Mahone v. BBG Specialty Foods, Inc.
| Decision Date | 28 March 2018 |
| Docket Number | CASE NO.: 1:16cv00655-SRW |
| Parties | ANDRE J. MAHONE, Plaintiff, v. BBG SPECIALTY FOODS, INC., d/b/a TACO BELL, Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Middle District of Alabama |
Plaintiff Andre J. Mahone brings this action against defendant BBG Specialty Foods, Inc., d/b/a Taco Bell ("BBG"), alleging employment discrimination and retaliation pursuant to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq. ("Title VII"), and the Equal Pay Act, 29 U.S.C. § 206(d)(1) ("EPA"). See Doc. 9 (Amended Complaint). BBG is a Taco Bell restaurant franchisee. The plaintiff was employed by the defendant at a Taco Bell in Dothan, Alabama, from November 29, 2013 until he was fired on October 9, 2015. He was hired to the position of "team member," and defendant promoted him to "shift leader" on February 4, 2014. Plaintiff held the shift leader job title until his termination from employment. This lawsuit concerns allegations of disparity in plaintiff's pay relative to female shift leaders, as well as allegations that the defendant failed to promote the plaintiff to Assistant Manager because of gender discrimination.Plaintiff maintains that defendant terminated his employment on October 9, 2015 in retaliation for the plaintiff's complaints of gender discrimination.
This cause is presently before the court on defendant's motion for summary judgment. See Doc. 22. Plaintiff filed an opposition to the motion, see Doc. 29, and BBG replied, see Doc. 30. Upon review of the motion and the record, the court concludes that defendant's motion for summary judgment is due to be granted.
A movant is entitled to summary judgment if it "shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a). For summary judgment purposes, an issue of fact is "material" if, under the substantive law governing the claim, its presence or absence might affect the outcome of the suit. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248 (1986). If the movant fails to satisfy its initial burden, the motion for summary judgment will be denied. Kernel Records Oy v. Mosley, 694 F.3d 1294, 1300 (11th Cir. 2012), cert. denied, 133 S. Ct. 1810 (2013). If the movant adequately supports its motion, the burden shifts to the opposing party to establish - "by producing affidavits or other relevant and admissible evidence beyond the pleadings" - specific facts raising a genuine issue for trial. Josendis v. Wall to Wall Residence Repairs, Inc., 662 F.3d 1292, 1315 (11th Cir. 2011); Dietz v. Smithkline Beecham Corp., 598 F.3d 812, 815 (11th Cir. 2010); Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c)(1)(A). "All affidavits [and declarations] must be based on personal knowledge and must sets forth facts that would be admissible under the Federal Rules of Evidence[.]" Josendis, F.3d at 1315; Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c)(4). The court views the evidence and all reasonable factualinferences in the light most favorable to the nonmovant. Miller's Ale House, Inc. v. Boynton Carolina Ale House, LLC, 702 F.3d at 1315; Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c)(4). However, "[i]f no reasonable jury could return a verdict in favor of the nonmoving party, there is no genuine issue of material fact and summary judgment will be granted." Morton v. Kirkwood, 707 F.3d 1276, 1284 (11th Cir. 2013) (citation omitted) (internal quotation marks omitted).
In the nearly two years that the plaintiff was employed by defendant, he received three pay raises. When defendant promoted plaintiff from team member to shift leader on February 4, 2014, plaintiff received a raise from $7.50 per hour to $8.25 per hour. He also received raises on May 28, 2014 and August 19, 2015 to $8.75 per hour and $9.00 per hour, respectively. The latter two raises came after the plaintiff complained in July 2015 to the Restaurant General Manager that female shift leaders were paid more per hour. Plaintiff complained about discrimination generally, but he did not specify that he was complaining about gender discrimination. The plaintiff testified that he was satisfied with the raise, and he did not have any conversation with a member of management about pay discriminationafter July 2015. (Doc. 23-4; Pl. Dep. 155, 190-91). Further, in his brief in response to the instant motion, the plaintiff concedes that he did not make complaints about gender discrimination after July 2015. See Doc. 29 at 4 (). There is no evidence of record that the plaintiff complained at any other time about discrimination during his period of employment with the defendant.
Throughout the entirety of plaintiff's employment by defendant, the highest pay differential between the plaintiff and that of the highest paid shift leader was $0.75 per hour.
Defendant hired Bonnie Emerson as the Assistant Manager effective May 13, 2015. Defendant created the position because, in March 2015, the store began selling breakfast, there were employees on-site from 6:00 a.m. until 1:00 a.m., and the Restaurant General Manager could not be on-site for that amount of time. Emerson had twenty years of restaurant management experience at or above the assistant manager level, and she had been an Assistant Manager at another Taco Bell location in Tennessee. None of the shift leaders at the restaurant at the time Emerson was hired as the Assistant Manager had that amount of relevant experience, including the plaintiff. He had no management experience at a level higher than the shift leader position. He admits that Emerson was more qualified than he for the Assistant Manager position. See Doc. 29 at 6.
There is no evidence before the court that the plaintiff applied to be the Assistant Manager. The plaintiff testifies that, Doc. 29-2 at 2. One of defendants' former employees, Christopher Trawick, submitted sworn testimony that, "As early as December 2014, Charity Carnley ... told [him] that [the plaintiff] would get the Assistant Manager position." Doc. 29-3. Plaintiff "believed" that Carnley "was the ultimate decision maker" with respect to promotions. Doc. 29-2 at 2. However, the defendant presents uncontroverted evidence that Carnley, as a Restaurant General Manager, lacked the authority to promote an employee.
Plaintiff was not a part of the decision-making team as to the hiring of an Assistant Manager. He did not know who had final hiring authority, but he testified at his deposition that he thought the decision would be made by the Restaurant General Manager and the Market Coach, Sandy Howell. However, those individuals did not have hiring authority. The Restaurant General Manager could make hiring recommendations to the Market Coach and to Kay Nailen, one of BBG's owners. The decision to hire Emerson was made by the Market Coach with final approval from Nailen.
Plaintiff was responsible for making bank deposits, and there was a question about a short deposit - a deposit that was less than defendant's records indicated that it should be - made by the plaintiff around October 2, 2015. Plaintiff testified that he was "very upset" about being accused of making a short deposit. Doc. 23-4; see also Doc. 23-13 at 15-23 (text messages). Beginning on October 3, 2015, plaintiff sent late-night, profanity laden texts to the Restaurant General Manager and the Market Coach about the deposit issue.Also on October 3, 2015, he argued with Assistant Manager Emerson about the deposit, and he raised his voice during the altercation. Emerson called the Restaurant General Manager to inform her about the argument. Thereafter, the Restaurant General Manager called the store and sent the plaintiff home. On October 5, 2015, management discovered that the deposit shortage was an error outside of the plaintiff's control, and that the money was in the defendant's bank account. The plaintiff was not disciplined for making a short deposit. However, he remained upset about the allegation of wrongdoing.
On the evening of October 8, 2015, plaintiff attended a meeting with his managers in the lobby of the restaurant. According to the plaintiff, there were one or two customers in the lobby or the nearby dining area. Near the end of the manager's meeting, plaintiff and a co-worker, Tawanna Stovall, argued. According to the plaintiff's deposition, he did not yell or curse at Stovall, but he raised his voice and he lost his temper. He asked the Restaurant General Manager if he could leave, she responded that he could, and he clocked out.
As plaintiff left the restaurant, another employee told plaintiff that the Restaurant General Manager caused the altercation between the plaintiff and Stovall. He reentered the restaurant, and confronted the Restaurant General Manager with a raised voice. He was yelling "a little bit" and he was upset, but he did not use profanity during his altercation with the Restaurant General Manager. Doc. 23-4 at 29. He also did not threaten her. See id.
The following day, the plaintiff was scheduled to work, and he texted the Restaurant General Manager to ask if he could miss his shift because he felt uncomfortable returningto the restaurant. According to the plaintiff, she responded that he could miss work if he found someone to cover the shift. For reasons that are not clear from the briefs or the evidence of record, the plaintiff reported to the restaurant on October 9. The Restaurant General Manager told him then that he was fired...
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