectraSite"), Motion for Summary Judgment on Plaintiff Thomas Conners Jr.'s ("Conners") claims (Doc. 44).

Conners, who has Hepatitis C and was terminated by SpectraSite on July 1, 2004, alleges that SpectraSite: 1) interfered with his use of Family Medical Leave Act ("FMLA") protected leave in violation of 29 U.S.C. § 2615(a)(1); 2) terminated his employment in retaliation for exercising his right to request FMLA leave in violation of 29 U.S.C. § 2615(a)(2); 3) terminated his employment to avoid the vesting of his employee benefits in violation of the Employment Retirement Income Security Act ("ERISA"), 29 U.S.C. § 1001, et seq.; 4) violated the State of Ohio's public policy against discriminating against an employee on the basis of the denial of employee benefits; 5) wrongfully terminated his employment in violation of Oh. Rev.Code. §§ 4112.02 and 4112.99 due to his disability or perceived disability; 6) violated Ohio public policy under Oh. Rev.Code § 4112.02 by treating him differently than non-disabled employees, refusing to grant him a reasonable accommodation for his disability, and wrongfully terminating his employment; and, 7) discriminated against him in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA") by treating him differently than non-disabled employees, refusing to grant him a reasonable accommodation for his disability, and terminating his employment. (Pl's Second Amend. Compl. ¶¶ 26-66.)

The Court held oral argument on the Motion on Friday, October 6, 2006. For the reasons stated by the Court at the conclusion of the parties' arguments, more fully explained in this Opinion and Order, SpectraSite's Motion for Summary Judgment on Conners's ERISA interference claim is DENIED, while SpectraSite's Motion with respect to all of Conners's other claims is GRANTED.

I. Summary Judgment Standard

Under Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c), summary judgment is proper "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." See LaPointe v. United Autoworkers Local 600, 8 F.3d 376, 378 (6th Cir.1993); Osborn v. Ashland County Bd. of Alcohol, Drug Addiction & Mental Health Servs., 979 F.2d 1131, 1133 (6th Cir,1992)(per curium).

The party that moves for summary judgment has the burden of showing that there are no genuine issues of material fact in the case. LaPointe, 8 F.3d at 378. The moving party may meet its burden by showing that the nonmoving party lacks evidence to support an essential element of its case. Barnhart v. Pickrel, Schaeffer & Ebeling Co., L.P.A., 12 F.3d 1382, 1389 (6th Cir.1993).

In response, the nonmoving party "cannot rely on the hope that the trier of fact will disbelieve the movant's denial of a disputed fact, but must `present affirmative evidence in order to defeat a properly supported motion for summary judgment.' " Street v. J.C Bradford & Co., 886 F.2d 1472, 1476 (6th Cir.1989) (quoting Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 257, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986)). The Court must view the evidence, all facts, and any inferences that may permissibly be drawn from the facts in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 587, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986). See also Eastman Kodak Co. v. Image Technical Servs., Inc., 504 U.S. 451, 456, 112 S.Ct. 2072,119 L.Ed.2d 265 (1992).

In reviewing a motion for summary judgment, "this Court must determine whether `the evidence presents a sufficient disagreement to require submission to a jury or whether it is so one-sided that one party must prevail as a matter of law.'" Patton v. Bearden, 8 F.3d 343, 346 (6th Cir,1993)(quoting Anderson, 477 U.S. at 251-52, 106 S.Ct. 2505). "[T] he mere existence of some alleged factual dispute between the parties will not defeat an otherwise properly supported motion for summary judgment; the requirement is that there be no genuine issue of material fact." Anderson, 477 U.S. at 247-48, 106 S.Ct. 2505 (emphasis in original); see generally Booker v. Brown & Williamson Tobacco Co., Inc., 879 F.2d 1304, 1310 (6th Cir.1989).

Thus, "[t]he mere existence of a scintilla of evidence in support of the plaintiffs position will be insufficient; there must be evidence on which the jury could reasonably find for the plaintiff." Anderson, 477 U.S. at 252, 106 S.Ct. 2505. See also Gregory v. Hunt, 24 F.3d 781, 784 (6th Cir.1994). Finally, a district court considering a motion for summary judgment may not weigh evidence or make credibility determinations. Adams v. Metiva, 31 F.3d 375, 379 (6th Cir.1994).

II. Background and Facts

A. Conners's Employment History with SpectraSite

SpectraSite provides tower locations for wireless communications carriers such as Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile. Wireless carriers sign a lease and pay SpectraSite to put their receivers on SpectraSite's towers. SpectraSite is incorporated in Delaware and headquartered in Cary, North Carolina, where the majority of its employees work.

In July of 2000, SpectraSite purchased another wireless company, Lodestar, for whom Conners was working as a sales manager. Conners interviewed for a SpectraSite position with Todd Boyer ("Boyer"), a regional sales manager.

Only a few Lodestar employees were hired to work at SpectraSite. SpectraSite hired Conners on July 18, 2000, as a sales manager in the Northern Region, working under Boyer. The Northern Region covered parts of the Midwest, including Ohio, and the Northeast. Conners executed leases between SpectraSite and its clients. At that time, Boyer worked out of Cary and Conners worked out of his home in Cincinnati, Ohio.

After a few months, Boyer and Boyer's supervisor, David Hargrove ("Hargrove") promoted Conners to the position of regional sales manager. Conners replaced Boyer as the regional sales manager of the Northern Region, while Boyer became a regional sales manager in Irvine, California. Boyer was then promoted to National Sales Manager, once again working in Cary. Approximately six months following Boyer's promotion, SpectraSite returned Boyer to a regional sales manager position over the newly-formed Northeast Region. Despite the change, Boyer continued working out of Cary.

As a regional sales manager, Conners still worked from his home in Cincinnati. He had five Midwest and Northeast sales managers reporting to him regarding their progress on executing leases with Spectra-Site's clients. Over the course of his time as a regional sales manager, Conners reported to Hargrove, Scott Griffin, Scott Lloyd ("Lloyd"), and Boyer, for the short period of time that Boyer was Spectra-Site's National Sales Manager, all located in Cary. Conners was a regional sales manager until 2002.

In the summer of 2002, SpectraSite, through Lloyd, Conners's supervisor at that time, offered Conners an account executive position. Although it came with a pay decrease, Conners accepted the position. He was responsible for a smaller number of towers in the Cincinnati, Ohio; Indianapolis, Indiana; and Louisville and Lexington, Kentucky territories. His responsibilities as an account executive were analogous to those he had previously as a sales manager. And, he no longer had sales managers reporting to him.

After Conners took an account executive position, Lloyd left SpectraSite, and Conners began reporting to Boyer in Boyer's new "Director of Sales" position, which was essentially the same as his regional sales manager position. While neither party seems to know the exact date, by January of 2003, it is clear that Conners was reporting to Boyer. Boyer was the only one of the four previous regional sales managers, including Conners, retained in the newly-created director of sales positions.

During Boyer's tenure as Conners's supervisor in 2003, Boyer moved to Columbus, Ohio, and began working out of an office in Columbus. (Deposition of Todd A. Boyer ("Boyer Dep."), Aug. 31, 2005, 35; Deposition of Thomas Conners, Jr. ("Conners Dep.") Aug. 25, 2005, 49.) According to SpectraSite's records, as of September 2003, Conners was assigned to the Columbus office. (Def.'s Mot. for Summ. J., Affidavit of Anne Monte ("Monte Aff.") ¶ 5.)

As an account executive, Conners requested time off through Boyer, talked with Boyer individually on a daily basis regarding client accounts and leases, and participated in sales-related conference calls with Boyer. Boyer gave Conners his final performance review on or around June 3, 2004. (Conners Dep., Exhibit 13.) Conners listed Boyer as his "manager," and Boyer's location as Columbus, Ohio, on his SpectraSite Family Medical Leave of Absence Request, allegedly submitted to Boyer in early June 2004. (Id. at Ex. 16.) Boyer and Christine Parks, SpectraSite's Human Resources Director, terminated Conners's employment on July 1, 2004.

Conners testified in his deposition that "[a]ll of [his] connection was with Cary, North Carolina.... All of my business was handled out of Cary." (Id. at 49.) When asked why he thought this, he testified that his "counterpart," or "inside sales manager," was located in Cary. (Id. at 50.)...