Porter v. Drafto Corp.
| Decision Date | 23 November 2021 |
| Docket Number | 1:20-CV-00238-CCW |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Western District of Pennsylvania |
| Parties | RICK PORTER, Plaintiff, v. DRAFTO CORPORATION, Defendant. |
Before the Court is Defendant Drafto Corporation's Motion for Summary Judgment. See ECF No. 21. For the reasons that follow, Drafto's Motion will be GRANTED.
Plaintiff Rick Porter filed his Complaint on August 17, 2020. See ECF No. 1. In his Complaint, Mr. Porter claims he was subjected to a hostile work environment on account of his age, in violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) (Count I) and the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act (Count II), and was discriminated against on the basis of age when Drafto fired him in 2019, in violation of the ADEA (Count III) and the PHRA (Count IV). See generally id.
Drafto filed an Answer, see ECF No. 7, and the parties proceeded into discovery. The discovery period closed on April 30, 2021 and the Court set deadlines for filing and briefing motions for summary judgment. See ECF Nos. 17, 20. Drafto then filed its Motion for Summary Judgment. See ECF No. 21. In his Opposition to Drafto's Motion, Mr. Porter withdrew his hostile work environment claims (Counts I and II). See ECF No. 27 at 1 (“Now that discovery is complete, Plaintiff withdraws his claims of age based hostile environment”). As such, only Mr. Porter's claims for age discrimination, Counts III and IV, remain. Drafto's Motion has been fully briefed and is ripe for disposition.
The following facts drawn from the parties' concise statements of material fact and responses thereto[1] are undisputed, unless noted otherwise:
Drafto manufactures material handling equipment associated with overhead cranes for industrial and commercial applications. See ECF No. 23 ¶ 9; ECF No. 29 ¶ 9. Mr. Porter began working at Drafto in May 2006, and was assigned to the position of shop foreman of the fabrication shop. See ECF No. 23 ¶ 19; ECF No. 29 ¶ 19. Mr. Porter was 54 years old when Drafto hired him. See ECF No. 23 ¶ 21; ECF No. 29 ¶ 21. The duties of the shop foreman include scheduling jobs and ordering supplies and material; managing and supervising a team of four to six employees; and transporting product and materials between the fabrication shop and machine shop using Drafto's company truck. See ECF No. 23 ¶ 22; ECF No. 29 ¶ 22. Mr. Porter and Drafto agree that the shop foreman is a management position. See ECF No. 23 ¶ 23; ECF No. 29 ¶ 23. Mr. Porter was informed more than once by his supervisor, Mr. Bruce Wesley, that as a supervisor he would be held to a higher standard than non-supervisory employees. See ECF No. 23 ¶ ¶¶ 24, 26-27; ECF No. 29 ¶¶ 24, 26-27. Mr. Porter had a lengthy disciplinary record at Drafto, which Drafto contends ultimately caused Drafto to terminate Mr. Porter's employment a few days after an altercation with another employee on August 1, 2019. See ECF No. 23 ¶¶ 81-84; ECF No. 29 ¶¶ 81-84.
While the parties disagree about the precise facts surrounding the disciplinary incidents Drafto documented regarding Mr. Porter, there does not appear to be any meaningful dispute that these incidents occurred. These incidents are as follows:
Date
Description of Incident
Drafto disciplined Mr. Porter for using the company vehicle to run personal errands. ECF No. 23 ¶ 42. Mr. Porter does not dispute that he used the company truck for personal reasons but argues that he did so in the context of being out on company business in the first place and that he limited his personal use of the vehicle (buying lunch) to his allotted lunch hour. ECF No. 29 ¶ 42.
Drafto disciplined Mr. Porter for yelling and swearing at employees under his supervision. ECF No. 23 ¶ 45. In the disciplinary note describing this incident, Mr. Porter's supervisor Mr. Wesley also describes an incident in which Mr. Porter “hung up” on him twice, and then, when Mr. Wesley confronted him about this inappropriate behavior, attempted to damage company equipment. See ECF No. 24-4 at 74. Mr. Porter does not dispute that he yelled and swore at his subordinates, or that he hung up on Mr. Wesley, but does dispute that he attempted to damage company equipment. ECF No. 29 ¶ 45. Mr. Porter maintains that, after the conversation with Mr. Wesley, he simply drove away. Id. June 2014 Drafto disciplined Mr. Porter for his “hostile attitude” and for “poorly treating employees under his supervision.” ECF No. 23 ¶ 47. In the record of this disciplinary action, Mr. Wesley noted this was the “sixth or eighth” occasion on which he had spoken to Mr. Porter on this subject. Id. ¶ 48. Mr. Porter concedes that “there were a few times that he screamed back at employees who were screaming at him, ” but maintains that “the complaints employees brought to Wesley were not a true accounting of the actual events” and that “Wesley ... always accepted the employees' version of events as true and rejected Plaintiff's.” ECF No. 29 ¶ 47.
Drafto disciplined Mr. Porter for “talking down to employees under his supervision and complaining in front of hourly employees about his disputes and problems with other employees under his supervision.” ECF No. 23 ¶ 51. Drafto further notes that “[a]t this time Porter also improperly used two pieces of Drafto equipment, causing damage to both.” Id. Mr. Porter admits that “Wesley discussed with Plaintiff that he was not to talk about any employee to other employees.” ECF No. 29 ¶ 51. Mr. Porter denies causing damage to company equipment, but appears to concede that he (like “all [other] employees”) used the “big hyster”[2] improperly (by “put[ting] chunks of steel on the back.when they needed it to pick up more than it [was] designed to lift”) and that some old chains had broken when he was using the “little hyster” to “lift[] the edge of the scrap hopper.after it was emptied.” Id. Fall 2016 Drafto disciplined Mr. Porter for “lack of professionalism” when he disclosed the salaries of employees working for him. ECF No. 23 ¶ 56. Mr. Porter does not dispute that salary information was disclosed to his subordinates, but contends that he did not disclose the information. ECF No. 29 ¶ 56. Rather, Mr. Porter maintains that another employee saw a paper listing employees' salaries that Mr. Porter had left out on his desk, and that this employee disclosed the salary information. Id. April 2017 Drafto disciplined Mr. Porter for “preparing materials incorrectly on two occasions, resulting in approximately $10, 000 in additional costs to Drafto to rework the materials.” ECF No. 23 ¶ 58. Mr. Porter does not dispute that the incidents in question occurred; rather, he contends neither incident was his fault. ECF No. 29 ¶ 58. For the first incident, Mr. Porter contends that Drafto did not have equipment capable of performing the job properly at the time; with regard to the second incident, Mr. Porter blames the error on incorrect instructions from the engineering department and faulty drawings from the customer. Id. May 2017 Drafto disciplined Mr. Porter “for his poor attitude and for causing turmoil with other Drafto employees.” ECF No. 23 ¶ 59. Mr. Porter does not meaningfully dispute this alleged incident. ECF No. 29 ¶ 59. Indeed, Mr. Porter admits having had a conversation with Mr. Wesley about his behavior towards other employees around this time. ECF No. 23 ¶ 63; ECF No. 29 ¶ 63.
Drafto disciplined Mr. Porter for “initiating an altercation” with another employee, in which Mr. Porter swore at the employee and the employee yelled back at Mr. Porter. ECF No. 23 ¶ 64. Mr. Porter does not dispute that the incident in question occurred, but maintains that he said “‘Get out of my way,' in a joking manner, ” and that the other employee responded by yelling and swearing at Mr. Porter. ECF No. 29 ¶ 64. Mr. Porter claims that “[the employee's] version of events were placed in the disciplinary notes”; however, it appears to the Court that both Mr. Porter's and the employee's version of events are recorded in the disciplinary note in Mr. Porter's file. Id. ¶ 64; see ECF No. 24-4 at 89-90. Furthermore, Mr. Wesley appears to have drafted a separate note regarding the incident for the other employee's file. See ECF No. 24-11 at 3 ().
Drafto disciplined Mr. Porter “for an altercation with maintenance man [Mike] Pomponio about ordering lights for a Drafto vehicle.” ECF No. 23 ¶ 68. Mr. Porter allegedly cursed at Mr. Pomponio. Id. Mr. Porter does not dispute that this incident occurred, but claims that ECF No. 29 ¶ 68.
Drafto disciplined Mr. Porter for “a confrontation between Porter and Dan Kantz [who held the non-management position of “assembler ” ECF No. 23 ¶ 135; ECF No. 29 ¶ 135] where Porter and Kantz shouted profanities at each other and escalated nearly to the point of blows between the two men.” ECF No. 23 ¶ 73. Mr. Porter admits that this confrontation occurred, but disputes that the altercation almost came to blows “between” the two men. ECF No. 29 ¶ 73. Mr. Porter maintains that Mr. Kantz Id.
In addition to the above-listed incidents, Mr. Wesley and other Drafto employees also testified that Mr. Porter was the subject of numerous complaints and reports related to Mr Porter's conduct and treatment of other employees. See ECF No. 23 ¶¶ 30-40; ECF No. 29 ¶¶ 30-40.[3] Indeed, Mr. Wesley said that Mr. Porter had “e...
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