Frankhouser v. Clearfield Cnty. Career & Tech. Ctr., Case No. 3:18-cv-180
| Decision Date | 19 March 2019 |
| Docket Number | Case No. 3:18-cv-180 |
| Parties | ELIZABETH FRANKHOUSER, Plaintiff, v. CLEARFIELD COUNTY CAREER AND TECHNOLOGY CENTER, FRANKLIN WALK, TODD JEFFERIES, GREGORY PALADINA, and DOUG MCCLELLAND, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Western District of Pennsylvania |
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Pending before the Court are Defendants Franklin Walk and Doug McClelland's1 Motion for Partial Dismissal of Plaintiff's First Amended Complaint (ECF No. 22) and Defendants Clearfield County Career and Technology Center, Todd Jefferies, and Gregory Paladina's Motion for Partial Dismissal of Plaintiff's Amended Complaint Pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) (ECF No. 20). These Motions have been fully briefed and are ripe for disposition. (See ECF Nos. 21, 23, 24, 25.)
For the reasons that follow, Defendants' Motions (ECF Nos. 22, 20) are GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART.
Plaintiff Elizabeth Frankhouser brings five federal claims over which this Court has jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1331. Furthermore, this Court has supplemental jurisdiction over Ms. Frankhouser's three state-law claims under 28 U.S.C. § 1367(a).
Venue is proper in the Western District of Pennsylvania under 28 U.S.C. § 1391(b)(2), as a substantial portion of the events and omissions giving rise to Ms. Frankhouser's claims occurred in this District.
Defendant Clearfield County Career and Technology Center ("CCCTC") is an educational facility in Clearfield County, Pennsylvania. (ECF No. 17 ¶ 2.) In July 2015, Ms. Frankhouser was hired as the Executive Director of CCCTC. (Id. ¶ 12.) During her nearly two years in this position, Ms. Frankhouser received two satisfactory annual evaluations and no negative annual evaluations. (Id. ¶ 13.)
Soon after she was hired, Defendant Todd Jefferies, who was a member of CCCTC's School Board, Joint Operating Committee President, and Ms. Frankhouser's supervisor, began sexually harassing Ms. Frankhouser. (Id. ¶¶ 4, 14.) Mr. Jefferies regularly commented on Ms. Frankhouser's appearance and "stare[d] Ms. Frankhouser up and down in a demeaning and sexual manner on many occasions while making sexual and sexist remarks to her." (Id. ¶¶ 15-17.)
Ms. Frankhouser reported this behavior to Defendant Gregory Paladina, CCCTC's Superintendent of Record. (Id. ¶¶ 6, 18.) However, after Ms. Frankhouser reported Mr. Jefferies, Mr. Jefferies began to retaliate against her through enhanced job scrutiny and other "negative and unfavorable behavior." (Id. ¶ 18.)
Ms. Frankhouser's position required extensive work on her CCCTC-issued computer. (Id. ¶ 19.) Defendant Franklin Walk, who was CCCTC's Internet Technology Administrator, was responsible for resolving Ms. Frankhouser's work-related computer problems. (Id. ¶¶ 3, 20.) Ms. Frankhouser experienced such problems during the 2016-2017 school year. (Id. ¶ 21.) As a result, Mr. Walk replaced Ms. Frankhouser's hard drive. (Id. ¶ 22.) After Mr. Walk replaced the hard drive, Ms. Frankhouser's work-related computer applications and file extensions had to be reloaded and re-synched. (Id. ¶ 23.)
Dropbox was one of the applications that had to be reloaded. (Id.) Dropbox is an application that enables users to store files on the "cloud" and access those files using a login on any Internet-connected device. (Id. ¶¶ 24-27.) Synching a Dropbox account with a device does not save files on the hard drive of that device; instead, it provides an access point for files that are stored remotely in the Dropbox cloud. (Id. ¶ 28.) In order to synch a device with a Dropbox account, a user must enter a username and password. (Id. ¶ 29.) Dropbox also uses other levels of security and encryption to safeguard users' private data. (Id. ¶ 30.)
Although Ms. Frankhouser's Dropbox account was private and was hosted remotely in the Dropbox cloud, CCCTC authorized its use for work-related matters. (Id. ¶ 32.) Thus, it contained both personal and work-related folders, including personal photographs. (Id. ¶¶ 31,33.) Among the personal photographs were two photographs of Ms. Frankhouser's boyfriend that "could be considered borderline explicit." (Id. ¶ 34.) The Dropbox also contained photographs of parties Ms. Frankhouser had attended. (Id. ¶ 36.) Importantly, with the exception of a photograph of Ms. Frankhouser skydiving, she never stored any of her personal photographs on her work computer. (Id. ¶ 37.)
Ms. Frankhouser's Dropbox account was accessible only with her username and password. (Id. ¶ 38.) This username and password were listed on an Excel spreadsheet that she used to store various personal and work-related usernames and passwords. (Id. ¶¶ 39, 41.)
Mr. Walk knew of the existence and location of this spreadsheet. (Id. ¶ 40.) While he was replacing Ms. Frankhouser's hard drive, he accessed the spreadsheet and used Ms. Frankhouser's Dropbox username and password listed therein to access her private Dropbox account. (Id. ¶ 41.) Mr. Walk then took some of the aforementioned personal photographs from the Dropbox. (Id. ¶¶ 75-77, 80.) Mr. Walk gave the photographs to Defendant Doug McClelland, CCCTC's Truck Driver Recruiter, who delivered them to Mr. Paladina and Mr. Jefferies. (Id. ¶¶ 75-76.) Mr. Walk and Mr. McClelland took these actions without Ms. Frankhouser's permission in order to "undermine her position and defame her good name."3 (Id. ¶¶ 42, 80.)
In August 2017, Mr. Paladina and CCCTC's Superintendent, Michelle Dutrow,4 accused Ms. Frankhouser of storing "naked pictures" and "inappropriate pictures of her 'partying'" on her CCCTC-issued computer and cellphone, based on the information Mr. Walk had provided to Mr. Paladina. (Id. ¶¶ 51-52, 75-76.) The photographs at issue included the previously discussed photographs of Ms. Frankhouser's boyfriend and of Ms. Frankhouser at parties. (Id. ¶¶ 52-53.) Ms. Frankhouser had never stored these photographs on CCCTC-issued property.5 (Id. ¶¶ 55, 57.)
On August 24, 2017, Mr. Paladina informed Ms. Frankhouser that she would be forced to resign. (Id. ¶ 58.) In return for her resignation, Mr. Paladina told Ms. Frankhouser that he would not report any of the photographs to the Pennsylvania Department of Education. (Id. ¶ 59.)
On August 28, 2017, Mr. Paladina emailed a separation agreement (the "Agreement") to Ms. Frankhouser. (Id. ¶ 62.) Although the Agreement provided for a 21-day review period in which to consider and sign it, Mr. Paladina called Ms. Frankhouser and ordered her to sign and return the Agreement that same day. (Id. ¶¶ 63, 68.)
Mr. Paladina told Ms. Frankhouser that if she voluntarily signed the Agreement, he would not contact the Pennsylvania Department of Education, would not allow anything to happen to her certifications, would compensate her for unused vacation and personal days, would not dispute her unemployment compensation claim, and would maintain her health insurance coverage through October 31, 2017. (Id. ¶¶ 64-65.) Under this "duress and coercion" and withoutseeking the advice of counsel, Ms. Frankhouser signed and faxed the resignation documents to Mr. Paladina on August 29, 2017. (Id. ¶¶ 67, 70.) Ms. Frankhouser was not afforded a hearing prior to her forced resignation. (Id. ¶¶ 71-72.)
CCCTC replaced Ms. Frankhouser with a male. (Id. ¶¶ 82-83.) Mr. Jefferies had previously indicated that he would have preferred Ms. Frankhouser's eventual replacement to hold her position instead of her. (Id. ¶ 84.) The male replacement was given higher pay raises than Ms. Frankhouser had been given although both Ms. Frankhouser and her replacement received positive reviews.
On December 4, 2018, Ms. Frankhouser filed her First Amended Complaint (ECF No. 17) in which she brought eight claims against Defendants. The First Amended Complaint included claims for (1) Title VII violation for sexual harassment, gender discrimination, and retaliation against CCCTC; (2) violation of the Civil Rights Act against all Defendants; (3) Fourth Amendment violation against all Defendants; (4) violation of the Equal Pay Act against CCCTC; (5) violation of the Fourteenth Amendment against CCCTC; (6) invasion of privacy against all Defendants; (7) defamation against all Defendants; and (8) intentional infliction of emotional distress against all Defendants.
On December 18, 2018, CCCTC, Mr. Jefferies, and Mr. Paladina moved to dismiss Counts II, III, V, VI, VII, and VIII of the First Amended Complaint. (ECF No. 20 ¶ 5.) On the same date, Mr. Walk and Mr. McClelland moved to dismiss Counts II, III, and VIII of the First Amended Complaint. (ECF No. 22 ¶¶ 5-6.) On January 12, 2019, Mr. McClelland and Mr. Walk moved tojoin in certain arguments raised in CCCTC, Mr. Jefferies, and Mr. Paladina's Motion for Partial Dismissal. (See ECF No. 29.)
A complaint may be dismissed under Federal Rule of Civil Rule 12(b)(6) for "failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted." Connelly v. Lane Constr. Corp., 809 F.3d 780, 786 (3d Cir. 2016). But, detailed pleading is not generally required. Id. The Rules demand only "a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief" to give the defendant fair notice of what the claim is and the grounds upon which it rests. Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555 (2007) (quoting Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2)).
Under the pleading regime established by the Supreme Court, a court reviewing the sufficiency of a complaint must take three steps.6 First, the court must "tak[e] note of the elements [the] plaintiff must plead to state a claim." Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 675 (2009). Second, the court should identify allegations that, "because they are no more than conclusions, are not entitled to the assumption of truth." Id. at 679; see also Burtch v. Milberg Factors, Inc., 662 F.3d 212, 224 (3d Cir. 2011) ...
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