Sawyers v. United Parcel Serv.

• Decision Date: 16 May 2013
• Docket Number: Civil Action No. GLR–12–3183.
• Citation: 946 F.Supp.2d 432
• Parties: Concetta M. SAWYERS, Plaintiff, v. UNITED PARCEL SERVICE, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Maryland

946 F.Supp.2d 432

Concetta M. SAWYERS, Plaintiff,

v.UNITED PARCEL SERVICE, Defendant.

Civil Action No. GLR–12–3183.

United States District Court, D. Maryland.

May 16, 2013.

Lee Boothby, Law Offices of Lee Boothby, Washington, DC, for Plaintiff.

Emmett F. McGee, Jr., Jill Schultz Distler, Jackson Lewis LLP, Baltimore, MD, for Defendant.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

GEORGE L. RUSSELL, III, District Judge.

Pending before the Court is Defendant United Parcel Service's (“UPS”) Motion to Dismiss Plaintiff Concetta M. Sawyers' First Amended Complaint. (ECF No. 15). Sawyers alleges harassment, sex and religious discrimination, and retaliation in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title VII”), as amended, 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000e et seq. (2012). (ECF No. 11). The Court, having reviewed the pleadings and supporting documents, finds no hearing necessary. See Local Rule 105.6 (D. Md. 2011).

For the reasons stated herein, UPS' Motion will be granted. Sawyers' harassment, religious discrimination, and retaliation claims will be dismissed for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. Sawyers' sex discrimination claim will be dismissed for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.

I. BACKGROUND¹

UPS operates a worldwide package pick-up and delivery system. In 1996, UPS hired Sawyers, a member of the Pentecostal faith, as a feeder truck driver at its Hagerstown, Maryland facility. During the time in question, Sawyers was the only female among the group of eighteen drivers at the facility. (Def.'s Mot. to Dismiss [“Def.'s Mot.”] Ex. 2, at 1, ECF No. 15–3). According to Sawyers, UPS unlawfully harassed and discriminated against her on the basis of sex and religion from Fall 2009 until May 2010.

Sawyers alleges that UPS refused to assign her double loads and overtime pay while her male counterparts received the coveted opportunities. According to Sawyers, this refusal negatively affected her income compared to other male drivers.

Sawyers also alleges that UPS issued differential discipline regarding lunch break extensions based upon sex.² Specifically,on November 20, 2009, management accused Sawyers of failing to follow proper methods and procedures by extending her lunch break the previous day. On December 4, 2009, management accused Sawyers of committing the same infraction and issued a three-day suspension. In response, Sawyers filed a grievance with the union contending that suspensions were not issued for similarly situated male drivers who engaged in the same activity. Sawyers only served one day of the suspension, however, because management allegedly instructed her to return to work.

On May 5, 2010, Sawyers' supervisor, Matthew Chaney, allegedly falsely accused her of failing to blow the horn and notify loaders before backing out her truck. As a result, Chaney allegedly placed Sawyers on notice of termination of employment. On the same day, Chaney allegedly pushed Sawyers in an offensive manner as she prepared to leave for her run to Dulles Airport, while telling her to get into her truck and get down the road. On May 6, 2010, Sawyers filed a civil complaint against Chaney in the District Court of Maryland for Washington County. ( See Pl.'s Opp'n to Def.'s Mot. to Dismiss [“Pl.'s Opp'n”] Ex. B, ECF No. 19–3).

On May 12, 2010, UPS informed Sawyers that she would be out-of-service because management stated Sawyers claimed to have seen “invisible things and demons in her truck.” (Am. Compl. ¶ 20). Sawyers denied ever making the statement and denied its validity. Notwithstanding her objection, UPS instructed Sawyers to undergo an evaluation by Dr. Allan Levy to gauge the status of her mental health. Dr. Levy conducted the evaluation on May 21, 2010, and determined that Sawyers suffered from a mental illness.

Upon learning of Dr. Levy's findings, Sawyers, disagreeing with his conclusion, contacted Dr. Paul F. Kradel to perform an independent evaluation on June 5, 2010. Dr. Kradel's findings ultimately contradicted Dr. Levy's report. Upon these findings, UPS provided a list of mental health providers Sawyers could contact for a third evaluation. Sawyers selected Dr. Ronald F. Means who issued an October 22, 2010 report concluding that Sawyers did not have a mental illness that would impact her ability to perform her job duties. As a result, Sawyers returned to work on November 1, 2010. During the time of her suspension, however, Sawyers did not receive compensation.

Prior to her appointment with Dr. Levy, Sawyers initiated the administrative complaint process by completing an intake questionnaire with the Maryland Commission on Civil Rights (“MCCR”) on May 17, 2010. Sawyers alleges that the intake questionnaire listed sex and retaliation as bases for her complaint, and indicated that the issues included harassment, suspension, and differential treatment.³ According to Sawyers, MCCR employee Barbara Green facilitated the filing process and, in December 2010, allegedly encouraged Sawyers to drop her discrimination charges against UPS. Green also allegedly mailed Sawyers a withdrawal form and contacted her several times seeking its execution. Sawyers alleges that when she met with Green, she explained that her issues involved discriminatory enforcement of companypolicies, such as the use of idle time, as well as the distribution of overtime work and start times.

Sawyers' final charge of discrimination, however, lists sex as the sole discriminatory basis. ( See Def.'s Mot. Ex. 1). Moreover, the charge describes issues related to the idle time, lunch break extensions, overtime, and demons referenced above. ( See id.) On March 26, 2012, the MCCR entered a decision adverse to Sawyers. Sawyers timely filed a request for reconsideration, which the MCCR denied on April 16, 2012. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) adopted the MCCR's findings and issued its Dismissal and Notice of Right to Sue on August 1, 2012.

Sawyers commenced the pending action in this Court on October 30, 2012. UPS filed a Motion to Dismiss on January 14, 2013. On February 4, 2013, Sawyers filed the First Amended Complaint in response.⁴ UPS then filed the pending Motion to Dismiss on February 28, 2013.

II. DISCUSSION

A. Standard of Review

UPS moves to dismiss Sawyers' First Amended Complaint pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(6). The Court will address Sawyers' harassment, religious discrimination, and retaliation claims pursuant to Rule 12(b)(1), and the sex discrimination claim pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6).

A motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction is governed by Rule 12(b)(1). The plaintiff bears the burden of proving that subject matter jurisdiction properly exists in the federal court. See Evans v. B.F. Perkins Co., a Div. of Standex Int'l Corp., 166 F.3d 642, 647 (4th Cir.1999) (citation omitted). In a Rule 12(b)(1) motion, the court “may consider evidence outside the pleadings” to help determine whether it has jurisdiction over the case before it. Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac R.R. Co. v. United States, 945 F.2d 765, 768 (4th Cir.1991) (citation omitted); see also Evans, 166 F.3d at 647. The court should grant a 12(b)(1) motion “only if the material jurisdictional facts are not in dispute and the moving party is entitled to prevail as a matter of law.” Richmond, 945 F.2d at 768.

Conversely, a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim is governed by Rule 12(b)(6). “[T]he purpose of Rule 12(b)(6) is to test the sufficiency of a complaint and not to resolve contests surrounding the facts, the merits of a claim, or the applicability of defenses.” Presley v. City of Charlottesville, 464 F.3d 480, 483 (4th Cir.2006) (alterations and internal quotation marks omitted) (quoting Edwards v. City of Goldsboro, 178 F.3d 231, 243 (4th Cir.1999)).

When ruling on such a motion, the court must “accept the well-pled allegations of the complaint as true,” and “construe the facts and reasonable inferences derived therefrom in the light most favorable to the plaintiff.” Ibarra v. U.S., 120 F.3d 472, 474 (4th Cir.1997). “Even though the requirements for pleading a proper complaint are substantially aimed at assuring that the defendant be given adequate notice of the nature of a claim being made against him, they also provide criteria for defining issues for trial and for early disposition of inappropriate complaints.” Francis v. Giacomelli, 588 F.3d 186, 192 (4th Cir.2009).

To survive a motion to dismiss, the factual allegations of a complaint “must be enough to raise a right to relief above the speculative level, ... on the assumption that all the allegations in the complaint are true (even if doubtful in fact).” Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007) (alterations and internal citations omitted). Thus, the plaintiff's obligation is to set forth sufficiently the “grounds of his entitlement to relief,” offering more than “labels and conclusions.” Id. (internal quotation marks and alterations omitted). “[W]here the well-pleaded facts do not permit the court to infer more than the mere possibility of misconduct, the complaint has alleged—but it has not ‘show[n]’—‘that the pleader is entitled to relief.’ ” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 679, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) (quoting Fed.R.Civ.P. 8(a)(2)).

B. Analysis1. Failure to Exhaust Administrative Remedies

UPS avers that Sawyers' claims of harassment, religious discrimination, and retaliation should be dismissed for lack of subject matter jurisdiction because they exceed the scope of her administrative charge. The Court agrees.

Before a plaintiff can file a Title VII claim in this Court, she must exhaust her administrative remedies by filing a charge with the EEOC. Bryant v. Bell Atl. Md., Inc., 288 F.3d 124, 132 (4th Cir.2002) (citation omitted). The primary purpose of engaging in the administrative process is to notify the employer of the alleged discrimination...