Fox v. Yates Servs., LLC
| Decision Date | 08 February 2017 |
| Docket Number | No. 3:14–cv–02276,3:14–cv–02276 |
| Citation | 232 F.Supp.3d 971 |
| Parties | Betty FOX, Plaintiff, v. YATES SERVICES, LLC, Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Middle District of Tennessee |
Kerry E. Knox, Castelli & Knox, LLP, Murfreesboro, Andy L. Allman, Nashville, TN, for Plaintiff.
Matthew C. Lonergan, John P. Rodgers, Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP (Nashville Office), Nashville, TN, for Defendant.
JURY DEMAND
Before the Court is Defendant Yates Services, LLC's Motion for Summary Judgment. (Docket No. 17.) For the reasons stated herein, Defendant's Motion will be granted.
Betty Fox ("Fox") was hired by Yates Services, LLC ("Yates") on December 27, 2011 as an at-will contract employee. (Docket No. 21, ¶¶ 2, 3.) Yates is a Nissan contractor that, among other things, staffs contract employees for Nissan as needed. (Id. at ¶ 1.) The same day she was hired, Fox received Yates' Anti–Harassment Policy, Yates' Work Place Anti–Violence Policy, and Yates' employee handbook. (Id. at ¶¶ 4–6.) The Anti–Harassment Policy and Work Place Anti–Violence Policy "included procedures for employees to complain about harassment and/or potential violence or threats of violence, and provided that employees who violated the policies could be subject to discipline, and that employees who make false complaints of harassment or workplace violence could also be subject to discipline." (Id. at ¶ 5.) The employee handbook contained a harassment-free environment policy and "stated that the first year of an associate's assignment at Nissan would be considered an introductory period and that, during months 7–12 of the first year, the next corrective step after receiving a written reminder was termination." (Id. at ¶¶ 6, 8.) It also included "a corrective action policy that allowed Yates to determine that an employee's conduct is serious enough to skip certain steps in progressive discipline and impose discipline that Yates determined to be appropriate." (Id. at ¶ 7.)
Fox began working on January 17, 2012 in the paint department, where she was responsible for looking for and correcting defects on the cars' painted bodies. (Id. at ¶¶ 9, 10.) Fox alleges that early in her employment, a Nissan employee and co-worker, Troy Baker, began sexually harassing her, and others harassed her because she is a Jehovah's Witness. According to the Statement of Undisputed Material Facts, Fox's allegations of harassment can be summarized as follows:
At some point early in her employment (the parties do not specify exactly when), Fox went to her supervisor, Russell Rigsby, and told him about her incidents with Baker. (Id. at ¶ 19.) Rigsby then told his boss, Rodney Baggett, and then contacted Bill Little, Nissan's Human Resources Representative, asking him to investigate. (Id. at ¶ 20.) Whenever Fox brought an issue to Little's attention, "he performed an investigation by first discussing with Fox the details of her complaints, then contacted each employee Fox identified to get their side of the story, interviewed any other potential witnesses, and then went back and told Fox what he found." (Id. at ¶ 22.) On an unspecified date early in her employment, Fox told Little about Baker sexually harassing her, saying that he had followed her home and had made remarks to her. (Id. at ¶ 23.) Little interviewed the entire workgroup but could not find any corroboration that sexual harassment had occurred. (Id. at ¶ 24.) Fox also complained to Little about Baker and Palmer's comments about her religion, but Little's investigation did not reveal any wrongdoing. (Id. at ¶ 34.)
After conducting several investigations following Fox's complaints, Little asked her why she was the only one involved and was at the center of every investigation. (Id. at ¶ 35.) Little told her that "he could not find any evidence of what she was saying to be true" and on multiple occasions, he, as well as Rigsby, warned her that her continued complaints were disruptive and could result in discipline. (Id. at ¶¶ 35–36.)
On May 15, 2012, approximately five months after starting work, Fox received a verbal warning "for comments that could have been reasonably understood as a threat, which grew out of an incident in which it was reported that Fox made a threat that she was going to shoot Baker with a gun." (Id. at ¶ 25.) Fox admits that she was given a verbal warning but disputes that the threats could have reasonably been understood as a threat and states that she was speaking with someone else and that Baker overheard. (Id. ) Baker was given a "Written Reminder" on the same day "for disrupting the workforce as a result of his interactions with Fox." (Id. at ¶ 26.)
On August 6 through 7, 2012, Little and Rigsby "pulled each employee in Fox's workgroup off the line and reminded them individually of Nissan's code of conduct and harassment policies, talked to the employees about these policies, and informed them that harassment was a serious offense and would not be tolerated." (Id. at ¶ 37.) Three months later, on October 1, Fox was given a Written Reminder for approaching Baker in an inappropriate and confrontational manner that stated, in relevant part, that her actions "were unacceptable and counter-productive to the successful operation of this company" and that it was the company's responsibility to provide "a work environment free of harassment or intimidation of any kind." (Id. at ¶¶ 38–39.) It also warned her that, if she did not "correct the problem or continue to display this type of behavior in the future, further corrective action may be taken, up to and including termination." (Id. at ¶ 39.)
The next morning Fox came into work very upset, and she spoke to Rigsby "about incidents such as people staring at her, people not leaving her alone, that the work group did not like her, and that Eric Gokey (a Nissan employee) tried to push her and Palmer tried to break her arm when he raised the hood on a car." (Id. at ¶ 40.) Little investigated her complaints but was unable to find evidence to support her claims of people staring or the incidents with Gokey and Palmer. (Id. at ¶ 43.) One Nissan employee witnessed the Palmer incident, and in his deposition he testified that Palmer was not being malicious and that Fox was not harmed. (Id. at ¶ 44.) Ultimately, "Little found that Fox's repeated complaints were causing disruption in the workgroup because everyone tried to avoid her and each time he did an investigation, employees complained about her." (Id. at ¶ 45.)
That same day, at Fox's request, Rigsby arranged for her to speak with the area manager, Rodney Baggett. (Id. at ¶ 41.) Fox told Baggett that she did not believe she should have received the written reminder. (Id. ) After the meeting with Baggett, Fox met with the senior manager of paint production for Nissan, Tim Harwood, and told him that "her co-workers did not like her because she was married to a Caucasian and that she was anti-union." (Id. at ¶¶ 47, 49.) Harwood told her "that he thought there was a problem because it seemed like Fox was involved in a lot of workplace drama, that he needed the drama to stop, and wanted her to only have business-related conversations with co-workers." (Id. at ¶ 48.) After this meeting, Fox continued to complain to Rigsby about co-workers staring at her, talking about her, and trying to get her fired. (Id. at ¶ 50.) These were complaints she raised on "almost a weekly basis" toward the end of her employment. (Id. at ¶ 46.)
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