Mumma v. Pathway Vet All.
| Decision Date | 04 January 2023 |
| Docket Number | CIVIL 3:20-cv-00926 (TOF) |
| Parties | Candice Mumma, Plaintiff, v. Pathway Vet Alliance, LLC, et al., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Connecticut |
RULING ON DEFENDANTS' MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT
The Plaintiff, Candice Mumma, is a conservative Christian woman who posted a controversial meme on her personal Facebook page. Her employer saw it, concluded that it was offensive to transgender individuals and to Native Americans, and fired her three days later. Ms. Mumma sued, alleging that her termination violated Section 31-51q of the Connecticut General Statutes, a law that extends First Amendment protections to private workplaces. She also alleged common-law, state-law claims for breach of contract, breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing, negligent misrepresentation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and negligent infliction of emotional distress.
The Defendants, Pathway Vet Alliance, LLC and National AVC, LLC d/b/a THRIVE Affordable Vet Care (together "Thrive"), have moved for summary judgment, seeking dismissal of all of Ms. Mumma's claims. (Mot. for Summ. J., ECF No. 49, at 2.) For the reasons set forth below, Thrive's motion will be denied as to the Section 31-51q claim in Count One of the complaint, but granted with respect to the common law claims in Counts Two through Six.
The following facts come from the parties' Local Rule 56 statements and accompanying exhibits. The Defendants are two affiliated Texas limited liability companies that operate veterinary hospitals. National AVC, LLC d/b/a THRIVE Affordable Vet Care ("National") establishes new hospitals, and Pathway Vet Alliance, LLC ("Pathway") acquires existing veterinary practices. (Depo. Tr. of C. Mumma, ECF No. 49-12, at 19:16-20.) On November 12, 2018, National hired Ms. Mumma as a "support staff talent acquisitions recruiter." (See id. at 18:24-25, 19:1-2.) Her principal job duties were to "interview candidates that applied for positions that were posted, and, if they met set criteria, pass them on to the manager to take over the hiring process." (Id. at 19:4-9.) Over the course of her employment at National - and at Pathway, to which she switched in 2020 - she was responsible for filling "[a]nywhere from 10 to 40” positions each week. (Id. at 22:5-8, 38:6-21.)
At the beginning of her employment, Thrive provided Ms. Mumma with an employee handbook. (Defs.' Ex. 2, ECF No. 49-4; Depo. Tr. of C. Mumma, ECF No. 49-12, at 45:5-21.) The handbook included Thrive's policies on equal employment opportunity, employee conduct, anti-harassment and non-discrimination, and social media use. (Defs.' Ex. 2, ECF No. 49-4.) The equal opportunity policy stated:
THRIVE believes that all persons are entitled to equal employment opportunity and does not discriminate against its employees or applicants because of such individual's race, color, religion, sex (including gender), sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, age, marital status, disability, veteran status, genetic information, or any other basis prohibited by federal, state or local law. Equal employment opportunity will be extended to all persons in all aspects of the THRIVE-employee relationship, including recruitment, employment, training, promotion, transfer, corrective action, working conditions, compensation, employee benefits, layoff, and termination.
(Id. at 7.) The employee conduct policy provided examples of workplace behaviors that could "result in corrective action, up to and including termination of employment," such as "[u]se of . . . offensive . . . language," "[b]ehavior that disrupts the workplace," and "[b]ehaviors that violate the Workplace Violence and Unlawful Harassment policies." (Id. at 28-29.) The anti-harassment policy defined impermissible harassment to include "epithets," "slurs or negative stereotyping," and "denigrating jokes and display or circulation in the workplace of written or graphic material that denigrates or shows hostility or aversion toward an individual or group." (Id. at 31.) The social media policy warned that "any of your conduct that adversely affects your job performance, the performance of fellow associates or otherwise adversely affects members, customers, suppliers, people who work on behalf of THRIVE or THRIVE's legitimate business interests may result in disciplinary action up to and including termination." (Id. at 49.)
The employee handbook also made clear that employment at Thrive was "at-will." In bold type, it stated that "[u]nless you have a written contract providing otherwise, your relationship with THRIVE is 'at-will' and may be terminated at any time by either you or THRIVE, with or without prior notice or warning, and with or without cause or reason." (Id. at 6.) The handbook went on to say that "[n]othing in this manual will limit your right or the Company's discretionary right to terminate your employment relationship," and "no manager, supervisor, or employee of THRIVE has any authority to enter into any oral agreement providing otherwise." (Id.). Ms. Mumma read the at-will provision around the time she started (see Depo. Tr. of C. Mumma, ECF No. 49-12, at 45:5-21), and understood it to mean that "THRIVE may terminate your employment at any time with or without cause." (Id. at 46:3-12.)
At the beginning of her employment, Ms. Mumma reported to Dr. Christina Moore, Thrive's director of talent acquisition. (Id. at 46:22-23.) By all accounts, Ms. Mumma was an effective and conscientious employee. Dr. Moore testified that she "was a very hard worker and very successful in technician recruiting." (Depo. Tr. of C. Moore, ECF No. 54-4, at 42:19-20.)
The doctor added that Ms. Mumma "was very enthusiastic about . . . building positive cultures within our teams, and so she was happy to contribute to any of the . . . campaigns and the efforts we put in place to promote a positive workplace." (Id. at 58:22-59:1.) In 2019, Ms. Mumma received a $1,000 bonus for "going above and beyond" in training two fellow employees. (Depo. Tr. of C. Mumma, ECF No. 49-12, at 51:1-14.)
Ms. Mumma describes herself as a politically conservative Christian woman. (Id. at 107:911; see also Depo. Tr. of C. Mumma, ECF No. 54-1, at 182:6-8.) She says that her "political direction comes from what is stated in the Bible, therefore, many of [her] beliefs are based off of what the Bible says is right versus wrong." (Depo. Tr. of C. Mumma, ECF No. 49-12, at 108:912.) She claims to have observed one of Thrive's founders, Shawn McVey, making politically charged comments on his social media accounts. (Depo. Tr. of C. Mumma, ECF No. 54-1, at 17173). She also says that her other co-workers actively posted, forwarded, and shared politically liberal social media messages. (Compl., ECF No. 1, ¶ 27.) She alleges that these and other cues amounted to an "assur[ance]" that she "was free to express her political and personal opinions in the workplace and otherwise without repercussions." (Id. ¶ 79.)
On the evening of June 9, 2020, Ms. Mumma posted a meme to her personal Facebook page. (Depo. Tr. of C. Mumma, ECF No. 49-12, at 106:14-19, 123:2-3; see also Defs.' Ex. 5, ECF No. 49-7.) Under a banner reading "No Wonder Liberals Are So Confused," the meme contained photos of eight different political and cultural figures with a single word under each. For example, a picture of former NAACP Spokane chapter president Rachel Dolezal was captioned "Black;" a picture of former Vice President Al Gore was captioned "scientist;" and a picture of former President Bill Clinton was captioned "husband." Most relevant to this case, a photo of Senator Elizabeth Warren was accompanied by the word "Indian," and a photo of Caitlyn Jenner was captioned "woman." The meme is reproduced here:
[Image Omitted]
Dr. Moore saw the meme on either June 9 or June 10. (See Depo. Tr. of C. Moore, ECF No. 49-14, at 90:24-91:2, 91:24-25.) She testified that when she first saw it, she "had some concerns because [she] could see how people would find it offensive." (Id. at 91:24-92:3.) She was particularly concerned about the Jenner and Warren panels, because she regarded them as "potentially very offensive to protected classes of people." (Id. at 101:17-22.) With respect to the Warren panel, Dr. Moore observed that the use of the term "Indian" in place of "Native American" "can be taken offensively," but "[i]t was more that the . . . goal of this meme was to question how people identify themselves." (Id. at 103:7-14.) And with respect to the Jenner panel, Dr. Moore "personally [found] it offensive to question how a transgender person chooses to identify themselves." (Id. at 103:23-104:2.) She decided to call Human Resources, and ultimately spoke with the company's vice president for "People Operations Partners," Tracey Shields. (Id. at 91:1418, 100:1-9.)
Before Dr. Moore reached Ms. Shields, however, she began to receive complaints from other Thrive employees who had seen the meme. Lee Pitts found it "offensive," particularly the Jenner panel. (Id. at 94:22-95:6.) Sara Lisak "was really disappointed" and "surprised" because "she wouldn't expect this from Candice," and she regarding the meme as "hateful and derogatory." (Id. at 96:9-18.) Chrissy McGregor "also expressed disappointment . . . and confusion . . . and she shared . . . that she just wouldn't have expected such a harmful or hurtful post from Candice toward so many people." (Id. at 97:15-21.) Another employee, Kendra Williams, complained in an email that the meme was "hateful, intolerant and anti-inclusive - specifically to our transgendered community."[1] (Defs.' Ex. 6, ECF No. 49-8.) Dr Moore grew concerned "that the...
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