Peeples v. Coastal Office Products, Inc.

• Decision Date: 23 May 2002
• Docket Number: No. CIV. AMD 01-1241.,CIV. AMD 01-1241.
• Citation: 203 F.Supp.2d 432
• Parties: Gary PEEPLES, Plaintiff v. COASTAL OFFICE PRODUCTS, INC., Defendant
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Maryland

203 F.Supp.2d 432

Gary PEEPLES, Plaintiff v. COASTAL OFFICE PRODUCTS, INC., Defendant

No. CIV. AMD 01-1241.

United States District Court, D. Maryland.

May 23, 2002.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Paul Francis Evelius, Wright Constable and Skeen LLP, Baltimore, MD, for Plaintiff.

Randi Klein Hyatt, Shawe and Rosenthal, Darrell R. VanDeusen, Kollman and Saucier PA, Laura L. Hoppenstein, Law Office, Baltimore, MD, for Defendant.

MEMORANDUM

DAVIS, District Judge.

Plaintiff, Gary Peeples, instituted this case pursuant to the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, 29 U.S.C. §§ 2601 et seq. ("FMLA"), and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, 42 U.S.C. §§ 12101 et seq. ("ADA"), against his former employer, Coastal Office Products, Incorporated. Now pending are the parties' cross-motions for summary judgment and Peeples's motion for recusal.¹ The

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parties' contentions are fully set forth and supported in the memoranda and exhibits accompanying their motions and no oral hearing is required. As explained herein, Peeples's FMLA claim fails because he did not provide adequate and timely notice to defendant of his need for, and the likely duration of, sick leave, as required by Department of Labor regulations implementing the statute; therefore, he did not trigger defendant's obligations and duties under the FMLA, and the termination of his employment was not violative of the FMLA. Peeples's ADA failure-to-accommodate and retaliation claims fail because, as a matter of law: (1) Peeples was not actually disabled within the ADA; (2) no reasonable juror could reasonably find by a preponderance of the evidence that he was "regarded as" disabled by defendant; and, (3) no reasonable juror could reasonably find by a preponderance of the evidence that the termination of his employment was proximately caused by Peeples's "invocation" of his rights under the ADA. Accordingly, Peeples's motions shall be denied and defendant's motion shall be granted.

I.

Pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c), summary judgment is appropriate "if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Anderson v. Liberty Lobby Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 247, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). A fact is material for purposes of summary judgment, if when applied to the substantive law, it affects the outcome of the litigation. Id. at 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505. Summary judgment is also appropriate when a party "fails to make a showing sufficient to establish the existence of an element essential to that party's case, and on which that party will bear the burden of proof at trial." Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986).

A party opposing a properly supported motion for summary judgment bears the burden of establishing the existence of a genuine issue of material fact. Anderson, 477 U.S. at 248-49, 106 S.Ct. 2505. "When a motion for summary judgment is made and supported as provided in [Rule 56], an adverse party may not rest upon the mere allegations or denials of the adverse party's pleading, but the adverse party's response, by affidavit or as otherwise provided in [Rule 56] must set forth specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial." Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(e); see Celotex Corp., 477 U.S. at 324, 106 S.Ct. 2548; Anderson, 477 U.S. at 252, 106 S.Ct. 2505; Shealy v. Winston, 929 F.2d 1009, 1012 (4th Cir.1991). Of course, the facts, as well as justifiable inferences to be drawn therefrom, must be viewed in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. Matsushita Elec. Indust. Co v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 587-88, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986). The court, however, has an affirmative obligation to prevent factually unsupported claims and defenses from proceeding to trial. Felty v. Graves-Humphreys Co., 818 F.2d 1126, 1128 (4th Cir.1987).

II.

I shall set forth the evidence in the light most favorable to Peeples.

Coastal provides professional services in connection with, and maintains and repairs, computer hardware and software for a variety of businesses and individuals. Aff. of Harold Clasing ¶ 3. Coastal was incorporated in 1987 by Bruce and Harold Clasing, who operate the company as President and Chief Operating Officer ("COO"), respectively. Id. ¶ 2. At all times relevant to this matter, defendant's Human Resources Director was Kimberly Hock ("Hock"), Aff. of Kimberly Hock ¶ 3, and Peeples's immediate supervisor was Matt Ziskind ("Ziskind"). Aff. of Matt Ziskind ¶ 2.

As a small company with an expanding client base, defendant did not employ 50 people, and thereby come within the ambit of some of the federal anti-discrimination statutes, until 1999. Aff. of Harold Clasing ¶ 4. Defendant displays the required notices of employee rights in its workplace, including an FMLA poster and an EEO poster. The EEO poster describes employee rights under the ADA. Def.'s Ex. 6 (EEO/FMLA posters). At all times relevant to this matter, these notices were located in a well-traveled common area of the office. Aff. of Kimberly Hock ¶ 4. Although Peeples claimed he had no recollection of the FMLA poster, he did recall that various employee notices regarding "wage and hours" were posted by the company. Dep. of Peeples at 81.

Peeples began his employment with Coastal as a service technician in April 1995. Dep. of Peeples at 73. Ziskind was then the Hardware Services Manager. Id. at 74. Hardware Services is defendant's largest and busiest department. The Hardware Services Manager supervises service technicians and coordinates daily "crisis" calls from customers who are having computer problems. Aff. of Matt Ziskind ¶ 3. Ziskind held this position for a number of years. It is not disputed that the stress attending the position of Hardware Services Manager is extremely high. Id.

As a service technician, Peeples would visit customers to repair computers and printers. Dep. of Peeples at 73. Over the years, Peeples had received highly favorable performance evaluations from Ziskind, Def.'s Ex. 7 (Peeples's Performance Evaluations, most categories rated "excellent" and the remainder "above average"), and there is no evidence in the record that their relationship was anything other than entirely positive. In August 1999, Peeples was promoted to Hardware Technician/Assistant to the Manager of Hardware Services. Dep. of Peeples at 74; Def.'s Ex. 8 (Promotion Letter to Peeples, dated August 19, 1999). Thereafter, in late January 2000, Ziskind was promoted to Director of the Service Department, and Peeples applied for the job of Hardware Services Manager. Dep. of Peeples at 87. Following interviews with Ziskind and Bruce Clasing, Peeples was offered and accepted the job. Id.; Def.'s Ex. 9 (Promotion Letter to Peeples, dated January 27, 2000).

Peeples's promotion involved a substantial pay increase. Peeples fully understood, as defendant wrote in appointing him as Hardware Services Manager, "it is anticipated that the duties of [Hardware Services Manager] ... extend beyond the normal 40-hour work week." Def.'s Ex. 9. The duties of the position included "assistance in strategic planning for the hardware services department, overall management of the hardware services department product evaluation, responsibility for profitability of hardware services department, maintaining ... service authorizations, hiring/training employees," id., as well as "supervising six to eight employees; disciplining employees, preparing employee job evaluations; arranging and conducting team meetings for subordinates; approving employees' time sheets, leave requests, and expense reports; resolving customer complaints; and addressing warranty-related issues." Aff. of Peeples ¶ 3. Peeples was fully aware of the demands of his new job; Peeples had witnessed Ziskind in the position and he knew the job would be stressful and would require more than 40 hours a week to carry out his responsibilities. However, at the time he assumed the position, he did not anticipate that he would have any difficulty handling these requirements. Dep. of Peeples at 88, 90-91.

Sadly, Peeples quickly discovered that he could not handle the severe stress the job entailed. Specifically, soon after Peeples started work in the new position during the first week of February 2000, he found that he was unable to keep up with his workload. Id. at 92. He sought advice from Ziskind, who told him, perhaps unhelpfully, to "tackle one task at a time and, you know, not try to do everything at once." Id. Peeples's incessant feelings that he was overwhelmed by his duties did not abate. Id. Peeples again complained to Ziskind about his workload and asked him for advice. Id. When Ziskind explained that Peeples was expected to do the job that he was appointed to do, Peeples felt "betrayed" as Ziskind was not giving him the type of support that Peeples felt he was told he would receive. Id. at 92-93.² (Ziskind was busy handling the obligations of his new position, and while he was willing to give Peeples direction, he did not intend to do the job for him. Aff. of Matt Ziskind ¶ 4.)

Peeples confessed on deposition that it was possible that working longer hours would have helped him to gain a better grasp of his new position and to better handle his workload. Nevertheless, he thought that the nine-hour days that he was working should have been sufficient. Dep. of Peeples at 94-97. Peeples was simply unwilling to work longer hours. Id.

On the morning of March 10, 2000, Harold Clasing spoke to Peeples about a client matter. During this conversation, Peeples also discussed his job situation. Although defendant describes Peeples's assertions during this conversation as "complaints" about his workload, while Peeples characterizes his assertions as "simply asking Clasing...