Doebele v. Sprint Corp.

• Citation: 157 F.Supp.2d 1191
• Decision Date: 06 August 2001
• Docket Number: Civil Action No. 00-2053-KHV.
• Parties: Jacqueline M. DOEBELE, Plaintiff, v. SPRINT CORPORATION, et al., Defendants.
• Court: United States District Courts. 10th Circuit. United States District Courts. 10th Circuit. District of Kansas

Page 1191

157 F.Supp.2d 1191

Jacqueline M. DOEBELE, Plaintiff, v. SPRINT CORPORATION, et al., Defendants.

Civil Action No. 00-2053-KHV.

United States District Court, D. Kansas.

August 6, 2001.

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Dennis E. Egan, Claudio E. Molteni, The Popham Law Firm, P.C., Kansas City, MO, John B. Gage, II, The Gage Law Firm, P.C., Overland Park, KS, for plaintiff.

Karen R. Glickstein, Shughart, Thomson & Kilroy,P.C., Kansas City, MO, Robert A. Bye, Patricia A. Mullins, Foland & Wickens, P.C., Kansas City, MO, for defendants.

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

VRATIL, District Judge.

Jacqueline M. Doebele brings suit against Sprint Corporation and Sprint PCS (collectively referred to as "Sprint") for violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA"), 42 U.S.C. § 12101 et seq., and the Family and Medical Leave Act ("FMLA"), 29 U.S.C. § 2615. She also seeks damages for wrongful discharge. This matter comes before the Court on defendants' Motion For Summary Judgment (Doc. # 103) filed June 1, 2001 and Plaintiff's Motion For Leave To File Surreply In Connection With The Summary Judgment Motion (Doc. # 120) filed July 5, 2001. For reasons stated below, plaintiff's motion for leave to file a surreply is overruled and defendants' motion for summary judgment is sustained.

Summary Judgment Standards

Summary judgment is appropriate if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c); accord Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 247, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986); Vitkus v. Beatrice Co., 11 F.3d 1535, 1538-39 (10th Cir.1993). A factual dispute is "material" only if it "might affect the outcome of the suit under the governing law." Anderson, 477 U.S. at 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505. A "genuine" factual dispute requires more than a mere scintilla of evidence. Id. at 252, 106 S.Ct. 2505.

The moving party bears the initial burden of showing the absence of any genuine issue of material fact. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986); Hicks v. City of Watonga, 942 F.2d 737, 743 (10th Cir.1991). Once the moving party meets its burden, the burden shifts to the nonmoving party to demonstrate that genuine issues remain for trial "as to those dispositive matters for which it carries the burden of proof." Applied Genetics Int'l, Inc. v. First Affiliated Sec., Inc., 912 F.2d 1238, 1241 (10th Cir.1990); see also Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co., Ltd. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 586-87, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986); Bacchus Indus., Inc. v. Arvin Indus., Inc., 939 F.2d 887, 891 (10th Cir.1991). The nonmoving party may not rest on its pleadings but must set forth specific facts. Applied Genetics, 912 F.2d at 1241.

"[W]e must view the record in a light most favorable to the parties opposing the motion for summary judgment." Deepwater Invs., Ltd. v. Jackson Hole Ski Corp., 938 F.2d 1105, 1110 (10th Cir.1991). Summary judgment may be granted if the non-moving party's evidence is merely colorable or is not significantly probative. See Anderson, 477 U.S. at 250-51, 106 S.Ct. 2505. "In a response to a motion for summary judgment, a party cannot rely on ignorance of facts, on speculation, or on suspicion, and may not escape summary judgment in the mere hope that something will turn up at trial." Conaway v. Smith, 853 F.2d 789, 794 (10th Cir.1988). Essentially, the inquiry is "whether the evidence presents a sufficient disagreement to require submission to the jury or whether it is so one-sided that one party must prevail as a matter of law." Anderson, 477 U.S. at 251-52, 106 S.Ct. 2505.

Factual Background

For purposes of summary judgment, the following facts are uncontroverted, deemed admitted, or, where disputed, viewed in the light most favorable to plaintiff.

Plaintiff graduated from Kansas State University in 1984 with a bachelor of science degree in Business Administration and an emphasis in accounting. From September 1996 to April 20, 1998, she worked as a financial analyst in the "Tables Group" at Sprint. The function of the Tables Group is not clear, but it was apparently responsible for computer input of billing data so that Sprint PCS could launch its products in new markets. When she started work, plaintiff received and skimmed an employee handbook. Therefore she was familiar with Sprint's corrective action policy, which outlined a four-step progressive discipline process for dealing with employee misconduct: step one, a verbal reminder, was active for three months; step two, a written warning, was active for six months; step three, a final written warning, was active for 12 months; step four was termination. If an employee had an "active" disciplinary warning, another infraction would lead to the next stage of corrective action. After a corrective action became inactive, however, Sprint would start over at step one of the disciplinary protocol. Plaintiff was also familiar with Sprint's "Time Pool" policy, which allowed employees to draw on a fixed amount of time off for vacation, personal, sick leave or other reasons.

Lorrie McCurdy began supervising plaintiff in March 1997. Bridget Carson, who was a director over the Tables Group, was McCurdy's immediate supervisor.

While plaintiff worked in the Tables Group, several people did not get along with each other. Plaintiff believed that a group of people at Sprint was being "harassed" and "discriminated against" by being recorded or "watched." Exhibit A in Memorandum In Support Of Defendants Sprint/United Management Co. And Sprint Spectrum, L.P.'s Motion For Summary Judgment (Doc. # 104) filed June 21, 2001 ("Defendants' Supporting Memorandum") at 94:3-5. During the spring of 1997, plaintiff began to feel uncomfortable at work. Co-workers told plaintiff that negative comments were being made concerning her character and mental stability. One co-worker told her that there were organized attempts to ostracize and fire her.¹

In May of 1997, Chris Fluke, a Sprint employee, told Carson that plaintiff had made a comment about jumping off a bridge. Carson spoke with plaintiff about the comment and plaintiff indicated that she had been serious. Carson then gave plaintiff a referral to the Employee Assistance Program.

During a meeting on June 16, 1997, Fluke told McCurdy that two employees felt physically threatened by plaintiff. Specifically, Fluke told McCurdy that Deanne Bohanon, a pregnant employee, was afraid that plaintiff would be jealous of her and might hurt her, because plaintiff wanted to have a family. In addition, Fluke told McCurdy that Denise Smith, a temporary employee, had stated that she did not want to be left alone with plaintiff. On June 17, 1997, McCurdy questioned Smith about her alleged comments. Smith said that she did not know what McCurdy was talking about and denied saying that she did not want to be alone with plaintiff. On June 18, 1997, McCurdy met with Bohanon. Bohanon said that though she was afraid that plaintiff might react badly to finding out that she was pregnant, she was not worried that plaintiff would harm her. Fluke, however, had told Bohanon "I can just see Jackie pushing you down a stairwell when she finds out you are pregnant," and this comment had concerned her. Exhibit J in Plaintiff's Memorandum In Opposition To Defendants' Motion For Summary Judgment (Doc. # 115) filed June 21, 2001 ("Plaintiff's Opposition Memorandum"). McCurdy concluded that Fluke had been untruthful and that "it looks like [Fluke] is orchestrating this." Exhibit E in Plaintiff's Opposition Memorandum (Doc. # 115) filed June 21, 2001 at 79:4-5. Aside from informal counseling and coaching however, McCurdy did not take corrective action against Fluke for telling false stories about plaintiff. Nor did she advise Sprint's director of employee relations that Fluke had orchestrated rumors that plaintiff was a physical threat.

On October 15, 1997, McCurdy gave plaintiff her first annual performance review, for the period covering October 1996 to 1997, and plaintiff received a four per cent merit increase. McCurdy told plaintiff that she was not perceived as a team player, that she had difficulty conveying her ideas to a group, that she overanalyzed situations and that she occasionally hesitated to make suggestions-leading others to believe that she did not know much about her job. McCurdy also told plaintiff that she regularly arrived late to scheduled meetings and exhibited poor leadership skills. Plaintiff expressed dissatisfaction with McCurdy's evaluation in the areas of personal effectiveness, professional knowledge and judgment.² McCurdy's documentation indicated that plaintiff's review took three hours and that "[t]he constant maintenance required for one employee is astronomical in comparison to the rest of my staff and the sad part is that it is not getting any better." Exhibit I in Defendants' Sprint/United Management Co. And Sprint Spectrum, L.P.'s Reply To Plaintiff Jacqueline Doebele's Opposition To Motion For Summary Judgment (Doc. # 119) filed July 2, 2001 ("Defendants' Reply Memorandum").

During November and December of 1997, plaintiff expressed concern at Tables Group meetings that she was being ostracized due to disparaging comments made by Fluke.

From January through March of 1998, McCurdy documented several incidents in which she believed that plaintiff had instigated confrontational meetings.

On January 5, 1998, plaintiff asked to speak to McCurdy about a work issue. Plaintiff told McCurdy that she would appreciate it if McCurdy would refrain from asking questions of Linda Wolf, who was on plaintiff's staff, and instead talk directly to her. McCurdy responded that she had merely asked Wolf a question because plaintiff was out.

On January 9, 1998...