Rocky v. Columbia Lawnwood Regional Medical Center

• Decision Date: 02 July 1999
• Docket Number: No. 98-8220-CIV.,98-8220-CIV.
• Citation: 54 F.Supp.2d 1159
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of Florida
• Parties: Sharmarie ROCKY, Plaintiff, v. COLUMBIA LAWNWOOD REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER and Florida Community Health Care Centers, Inc., Defendants.

54 F.Supp.2d 1159

Sharmarie ROCKY, Plaintiff, v. COLUMBIA LAWNWOOD REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER and Florida Community Health Care Centers, Inc., Defendants.

No. 98-8220-CIV.

United States District Court, S.D. Florida.

July 2, 1999.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Robert A. Bogan, Pompano Beach, Florida, for plaintiff.

Rachel F. Alters, McGrane & Nosich, P.A., Coral Gables, Florida, for defendant Florida Community Health Care Centers, Inc.

Alexander D. del Russo, Levy, Kneen, Mariani, Curtin, Weiner, Kornfeld & Del Russo, P.A., West Palm Beach, Florida, for defendant Columbia Lawnwood Regional Medical Center.

FINAL SUMMARY JUDGMENT AS TO COLUMBIA LAWNWOOD REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER

ZLOCH, District Judge.

THIS MATTER is before the Court upon the Defendant, Columbia Lawnwood Regional Medical Center, Inc.'s Motion For Summary Judgment (DE 23). The Court has carefully considered the merits of said Motion and the entire court file herein, and is otherwise fully advised in the premises.

The Plaintiff, Sharmarie Rocky, commenced the instant action seeking damages and injunctive relief against the Defendant, Columbia Lawnwood Regional Medical Center, Inc. (hereinafter "Lawnwood"), pursuant to the Americans With Disabilities Act (hereinafter "ADA"), 42 U.S.C. § 12101 et seq., the Family Medical Leave Act (hereinafter "FMLA"), 29 U.S.C. § 2601 et seq., and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended by the Civil Rights Act of 1991 (hereinafter "Title VII"), 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq. Specifically, the Plaintiff alleges that she was employed by the Defendant, Lawnwood, who discriminated and retaliated against her because of her association with her son who has a disability, in violation of the ADA. The Plaintiff also alleges that the Defendant discriminated against her in violation of FMLA. The Court notes that the Plaintiff has voluntarily dismissed Counts V and VII of her Complaint which allege violations of Title VII. The Defendant Lawnwood has denied the Plaintiff's allegations and has raised a number of affirmative defenses.

In October 1995, the Plaintiff began her employment with Lawnwood as a part-time transporter. When she began her employment, the Plaintiff received and agreed to read Lawnwood's Employee Handbook. The Employee Handbook states that because of the urgent nature of hospital work, Lawnwood requires regular attendance and as much notice as practicable when an employee needs to be absent. The Employee Handbook also states that frequent absences or tardiness may result in disciplinary action and employment termination.

In 1996, the Plaintiff was transferred to a full-time position as a Unit Secretary in the Emergency Services Department where she worked until she was discharged on or about late May or early June 1997. As a Unit Secretary, the Plaintiff's duties included retrieving patient specimens and delivering them to the lab, stocking supplies, cleaning the area, running errands for physicians, and placing orders in the computer.

At the time of her transfer to the Unit Secretary position, the Plaintiff claims that her supervisor, Debbie Boyer, stated that Lawnwood would "work with" her when she needed to take time off to care for her son's medical condition. The Plaintiff, however, has failed to provide any documentation that any specific absence or tardiness was cause by her son's medical condition. The Plaintiff also has failed to provide any documentation that she gave Lawnwood any advanced notice of the absences or tardiness she claims were caused by her son's medical condition.

It is clear from the Plaintiff's own deposition, the affidavits of her supervisors, her attendance records, and the numerous notices of corrective action, that the Plaintiff was frequently absent from work and often disciplined for such absences. Specifically, on January 20, 1997, Ms. Boyer verbally warned the Plaintiff that the Plaintiff's personal phone calls at work, tardiness, and overall decrease in productivity, if continued, would lead to the Plaintiff's termination. The Defendant documented this verbal warning as a corrective action notice.

On February 19, 1997, Ms. Boyer issued the Plaintiff a corrective action notice for being late three times in one pay period. The notice warned the Plaintiff that if she continued to be tardy, she would be suspended and discharged.

On February 28, 1997, the charge nurse, Steve Rogers, issued the Plaintiff a written corrective action notice and suspended the Plaintiff for two-days because she had left her position to conduct personal business off the hospital premises without clocking out or informing the charge nurse. The February 28, 1997 notice again expressly warned the Plaintiff that further misconduct would result in her employment termination. On February 28, 1997, Mr. Rogers also counseled the Plaintiff for performance-related problems, including excessive personal phone calls, conducting personal business while at work, and failing to perform her job duties.

On or about March 3, 1997, Ms. Boyer issued the Plaintiff another corrective action notice and suspended the Plaintiff for two days for being twenty minutes late to work on February 17, 1997, and one-and-one-half hours late to work on February 24, 1997. The March 3, 1997 notice again warned the Plaintiff that continued tardiness would lead to her termination.

After March 3, 1997, Ms. Boyer was unable to document the Plaintiff's tardiness because the Plaintiff had stopped using her time card. The Plaintiff did not begin re-using her time card until a few days before the Defendant terminated her employment in May or June 1997.

On April 15, 1997, Ms. Boyer issued the Plaintiff a fifth notice of corrective action because the Plaintiff had been excessively absent and had called in absent with less than three hours notice, in violation of Lawnwood's written absentee policy. This notice again warned the Plaintiff that continued absences or late call-ins would lead to her employment termination.

In late May 1997, the Plaintiff sent a letter, erroneously dated May 1, 1997, to Richard Scott, CEO of Columbia HCA Healthcare Corporation (Rocky Depo. pp. 111, 131). A few days after the Plaintiff sent this letter to Mr. Scott, the Plaintiff placed copies of the letter under the doors of Ms. Boyer and Mr. Reid Johnson, the Director of Nursing (Rocky Depo. pp. 111-12). The Court notes that although this letter forms the sole basis for the Plaintiff's ADA retaliation claim, the Plaintiff has failed to attach a copy of this letter to any of her pleadings, or otherwise provide a copy for the Court's consideration.

On May 29, 1997, Ms. Boyer and Reid Johnson, the Director of Nursing at Lawnwood, jointly recommended that the Plaintiff's employment be terminated. At the request of Gary Cantrell, the CEO of Lawnwood, David Riley, Director of Human Resources, investigated the events preceding Ms. Boyer and Mr. Johnson's adverse recommendation. Upon completing this investigation, Mr. Cantrell accepted Mr. Riley, Ms. Boyer, and Mr. Johnson's conclusions and informed the Plaintiff of the reasons for her termination by letter dated June 6, 1997. The June 6, 1997 letter specifically enumerates the Plaintiff's employee misconduct, including excessive tardiness and absences, conducting personal business while at work, making personal phone calls, failing to perform her job duties, leaving the facility for more than thirty minutes without clocking out, and calling in absent with less than three hours notice. The June 6, 1997 letter further notes that the Plaintiff had failed to contact Human Resources regarding her requested family medical leave, despite having been instructed to do so.

In the instant Motion (DE 23), the Defendant, Lawnwood, asserts that it did not discriminate against the Plaintiff in violation of the ADA or FMLA. The Defendant argues that it is entitled to judgment as a matter of law because the Plaintiff has failed to establish a prima facie case of discrimination under either FMLA or the ADA, and has failed to show pretext as to her ADA retaliation claim.

SUMMARY JUDGMENT

Under Rule 56(c), Fed.R.Civ.P., summary judgment is proper

"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 a judgment as a matter of law."

Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c).

The party seeking summary judgment always bears the initial responsibility of informing the district court of the basis for its motion, and identifying those portions of the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, which it believes demonstrate the absence of a genuine issue of material fact.

To summarize, the moving party bears the initial burden to show the district court, by reference to materials on file, that there are no genuine issues of material fact that should be decided at trial. Only when that burden has been met does the burden shift to the non-moving party to demonstrate that there is indeed a material issue of fact that precludes summary judgment. Clark v. Coats & Clark, Inc., 929 F.2d 604, 608 (11th Cir.1991).

The moving party is entitled to "judgment as a matter of law" when the nonmoving party fails to make a sufficient showing of an essential element of the case to which the non-moving party has the burden of proof. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986); Everett v. Napper, 833 F.2d 1507 (11th Cir.1987). The standard for granting summary judgment is the same as the standard for granting a directed verdict. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). The Appellate Courts generally, therefore, will affirm the granting of summary judgment if on any part of the prima facie case there would be insufficient evidence to require submission of...