Edwards v. ALDI, Inc., Case No. 17–cv–10648

• Decision Date: 09 May 2018
• Docket Number: Case No. 17–cv–10648
• Citation: 310 F.Supp.3d 803
• Parties: Jennifer EDWARDS, Plaintiff, v. ALDI, INC., a foreign Corporation, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Michigan

310 F.Supp.3d 803

Jennifer EDWARDS, Plaintiff,

v.ALDI, INC., a foreign Corporation, Defendant.

Case No. 17–cv–10648

United States District Court, E.D. Michigan, Northern Division.

Signed May 9, 2018

Kevin J. Kelly, Victor J. Mastromarco, Jr., The Mastromarco Firm, Saginaw, MI, for Plaintiff.

Kara Goodwin, Kevin A. Fritz, Tracy M. Billows, Seyfarth Shaw LLP, Chicago, IL, Maria Fracassa Dwyer, Clark Hill PLC, Detroit, MI, for Defendant.

THOMAS L. LUDINGTON, United States District Judge

ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANT'S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT, GRANTING MOTION TO FILE SUPPLEMENTAL EXHIBITS, DENYING MOTION FOR AMENDED SCHEDULING ORDER AS MOOT, DENYING MOTION IN LIMINE AS MOOT, AND DISMISSING COMPLAINT

On March 1, 2017, Plaintiff Jennifer Edwards filed a complaint against Defendant ALDI, Inc., alleging various violations of the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA). Compl., ECF No. 1. Plaintiff alleges Defendant interfered with her exercise of her right to take leave under the FMLA, and retaliated against her for doing so by terminating her employment. Id. Plaintiff also alleges she was terminated for refusing to be complicit in fraudulent activity, in violation of public policy, and that she was discriminated against based on her disability. Id. After eight months of discovery, Defendant moved for summary judgment on February 19, 2018. ECF No. 27.¹ Plaintiff responded on March 12, and Defendant replied on March 26. ECF Nos. 31, 32.²

I.

ALDI hired Plaintiff as a cashier in October of 2011, and she was ultimately promoted to store manager. Edwards Dep. at 184, 189–92. ECF No. 27–2. She was assigned to several different store locations before ending up at store 56 in Saginaw, Michigan, where she remained until the date of her termination in October of 2015. Id. at 95. Brian Anderson was the District Manager in charge of Plaintiff's district until February of 2015 when Skylar VanNatta became District Manager. Id. at 54.

Plaintiff was involved in an automobile accident in 2009. Edwards Decl., ECF No. 31–15. Since that accident Plaintiff has suffered from a variety of maladies related to her ears, including "excruciating discomfort, excess draining, infected ear drums, several perforations of eardrums

, lymph node swelling and infections throughout the neck, mastoiditis bilateral, headache." Id. at 33. Infection of the middle ear can lead to a more serious condition known as mastoiditis, a bacterial infection of the mastoid air cells surrounding the inner and middle ear.

Plaintiff was diagnosed with bilateral mastoiditis

in September of 2013. Med. Recs., ECF No. 33–1 at PGID 1497–1510. She reported to the emergency room at St. Mary's of Michigan on September 13, where she was hospitalized from September 14–16. Id. ; Edwards Dep. at 35–36, 39. The mastoiditis did not impact her ability to perform her job as store manager and did not impact her ability to perform daily life activities outside of work. Edwards Dep. at 36–37. She was treated with antibiotics. Id. at 37. After she was discharged on September 16, 2013, her doctor imposed no work restrictions on her and she went back to work. Id. at 42.

In November of 2013, Plaintiff's Doctor stated as follows: "My impression is that this patient has bilateral chronic otitis externa

as well as significant temporomandibular joint dysfunction as a cause of her underlying, ongoing complaints of otorrhea and ear fullness and pressure and mild ache. She developed an episode of acute otitis media in September which is now completely resolved." Medical Records, ECF No. 31–5 at PGID 1384. On May 19, 2015, Plaintiff reported to the emergency room at St. Mary's, was diagnosed with acute persistent otitis media and otitis externa, was discharged with instructions to follow up with a primary care provider in 2 days, and was instructed to continue antibiotics and eardrops. Id. at PGID 1397. On May 22, 2015, she reported to the emergency room again where she was diagnosed with mastoiditis and transferred to the University of Michigan Hospital. Id. at PGID 1406; Edwards Dep. at 42–43. She was not admitted to the hospital on that occasion. Med. Recs at PGID 1410–17, ECF No. 31–5. The University of Michigan did not confirm the diagnosis of mastoiditis, but diagnosed her with otitis media with spontaneous rupture of eardrum. Discharge Instructions, ECF No. 27–3. She was discharged and prescribed antibiotics. Id. Her condition did not impact her ability to perform he job as store manager. Edwards Dep. at 46. When asked if the condition impacted her ability to perform daily life activities, she responded that she "pushed through, pain or no pain." Id. No doctor ever told her that she had work restrictions due to her ear conditions. Id. at 58.

In conjunction with her September, 2013 diagnosis, Plaintiff never submitted any medical records or doctors notes to ALDI explaining that she had been in the hospital. Id. at 63. Plaintiff testified that she did miss work in 2014 for hospital stays though she could not recall when. Id. at 65–66. She did not indicate that she requested FMLA leave in conjunction with her September, 2013, diagnosis or 2014 hospital visits. Id.

On April 10, 2014, Plaintiff reported to the Covenant Healthcare Emergency Department and was diagnosed with otitis media

and infective otitis externa, unspecified. She was discharged and prescribed antibiotics and Norco for pain. Med. Recs at PGID 1385–87, ECF No. 31–5.

Plaintiff testified regarding a computer printout of the work schedule for the week of May 22, 2015. She testified that the printout is dated June 17, 2015 and bears a handwritten note in Ms. VanNatta's handwriting indicating that Plaintiff was on vacation in Colorado that week. Edwards Dep. at 67. Ms. VanNatta also wrote a status memo "removing" Plaintiff's pay for that week. Id. at 68. Plaintiff could not confirm that she was scheduled to work on May 22, but she testified that she was not on vacation. Id. at 68. She never submitted anything to ALDI in writing regarding any of her conditions. Id. at 72. Her understanding was that the process at ALDI for requesting FMLA leave was to communicate to her direct leader. Id. at 79.

Plaintiff was attending a manager's meeting in Webberville around May 26 or May 27, 2015, and had to leave in the middle of the night with ear pain. Id. at 137. Plaintiff called Ms. VanNatta the next day to tell her she had to leave because of her ear problems. Id. at 138. Plaintiff noted that Ms. VanNatta reflected on the calendar (ECF No. 31–10) that Plaintiff attended the store manager meeting and went to the hospital that week. Id. at 139. When asked if she did in fact go to the hospital after leaving the meeting, as the calendar reflects, Plaintiff responded that she does not recall. Id. at 139. When asked if she requested time off during her phone call with Ms. VanNatta, Plaintiff responded that she does not recall. Id.

Plaintiff testified that she first contacted Ms. VanNatta regarding FMLA on June 17, 2015. Id. at 85. She spoke with her on June 17^th and 19^th by phone and via text messages to set up an in person meeting on June 20^th. Id. Plaintiff testified that Ms. VanNatta informed her via text message that Ms. VanNatta would need to speak to legal advisers concerning her FMLA request prior to meeting with Plaintiff on June 20^th. Id. Plaintiff testified that she met with Ms. VanNatta on June 20^th and they discussed her options for taking time off. Plaintiff testified that they agreed she could begin leave on July 26^th. Id. Plaintiff testified that Ms. VanNatta did not request any FMLA paper work for Plaintiff, and in fact told Plaintiff that she did not need to take any other action with respect to her request. Id. at 101. Plaintiff testified that she met with Ms. VanNatta again on July 20^th, 2015 and had the following discussion:

I asked her, well, Skylar, who's going to be running my store while I'm gone, and she just stared at me. Skylar? What's going on? What happened? What's going on? Who's running my store? She just stared at me. I said did you put it in, am I okay for FMLA? And she said no, I didn't, but I'm going to. I'm going to put it in. I said okay. And then she promised. I shed some tears. She shed tears. We discussed several other operational factors that were going on and concerns. She promised me she would be a better leader and a better district manager that day.

Id. at 107–08. Her plan to begin leave on July 26^th"was completely scratched and there was not another tentative date set." Id. at 112. Ms. VanNatta denied discussing FMLA with Plaintiff on Jun 17^th. VanNatta Dep. at 19.

Plaintiff testified that several Doctors informed her that there was a possibility of needing surgery to correct the condition she had that led to mastoiditis

. Id. at 108. Antibiotics held her infections at bay, but she testified that she felt she needed to continue treatment at University of Michigan. Id. She did not have a continuing course of treatment for a particular diagnosis of mastoiditis. Id. at 109. She continued to work and ultimately went to the hospital again on September 6^th. Id. at 112. During her deposition she could not recall what she was diagnosed with on that occasion, she could not recall being admitted to the hospital on that occasion, and she could not recall being told she had work restrictions. Id. at 116. She called her Director of Operations, Trisha Snider, on September 23^rd and asked for FMLA leave. Id. at 116–17.

Plaintiff continued to work and kept her condition at bay with antibiotics but does not remember scheduling any appointments "during that time." Id. at 122. Plaintiff met with Ms. VanNatta and Ms. Snyder on September 29^th and requested FMLA leave again. Id. at 123. When asked during her deposition what she was requesting FMLA leave for at that point, she responded: "I didn't know at that point. I just wanted a leave to get better. I mean, I had no idea at that point." Id. at 123. She did not know when the leave would start or how long...