Rishel v. Nationwide Mut. Ins. Co.

• Decision Date: 29 December 2003
• Docket Number: No. 1:02 CV 00528.,1:02 CV 00528.
• Citation: 297 F.Supp.2d 854
• Court: U.S. District Court — Middle District of North Carolina
• Parties: John C. RISHEL Plaintiff, v. NATIONWIDE MUTUAL INSURANCE CO. Defendant.

Page 854

297 F.Supp.2d 854

John C. RISHEL Plaintiff, v. NATIONWIDE MUTUAL INSURANCE CO. Defendant.

No. 1:02 CV 00528.

United States District Court, M.D. North Carolina.

December 29, 2003.

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Martha Perkowski Brown, Pinto, Coates, Kyre & Brown, PLLC, Greensboro, NC, for Plaintiff.

Denis E. Jacobson, Amanda Leigh Fields, Tuggle Duggins & Meschan, P.A., Greensboro, NC, Donald R. Keller, James G. Petrie, Bricker & Eckler, Columbus, OH, for Defendant.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

BEATY, District Judge.

I. INTRODUCTION

This matter is currently before the Court on Defendant Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co.'s ("Defendant" or "Nationwide") Motion for Summary Judgment [Document # 23] as to Plaintiff John C. Rishel's ("Plaintiff" or "Rishel") claims that Nationwide violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (the "ADA"), 42 U.S.C. §§ 12101-12213, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (the "ADEA"), 29 U.S.C. §§ 621-634, and the public policy of North Carolina as stated in the North Carolina Equal Employment Practices Act (the "NCEEPA"), North Carolina General Statutes sections 143-422.1 to -422.3. For the reasons explained below, Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment is GRANTED and all claims asserted by Plaintiff against Defendant are hereby DISMISSED.

II. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Plaintiff was employed in Nationwide's Special Investigative Unit ("SIU") from November 26, 1990, until Nationwide terminated his employment on July 2, 2001. (Rishel Dep. at 30-32.) His duties included investigating claims that Nationwide believed to be suspicious. (Rishel Dep. at 33-34.) At the time of his termination, Plaintiff was fifty-six years old and was a Special Investigator III earning $59,100 per year. (Def.'s Resp. Pl.'s Interrogatories at 1177.)

Plaintiff alleges that beginning in 1999 Defendant began harassing him on the basis of his age and disability. (Pl.'s Mem. Opp. Def.'s Mot. Summ. J. at 2.) During that year, Mitch Edwards ("Edwards") became the SIU manager and, therefore, Rishel's supervisor. (Id. at 3.) After becoming the SIU Manager, Edwards stopped by Rishel's office and asked him about his experience as an investigator. (Rishel Dep. at 93.) During this conversation Edwards asked Rishel how old he was. (Id. at 94.) In addition, Rishel alleges that Edwards asked him how old he was during a later conversation. (Id. at 94-95.) Rishel cannot remember the specifics of the later conversation but believes it occurred in late 1999 or early 2000. (Id. at 94-95.)

On May 4, 1999, Rishel suffered injuries to his back and hand (id. at 98-99) that made it more difficult for him to perform his job duties. (Id. at 99.) Rishel alleges that "Edwards constantly and consistently badgered Rishel regarding his medical condition." (Pl.'s Mem. Opp. Def.'s Mot. Summ. J. at 3.) Rishel believes that Edwards asked him about his back injury between seven and nineteen times. (Rishel Dep. at 100-01.) In addition, Rishel alleges that Wausan, Nationwide's workers' compensation carrier (and a subsidiary of Nationwide's parent company) accused him of filing a false workers' compensation claim (id. at 106) and that dealing with Wausau caused him to suffer extreme stress. (Pl.'s Mem. Opp. Def.'s Mot. Summ. J. at 2.) Rishel's emotional distress caused him to undergo intensive outpatient psychological treatment. (Id. at 2-3.)

Beginning in 1999, Edwards no longer assigned large-loss claims to Rishel. (Id. at 3.) According to Defendant, the removal of Plaintiff's responsibility for large-loss claims occurred due to a reorganization of the SIU office. (Def.'s Br. Supp. Mot. Summ. J. at 2.) According to Defendant, "[t]he large loss claims were re-assigned to fewer SIU investigators in order to establish a more consistent process regarding these investigations and to improve communication between the Claims Large Loss Unit and SIU in North Carolina." (Id.) Even though his responsibility for these large-loss claims was substantially reduced, Plaintiff received raises for his 1999 and 2000 performance of $4800 and $3500, respectively. (Id.)

In November 2000, Nationwide learned that Plaintiff had purchased a stolen tractor and ATV from Glenn Cheek, another Nationwide employee. (Id. at 4.) Robert Whritenour, who was investigating Cheek, then began to investigate Rishel. (Id.) On June 27, 2001, after completing the substantial portion of his investigation into Rishel's activities, Whritenour interviewed Rishel. (Pl.'s Mem. Opp. Def.'s Mot. Summ. J. at 7.) During the interview, Whritenour impugned Rishel's professional abilities and made accusations against him. (Pl.'s Mem. Opp. Def.'s Mot. Summ. J. at 7.) Rishel alleges that these accusations were based on a discriminatory animus against him based on his age and disability. (See id.)

Nationwide covered each of its employees, including Rishel, with a blanket fidelity bond. Therefore, it required all of its employees to be bondable. (Def.'s Br. Supp. Mot. Summ. J. at 3-4.) Defendant's Honesty and Bonding of Employee Policy ("Bonding Policy") set forth Nationwide's criteria for whether an employee was bondable under Nationwide's fidelity bond. (Id.) Nationwide's Bonding Committee, composed at the time of Peter Hendey and Corliss Barringer, regularly determined if employees were bondable. (Id. at 4-5.) On June 29, 2001, the Bonding Committee determined that because Rishel purchased property he knew or should have known was stolen, he no longer met the bonding requirements. (Hendey Aff. at 2.) On July 2, 2001, Rishel was informed that he was not bondable and therefore he was being terminated, effective immediately. (Pl.'s Mem. Opp. Def.'s Mot. Summ. J. at 7.) Because Rishel believed his termination was motivated by discriminatory reasons, he filed a charge with the EEOC. (Compl. [Document # 1] ¶ 21.) After exhausting his administrative remedies, Plaintiff filed a lawsuit in the Superior Court of Guilford County, North Carolina, on or about May 23, 2002. (Compl.) Nationwide removed the action to this Court on June 28, 2002. (Notice Removal [Document # 1].)

III. DISCUSSION

A. Summary Judgment Standard

Summary judgment is appropriate when "there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and ... the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law." Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). A fact is considered "material" if it "might affect the outcome of the suit under the governing law ...." Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 2510, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). Under this standard, a genuine issue of material fact exists "if the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party." Id. As a result, the Court will only enter summary judgment in favor of the moving party when " `the entire record shows a right to judgment with such clarity as to leave no room for controversy and establishes affirmatively that the [nonmoving] party cannot prevail under any circumstances.'" Campbell v. Hewitt, Coleman & Assocs., 21 F.3d 52, 55 (4th Cir. 1994) (quoting Phoenix Sav. & Loan, Inc. v. Aetna Cas. & Sur. Co., 381 F.2d 245, 249 (4th Cir.1967)).

When ruling on a summary judgment motion, the Court "view[s] the evidence in the light most favorable to the non-moving party, granting that party the benefit of all reasonable inferences." Bailey v. Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Va., 67 F.3d 53, 56 (4th Cir.1995). The moving party bears the initial "burden of establishing that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that [it] is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Catawba Indian Tribe of S.C. v. South Carolina, 978 F.2d 1334, 1339 (4th Cir.1992). Once the moving party has met this burden, the adverse, or nonmoving, party, must set forth specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial. Id. In so doing, the adverse party may not rest on mere allegations, denials, or unsupported assertions, but must, through affidavits or otherwise, provide evidence of a genuine dispute. Anderson, 477 U.S. at 248-49, 106 S.Ct. at 2510; Catawba Indian Tribe, 978 F.2d at 1339. In other words, the nonmoving party must show "more than ... some metaphysical doubt as to the material facts," for the mere existence of a scintilla of evidence in support of its position is insufficient to survive summary judgment. Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 586, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 1356, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986); Catawba Indian Tribe, 978 F.2d at 1339.

B. Plaintiff's Federal Discrimination Claims

As discussed above, Plaintiff is suing Defendant for unlawfully terminating him in violation of the ADEA and the ADA.¹ To prove his claims, Plaintiff may rely on direct evidence, indirect evidence, or a combination of both direct and indirect evidence. In this case, Plaintiff has only offered indirect evidence of discrimination. Therefore, under the traditional principles of federal employment-discrimination law, Plaintiff must use the three-step indirect method of proof established by the Supreme Court in McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 93 S.Ct. 1817, 36 L.Ed.2d 668 (1973). Under the McDonnell Douglas scheme of proof, the plaintiff must first prove, by a preponderance of the evidence, a prima facie case of discrimination. Stokes v. Westinghouse Savannah River Co., 206 F.3d 420, 429 (4th Cir.2000) (applying McDonnell Douglas to an ADEA claim); Ennis v. Nat'l Ass'n of Bus & Ednc. Radio, Inc., 53 F.3d 55, 57-58 (4th Cir.1995) (applying McDonnell Douglas to an ADA claim). Once the plaintiff has established his prima facie case, the defendant must respond with evidence that it acted with a legitimate, non-discriminatory reason for its employment decision. Stokes, 206 F.3d at 429; Ennis, 53 F.3d at 58. If the defendant meets this burden of production, the presumption of discrimination created by the prima facie case vanishes, requiring the plaintiff to prove that the defendant's proffered reason...