Lafontant v. Neale, 18-CV-23 (KMK)
| Decision Date | 02 May 2019 |
| Docket Number | No. 18-CV-23 (KMK),18-CV-23 (KMK) |
| Parties | ANTOINETTE LAFONTANT, Plaintiff, v. JAMES NEALE; STACEY SCHOONEMAKER; and MID-HUDSON FORENSIC PSYCHIATRIC CENTER, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Southern District of New York |
Appearances:
Michael B. Ranis, Esq.
Goshen, NY
Matthew J. Lawson, Esq.
New York State Office of the Attorney General
New York, NY
Antoinette LaFontant ("Plaintiff") brings this Action against Mid-Hudson Forensic Psychiatric Center ("Mid-Hudson"), James Neale ("Neale"), and Stacey Schoonemaker ("Schoonemaker") (collectively, "Defendants"), alleging that Defendants maintained a hostile work environment and retaliated against her on the basis of her national origin and sex, in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq., and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Before the Court is Defendants' Motion To Dismiss (the "Motion"). (Not. of Mot. (Dkt. No. 36).) For the reasons set forth herein, the Motion is granted in part and denied in part.
The following facts are drawn from Plaintiff's Second Amended Complaint and are taken as true for the purpose of resolving the instant Motion.
Plaintiff — who is a black "woman of West Indian descent, who was born [in] and immigrated from Haiti" — began working at Mid-Hudson as a Security Hospital Treatment Assistant ("SHTA") in February 2013. (SAC ¶¶ 16-17.) The function of an SHTA is to "provid[e] security, treatment, and nursing aide to patients." (Id. ¶ 16.) SHTAs sometimes work overnight shifts. (Id. ¶ 19.) During these overnight shifts, Plaintiff would "bring[] hot food to help feed other co-workers" because she "considered the sharing of a home-cooked meal as a sign of friendship"; "[i]n [Plaintiff's] Haitian culture and historical tradition, this was a common practice of bonding together and sharing . . . even when working in a difficult and stressful environment." (Id.)
In March 2015, Defendant Schoonemaker, another SHTA, telephoned Plaintiff on a Sunday and asked her "if she knew what type of food" Cadet (first name unidentified) — a male SHTA of Haitian descent who was (or had been) in a romantic relationship with Schoonemaker — liked. (Id. ¶¶ 3, 20.) Plaintiff answered, but Schoonemaker replied by stating, "'I'm warning you, stay away from him and don't bring him food anymore." (Id. ¶ 21.) Plaintiff thereafter told Cadet about this interaction with Schoonemaker; Cadet told Plaintiff "not to 'pay' Schoonemaker or her threats any mind, nor to worry." (Id. ¶ 22.)
On March 26, 2015, Plaintiff and Schoonemaker were working the same shift and location. (Id. ¶ 23.) Plaintiff had brought Cadet (and other co-workers) food, thereby causing Schoonemaker to "bec[ome] enraged," to "accuse[] [Plaintiff] of 'sleeping with her man,'" andto "threaten[] to hurt [Plaintiff] if she cooked for or made further efforts to 'steal' her man." (Id.) Plaintiff responded to Schoonemaker that she had a "cultural practice of providing food to co-workers and friends." (Id. ¶ 24.) However, Schoonemaker replied that, "'if you are feeding him, you are sleeping with him.'" (Id.)
Plaintiff complained to (unidentified) supervisors at Mid-Hudson, but they "declined to get involved." (Id.)
Throughout spring 2015, Schoonemaker's verbal harassment of Plaintiff continued. (Id. ¶ 25.) In particular, Schoonemaker told (unidentified) "others that 'this bitch [Plaintiff] brings food and wants to get people on her side,'" and that Plaintiff was "trying to dominate people with food." (Id.) Further, Schoonemaker — along with her "African-American and Hispanic co-workers" — repeatedly referred to Plaintiff as the "Haitian girl," refusing to identify her by name. (Id. ¶¶ 26-27.) Schoonemaker and others would also "repeatedly" tell Plaintiff "that she must mistakenly think that she was 'back home' in Haiti — thus referring disparagingly to [Plaintiff] having no power as an outsider Haitian woman." (Id. ¶ 27.) Finally, Schoonemaker's friends "rallied around Schoonemaker and threatened [Plaintiff] if she made further efforts to provide food or friendship to Schoonemaker's boyfriend, Cadet." (Id. ¶ 30.)
In April 2015, Schoonemaker telephoned Plaintiff multiple times to state that she "promised to make [Plaintiff's] 'life a living hell.'" (Id. ¶ 28.)1 In May 2015, Schoonemaker "physically pushed [Plaintiff] in a line-up before the start of work, almost causing her to fall." (Id. ¶ 29.) Plaintiff reported this incident, along with the repeated name-calling, to various supervisor SHTAs, including Jerry Thomas, Yvonne Cooper, and Lisa Rivera, none of whommeaningfully acted. (Id.)
In June 2015, Schoonemaker telephoned Plaintiff again and told "her not to mention her name and threaten[ed] to follow her to the parking lot at work and 'beat her up,' and to 'follow [Plaintiff] to [her] home, and beat [her] child's ass.'" (Id. ¶ 31.) Schoonemaker further threatened Plaintiff that she would "come at [her] with a knife in the parking lot," that "she had been working for the State for many years, so she knows 'what to do' and how to create 'trouble' for [Plaintiff] in her job with [Mid-Hudson]." (Id.)
On June 8, 2015, Plaintiff complained to James Parker ("Parker"), the evening SHTA supervisor, regarding Schoonemaker. (Id.) Parker told her "that he would look into the issue." (Id.) However, Parker later informed Plaintiff "that he would not protect her, and that it 'was out of his hands' and [that] she 'should do whatever she can to protect herself.'" (Id. ¶ 33.) Further, Parker "advised that [Plaintiff] had better listen to the co-workers and stay away from any of the male employees as instructed." (Id. (emphasis in original).)
On June 9, 2015, Plaintiff "visited the local police department" and "file[d] a complaint" about Schoonemaker's harassment and threats. (Id. ¶ 34.)
Sometime in the summer of 2015, Plaintiff took an unpaid temporary medical leave of absence at the recommendation of Mid-Hudson personnel office supervisors Patti Greenwood and Lisa Hendrickson. (Id. ¶¶ 35-36.) On the second day of her leave, Fabiola Garcon ("Garcon"), a friend of Schoonemaker's and a "Black woman of Haitian descent," texted Plaintiff "more than a dozen graphic sexual images of Garcon performing oral sex with a man" and further "derided [Plaintiff's] sexuality . . . , claiming that it was this activity that 'she had been missing.'" (Id. ¶ 37.) Garcon also "threatened that such sexual activity was impossible or forbidden for [Plaintiff] as a woman because of the threats and orders from [Schoonemaker] andthe other co-workers." (Id. ¶ 38.) According to Plaintiff, "Garcon thus implied that [Plaintiff] had both been an overly sexualized woman in the past, and clearly wasn't a real woman anymore given her co-workers['] instructions and threats." (Id.) Plaintiff thereafter learned from another SHTA, Michelle Campbell, that Schoonemaker "review[ed] the photos with Garcon[] and decid[ed] how to humiliate [Plaintiff] with the sexual images and their stereotypical view of sexuality and activity." (Id. ¶ 37.)
Plaintiff complained to James Neale ("Neale") — Mid-Hudson's Chief of Staff Operations and its "highest ranking day-to-day manager" — and showed him the graphic photographs. (Id. ¶¶ 8, 39-40.) Plaintiff told Neale that she was considering resigning due to the pressure, but Neale told her not to quit. (Id.) Neale further told Plaintiff "to erase the photos" and to "'just ignore' the messages and images." (Id.) Plaintiff was later told by Hakim Peterson ("Peterson"), another SHTA, that Neale had told Peterson "that because [Plaintiff] had reported the physical harassment to the police 'outside' the world of [Mid-Hudson], she was now an 'enemy of the State' and would be treated accordingly." (Id. ¶ 41 (emphasis in original).)
On August 3, 2015, Plaintiff returned from her unpaid medical leave. (Id. ¶ 42.) On September 15, 2015, Plaintiff spoke with Jose Segarra ("Segarra"), an Assistant Director at Mid-Hudson, and "informed him about the harassment and retaliation." (Id.) Although Segarra stated that he would "get back to [Plaintiff] in a week" after "review[ing] the complaints," he "never did inform her of any action or resolution." (Id.)
On November 9, 2015, Oneida Musa ("Musa") and Vernice Horne ("Horne") — two SHTAs who were friends with Schoonemaker — "falsely accused [Plaintiff] of mishandling a patient and pinching or slapping the patient's arm while the nurses were drawing blood." (Id. ¶¶ 43-44, 57.) Plaintiff alleges that Musa and Horne "manufactured the false criticisms in orderto retaliate against [Plaintiff] for her complaints to the police and to the other supervisors." (Id. ¶ 44.) Plaintiff further alleges that, given her numerous complaints to supervisors, Mid-Hudson and Neale "well understood" the false and retaliatory nature of the allegations. (Id. ¶ 45.) Further, Christine Thorne ("Thorne"), a Mid-Hudson "weekend supervisor," told Plaintiff that she knew the allegations were not true and that Plaintiff was "'not capable' of treating a patient that way." (Id. ¶ 46.) Nevertheless, Mid-Hudson "began the procedures for disciplining" Plaintiff and ultimately suspended Plaintiff in February 2016. (Id. ¶¶ 44-47.)
While Plaintiff was suspended, Garcon texted Plaintiff a video of herself, in which she stated, "'Ah, karma is a bitch, that's what you get for sleeping with someone else's man.'" (Id. ¶ 48.)
Plaintiff returned from her suspension in April 2016. (Id. ¶ 49.) In summer 2016, Sharon Clarke ("Clarke"), another SHTA, told Plaintiff to "leave Cadet alone and stop feeding him." (Id. ¶ 50.) In October 2016, Garcon told Plaintiff "that some people can't 'take the heat,'" and that "'[Garcon] can be a bitch and make [people] hurt themselves for real this time.'" (Id. ¶ 52.) Garcon further stated that she ...
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