Dulinski v. N. Homes Inc.
| Decision Date | 16 August 2022 |
| Docket Number | 20-cv-2207 (SRN/LIB) |
| Parties | Tennelle Dulinski, Plaintiff, v. North Homes, Inc. doing business as North Homes Children and Family Services, Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Minnesota |
Andrew P. Muller, Muller, Muller and Associates PLLC, and John A Klassen, John A. Klassen, PA, for Plaintiff.
David M. Wilk and Kaylin Schmidt, Larson King, LLP, for Defendant.
This matter is before the Court on the Motion for Summary Judgment [Doc. No. 28] filed by Defendant North Homes, Inc. (“North Homes”). Based on a review of the files submissions, and proceedings herein, and for the reasons below, the Court GRANTS the motion.
This case arises out of the termination of Plaintiff Tennelle Dulinski's employment as a Mental Health Practitioner (“MHP”) with North Homes. In setting forth the factual background of the case, the Court is mindful that in considering North Homes' summary judgment motion, it must “view[] the evidence in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party,” namely, Dulinski. Grinnell Mut. Reinsurance Co. v. Schwieger, 685 F.3d 697, 700 (8th Cir. 2012) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). Moreover, the Court does not “weigh the evidence” or “determine the truth of the matter” at this stage of the litigation. Nunn v. Noodles & Co., 674 F.3d 910, 914 (8th Cir. 2012).
Dulinski is a Minnesota resident. (Compl. [Doc. No. 1] ¶ 1.) She worked as an MHP for North Homes from September 11, 2017, through July 18, 2019. (Id. ¶¶ 6, 30; Declaration of Andrew P. Muller [Doc. No. 41 (“Muller Decl.”) Ex. 4 (“2018 Annual Review”) at 1, Ex. 2 (“Emerson Dep.”) 59:24-60:21.)
Defendant North Homes was founded in 1990 and is a Minnesota non-profit corporation “that provides mental health services to children and families.” (Compl. ¶ 2; Declaration of Rochelle DelGreco (“DelGreco Decl.”) [Doc. No. 34] ¶ 3.) North Homes employs MHPs and administrative staff to serve 14 school districts and communities in Minnesota. (DelGreco Decl. ¶ 3.)
North Homes offers a Children's Therapeutic Services and Supports (“CTSS”) program. (Id. ¶ 2.) The CTSS program offers mental health services by means of a schoolbased program and a community-based program. (Id. ¶ 4.) The school-based program takes place at a school and serves students who have at least one mental health diagnosis relating to severe behavioral or emotional issues and have therefore been removed from mainstream classes. (Id. ¶¶ 4-5.) The community-based program usually takes place at a child's home and “provides one-on-one skills training” that addresses “issues unique to the child's home, such as relationships with parents or siblings.” (Id. ¶ 4.)
To facilitate the school-based program, North Homes enters contracts with a number of schools. (Id. ¶ 6.) Under each contract, North Homes agrees to provide mental health therapy and skills training, and agrees to follow all school policies and decisions. (Id.) Mental health therapy focuses on addressing a student's thoughts and feelings. (Id. ¶ 10.) Skills training focuses on developing de-escalation and coping skills “such as anger management and deep breathing.” (Id.; Declaration of David M. Wilk [Doc. No. 31] (“Wilk Decl.”) Ex. 1 (“Dulinski Dep.”)[1] 44:8-9.)
During the 2016-2017 academic year, Southwest Elementary School (“Southwest”), located in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, decided to develop a school-based day treatment program for students with emotional and behavioral disorders. (Declaration of Chris Brown [Doc. No. 35] (“Brown Decl.”) ¶¶ 1-2; see DelGreco Decl. ¶ 9.) Headed by Chris Brown, one of Southwest's special education teachers from 2016 to May 2019, Southwest developed a program to help students overcome their disabilities and return to regular classes. (Brown Decl. ¶¶ 1, 3.) To help with this program, Southwest entered a contract with North Homes. (Id. ¶ 4.) Southwest was also assigned four paraprofessionals as educational special personnel (“ESP”) to assist with the program.
(See Dulinski Dep. 40:4 5; Muller Ex. 1 (“Stephens Dep.”) 102:15-21; see also Brown Decl. ¶ 6; Muller Decl. Ex. 3 (“Rubesh Dep.”) 24:5.)
On September 11, 2017, North Homes hired Dulinski as an MHP to provide schoolbased skills training to students at Southwest. (Compl. ¶ 6; Stephens Dep. 8:23-9:1; Dulinski Dep. 42:14-17; 2018 Annual Review at 1.) She was not hired to provide mental health therapy because she lacked the qualifications to do so. (Dulinski Dep. 42:14-21.) Instead, North Homes' employee, Becky Zidarich, was assigned to provide mental health therapy to Southwest students. (Declaration of Becky Zidarich [Doc. No. 36] (“Zidarich Decl.”) ¶ 3; Brown Decl. ¶ 8; Dulinski Dep. 42:8-13.)
Dulinski was assigned two supervisors, one for administrative tasks and another for her clinical work. (Stephens Dep. 8:1-16; Dulinski Dep. 39:16-23.) James Stephens was Dulinski's administrative supervisor. (Stephens Dep. 8:1-5; see Dulinski Dep. 90:12-17.) Stephens testified that he has worked at North Homes for 27 years, including at least 18 years as an MHP. (Stephens Dep. 5:20-25, 7:11-14.) Currently, he is the administrative director in Itasca County for the CTSS school-based and community-based programs, in addition to North Homes' targeting and case management programs. (Id. at 6:11-18, 7:1920.)
Katie Rubesh was Dulinski's clinical supervisor. (Dulinski Dep. 39:16-23.) Rubesh testified that she has worked at North Homes for nine years and is currently the Clinical Director of the CTSS program. (Rubesh Dep. 6:16-7:1.) She has more responsibility under her current role than she did during Dulinski's employment; at that time, Rubesh was the Clinical Director only for the Grand Rapids' school district. (See id. at 7:11-13.)
About six months after Dulinski began working for North Homes, Stephens conducted Dulinski's first performance review. (See generally 2018 Annual Review.) That review demonstrated that Dulinski was exceeding her production goals and she received high marks in relation to her major job responsibilities. (Id. at 1, 4-5; Stephens Dep. at 71:23-72:3.) The only items noted for improvement related to paperwork deadlines and communication with her co-workers. (2018 Annual Review at 5.)
Around the same time, however, the four ESPs at Southwest approached Rubesh regarding Dulinski. (Rubesh Dep. 20:24-21:1, 23:15-25:11.) Rubesh testified that the ESPs had ongoing concerns regarding Dulinski that they wanted to share with North Homes anonymously. (Id. at 23:18-23.) To facilitate their request, Rubesh created an online survey for the ESPs to complete. (Id. at 21:2-4.)
By means of that survey, the ESPs expressed their concerns. (See Wilk Decl. Ex. 5 (“ESP Complaints”); Rubesh Dep. 20:18-23:11.) Among other things, they wrote that Dulinski seemed unprepared for her skills training sessions. (ESP Complaints at 1.) They also wrote the Dulinski made “negative comments” and would “put the child or children back into negative thinking” by bringing up past behaviors that had already been addressed. (Id.) One ESP stated that Dulinski had “set the kids off to a meltdown,” while another noted that she did not follow a hands-off approach during a child meltdown situation. (Id.) And they noted Dulinski's unprofessional clothing. (Id. at 2.) Rubesh went through these responses, “summed up the biggest concerns,” and “then had a meeting with [Dulinski] about th[em].” (Rubesh Dep. 24:25-25:4.)
Following the 2017-2018 academic year, Dulinski worked at North Homes' summer camp. (Declaration of Tennelle Dulinski [Doc. No. 43] (Dulinski Decl.) ¶ 2.) After the summer, she returned to Southwest for the 2018-2019 academic year. (See Stephens Dep. 8:1-5.)
In September 2018, Dulinski was injured by her dog. (Wilks Decl. Ex. 7 [Doc. No. 32] at 19; Dulinski Dep. 22:10-14.) The dog hit the bottom of Dulinski's jaw when it jumped up. (Wilks Decl. Ex. 7 at 19.) The force caused sudden hyperextension of the neck, resulting in double vision and pain. (Id.) This injury also impacted her cognitive functioning. (Dulinski Dep. 63:9-21.) These and other symptoms are permanent, but their severity can fluctuate. (See id. at 33:2-5, 101:25-102:3.)
Dulinski met with her physician, Dr. Hilde-Philips, on four occasions over the course of six months and was eventually diagnosed with Chiari Malformation, Type I. This is a brain condition that can cause a variety of neurologic issues including dizziness, headaches, nausea, and lack of concentration. (Wilk Decl. Ex. 8 at 2; Dulinski Dep. 80:20-21.) After this diagnosis, Dr. Hilde-Philips referred Dulinski to the Mayo Clinic. (Wilk Decl. Ex. 8 at 2, 4.)
On March 13, 2019, Dulinski informed North Homes about her brain injury. (Dulinski Dep. 33:13-18.) She met with her supervisors, along with Hilary Emerson, the Human Resources Director, and Michelle DelGreco, the Chief Operations Officer.
(Dulinski Dep. 80:18-20; Muller Decl. Ex. 2 (“Emerson Dep.”) 6:18-22; DelGreco Decl. ¶ 1.) Her husband accompanied her to this meeting to help explain her condition. (See Stephens Dep. 40:2-6, 40:16-18.)
At this meeting, Dulinski also requested intermittent FMLA leave because she would need to miss work related to her illness. (Dulinski Dep. 33:19-22; see Emerson Dep. 28:20-25.) North Homes approved this request. (Dulinski Dep. 30:13-17, 33:23-34:1; Emerson Dep. 39:16-18.)
The next day, March 14th, Stephens completed Dulinski's annual review for the year of 2018. (Stephens Dep. 77:19 78:19-23,...
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