Smith v. Wynfield Development Co., Inc.

• Decision Date: 24 August 2006
• Docket Number: Civil Action File No. 1:04-CV-1875-TWT.
• Citation: 451 F.Supp.2d 1327
• Parties: Darlene SMITH, Plaintiff, v. WYNFIELD DEVELOPMENT CO., INC., et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of Georgia

451 F.Supp.2d 1327

Darlene SMITH, Plaintiff, v. WYNFIELD DEVELOPMENT CO., INC., et al., Defendants.

Civil Action File No. 1:04-CV-1875-TWT.

United States District Court, N.D. Georgia, Atlanta Division.

August 24, 2006.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Dean Richard Fuchs, Schulten Ward & Turner, Atlanta, GA, for Plaintiff.

Jaime N. Cole, Joseph William Bryan, Ogletree Deakins Nash Smoak & Stewart, Atlanta, GA, for Defendants.

ORDER

THRASH, District Judge.

This is an employment discrimination and FLSA action. It is before the Court on the Report and Recommendation [Doc. 118] of the Magistrate Judge recommending granting in part and denying in party the Plaintiffs Motion for Summary Judgment [Doc. 77] and granting in part and denying in part the Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment [Doc. 85]. After careful consideration of the Objections of the parties, the Court approves and adopts the Report and Recommendation as the judgment of the Court. The Magistrate Judge correctly concluded that the Plaintiff had not established a genuine issue of fact for trial as to her disability claim but that she had done so with respect to her age discrimination claim. The latter claim as well as the amount of damages, if any, on her FLSA claim will go forward for trial. The Defendants have 10 days from the docketing of this Order to file a Motion for Summary Judgment based upon res judicata.

SO ORDERED, this 23 day of August, 2006.

REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION OF UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

SCOFIELD, United States Magistrate Judge.

I. Introduction

Plaintiff Darlene Smith ("Plaintiff') filed the instant employment discrimination action against Defendants, Wynfield Development Company, Inc. ("Wynfield") and Homelife Communities Group, Inc. ("Homelife"), on June 28, 2004. [Doc. 1]. Plaintiffs complaint asserts discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, 42 U.S.C. § 12101 et seq. ("ADA"); the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, as amended 29 U.S.C. § 621 et seq. ("ADEA"); retaliation under the ADA and ADEA; and violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA"), 29 U.S.C. § 201 et seq. [Does. 1 and 31—complaint and amended complaint]. This matter is presently before the Court on Plaintiffs motion for summary judgment as to her FLSA claim [Doc. 77] and Defendants' motion for summary judgment as to all claims. [Doc. 85]. For the reasons expressed herein, the undersigned RECOMMENDS that Plaintiffs motion for summary judgment [Doc. 77] be GRANTED and Defendants' motion for summary judgment [Doc. 85] be GRANTED in part and DENIED in part.

II. Factual Background

When evaluating the merits of a motion for summary judgment, the Court must view the evidence and factual inferences in a light most favorable to the non-moving party. Frederick v. Sprint/United Mgmt. Co., 246 F.3d 1305, 1309 (11th Cir.2001); Hairston v. Gainesville Sun Publ'g. Co., 9 F.3d 913, 920 (11th Cir.1993). Applying this legal standard, the Court derives the following facts from the parties' statements of facts and from the record as a whole:¹

Homelife is a residential real estate developer and Wynfield is the payroll company for individuals employed by Homelife. On December 16, 2002, Plaintiff, age fifty-three, was hired by Defendant to work as a Warranty Clerk in Homelife's Warranty Department. Plaintiff was hired by Hope Palmer—Manager of the Warranty Department—age fifty, to send out a welcome letters, warranty forms, and follow-up letters to Homelife's clients. (Deposition of Darlene Smith ("Pl.Dep.") at 38). Plaintiff utilized pre-made forms to execute these tasks. (Pl. Dep. at 38-39). At times, when Palmer, who was Plaintiffs immediate supervisor, was behind in her work, Plaintiff helped her with customer complaints by contacting contractors regarding various problems. (Pl. Dep. at 41). According to Plaintiff, she was hired at an hourly rate of $12.00 per hour. (Pl. Dep. at 44). According to Defendant, Plaintiff was a salaried employee who earned $480.00 per week, regardless of the number of hours she worked. (Def. SMF at 19).

On January 3, 2003, shortly after Plaintiff began employment with Defendants, she received a memorandum from the owner of Homelife, Jon Been, requesting a copy of her driver's license. (Pl. Dep. at 72). Plaintiff testified that this request was generated because Defendant needed a photo ID for her 1-9 form. (Pl. Dep. at 72-73). Accordingly, on January 6, 2003, Plaintiff provided a copy of her Georgia ID card to Defendant. Id.

On June 20, 2003, Plaintiff tripped and fell at work, injuring her right ankle and left thumb. (Pl. Dep. at 129); (Deposition of Lori Chapman ("Chapman Dep.") at Ex.58—medical record). Plaintiff also claims that, during her employment, she suffered from a pinched nerve in her neck and a bulging disc in her neck/back, which resulted from an injury she sustained during a car accident in the 1980s. (Pl. Dep. at 155-162). Nevertheless, Plaintiff drove herself to and from work throughout her employment with Defendants, although she contends that doing so was unsafe due to her injuries and that she protested to Defendants to this effect. (Pl. Dep. at 79-81).

In June 2003, Lori Chapman, Defendant's Human Resource Director, requested that all employees, including Plaintiff, complete an employment application. (Chapman Dep. at 6, 23). Plaintiff was not required to fill one out when she was hired because Defendant did not have formal application documents at that time. (Chapman Dep. at 23). Plaintiff testified that did not immediately return the application because she did not have information or records pertaining to her past employment. (Pl. Dep. at 61-62). On July 17, 2003, Plaintiff returned a partially completed application to Chapman, including a note that stated she would follow-up with her past work history. (Pl. Dep. at 61); (Chapman Dep. at 32). The next day, Been told Plaintiff she would be terminated if she did not complete the application and Plaintiff testified that she then completed the application without her records as to her past employment history. (Pl. Dep. at 61).

Chapman also determined at this time that a copy of Plaintiff's driver's license was not in the personnel files. (Chapman Dep. at 50). According to Defendant, a valid driver's license was required of all employees for Defendant's general liability insurance policy. (Chapman Dep. at 50, 130, 185-86). Plaintiff disputes that Defendant required her driver's license because her job did not require her to drive, and, even if it did, Defendant's insurance policy only covered company-owned vehicles and Plaintiff did not drive a company-owned vehicle. (Pl. Resp. To SMF at 27). Chapman, who administered the insurance policy, explained that the general liability insurance policy covered employees driving in their personal vehicles for work purposes and that the insurance company required a driver's license. (Chapman Dep. at 25-26). While Plaintiff maintains that she provided her driver's license to Chapman in July 2003 for purposes of completing a second I-9 form (Pl. Resp. To SMF at 29), Plaintiff's cited deposition testimony and exhibits fail to establish this. See (Pl. Dep. at 82-92); (Chapman Dep. Exh. 62—Georgia ID card). Also, while Plaintiff supplied her driver's license number to Palmer on July 30, 2003, when she completed an application for a disabled parking permit, it does not appear that she presented Defendants with her driver's license, or a copy of it, as requested. (Palmer Dep. Ex. 18—application).

On August 8, 2003, Plaintiffs employment was terminated "primarily" because Plaintiff failed to present Defendant with a valid driver's license. See (Def. SMF at 31);(Chapman Dep. at 24-25); (Deposition of Jon Been ("Been Dep.") at Ex. 28— separation letter). The separation letter, signed by Jon Been, stated as follows:

It has also been ascertained that you have not provided Homelife Communities with truthful information on the employment application all employees complete and that a significant amount of inaccuracies exist regarding your medical situation. Both workers' compensation doctors you have selected have contradicted the information you have provided to our office with regard to appointment attendance, scheduled appointments, necessary on-site treatments and modified work arrangements. These facts combined with your previous warning regarding your behavior and performance constitutes grounds for employment termination.

(Been Dep. at Ex.28). Plaintiff filed the instant lawsuit on June 24, 2004. [Doc. 1].

III. Summary Judgment Standard

Summary judgment is appropriate when there is no genuine issue of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(C); Turlington. v. Atlanta Gas Light Co., 135 F.3d 1428, 1432 (11th Cir.1998). A factual dispute is genuine if the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the non-moving party. United States v. Four Parcels of Real Prop., 941 F.2d 1428, 1437 (11th Cir.1991)(en banc)(quoting Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986)). The substantive law applicable to the case determines which facts are material. Anderson, 477 U.S. at 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505.

The moving party bears the initial burden of showing the court "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" and "an absence of evidence to support the non-moving party's case." Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322-323, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986); Four Parcels, 941 F.2d at 1437-1438. If the moving party fails to discharge this initial burden, then the motion must be denied. Fitzpatrick v. City of Atlanta, 2 F.3d 1112, 1116 (11th Cir.1993)(citing Clark v. Coats & Clark,...