Rogers v. Daimlerchrysler Corp.
| Decision Date | 02 December 2008 |
| Docket Number | Case No. 3:07 CV 395. |
| Parties | Georgia ROGERS, Plaintiff, v. DAIMLERCHRYSLER CORP., Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Northern District of Ohio |
Georgia Rogers, Toledo, OH, pro se.
John T. Landwehr, Margaret Mattimoe Sturgeon, Eastman & Smith, Toledo, OH, for Defendant.
This matter is before the Court on Defendant's motion for summary judgment, pro se Plaintiff's memorandum in opposition, and Defendant's reply thereto. This Court has jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1331. For the reasons that follow Defendant's motion is well taken.
In light of this lengthy litigation and for purposes of clarity, the Court deems it necessary to set forth the following history:
In July 2001, Georgia Rogers ("Rogers") initiated a complaint against Daimler-Chrysler Corporation. Rogers v. Daimler-Chrysler, Case No. 3:01CV7360 (N.D.Ohio) ("Rogers I"). Rogers was initially represented by counsel but five months into the litigation counsel moved for and was granted leave to withdraw his representation. (Rogers I, Doc. No. 15.) After several extensions of time to retain new counsel, the litigation proceeded forward with Rogers representing herself. In December 2002, Plaintiff was granted dismissal of the action under Fed.R.Civ.P. 41(a)(1). Contained within that dismissal was the language:
If no settlement or agreement is reached within one (1)year of the dismissal of the above captioned case, under rule 41-(A), it is my understanding that I may again file this matter in Federal Court.
On December 10, 2003, Plaintiff moved to refile her case (Rogers I, Doc. No. 40) and filed a second case which was ultimately dismissed.1
In July 2004, the Court granted Plaintiff's motion and reopened Rogers I. Following discovery and repeated attempts at dismissal on February 10, 2006, the Court issued the following Order:
Upon the request of Plaintiff and with the consent of Defendant, this matter is dismissed without prejudice pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 41(a); each party to bear their own costs.
On February 12, 2007, Rogers filed a third complaint pro se. The complaint is a mirror of those filed in Rogers I and II, except for the following handwritten additions:
After ¶ 11 ...
After Plaintiff filed charges in July 2001, Defendant fired Plaintiff without just cause effective May 2, 2003.
Prior to the prayer for relief,
Ref Cases No. 3:01CV7360 and 3:03CV7743 as part of this action.
Following the Defendant's motion to dismiss, the Court dismissed the wrongful discharge claim and denied dismissal on the remaining claims. (Rogers III, Doc, No. 17.)
Georgia Rogers began working for the Defendant's predecessor in 1985 at its Toledo Jeep facility as an accounting clerk or timekeeper. In the late 1980s, Chrysler decided to consolidate its accounting functions into a division entitled Manufacturing Group Accounting ("MGA") which would function out of its Sterling Heights Assembly Plant ("SHAP"). Ms. Rogers was offered a transfer to SHAP and advised that her failure to transfer could result in her layoff from the Toledo facility due to her low seniority status. As a result, in April 1988, Ms. Rogers was transferred to SHAP. In her complaint Ms. Rogers contends that although she was told her accounting duties would be transferred to SHAP, in fact, those job functions were distributed to other Toledo workers and performed at the Toledo facility. (Complaint at ¶ 4.)
During Ms. Rogers tenure at SHAP, she repeatedly but unsuccessfully requested a transfer back to Toledo. (Id. at ¶ 6.) Ms. Rogers alleges she learned that certain dispossessed Jeep workers could return to Toledo which apparently stemmed from a failure to post such information at the SHAP. This posting advised former Toledo assembly plant employees of a possible transfer back to the Toledo facility and advised them to complete an election form. (Doc. No. 43, Ex. M.) Ms. Rogers requested but was denied a transfer based upon her failure to complete a transfer election form.
On June 21, 2000, Ms. Rogers filed a civil rights charge with the Ohio Civil Rights Commission ("OCRC") based upon her denial of a transfer. (Gordon Aff., Attachment 4.) In November 2000, Ms. Rogers submitted a transfer election form to Chrysler (Doc. No. 43, Ex. R) which was accepted by the Defendant. (Doc. No. 43, Ex. V.) The investigation by the OCRC found the June 200 charge by Ms. Rogers to be unsubstantiated and issued a not probable determination as well as a rightto-sue letter dated September 20, 2001. (Doc. No. 43, Attachment U.)
In 2001, John Ocock ("Ocock"), a Chrysler management employee, spoke with Ms. Rogers at SHAP and learned of Rogers' dissatisfaction with her job. (Ocock Affid. ¶ 5.) At the time, Ocock was in charge of the steel offload program2 and working remotely our of the SHAP in Toledo. Ocock was in need of someone to perform clerical tasks associated with the program and he concluded that Ms. Rogers, with training and supervision, would be able to perform those tasks. In addition, Ocock was aware that Ms. Rogers was unhappy with her situation at the SHAP and wanted to return to Toledo. It was Ocock's opinion that Ms. Rogers could remain a SHAP employee but work remotely out of Toledo under his supervision to assist him with the steel offload program. Ms. Rogers expressed an interest in such a situation. (Rogers Dep. Vol. 2, pp. 70-71.) Ocock requested and obtained approval for Ms. Rogers to work in a new bargaining unit position, that of off-load analyst under Ocock. (Ocock Affid., ¶ 5.)
Ms. Rogers commenced her new position in June 2001 working remotely out of Toledo. (Id. at ¶ 6.) Ocock allowed Ms. Rogers to work a flexible schedule as long as she put in her eight hours a day. (Id.) Ocock and Rogers worked on Mondays at the SHAP and then the remainder of the week in Toledo. (Id.) Ms. Rogers, under Ocock's supervision, created a handbook/job description for her new position. (Id.)
All seemed to go smoothly until October 19, 2001. On that date, Ocock avers as follows:
I was teaching Ms. Rogers about a particular computer screen and the program/screen contained a comment field. I was standing behind Ms. Rogers, who was seated at her computer. I told Ms. Rogers to type anything into the comment field—it did not matter what was in the comment field, so long as something was entered in it. She did not understand what I meant, so I reached around with my right hand and randomly struck a key on the keyboard three times, just so that something would be entered in the field. I continued my instruction until Ms. Rogers interrupted me and asked me to please type something different. It was at that point that I looked at the comment field and realized that I had struck the lowercase "k" key and thus had typed "kkk" in the comment field. I was embarrassed, felt terrible and apologized profusely. Ms. Rogers and I then continued with the training. I did not mean to type anything that could be taken as a reference to the Klu Klux Klan on Ms. Rogers' computer. I heard nothing more from Ms. Rogers about this incident until several months later.
On January 23, 2002, Ms. Rogers filed a charge of discrimination with the OCRC based on race due to conduct by Ocock. The OCRC made a "no probable cause" finding and issued a right-to-sue letter on January 31, 2003. (Gordon Affid., Attachments 2 and 3.)
Ms. Rogers continued to work remotely from Toledo until February 2002, at which time she returned to SHAP full-time. (Ocock Affid., ¶ 8.) In May 2002, Ms. Rogers' employment was terminated for failure to report to work after a medical leave. (Rogers Depo., Vol. 1, Ex. J.) A claim of wrongful discharge pertaining to this final event was dismissed by the Court in its opinion of September 19, 2007, 2007 WL 2746914.
Summary judgment is appropriate where "the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." FED.R.CIV.P. 56(c). The moving party 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." Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 2553, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). The movant may meet this burden by demonstrating the absence of evidence supporting one or more essential elements of the non-movant's claim. Id. at 323-25, 106 S.Ct. 2548. Once the movant meets this burden, the opposing party "must set forth specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial." Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 250, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 2511, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986) (quoting FED.R.CIV.P. 56(e)).
Once the burden of production has so shifted, the party opposing summary judgment cannot rest on its pleadings or merely reassert its previous allegations. It is not sufficient "simply [to] show that there is some metaphysical doubt as to the material facts." Matsushita Elec, Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 586, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 1356, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986). Rather, Rule 56(e) "requires the nonmoving party to go beyond the pleadings" and present some type of evidentiary material in support of its position. Celotex, 477 U.S. at 324, 106 S.Ct. at 2553; see also Harris v. General Motors Corp., 201 F.3d 800, 802 (6th Cir.2000). Summary judgment must be entered "against a party who fails...
To continue reading
Request your trial