Ryan v. Wolf

• Decision Date: 05 February 2021
• Docket Number: Civil Action No. ELH-19-1968
• Parties: CHRISTINA RYAN Plaintiff, v. CHAD WOLF Defendant
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Maryland

CHRISTINA RYAN Plaintiff, v. CHAD WOLF Defendant

Civil Action No. ELH-19-1968

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF MARYLAND

February 5, 2021

MEMORANDUM OPINION

In this employment discrimination case, plaintiff Christina Ryan, an employee of the Transportation Security Administration ("TSA"), a component of the Department of Homeland Security ("DHS"), has filed suit against Chad Wolf, then the Acting Secretary of DHS. ECF 16 ("Amended Complaint").¹ Ryan, a Caucasian woman born in 1960, alleges that she was reprimanded and not selected for two promotions because of her race and her age, in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq. ("Title VII"), and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, as amended, 29 U.S.C. § 621, et seq. ("ADEA").

The original Complaint (ECF 1) contained four counts. In Count I, plaintiff asserted a claim of "RACIAL DISCRIMINATION (Disparate Treatment)" under Title VII. In Count II, she asserted an ADEA claim of age discrimination based on disparate treatment. Count III alleged a Title VII claim of "RETALIATION (Adverse Actions and Protected Activity Deterrents)." And, Count IV asserted retaliation under the ADEA, on the same grounds asserted as to Count III. ByMemorandum Opinion (ECF 14) and Order (ECF 15) of April 3, 2020, I granted defendant's motion to dismiss the Complaint under Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6), without prejudice. In my view, the allegations in the Complaint failed to support plausible claims for relief. However, I granted plaintiff leave to amend.

Plaintiff timely filed her Amended Complaint. ECF 16; ECF 16-1 (Redline version). The Amended Complaint reiterates Counts I through IV of the Complaint but includes additional facts.

Defendant has again moved to dismiss under Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6) or, in the alternative, for summary judgment under Fed. R. Civ. P. 56. ECF 17. The motion is supported by a memorandum (ECF 17-1) (collectively, the "Motion") and six exhibits. ECF 17-2 to ECF 17-7. Plaintiff opposes the Motion (ECF 20-1, "Opposition"), and has submitted one exhibit. ECF 20-2. Defendant has replied. ECF 21.

No hearing is necessary to resolve the Motion. See Local Rule 105.6. For the reasons that follow, I shall construe the Motion (ECF 17) as one to dismiss, and I shall deny the Motion.

I. Background²

As noted, Ms. Ryan is a Caucasian woman who was born in 1960. ECF 16, ¶¶ 15, 16. She has worked for TSA at Baltimore Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport ("BWI") since 2004, and as a Master Behavior Detection Officer ("MBDO") since 2014. Id. ¶ 17. Between 2007 and 2012, plaintiff "filed a number of" Equal Employment Opportunity ("EEO") complaints against TSA. Id. ¶ 6. She also filed an EEO Complaint on June 13, 2015. Id. ¶ 10.

Ryan alleges that she "met and/or exceeded" TSA's "legitimate job expectations" at all relevant times. Id. ¶ 72. And, for the period from October 1, 2014 to September 30, 2015, plaintiff received an "overall rating of 'Exceeded Expectations.'" Id. ¶ 71.

Erica Foster Gibbs, an African American female born in 1985, served as plaintiff's first-line supervisor from May 2014 to October 2014. Id. ¶ 21. John Chambers III, an African American born in 1962, became plaintiff's first-line supervisor on or about October 30, 2014. Id. ¶ 22. Scott Wood, a Caucasian born in 1961, was Ms. Ryan's second-level supervisor throughout the relevant period. Id. ¶ 23. According to plaintiff, the "upper management officials micromanaged" her "work performance but did not do the same with her African-American colleagues." Id. ¶ 70.

Plaintiff claims that in May or June of 2014, she informed Ms. Gibbs that she had approximately ten online learning courses to complete. Id. ¶ 24. In response, Ms. Gibbs allegedly "put her face within one (1) inch of Plaintiff's face with a hostile look" and prevented Ms. Ryan from exiting the room. Id. Following this interaction, Ms. Ryan asked Mr. Wood to assign her to a different supervisor. Id. ¶ 25. According to plaintiff, Mr. Wood denied Ms. Ryan's request in June 2014, telling her that if she wanted a transfer, she would need to get a court order. Id. Plaintiff perceived that comment as a reference to a prior EEO complaint she had filed in 2007 concerning sexual assault and harassment, which resulted in a court order. Id. Moreover, plaintiff alleges that Mr. Wood granted similar requests for transfers in the summer of 2014 by MBDOs Chadea Grant and Brandy Durant, both of whom are African American. Id. ¶ 28.

In the Amended Complaint, plaintiff also alleges that Ms. Gibbs regularly mistreated her throughout July and August of 2014. Id. ¶¶ 29-33. Ms. Gibbs told plaintiff that she was the only "white Caucasian" MBDO on the morning shift. Id. ¶ 30. She also "scowled" at Ms. Ryan "[o]n several occasions" in June of 2014, when Ms. Ryan received a "work call." Id. ¶ 29. In addition,Ms. Gibbs interrupted plaintiff on July 5, 2014, when she was on a business call with information technology personnel, and forced her to end the call. Id. ¶ 31. Further, "in a demeaning and condescending manner," Ms. Gibbs told plaintiff not to lean on a stanchion. Id. ¶ 32.

In July 2014, after Ms. Ryan complained to Mr. Wood about Ms. Gibbs's "hostile behavior," Ms. Gibbs "chastised" Ms. Ryan "in an attempt to convince [her] to modify her written statement . . . ." Id. ¶ 33. Further, on or about August 31, 2014, Ms. Gibbs accused Ms. Ryan of exhibiting unsatisfactory work performance and demanded a counseling session with Ms. Ryan. Id. ¶ 34. According to plaintiff, she was not permitted to have a witness at the session. Id. On August 31, 2014, plaintiff reported "Ms. Gibbs' hostile behavior" to Mr. Wood and to David Marzola, Jr., a Caucasian born in 1961 and an Assistant Federal Security Director at BWI. Id. ¶¶ 34, 35.

In August or September 2014, plaintiff allegedly complained to Ms. Gibbs and Mr. Wood about the preferential treatment afforded to MBDO James Clapp, an African American born in 1989. Id. ¶ 36. According to plaintiff, Clapp had "attendance issues and exhibited poor job performance, but was not reprimanded." Id.

Plaintiff alleges that on October 12, 2014, Mr. Wood and Mr. Marzola "falsely accused" her of spraying an African American passenger with Lysol. Id. ¶ 37. Although Ms. Ryan complained to Mr. Marzola on November 14, 2014, about the falsity of the allegations, he failed to address Ms. Ryan's complaint. Id.

According to plaintiff, Mr. Marzola "made fun" of her in November of 2014, telling her that "'sometimes you can only see an elbow in the video.'" Id. ¶ 38. She avers that this was a reference to plaintiff's 2007 sexual assault and harassment complaint. Id.

On November 12, 2014, Plaintiff filed a grievance with the TSA's "National Resolution Center regarding her performance appraisal" for the period of October 1, 2013 to September 30, 2014. Id. ¶ 39. In her grievance, she claimed that Ms. Gibbs "treated her 'differently,'" "subjected her to 'verbal abuse' and 'mistreatment,'" and "retaliated against her for reporting [Ms. Gibbs] to Mr. Wood and Mr. Marzola." Id. Plaintiff, Ms. Gibbs, and Mr. Wood participated in a "Non-EEO Mediation" regarding plaintiff's grievance on January 20, 2015. Id. ¶ 41.

Also on November 12, 2014, plaintiff alleges that she complained to Mr. Wood and Mr. Marzola about Mr. Wood's "'court order' comment" and that "African-American employees had been transferred out of Ms. Gibbs' group whereas Plaintiff's request for a transfer was denied." Id. ¶ 40.

On January 29, 2015, Mr. Wood issued a "Letter of Reprimand" ("LOR"), "a type of formal disciplinary action," to Ms. Ryan. ECF 17-3 at 22-24; see ECF 16, ¶ 42. It states, in part, ECF 17-3 at 22-24:

On October 10, 2014, while performing Behavior Detection and Analysis (BDA), you communicated to Operational Test Team (OTT) Member Kelly Duppins, that the [fatigue] mat she was standing upon (yellow borders) were for the exclusive use of BDOs. You advised her that if she needed/wanted a mat she could purchase one at Walmart. OTT Duppins was asked to remove herself from the mat. On the same day, you approached Test Team Lead Don Bennett and asked for OTT Duppins name.

After this incident on or about October 13, 2014, you were overheard telling one of the OTT Duppins Management Team Members that a "sit down" job needed to be located for her so she didn't have to complain about standing on the floor and/or use mats that didn't belong to her.

The interactions were unsolicited and the comments were inappropriate and unprofessional. Furthermore, these interactions occurred in the public area and reflected negatively on you. You have been trained on workforce engagement and that display was not appropriate.

In the LOR, Mr. Wood cited provisions of the TSA Code of Conduct and Handbook that he claimed had been violated. Further, he explained that he had weighed the "nature and seriousness of the misconduct" against "mitigating factors," such as Ms. Ryan's employment at TSA since 2004 and her "otherwise satisfactory performance record." Id. at 23. Therefore, Mr. Wood determined that the issuance of the LOR was an "appropriate" penalty. Id.

Plaintiff claims that before this incident, she "had a clean personnel file." ECF 16, ¶ 42. Moreover, plaintiff complains that she was not given an opportunity to have a "Pre Decision Meeting" before the LOR was issued, which is allegedly a policy and procedure of TSA. Id. ¶ 49.

Nathan Wesley, a Behavior Detection Officer ("BDO") who worked with plaintiff on October 10, 2014, allegedly said that he did not witness plaintiff make any inappropriate comments to or about Ms. Duppins on that day. Id. ¶ 47. According to plaintiff, her colleagues "wrote false statements" about her conduct on October 10, 2014, which led to the LOR. Id. ¶ 46. In addition, plaintiff alleges that non-Caucasian and/or "substantially younger" BDOs "have expressed anger towards other individuals regarding...