Evans v. Books-A-Million

• Decision Date: 08 August 2014
• Docket Number: No. 13–10054.,13–10054.
• Parties: Tondalaya EVANS, Plaintiff–Appellant Cross Appellee, v. BOOKS–A–MILLION, Defendant–Appellee Cross Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit

762 F.3d 1288

Tondalaya EVANS, Plaintiff–Appellant Cross Appellee,

v.BOOKS–A–MILLION, Defendant–Appellee Cross Appellant.

No. 13–10054.

United States Court of Appeals,Eleventh Circuit.

Aug. 8, 2014.

Alicia K. Haynes, Charles E. Guerrier, Haynes & Haynes, PC, Birmingham, AL, for Plaintiff–Appellant–Cross Appellee.

Sybil Vogtle Newton, Arnold W. Umbach, III, Starnes Davis Florie, LLP, Birmingham, AL, for Defendant–Appellee–Cross Appellant.

Appeals from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama. D.C. Docket No. 2:07–cv–02172–CLS.

Before JORDAN, Circuit Judge, and RYSKAMP,^* and BERMAN, ^** District Judges.

RICHARD M. BERMAN, District Judge:

This is an appeal from a lawsuit brought by Tondalaya Evans (“Evans” or “Appellant”) against her employer, Books–A–Million (“Books–A–Million” or “Appellee”), a national book retailer, alleging violations of the Family and Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”), the Equal Pay Act, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title VII”), and the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (“COBRA”). Evans complained in the district court that Books–A–Million (1) interfered with her right to take parental leave by forcing her to work from home immediately after she gave birth on August 30, 2006; (2) discriminated against her on the basis of gender by altering her job title and responsibilities, withholding her annual bonus, and ultimately terminating her employment; (3) retaliated against her for complaining about gender and race discrimination in the workplace; (4) paid her less than male employees doing the same work as she did; and (5) failed to provide her with notice of her right to continuation of her dental insurance following her termination.

The district court granted summary judgment in favor of Books–A–Million as to all of Evans' claims except her claim under COBRA. And, following a bench trial of Evans' COBRA claim, the district court concluded that Books–A–Million had intentionally violated COBRA and assessed a statutory penalty against Books–A–Million of $75 per day. The court also awarded Evans attorneys' fees totaling $42,192.58 and costs totaling $2,910.87 for the COBRA violation.

Evans appeals from the district court's dismissal of her claims on summary judgment and from the district court's exclusion of litigation expenses (in the total amount of $2,460.67) from its post-trial award of attorneys' fees. Books–A–Million cross-appeals from the district court's finding of an intentional COBRA violation by Books–A–Million and from the district court's assessment of a COBRA penalty.

For the reasons that follow, we hold that the district court correctly awarded summary judgment to Books–A–Million with respect to Evans' claims under Title VII and the Equal Pay Act, and did not abuse its discretion by assessing a statutory COBRA penalty against Books–A–Million. We also hold that the district court erred by dismissing Evans' FMLA claim and by refusing to consider her additional litigation-related expenses of $2,460.67 as part of an attorneys' fee award. Accordingly, we AFFIRM in part, and VACATE and REMAND in part, the judgment of the district court.

I. BACKGROUND

We recount the facts in the light most favorable to Evans. See Kingsland v. City of Miami, 382 F.3d 1220, 1226 (11th Cir.2004) (summary judgment); United States v. Cadillac Overall Supply Co., 568 F.2d 1078, 1084 (5th Cir.1978) (bench trial).

Evans was employed by Books–A–Million for ten years from 1997 to 2007, initially as a staff accountant and, later, as Payroll and Insurance Manager. Books–A–Million paid Evans a salary of $54,500, with the opportunity for an annual cash bonus. Evans' supervisor was Books–A–Million's Director of Finance, Sandi Meeks (“Meeks”).

In January 2006, Evans advised Books–A–Million that she was pregnant. At the time, Evans was involved in the implementation of a new payroll system (“ADP system”), which was anticipated to “go live” by August 2006. In June 2006, she approached Meeks to discuss the necessary paperwork for her FMLA maternity leave, which Evans had intended to become effective on her due date, September 1, 2006. Meeks told Evans that she and other Books–A–Million supervisors had decided that Evans “would not go on leave but would work while on maternity leave.” Evans was given a new laptop computer that would enable her to work from home after her delivery.

Although Evans told Meeks on several occasions that she intended not to work after the birth of her child, Meeks repeatedly told Evans that she “really needed” Evans to continue to work on the ADP system, the “go live” date for which had, in mid-August, been delayed to November 2006. Meeks also told Evans that the (successful) implementation of the ADP system would account for fifty percent of Evans' annual bonus. Given Meeks' insistence, Evans felt she had “no choice” but to continue to work from home after the birth of her child.

Evans' last day at the office before giving birth was Tuesday, August 29, 2006. She gave birth the next day. Upon arriving home from the hospital with her newborn on Friday, September 1, 2006, Evans immediately began answering work-relatedcalls from Books–A–Million employees. She worked throughout the weekend and thereafter. On Monday, September 4, 2006, Meeks began emailing to Evans additional work assignments. And, from September 1 until October 31, 2006, Evans was required to work nearly full-time from home, on some occasions for more than eight hours per day. During this period, Meeks also required Evans to attend meetings regarding the ADP system at Books–A–Million's offices. Evans was paid her full salary while she worked from home.

During October 2006, Meeks began to express some frustration and disappointment with the progress being made implementing the ADP system. For example, on October 19, 2006, Meeks told Evans that “[w]e are unacceptably behind in this project, and this needs to be completed.” On another occasion in October 2006, Meeks became angry and hostile when Evans informed her that she did not have time to work on an additional payroll project. Prior to October 2006, Evans had never received any negative evaluations or “write-ups.” Ultimately, the ADP system went “live” on January 2, 2007, and was a success.

Evans returned to work at the Books–A–Million offices on October 31, 2006, a week and a half earlier than she had originally planned. Upon Evans' return, Meeks' attitude toward her was cold and hostile. In November 2006, Meeks and Books–A–Million's Chief Financial Officer, Doug Markham, determined to reassign Evans from her position as Payroll and Insurance Manager to a newly-created position, Risk Manager, which at the time, though it did not have clearly-defined responsibilities, did not include payroll duties. Unbeknownst to Evans, Books–A–Million had advertised the new position of Payroll Manager and met with candidates for this position, which included all of Evans' payroll duties.

On March 13, 2007, Evans learned about the job posting for Payroll Manager, and asked Meeks for an explanation. Meeks told Evans that Books–A–Million was looking for a Payroll Manager because “she wasn't pleased with the ADP implementation.” Evans responded that the ADP implementation occurred in substantial part while she was at home with her newborn.

Evans was not interested in the new Risk Manager position because she had accumulated ten years of experience in payroll management and wanted to have a career in that field. By contrast, Evans had no experience in risk management. Evans was also told by Meeks that her responsibilities as Risk Manager would include travel, which Evans viewed as incompatible with the care of her newborn child.

On March 23, 2007, Meeks informed Evans that she had been formally reassigned to the Risk Manager position. On March 26, Evans spoke with Books–A–Million officers Doug Markham and Chad Tice, and told them that she was not interested in becoming Risk Manager and that she wanted to retain her payroll responsibilities. Evans spoke again with Markham and Tice the following day, and (again) voiced her opposition to the Risk Manager position. Markham and Tice informed Evans that her choice was either to accept the Risk Manager position or to resign. Evans did not accept the Risk Manager position, and she was terminated by Books–A–Million on March 27, 2007.

At the time Evans was terminated, Tice informed her that she would not be eligible for a year-end bonus (for 2006). The reason given was that, in order to be eligible for the bonus, an employee had to have been employed on the date the Company's Audit Committee voted to approve the Company's annual financial statements. Further, the Audit Committee met to approve the annual financial statements for fiscal year 2006 on March 29, 2007, two days after Evans was terminated. Following her termination, Evans did not receive a COBRA notice relating to continuation of her dental insurance.

On March 6, 2009, Books–A–Million filed a motion for summary judgment seeking dismissal of all of Evans' claims except her claim under COBRA. On April 6, 2010, the magistrate judge issued a Report and Recommendation, recommending that the district court grant Books–A–Million's motion in its entirety. The magistrate judge concluded that Evans' FMLA claim should be dismissed because Evans was paid her full salary while she worked from home, and, therefore, she “has not established that she suffered any legal damages.” ¹ In an eight-page Memorandum Opinion, dated September 22, 2010, the district court adopted the magistrate judge's Report and Recommendation in its entirety. ²

Evans' COBRA claim proceeded to a bench trial. Following the trial, the district court, in a Memorandum Opinion dated October 29, 2012, concluded that Books–A–Million had intentionally violated Evans' COBRA rights by failing to send Evans the required notice relating to her dental insurance. Exercising its discretion...