Tedesco v. Pearson Educ., Inc.
| Decision Date | 04 June 2021 |
| Docket Number | CIVIL ACTION No. 21-199 SECTION I |
| Parties | TIFFANIE TEDESCO v. PEARSON EDUCATION, INC., ET AL. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Louisiana |
Plaintiff Tiffanie Tedesco ("Tedesco") alleges that her former employer, defendant Pearson Education, Inc. ("Pearson"), discriminated against her based on her genetic information and mental disability. Now before the Court is Pearson's motion1 to dismiss Tedesco's complaint, under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), for failure to state a claim. Tedesco opposes2 the motion, to which Pearson replied.3 The motion is granted in part and denied in part for the reasons below.
Tedesco was a high-performing sales representative for Pearson's Higher Education Division.5 In 2017 and 2018, Pearson awarded her with membership in the President's Club, an honor reserved for the top 1% of Pearson's sales personnel.6 In 2018, she won the Pearson Award for having the highest cumulative sales over theprevious three years.7 She was also selected by Pearson's executive board to join the firm's Developing Leaders program, a "highly coveted" opportunity in a program that "exists to transition employees into upper-management level roles."8 In short, Pearson "considered [her] a leader," "placed her in a training path for leadership and management roles," and "highly regarded" her "opinions."9
After her father's tragic suicide on December 31, 2018, however, Tedesco struggled to maintain that success.10 She sought psychiatric treatment in January 2019 and was "[u]ltimately" diagnosed with "Major Depressive Disorder, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and Passive Suicidal Ideation."11
The fallout after her father's death bled into Tedesco's work. In mid-January 2019, her direct supervisor, Ty Olden ("Olden"), asked her to take a "certification test, which was an intensive internal test covering a wide range of higher education subjects and disciplines relevant to Pearson's product catalog."12 But because "Olden expected Ms. Tedesco to perform at her usual high-achieving level, Ms. Tedesco felt pressured to specify to Mr. Olden that her father died from a violent suicide and she, therefore, feared she could not perform on the test as expected."13
Olden explained that, to relieve Tedesco of her obligation to take the certification test, "he would need to tell" Jeanne Bronson ("Bronson"), Pearson's Vice-President of Sales and his direct supervisor.14 Tedesco responded that she "underst[oo]d" if Olden needed to tell Bronson, but she "clarified that the details were 'my story to tell.'"15 That is, Olden could share that information with Bronson only "to the extent necessary to exempt Ms. Tedesco from the certification test."16 However, Tedesco alleges that Olden "gratuitously shared [her] private genetic information regarding [her] family history of suicide and [her] genetic predisposition to mental health issues with" Bronson.17 And Bronson, in turn, shared that news with Pearson's managing director, "R.B."18
In March 2019, allegedly per Bronson's instructions, R.B. then called Tedesco to "obtain more information from Ms. Tedesco."19 "R.B. began the conversation by saying 'my condolences about your father.'"20 R.B. then "shared intimate details of her own life involving a suicide and thereby prompted" Tedesco to "open up," prompting Tedesco to share "details" regarding her "private genetic information and mental health."21 Tedesco claims that these actions—requesting, then sharing internally, information concerning her father's suicide—among other retaliatoryactions described below, violated her rights under the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act.
On April 3, 2019, Bronson suggested that Tedesco "update her resume because layoffs were coming."22 The next day, after Tedesco had a meal with a client, Bronson arrived at the restaurant and "became agitated with Ms. Tedesco."23 Tedesco claims that Bronson "raised her voice" at Tedesco and "24 Bronson later admitted that she shared "the details of" Tedesco's father's suicide with R.B. and asked her to "question [Tedesco] regarding her mental health status."25 On April 7, 2019, Tedesco filed for FMLA leave, to begin immediately, because Pearson management was "treating her with severe hostility and harassing her due to her mental condition."26
On July 1, 2019, Tedesco's tenure as Pearson's "Evidence Field Champion"—a "Pearson Peer Leadership Role" that is "reserved for high-achieving sales representatives"—was renewed for another eighteen months, to begin in August 2019 and end January 2021.27
Tedesco returned from her first FMLA leave on July 15, 2019.28 However, Tedesco complained that "her superiors . . . treated her as if she were untrustworthyand incompetent to perform her job."29 For example, when Tedesco attempted to relay to Olden a problem that a client was having, Olden responded by screaming and cursing at her.30 Tedesco describes this as a "pattern of behavior from Pearson management."31 That "discriminatory and harassing treatment . . . exacerbated" Tedesco's depression, PTSD, and suicidal ideation.32
On September 14, 2019, Tedesco filed an internal complaint with Pearson "regarding Ms. Bronson's hostility towards her."33 Between then and November 2019, Tedesco "reported several incidents of harassment, retaliation, [and] hostile work environment" to human resources, in which she "attempted to receive reasonable accommodation."34 The accommodations she requested "were (1) to not be forced to take leave; and (2) to be placed in a line of reporting wherein she could work free from the ongoing hostility, harassment, and questioning regarding her mental condition and competency."35 Such requests would allegedly not have been difficult for Pearson to accommodate, since Pearson "will typically have some position available within their global company to offer an employee."36
On September 25, 2019, a Pearson human resources representative told Tedesco that R.B. thought she should go back on leave.37 Tedesco responded that she did not want to take leave again.38 On September 28, the same representative called Tedesco again and asked if she "was suicidal."39 Tedesco responded in the negative and reiterated that she did not want to go back on leave.40 Instead, Tedesco asked that "she be placed in a different position with Pearson due to the hostility she was experiencing in her current placement under [her direct supervisor,] Olden."41 The representative rejected Tedesco's request and did not suggest any alternatives other than that Tedesco take leave or vacation; instead, the representative "interrogat[ed]" Tedesco about whether she "would self-harm."42 Immediately after the phone call, Tedesco requested vacation, as directed by the representative.43
On September 30, 2019, Tedesco and R.B. (Pearson's managing director) spoke via phone; R.B. told Tedesco that she "had R.B.'s full support to quit her job with Pearson."44 R.B. knew that Tedesco wished to continue working for Pearson,45 but provided no option other than resignation.46 The next day, Tedesco took vacation "to avoid being forced to take leave again."47 The complaint does not state how long thisvacation lasted, or whether it was in addition to the one requested on September 28. However, on October 18, Tedesco "had no choice but to file a claim for Short-Term Disability as she could no longer work without an accommodation."48 Those disability benefits began on November 4.49
On November 20, 2019, Tedesco emailed human resources "regarding the status of her complaint against" Bronson; the representative responded that Tedesco should not be working while on leave and, as Tedesco puts it, "suggest[ed] her mental condition was questionable."50
On January 18, 2020, a Pearson manager emailed Pearson employees to state that Tedesco's tenure as Evidence Field Champion ended on December 31, 2019, "a year earlier than promised," and named Ms. Tedesco's replacement in that role.51 Tedesco was later approved, on May 5, 2020, for long-term disability leave through April 27, 2022.52
On April 23, 2020, Tedesco filed a charge of discrimination with the EEOC, alleging that Pearson discriminated and retaliated against her based on genetic information and disability.53 After an unsuccessful EEOC mediation, the case was transferred to the EEOC's investigative division.54 On July 23, Pearson's H.R.representative emailed Tedesco "requesting additional medical information regarding [her] ability to perform essential work functions and [her] return date."55 On July 31, Tedesco's psychologist responded with a letter, reporting that Tedesco was disabled and that returning to work would negatively affect her recovery.56
On August 5, 2020, Pearson terminated Tedesco's employment.57 The termination letter explained that Pearson "has no choice but to terminate Ms. Tedesco's employment as it cannot hold her position open indefinitely."58 On August 28, Tedesco filed a second charge of discrimination with the EEOC, alleging that Tedesco's termination constituted retaliation against Tedesco for her disclosing genetic information, requesting accommodation, and filing the original EEOC charge.59 The EEOC issued Tedesco notices of a right to sue on November 3, and she timely filed this lawsuit within ninety days.60
Tedesco brings five claims: (1) "violations of rights" under the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act ("GINA");61 (2) "violations of rights" under the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA"),62 which Pearson treats as both discrimination and failure-to-accommodate claims;63 (3) unlawful retaliation underthe ADA;64 (4) comparable genetic-information-based and disability-based claims under the Louisiana Employment...
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