Wilkerson v. New Media Technology Charter School Inc.

• Decision Date: 09 April 2008
• Docket Number: No. 07-1305.,07-1305.
• Citation: 522 F.3d 315
• Parties: Jessica WILKERSON, Appellant v. NEW MEDIA TECHNOLOGY CHATER SCHOOL INC. t/d/b/a New Media Technology Charter School; Hugh C. Clark.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Third Circuit

522 F.3d 315

Jessica WILKERSON, Appellant v. NEW MEDIA TECHNOLOGY CHATER SCHOOL INC. t/d/b/a New Media Technology Charter School; Hugh C. Clark.

No. 07-1305.

United States Court of Appeals, Third Circuit.

Argued February 11, 2008.

Filed: April 9, 2008.

Timothy M. Kolman, Wayne A. Ely, (Argued), Timothy M. Kolman & Associates, Langhorne, PA, for Appellant.

Debbie R. Sandler, (Argued), White & Williams, Philadelphia, PA, for Appellees.

Before: SLOVITER, SMITH, and STAPLETON, Circuit Judges.

OPINION OF THE COURT

SLOVITER, Circuit Judge.

The statement of facts set forth here is based on the allegations of the complaint as the District Court dismissed the complaint before any responsive pleading or discovery.

I.

New Media Technology Charter School, Inc. ("New Media") employed Jessica Wilkerson by letter dated March 4, 2005, "as an`advisor' (essentially a teacher) during the spring 2005 school year." App. at 65. When she applied for the position, Wilkerson disclosed to New Media her "Christian ministry activities," and New Media was aware of her "Christian faith." App. at 65.

In May 2005, Wilkerson was required to attend a school banquet at which there was a ceremony, described in the complaint as "libations."¹ App. at 65. The ceremony violated Wilkerson's Christian beliefs because it requirld those who participated "to engage in what [Wilkerson] perceived as religious worship of their ancestors rather than the Christian God." App. at 65. Wilkerson was present during the libations ceremony, but chose not to participate. She does not allege that she complained to anyone at New Media about the ceremony while it was happening, nor does she allege that anyone at New Media made any comment to her at the time or at any time after the ceremony about her decision not to participate.

Wilkerson did not know that the libations ceremony would be conducted at the banquet prior to attending the banquet. Thus, Wilkerson does not allege that she objected to the libations ceremony prior to attending; however, she also does not allege that she objected to the libations ceremony at the time it occurred, asked to be excused, or indeed even attempted to excuse herself. Nevertheless, Wilkerson alleges that defendants New Media and Director Hugh Clark "were aware" that the libations ceremony "would offend the religious beliefs of [Wilkerson] and other members of the Christian faith and made no goo[d] faith effort to accommodate the religious beliefs of [those individuals]." App. at 65.

During a staff meeting that occurred at some point shortly after the libations ceremony, Wilkerson complained to agents of New Media about the libations ceremony "and made religious objections to it...." App. at 66. Following that complaint, Wilkerson alleges that "New Media made no effort to accommodate her religious beliefs or to engage in an interactive process to accommodate them." App. at 66.

Wilkerson alleges that in June 2005, her employment was "terminated as a result of her Christian religious beliefs, her refusal to engage in the`libations' ceremony, and her complaints related to the ceremony...." App. at 66. Clark prepared and signed Wilkerson's termination letter. The termination letter stated no performance-based reason'for the termination.

Wilkerson filed suit against New Media and Clark alleging violations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq., and other federal and state law. The defendants filed a motion to dismiss, which the District Court granted. Although the District Court dismissed the first amended complaint in its entirety, on appeal Wilkerson argues that the District Court should not have dismissed Counts One, Two, Five and Six of her amended complaint, and we will confine ourselves to that contention. Wilkerson argues that she has adequately pled claims under Title VII and the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act, 43 Pa. Cons.Stat. Ann. § 951 et seq. ("PHRA").

II.

We have plenary review of the dismissal of a complaint. "The issue is not whether a plaintiff will ultimately prevail but whether the claimant is entitled to offer evidence to support the claims." Scheuer v. Rhodes, 416 U.S. 232, 236, 94 S.Ct. 1683, 40 L.Ed.2d 90 (1974).

III.

Both parties agree that the PHRA and Title VII claims should be analyzed under the same legal standard, and we do so here. See Fogleman v. Mercy Hosp., Inc., 283 F.3d 561, 567 (3d Cir.2002). Wilkerson asserts three claims: (1) religious discrimination under Title VII and the PHRA, (2) retaliation under the PHRA and Title VII, and (3) an individual PHRA claim against Clark for aiding and abetting the PHRA violations. With respect to the religious discrimination claims, Wilkerson alleges two theories of discrimination — failure to accommodate and discriminatory termination.

Under Title VII, it is unlawful for an employer to "discharge ... or otherwise to discriminate against any individual with respect to h[er] compensation, terms, conditions or privileges of employment, because of ... religion." Shelton v. Univ. of Med. & Dentistry of N.J., 223 F.3d 220, 224 n. 4 (3d Cir.2000) (quoting 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2(a)(1)). In addition, under 42 U.S.C. § 2000e(j), an employer must make reasonable accommodations for its employees' religious beliefs and practices unless doing so would create an "undue hardship" for the employer. Id. at 224.

To establish a prima facie case of a failure to accommodate claim, the employee must show: (1) she has a sincere religious belief that conflicts with a job requirement; (2) she told the employer about the conflict; and (3) she was disciplined for failing to comply with the conflicting requirement. Id. The employee must give the employer "fair warning" that a particular employment practice will interfere with that employee's religious beliefs. Reed v. Great Lakes Cos., 330 F.3d 931, 935 (7th Cir.2003) (collecting cases). That is because "[a] person's religion is not like [her] sex or race[,]" that is, simply announcing one's belief in a certain religion, or even wearing a symbol of that religion (i.e., a cross or Star of David) does not notify the employer of the particular beliefs and observances that the employee holds in connection with her religious affiliation, id. at 935-36. We do not charge employers with possessing knowledge about the particularized beliefs and observances of various religious sects. Id. at 936. Our precedents in this area have involved instances in which the employee claiming discrimination had informed the employer of a particularized religious belief in conflict with an employment requirement. See, e.g., Abramson v. William Paterson Coll of N.J., 260 F.3d 265, 268 (3d Cir.2001) (discussing Orthodox Jewish professor's warning to supervisor that she would not' be able to teach on Jewish holidays).

The District Court correctly dismissed those portions of Wilkerson's claims alleging failure to accommodate. Wilkerson does not allege that she ever informed New Media or its agents that the libations ceremony conflicted with her religious beliefs prior to or during the ceremony. Because she did not inform New Media that the ceremony presented a conflict, it did not have a duty to accommodate her. Although Wilkerson told New Media after the fact, at that time there was nothing to accommodate. That Wilkerson alleges that she told New Media that she was a Christian and that New Media knew she was a Christian does not sufficiently satisfy Wilkerson's duty to provide "fair warning" to New Media that she possessed a religious belief that specifically prevented her from participating in the libations ceremony.

Wilkerson seeks to be permitted to adduce discovery that would show that New Media knew or should have known that the libations ceremony would offend Christians generally. Such discovery, eveW if obtainable, is not relevant because we do not impute to the employer the duty to possess knowledge of particularized beliefs of religious sects. Even if there was evidence that New Media suspected that the libations ceremony would offend Wilkerson and other Christians, it is undisputed that Wilkerson did not inform the defendants that the libation ceremony would offend her religious beliefs, and therefore they did not have a duty to accommodate her. We will therefore affirm the District Court's dismissal of Count One and Count Five of the complaint to the extent those counts allege failure to accommodate under Title VII and the PHRA respectively.

IV.

We turn to Wilkerson's claim alleging that New Media terminated her employment because of her refusal to participate in the libations ceremony, and because of her complaint thereof. In both her complaint and in her appellate brief Wilkerson characterizes her claim as "retaliation against [her] as a result of her protected activity in complaining of religious discrimination." App. at 67.

To establish a prima facie case of retaliation under Title VII, a plaintiff must show that (1) she engaged in a protected activity under Title VII; (2) the employer took an adverse action against her; and (3) there was a causal connection between the employee's participation in the protected activity and the adverse employment action. Moore v. City of Philadelphia, 461 F.3d 331, 340-41 (3d Cir.2006) (citation omitted).

The District Court, correctly characterizing New Media's arrangement with Wilkerson as an "at-will employment agreement," App. at 14, held that Wilkerson was not "terminated" because the agreement on its face, provided for her paid work only until June 17, 2005.² Thus, according to the District Court, New Media did not terminate Wilkerson; it "simply did not renew her contract." App. at 11. The Court also noted that Wilkerson did not allege that New Media agreed to renew her employment beyond the June 17, 2005 date, nor did she "offer any explanation that might reconcile her claim of termination in June of 2005 with an agreement providing for her paid work only until...