Matson v. Sanderson Farms, Inc.

• Decision Date: 23 July 2019
• Docket Number: CIVIL ACTION NO. H-18-2369
• Citation: 388 F.Supp.3d 853
• Parties: Elvis MATSON, Plaintiff, v. SANDERSON FARMS, INC., Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of Texas

388 F.Supp.3d 853

Elvis MATSON, Plaintiff,

v.SANDERSON FARMS, INC., Defendant.

CIVIL ACTION NO. H-18-2369

United States District Court, S.D. Texas, Houston Division.

Signed July 23, 2019

Sara Beth Richey, Houston, TX, for Plaintiff.

James Stuart Hering, Pakis Giotes et al, Waco, TX, Stephen J. Roppolo, Lariza Anne Hebert, Fisher and Phillips LLP, Houston, TX, for Defendant.

MEMORANDUM AND OPINION

Lee H. Rosenthal, Chief United States District Judge Elvis Matson sued his former employer, Sanderson Farms, Inc., asserting violations of the Family and Medical Leave Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, Title VII, and 42 U.S.C. § 1981. Matson alleges that Sanderson Farms discouraged him from taking medical leave; interfered with his leave; and then fired him because he is African-American, had "mental issues," took FMLA leave, complained about discrimination, and filed a charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Sanderson Farms moved for summary judgment, arguing that it granted Matson's medical leave and that it had a legitimate and nondiscriminatory reason for firing Matson. Matson responded that Sanderson Farms's reason was a pretext for discrimination and for retaliation for taking medical leave and for filing an EEOC charge. Sanderson Farms replied, and Matson surreplied. (Docket Entry Nos. 1, 18, 22, 26, 31).

After a careful review of the complaint; the record evidence; the motion, response, reply, and surreply; and the applicable law, the court finds that Matson has not identified or submitted evidence supporting a reasonable inference that Sanderson Farms either interfered with his FMLA leave, or discriminated or retaliated against him for taking the leave and filing an EEOC charge. Because there are no factual disputes material to deciding these issues, summary judgment is granted for Sanderson Farms, and final judgment is separately entered. The reasons are explained in detail below.

I. Background

This would have been an easy case but for some complicating facts. Sanderson Farms granted FMLA leave to Matson for residential mental-health treatment. Unbeknownst to Matson, Sanderson Farms, or the treatment facility, the treating "doctor" was no doctor at all. He was, instead, a nurse practitioner. The nurse practitioner wrote Matson a return-to-work letter with facially apparent authenticity problems and sent the letter to Matson through his personal email. Matson forwarded the email and letter to Sanderson Farms. Sanderson Farms contacted the treatment center to authenticate the letter, and the treatment center assured Sanderson Farms that the letter had not been written by one of its physicians. This assurance led Sanderson Farms to fire Matson for falsifying a physician's statement, as its work rules require. But Sanderson Farms was ready, and tried, to reinstate Matson promptly after learning that the "psychiatrist"—the nurse practitioner posing as a doctor—had, in fact, written the return-to-work letter.

Matson, however, did not return to work when offered reinstatement, choosing instead to continue to work at his brother's trucking company and search for positions at other companies. There are no allegations that any medical condition prevented Matson from returning to Sanderson Farms on the dates it specified, to complete the reinstatement process. Because Sanderson Farms had a legitimate and nondiscriminatory reason to fire Matson when he declined to return to work for reasons unrelated to health, summary judgment is granted to Sanderson Farms.

At bottom, the case involves an employer that met its statutory obligations and an employee who did not meet his employment obligations. The employer is entitled to summary judgment.

A. The Summary Judgment Record

The facts are shown by the parties' summary judgment evidence. The summary judgment evidence includes the following:

• transcripts from the depositions of Matson, Amberly Sherwood, Brenda Gatlin, and Casey Laub;

• declarations from Matson, Judy Matson, Amberly Sherwood, Casey Laub, and Jennifer Buster;

• Sanderson Farms's job description for the master skilled mechanic position; and its substance abuse policy, work rules, and other employment documents;

• commercial driver licenses held by Sanderson Farms employees besides Matson;

• Matson's psychiatric evaluation from a behavioral-health center;

• the certification forms for Matson's FMLA leave;

• documents showing that Sanderson Farms granted Matson's FMLA leave;

• return-to-work letters sent to Sanderson Farms from Matson's treatment center;

• email correspondence between Sanderson Farms, Matson's treatment center, and Matson;

• a transcript from a recording of the meeting in which Matson was fired;

• the Sanderson Farms termination and reinstatement paperwork for Matson;

• the findings and conclusion from the Arizona State Board of Nursing's investigation into the nurse practitioner who held himself out as a doctor; and

• Matson's EEOC discrimination charge and related documents.

(See generally Docket Entry Nos. 18-1, 23, 26-1).

B. What the Record Evidence Shows

Sanderson Farms is a Mississippi company that processes chicken products in facilities across the country, including in Bryan, Texas. (Docket Entry No. 1 at 1–2). In September 2009, Sanderson Farms hired Matson as a master mechanic. (Docket Entry No. 18-1 at 5–7, 54–55). His job was to maintain and repair the commercial trucks and trailers, perform road tests, train other mechanics, and keep inventory at the Bryan Facility. (Id. ). The master-mechanic position required the "[a]bility to obtain a class A [commercial driver's license] within [a] specific time limit." (Id. at 56). Matson drove commercial trucks "every day" and maintained his commercial driver's license. (Id. at 8).

When Matson was hired, Sanderson Farms gave him the "Work Rules for Hourly Employees." (Id. at 62, 76). Under these Rules, falsifying a "doctor's statement" was "cause for discharge without warning." (Id. at 66). The Sanderson Farms Department of Transportation Drug and Alcohol Policy permitted an employee to return to work after self-identifying a drug or alcohol problem, but the employee had to meet with a mental-health professional and pass an unannounced drug and alcohol test before returning to work. (See id. at 170–200; Docket Entry No. 23 at 111–12). An employee's "failure to appear for any test within a reasonable time" counted as a refusal to take the test, and the employee would be fired. (Docket Entry No. 18-1 at 172–78).

Matson has a history of psychiatric problems, including hallucinations and thoughts of self-harm. (Docket Entry No. 23 at 7–8). Early in January 2016, Matson was diagnosed with Hepatitis C

and gout and prescribed Interferon for 12 weeks. (Id. at 8–9, 81). The gout caused inflammation in his foot, and the Interferon made Matson's psychiatric problems worse. He had "meltdowns" at Sanderson Farms.¹ (Id. at 9, 81). Matson asked Sanderson Farms if he could "work [his] 40 [hours] in four days" instead of five, explaining his "medical condition" and "what was going on in [his] mind." (Id. at 20). Sanderson Farms approved Matson to work 4-day weeks, which Matson described as a "special accommodation[ ]" allowing him to "stay on the job." (Id. at 20).

On May 25, 2016, Matson was admitted to the Rock Prairie Behavioral Health Center for residential treatment for "depression, anxiety, and agitation." (Id. at 97). His initial psychiatric evaluation described "an obese male, in severe distress," with bipolar disorder

, alcohol dependence, and nicotine dependence. (Id. at 97–98). Matson told Rock Prairie that he had been "drinking about a half a pint or a fifth [of liquor] on a daily basis now," and had smoked "four packs [of cigarettes] in the last 24 hours." (Id. at 97). The evaluation, signed by Dr. Fernando G. Torres, stated:

The patient will stabilize with the care plan involv[ing] medication management, group, individual therapy, family therapy. Estimated length of stay will be a week. Initially, the patient is going to be prescribed medications [that have] some sedative properties, but as he recovers then [Dr. Torres] will lessen the medications so they will not adversely affect his commercial driver's license operations.

(Id. at 98). Matson testified that he submitted a FMLA request for his stay at Rock Prairie in early June 2016, but the record does not contain that request or its result, and it is unclear when Matson left Rock Prairie. (Docket Entry No. 18-1 at 10–11).

In July 2016, Judy Matson, Matson's wife, became convinced that he needed "professional psychiatric treatment" because his "depression, mood swings[,] and insomnia continued" after the Interferon treatment ended. (Docket Entry No. 23 at 100). Judy Matson arranged in-patient treatment for Matson from "Doctor" Rodney Dy Wolpert at the Red Rock Addiction and Treatment Company outside Phoenix, Arizona. (Id. ).

On July 20, the Matsons both went to Sanderson Farms to meet with Amberly Sherwood, the Field Employee Relations Manager at the Bryan Facility, about Matson's "health and his need to take time off to get treatment." (Id. ). According to Matson, he told Sherwood that he needed "FMLA [leave] for a mental issue." (Id. at 9). He got the FMLA leave

Matson arrived in Arizona on July 23, 2016. (Id. at 10–11, 13–15, 23). He went to a hospital for two weeks for examinations and "psychiatric interviews" to determine which in-patient residential treatment center best suited his medical needs. (Id. at 10–11, 13–15). After his hospital stay, Matson was admitted to Red Rock Addiction and Treatment Company for treatment. He saw Dy Wolpert, the faux doctor, each day for an hour of therapy. (Docket Entry No. 18-1 at 14–16; Docket Entry No. 23 at 12). Dy Wolpert told Matson that he was "schizophrenic" and that his condition was "life threatening." (Docket Entry No. 18-1 at 19). Matson left Red Rock on August 26, 2016, after about 30 days. (Docket Entry No. 23 at 13).

Unknown to the Matsons and to Red...