Satterfield v. Karnes

• Decision Date: 23 August 2010
• Docket Number: Case No. 2:08-cv-387
• Citation: 736 F.Supp.2d 1138
• Parties: Michelle L. SATTERFIELD, Plaintiff, v. James A. KARNES, in both his individual and official capacities, Franklin County Sheriff, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of Ohio

736 F.Supp.2d 1138

Michelle L. SATTERFIELD, Plaintiff,

v.James A. KARNES, in both his individual and official capacities, Franklin County Sheriff, Defendant.

Case No. 2:08-cv-387.

United States District Court,

S.D. Ohio,

Eastern Division.

Aug. 23, 2010.

Edward Reilley Forman, Marshall and Morrow LLC, John Spenceley Marshall, Columbus, OH, Stephen Craig Predieri, Predieri Legal Services LLC, Granville, OH, Louis Abraham Jacobs, Marshall and Morrow LLC, Desert Hot Springs, CA, for Plaintiff.

Amy L. Hiers, Denise L. Depalma, Columbus, OH, for Defendant.

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

JOHN D. HOLSCHUH, District Judge.

This is a sexual harassment case brought by Michelle Satterfield, who formerly worked as a nurse at the Franklin County Sheriff's Office, against Sheriff Jim Karnes, in both his official and individual capacities. Before the Court now is Defendant Karnes' Motion for Summary Judgment. (Doc. 37.) For the reasons set forth below, this motion is granted.

I. Facts

Michelle Satterfield began working as a nurse at the Franklin County Sheriff's Office in late 2001. Although she was originally employed there through a contracting agency, she became a full-time employee of the Sheriff's Office in 2004. In mid-2006, she separated from her husband, Joe Satterfield, who is a deputy in the Office, and took a three-week leave of absence. Shortly after returning from this leave in July 2006, Deputy Alan Mann, Jr. approached her and asked how she was doing since separating from her husband. Satterfield knew Mann because she and her ex-husband had gone out socially with Mann and his wife on a few occasions in the past. The two of them exchanged cell phone numbers, and Mann told Satterfield to let him know if she ever needed anything. Satterfield thought, at that point, that Mann was merely making a "friendly, nice gesture." Deposition of Michelle Satterfield, Vol. II, at 274.

This gesture portended a turn for the worse in their relations, however, as Mann made an obscene phone call to Satterfield a few weeks later. Satterfield was driving home from work when Mann called her cell phone; her account of this call is as follows:

[I p]icked up the phone, it was him on the phone, he said where are you at. Have you left the jail? And I said yeah, who is this? He said it's Alan Mann. And I said yeah, I've done left, why? He says are you on 70? And I said yeah. He goes pull over and let's go get a hotel room. I said no. He says well, then let me follow you home. I said no you're not following me home. He goes-then he proceeds to ask me if my pussy's shaved because he's always wanted to lick me up and down. I told him he was ignorant and I hung up.

Satterfield depo. at 272. Satterfield told her supervisor, Charge Nurse Dawn Spelling, about this phone call, but Snelling was given the impression that Satterfield had told her as a friend and did not want her to do anything about it as a supervisor. Deposition of Dawn Snelling at 25. Had Snelling been given the impression that Satterfield wanted her to do something about this incident, Snelling states that she would have reported it to her supervisor. Id. at 26. Instead, she did not report it to anyone.

Nothing further happened between Mann and Satterfield until early October-most likely on October 3, 2006. While Satterfield was at her post at the Corrections Center on Jackson Pike, Deputy Mann came up from behind her and said "Just let me touch it once, just let me touch it once." Doc. 55-1 at 35-36. He then grabbed her left breast with his left hand and attempted to place his right hand between her legs. Satterfield pushed him away and said "no," so he left.

Satterfield then called Sergeant Steve Tucker, who had recently been transferred from the Jackson Pike facility to the Main Jail, and told him about the attack. During this call, Mann returned and stood in front of the bathroom door. After Satterfield hung up the phone, he forcibly grabbed and kissed her. In her words, he "snatched me by the back of my head, pulled my head back, my neck back, and put his lips on mine and said just let me-just kiss me once. Or just kiss me, something like that." Satterfield depo. at 287-88. She then tried to push him away. "[T]here was a little bit of a struggle and that's when he walked out." Id. at 288. About twenty minutes later, Deputy Mann called Satterfield's workstation and demanded to know why a supervisor was telling him to leave her alone. Doc. 55 at 30.

Satterfield reported this assault to Nurse Snelling the next day. According to Chief Deputy Mark Barrett, a supervisor who gets a report of sexual harassment "should document any action that they take with that report and then pass it on to their Chain of Command." Deposition of Mark Barrett at 9. Nurse Snelling advised Satterfield to "turn it in," but she also warned Satterfield that "you know you're going to get repercussions ... [b]ecause of Deputy Alan Mann's dad." Satterfield depo. at 297. Deputy Mann's father, it turns out, is Major Alan Mann, Sr., and he was at that time in charge of the Patrol Division in the Sheriff's Office. Deposition of Alan Mann, Sr. at 5. A few days later, on October 7, 2006, Satterfield reported this conduct orally to Lieutenant Doug Edgington, who in turn reported it to Lieutenant Karen Cotner, the Equal Employment Opportunity Officer for the Sheriff's Office. Satterfield depo. at 309-10; Deposition of Karen Cotner at 7. On October 9, Lieutenant Edgington sent an email to a number of supervisors in which he stated that Deputy Mann was to have no contact with Satterfield except insofar as was necessary for the performance of their job duties. Doc. 55-3 at 106. He also stated that a written order was forthcoming from Chief Deputy Mark Barrett on this matter. Id. Sergeant Josh Short conveyed these instructions to Mann. Affidavit of Josh Short at ¶¶ 4-5. And on October 11, 2006, Chief Deputy Barrett did issue a written order to Deputy Mann. His instructions to Mann were as follows:

... you are hereby ordered to not have contact with or communicate, either verbally or in writing, with Nurse Satterfield unless such action is job-related. To the extent that any such contact and/or communications are necessary, you are to limit any such contact and/or communications to those that involve the dissemination of information that is necessaryfor the performance of your mutual job duties.

Doc. 55-2 at 34.

Satterfield filed a written complaint when she met with Lieutenant Cotner on October 12. Doc. 55 at 16; Cotner depo. at 7. An investigation by Lieutenant Cotner was then authorized on October 13. Satterfield was interviewed on November 15, and in this interview she stated that she had been told by a former nurse that Deputy Mann had previously harassed Nurse Nicole Randle (née Brown), who worked at the Sheriff's Office in early 2005. Doc. 55 at 30-31. In response to this, investigators interviewed Mrs. Randle the next day. She told them that Deputy Mann had asked her out when she worked at the Sheriff's Office. Lt. Cotner reported her allegations as follows:

Ms. Brown-Randle said Deputy Mann had repeatedly asked her out on dates and she consistently refused. She said he frequently came to her assigned floor to pass medications when he was assigned to other areas. She said he came to her post to engage in lengthy sexual-in-nature conversations and ask her for dates. She said her resignation from the Sheriff's Office was in large part due to Deputy Mann's conduct. She felt like he treated her like a possession. Ms. Brown-Randle said her supervisor, Nurse Tomi Benedum, had approached her (Brown) about her (Brown) relationship with Deputy Mann due to rumors his wife had called FCCC II to complain. Ms. Brown-Randle said she felt humiliated by that since she had not encouraged his behavior in any way. She said she understood the time constraints for a sexual harassment complaint have expired, but wanted to offer her information if it would help to prevent Deputy Mann from repeating the same behavior.

Doc. 55 at 26. Nurses Snelling and Tomi Benedum (née Fraley) were interviewed on November 21 and December 6, respectively. Nurse Snelling told the investigators that she did not know Satterfield well, but when Satterfield reported the attack to her on the day it happened, she advised Satterfield to contact Deputy Mann's supervisor. Doc. 55 at 31-32. For her part, Nurse Benedum confirmed that she had spoken with Mrs. Randle about the rumors involving Mann's wife calling the office to complain; she said that Mrs. Randle made it clear to her that Mann had been pursuing her and that she disliked him. Doc. 55 at 32. Nurse Benedum also contacted Sergeant Short in early 2005 to ask him to tell Mann to leave Randle alone, which he did. Short aff. at ¶¶ 2-3. Randle quit her job at the Sheriff's Office in May or June of 2005, at least in part because of Deputy Mann. Deposition of Nicole Randle at 32-33.

A few days after the interview of Nurse Benedum, on December 8, 2006, a second incident occurred between Satterfield and Deputy Mann. As Satterfield responded to a medical issue known as a "Code Blue," she looked around to see if a deputy was nearby to assist her as an escort for an inmate. As she turned her head to look behind her, Deputy Mann allegedly said "don't look at me." She filed a report for this incident that day to Chief Deputy Barrett, doc. 55 at 14, though Lt. Cotner stated that Satterfield reported it on December 13, doc. 55 at 26. In this report, Satterfield stated as follows:

Nurse Daniel was some distance from us because he was walking faster. I turned my head to look behind me to see if we had a deputy escort close because if not I was going to tell Nurse Daniel to slow down. The minute I turned my head around I heard Deputy Mann yell "Don't look at me." After I heard him say that I immediately turned my head backaround trying to ignore the comment. There were other deputies walking with him at this time. I arrived on my post

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