Hout v. City of Mansfield
| Decision Date | 23 April 2008 |
| Docket Number | No. 1:04 CV 1127.,1:04 CV 1127. |
| Citation | 550 F.Supp.2d 701 |
| Parties | Michael W. HOUT, et al., Plaintiffs, v. CITY OF MANSFIELD, Ohio, et al., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Northern District of Ohio |
Jean M. Frazier, Tracy L. Turner, W. Irl Reasoner, III, Habash, Reasoner & Frazier, Columbus, OH, for Plaintiffs.
Colleen M. O'Neil, Richard P. Goddard, Zoe K. Carlisle, Calfee, Halter & Griswold, LLP, Cleveland, OH, John P. Susany, Stark & Knoll, Akron, OH, R. Sean Grayson, Michael J. Elliott, Scanlon & Co., Akron, OH, Kimberly A. Massengill-Bernadin, Worthington, OH, for Defendants.
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER GRANTING SUMMARY JUDGMENT TO DEFENDANTS THE CITY OF MANSFIELD, ANGELO KLOUSIADIS AND F.L. FISHER, DEFENDANTS OHIO COUNCIL 8 AND LOCAL 3088 OF THE AMERICAN FEDERATION OF STATE, COUNTY AND MUNICIPAL EMPLOYEES, AND DEFENDANT CARLINE CURRY ON THEIR SEPARATE MOTIONS.
Defendants City of Mansfield, Ohio ("the City"), Angelo Klousiadis, and F.L. Fisher (the "Mansfield Defendants") (collectively "City Defendants"), defendants American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees ("AFSCME") Ohio Council 8 ("Ohio Council") and AFSCME Local 3088 ("Local Union") (collectively "Union Defendants"), and defendant Carline Curry ("Ms. Curry") motion separately for summary judgment on all claims against them contained in the Plaintiffs' Second Amended Complaint. The Plaintiffs are Michael W. Hout ("Mr.Hout"), Jeff Gibson ("Mr.Gibson"), Troy Benick ("Mr.Benick"), Peter Neumann ("Mr.Neumann"), Lewis A. Workman ("Mr.Workman"), Tyler Merritt, Jr. ("Mr.Merritt"), and Miles H. Jessee ("Mr.Jessee") (collectively "Plaintiffs").
In their Second Amended Complaint the Plaintiffs, employees for the City of Mansfield's Waste Water Treatment Plant ("WWTP"), level claims against the City Defendants of (1) race and sex discrimination under Title VII, 42 U.S.C. § 1981, and Ohio Revised Code ("O.R.C.") § 4112; (2) retaliation in violation of Title VII; (3) race and sex harassment and hostile work environment. The Plaintiffs also assert derivative state claims of intentional inflection of emotional distress, negligent supervision and negligent retention.
The Plaintiffs also bring claims against Defendants Ohio Council 8, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO and Local 3088, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO (collectively "Union Defendants")1 alleging: failure to adequately and fairly represent them by refusing to file, or in the presentation of grievances asserting claims of discrimination; failure to fairly represent them over claims of discrimination against their supervisor in violation of Title VII, § 1981, and O.R.C. Chapter 4112; direct sex and race discrimination; hostile work environment; retaliation; intentional infliction of emotional distress; and defamation.
Further, the Plaintiffs' Second Amended Complaint levels six claims for relief against "Ms. Curry". The Plaintiffs assert the following claims: (1) sex discrimination under O.R.C. 4112, 42 U.S.C. § 1981, 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000, as amended by the Civil Rights Act of 1991 ("Title VII"); (2) race discrimination parallel to, and based upon, the same statutes as the claim of sex discrimination; (3) retaliation; (4) harassment and hostile work environment based on sex and race in violation of Title VII and O.R.C. § 4112; (5) intentional infliction of emotional distress; and (6) slander.
For the reasons discussed below, the Court will grant the several Defendants' Motions for Summary Judgment and dismiss the Plaintiffs' claims in their entirety as a matter of law.
The City of Mansfield has approximately twenty employees working at the "WWTP" engaged in the maintenance, operations and supervision of the plant and its personnel.2 Plant Manager Angelo Klousiadis possessed supervisory responsibility for WWTP functions and reported to the Director of Public Works, F.L. Fisher ("Fisher"). Operations Supervisor Otto Kulda ("Kulda") and Maintenance Supervisor Edward Lemaster ("Lemaster") supervised, respectively, the operations and maintenance activities of the WWTP. Defendants Klousiadis, Fisher, Kulda and Lemaster are all white males.
Ms. Curry works the day shift from 7:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. as a Pretreatment Coordinator in the City of Mansfield's "WWTP". The position she holds is as a first-line supervisor responsible for managing the collection of waste-water samples taken by two sampling-aides. (Klousiadis Dec. ¶¶ 1, 2). During much of the time-period covered by this suit, Ms. Curry was the only African-American and the only female employee at the WWTP. Ms. Curry has worked full-time at the WWTP since 1981 and has performed the job of Pretreatment Coordinator since her promotion in 1984. Part of Ms. Curry's job responsibilities included supervising the performance of Plaintiffs Troy Benick and Jeff Gibson. Mr. Gibson began work at the WWTP in 1994, while Mr. Benick began work at the WWTP in 2001.
Four of the plaintiffs — Michael Hout, Miles Jessee Tyler Merritt, and Peter Neumann — worked the day shift at the WWTP, in Operations, and were directly supervised by Robert Coker. A fifth Plaintiff, Lewis Workman, worked on the WWTP's third shift, from 11:00 p.m. until 7:00 a.m. Mr. Workman had only occasional interactions with Ms. Curry. (Workman Depo 29-30, 33-34). In addition, as the evidence indicates, Ms. Curry occasionally supervised the work of Plaintiffs Hout, Jessee, Merritt, Neumann, and Workman, on the rare instance the WWTP needed sampling aides to fill in for Benick or Gibson, or to perform overtime work. Otherwise, Ms. Curry's office is located in the WWTP building apart from the five Plaintiffs not under her supervision and their paths rarely crossed.
The Plaintiffs belonged to and were represented by AFSCME Local 3088 ("Local Union") affiliated with AFSCME International in Ohio. AFSCME Ohio Council ("Ohio Council") is a statewide servicing council for over 400 local unions affiliated with AFSCME Int'l. The evidence indicates that the Ohio Council and the Local Union are separate legal entities. (Miller Dec. 2-4). Brad Miller ("Miller") was employed by the Ohio Council and participated in labor negotiations, labor-management meetings, presented arbitration cases on behalf of the Local Union and attended Step 3 grievance procedures if requested.3 During the period under consideration here, Dale Blamer ("Blamer") has been either President or Vice President and Chief Steward of the Local Union, while John Van Harlingan ("Van Harlingan") served as the President of the Local Union.
Both the City and the Union Defendants have policies and procedures on nondiscrimination. The City's Policy and Procedure Manual requires claims of discrimination be reported to the City EEOC Officer for investigation. In addition, the City's policy against work place violence requires employees who experience threats of violence to immediately report the incident to their department head. The CBA prohibits the City from engaging in discrimination on the basis of race and sex with respect to wages, hours or other terms and conditions of employment. Progressive disciplinary action for violations involve: informal conferences, written reprimands, suspensions without pay, reductions in pay or position, and termination. (CBA Article 8). The CBA establishes a Health and Safety Committee to make recommendations but contains no right to grieve health and safety issues. (Miller Dec. 7, 12-13; Van Harlingen 46).
A series of events in the Fall of 2003 led the City to place Ms. Curry on paid administrative leave during the course of an investigation by the City and the Mansfield Police Department over the question of whether Ms. Curry had violated the City's policy regarding violence in the workplace. The evidence indicates that Plaintiff Jessee alleged Ms. Curry told him, "I'm going to go home and get a gun and blow your fucking head off."4 In August 2003 Mr. Gibson alleged that Ms. Curry was threatening to shoot people. The evidence indicates that Mr. Gibson was referring to a comment made by Ms. Curry during a meeting with all WWTP employees when she asked if anyone knew where her house keys were. When Plaintiff Merritt gestured as if to indicate he had her keys, Ms. Curry retorted that if anyone entered her house she would shoot them. (Blamer Dec. 14). Evidence also indicates that Mr. Benick had taken personal notes of Ms. Curry's remarks in the Fall of 2003 when she believed that employees had vandalized her car and office, had taken her keys and moved her personal belongings. On those occasions, Ms. Curry allegedly said she was going to shoot whomever was interfering with her personal property. Evidence indicates that Mr. Benick did not share his personal notes with the City Defendants or the Union Defendants until discovery in the instant matter.
In the Fall of 2003, Plaintiffs Gibson, Benick, Merritt, and Jessee met with Plaintiffs Van Harlingen, Blamer, Klousaidis and Fogt to discuss Ms. Curry's alleged yelling and threatening employees with "write-ups." Mr. Fogt then met with Ms. Curry. Evidence indicates that later that day, in the presence of Plaintiffs Benick and Gibson, Ms. Curry asked WWTP employee Ted Lee if he was intimidated by her and gestured toward him with her hand in the shape of a gun. This incident was reported to Mr. Blamer who reported it to Mr. Klousiadis. (Blamer Dec. 16).
In late November 2003, evidence indicates that one of the...
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