Saroli v. Automation & Modular Components

• Decision Date: 26 April 2005
• Docket Number: No. 03-2395.,03-2395.
• Citation: 405 F.3d 446
• Parties: Marria SAROLI; Richard Saroli, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. AUTOMATION & MODULAR COMPONENTS, INC.; Richard A. Shore, Defendants-Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit

405 F.3d 446

Marria SAROLI; Richard Saroli, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. AUTOMATION & MODULAR COMPONENTS, INC.; Richard A. Shore, Defendants-Appellees.

No. 03-2395.

United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit.

Argued: December 7, 2004.

Decided and Filed: April 26, 2005.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

ARGUED:

Mary Anne M. Helveston, Detroit, Michigan, for Appellants. Lawrence J. DeBrincat, DeBrincat & Padgett, Farmington Hills, Michigan, for Appellees.

ON BRIEF:

Amy L. Stirling, Helveston & Helveston, Detroit, Michigan, for Appellants. Lawrence J. DeBrincat, DeBrincat & Padgett, Farmington Hills, Michigan, for Appellees.

Before: MARTIN and MOORE, Circuit Judges; BUNNING, District Judge.^*

OPINION

BOYCE F. MARTIN, JR., Circuit Judge.

Marria Saroli appeals the district court's dismissal on summary judgment of her claims against her former employer, Automation & Modular Components, and its president and part owner, Richard A. Shore, for violations, relating to maternity leave, of the Family and Medical Leave Act and Michigan's Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act. We AFFIRM in part and REVERSE in part, and REMAND for further consideration.

I.

Defendants hired Saroli to serve as the Corporation's Controller, the highest-level position in its financial division, in December of 1997. In that position, she reported to the Corporation's two owners, Richard Shore and Paul Cusmano, and its general manager, Sean Mosser. Before Saroli, the Corporation had never employed a pregnant employee, and it had no specific provisions for maternity leave. Saroli became pregnant in September 2000 and was due to deliver on May 22, 2001. Shortly after she announced her pregnancy, Saroli received a $10,000 raise and a $10,000 bonus as a result of a job performance review in which Shore indicated that Saroli had "done a good job of organizing the accounting department" but showed "some examples lately of not getting the job done expeditiously or within a reasonable time frame."

After making several failed verbal requests to discuss the terms of her maternity leave, on February 26, 2001, Saroli prepared a written request. She proposed to take four weeks off immediately after her baby was born "with the exception of doing payroll every other week," and return to work full-time on September 4, 2001. She also proposed to work twenty to twenty-five hours per week from home until the end of August.

The next day, Saroli met with Shore and Mosser, who did not respond to her proposal. Instead, they informed Saroli that they had hired Shore's son, Rich Shore, Jr., to manage the accounting and finance department. They advised Saroli that her day-to-day responsibilities would remain the same, and that Shore, Jr., would review procedures and look into the job costing system, because Shore was "not happy with the way the accounting department was progressing." Defendants testified that they hired Shore, Jr., because he was able to ascertain the reason for a sharp downturn in the Corporation's profitability in the first quarter of fiscal year 2001. Shore, Jr., testified that there was no plan for Saroli's maternity leave when he was hired on March 5, 2001.

At a March 27, 2001 meeting with Shore, Saroli again raised the issue of her maternity leave. According to Saroli's deposition testimony and her notes from this meeting, Shore still did not discuss the terms of her maternity leave, other than stating that Saroli would not lose her medical coverage while on leave. Apparently, Shore distinguished between maternity leave and medical leaves previously given to two male employees who had been ill, because their illnesses were "something that [the employees] could not plan for." Shore purportedly stated that "[p]regnancy is being treated differently," and that "if [plaintiff's] husband needs to go out and get a job, that's not my fault."

In May 2001, Saroli's obstetrician ordered her to stop working for "medical reasons." Saroli prepared a memorandum stating that she would begin her leave on May 11, 2001, "per my doctor's request," and requesting resolution of her compensation during the leave. Saroli met with Shore, Mosser, and Shore, Jr., and was given a letter from Shore, stating:

As per our discussion, the following shall apply to you during your Family and Medical Leave Act leave of absence.

[The Corporation] will pay you your full salary for a maximum period of 6 weeks starting Monday [May] 14, 2001, during the Medical leave.

After this period of six weeks if you choose to continue your leave of absence, you may use what ever vacation time and personal time you still have to extend this period. After this period, provided you are fit health wise to return to work, the amount of hours and work to be performed and location will be determined at that time.

Saroli testified that she found these terms "[s]atisfactory," but that she was "not a hundred percent happy." She stated that she felt that the Corporation should have given her more than six weeks of leave. She testified that she was displeased with the company's delay in resolving the issue of her maternity leave, which "led to a lot of stress."

During Saroli's leave of absence, Shore, Jr., and an accounts payable clerk performed her responsibilities, and Saroli looked for employment elsewhere. Saroli twice extended her leave, and defendants did not expect her to return and consequently made no preparations.

On the day that Saroli returned to work, she was told that she was required to present a doctor's note approving her return to work. She also was scheduled to meet with Shore and Mosser that afternoon. According to notes taken at the meeting, Shore explained that he was unhappy with her job performance. During that meeting (and in an encounter the next morning), Shore made three offers: 1) Saroli could remain employed, if she wanted to stay, and they could work together to determine new job responsibilities, which would likely be decreased; 2) she could leave, and receive a severance package with four weeks of pay and continuing medical coverage; or 3) she could remain employed for sixty to ninety days while she looked for another job and in that case the terms of her position would be addressed in the following days. Shore gave Saroli a day to consider the options.

Saroli returned the next morning to "demand her job." According to Saroli's brief, she informed Shore that she had come back prepared to work and "was shocked that she did not have a position." She says that she asked Shore whether she would be demoted if she stayed and he responded, "probably." Saroli states that, at that point, it was "obvious" to her that Shore would not allow her to return to her position as Controller or any position at the Corporation. After speaking with her attorney that morning, she told Shore that she had been treated unfairly, a demotion was unacceptable, and that Shore gave her "no other alternative but to resign effective immediately." Saroli left without giving Shore a chance to respond.

II.

We review the district court's grant of summary judgment de novo. Mitchell v. Vanderbilt Univ., 389 F.3d 177, 181 (6th Cir.2004). Summary judgment is proper "if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue of material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law." Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). A "material" fact is one "that might affect the outcome of the suit." Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). A "genuine" issue exists if "the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party." Id. We must accept the nonmoving party's evidence, and draw all justifiable inferences in her favor. Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 587, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986). Because we believe Saroli has raised a genuine issue of material fact as to whether she was constructively discharged by Automation & Modular Components, we reverse the district court's grant of summary judgment and remand the case for further consideration. Furthermore, we hold that the district court erred in concluding that Saroli's interference claims under the Family Medical Leave Act were not actionable absent a finding of constructive discharge. We do, however, affirm the district court's dismissal of Saroli's Elliott-Larsen Act claim against Shore individually.

III.

Saroli contends that she was constructively discharged in violation of the Family and Medical Leave Act and Michigan's Elliott-Larsen Act. She also contends that defendants violated the Family and Medical Leave Act by repeatedly failing to provide her with written notice of her eligibility for leave under the Act, by insisting that she produce her doctor's certification of her return to work, and by failing to notify her of her eligibility to take twelve weeks leave.

A. Constructive Discharge

The Family and Medical Leave Act declares it unlawful for "any employer to interfere with, restrain, or deny the exercise of or the attempt to exercise any right provided under this subchapter." 29 U.S.C. § 2615(a)(1). To bring a successful claim under this Act, a plaintiff must show (1) that she engaged in conduct protected by the Act, (2) that the defendant was aware of this exercise of protected rights, (3) that the defendant took an employment action adverse to the plaintiff, and (4) that there was a causal connection between the protected activity and the adverse employment action. See Skrjanc v. Great Lakes Power Serv. Co., 272 F.3d 309, 314 (6th Cir.2001). Similarly, the Elliott-Larsen Act prohibits employers from discriminating based on sex, which "includ[es], but [is] not limited to, pregnancy, childbirth, or a medical condition related to pregnancy or childbirth." Mich. Comp. Laws §§ 37.2202(1)(a), 37.2201(d). A prima facie case under ...