Wyatt v. Nissan N. Am., Inc.

• Decision Date: 28 May 2021
• Docket Number: No. 20-5021,20-5021
• Citation: 999 F.3d 400
• Parties: Latanya L. WYATT, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. NISSAN NORTH AMERICA, INC., Defendant-Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit

999 F.3d 400

Latanya L. WYATT, Plaintiff-Appellant,

v.NISSAN NORTH AMERICA, INC., Defendant-Appellee.

No. 20-5021

United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit.

Argued: December 4, 2020

Decided and Filed: May 28, 2021

Rehearing En Banc Denied July 30, 2021

KAREN NELSON MOORE, Circuit Judge.

Plaintiff LaTanya Wyatt, a Project Manager in Defendant Nissan's Information Systems Application Department ("IS Department"), appeals the district court's grant of Nissan's motion for summary judgment as to Wyatt's various employment discrimination and retaliation claims, under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act (Title VII), 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq., the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA"), 42 U.S.C. § 12101 et seq., and the Family and Medical Leave Act ("FMLA"), 29 U.S.C. § 2601 et seq. Wyatt argues that she has presented sufficient evidence from which a jury could find that Nissan subjected Wyatt to a hostile work environment due to unabated sexual harassment from a senior manager, discriminated against Wyatt because of her disabilities, and retaliated against Wyatt after she engaged in protected activity. The district court failed to view the record in the light most favorable to Wyatt, leading it to conclude erroneously that there were no genuine issues of material fact with respect to Wyatt's hostile-work-environment claim brought under Title VII and retaliation claims brought under Title VII, the ADA, and the FMLA. Therefore, for the reasons explained below, we AFFIRM the district court's grant of summary judgment to Nissan with respect to Wyatt's discrimination claim under the ADA and Wyatt's retaliation claims, insofar as they are based on retaliatory harassment. We REVERSE the district court's grant of summary judgment to Nissan with respect to Wyatt's hostile-work-environment claim and Wyatt's retaliation claims based on adverse employment actions and REMAND for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

I. BACKGROUND

Wyatt began working for Nissan as a project manager in its IS Department in February 2013. By 2015, she began reporting to IS Manager William Davis, who remained her supervisor for the years at issue. For Wyatt's first two years as a project manager, she received positive annual performance reviews, earning "above" or "meets expectations" in all ten assessed categories. R. 70-6 (Petty Ex. 2) (Page ID #1492); R. 70-6 (Petty Ex. 3) (Page ID #1494). Each performance review highlighted her technical skills but also noted that Wyatt needed to strengthen her project managing skills. During these same two years, Wyatt twice requested and received medical leave. At the end of each leave, Nissan restored Wyatt to her project manager position. When Wyatt returned from her second leave in April 2015, Nissan also granted nearly all the work accommodations recommended by Wyatt's doctor. R. 69 (Pl.’s Resp. to Def.’s Statement of Facts at 6–7) (Page ID #880–81).¹

Unfortunately, Wyatt's return in 2015 marked the beginning of Wyatt's troubles at Nissan. Wyatt began working on a project (the "ABC project") headed by Walter Mullen, a senior manager at Nissan. Mullen began making inappropriate comments toward Wyatt on several occasions. On September 2, 2015, Mullen escalated his harassment. After Mullen invited and drove Wyatt to lunch, Mullen stopped at a hotel along the way under the pretense of showing Wyatt a suite his homeowner's insurance company was paying for while Mullen had his floors redone. R. 74 (Def.’s Resp. to Pl.’s Statement of Facts at 4) (Page ID #2068). Wyatt reluctantly agreed to go inside. Id . When they arrived at the room, Wyatt alleges that Mullen sexually harassed and assaulted her: he made sexual comments, exposed his genitals to Wyatt, asked if Wyatt wanted to touch them, prevented Wyatt from leaving the room, and tried to embrace her. Id. at 4–5 (Page ID #2068–69). Wyatt attempted to leave, told Mullen to stop, and became visibly upset throughout this ordeal. Id. at 5 (Page ID #2069). But Mullen placed his hand on the door and prevented Wyatt from leaving. Id . Mullen ultimately allowed Wyatt to leave, apologized, and asked her to ride back to Nissan with him. Id . Shocked, scared, and confused, Wyatt rode back with him to the office, which was about a mile away. Id. at 5–6 (Page ID #2069–70).

Wyatt attempted to avoid Mullen after the hotel incident, but he continued to seek her out. Around the week of September 22, Wyatt approached Mullen and told him how uncomfortable he made her. R. 70-4 (Wyatt Ex. 17 HR Notes at 2) (Page ID #1225). Mullen apologized and "said it would never happen again." Id . Soon after this incident, Mullen asked Davis to remove Wyatt from the ABC project, and Davis removed Wyatt from the project on October 1, 2015. R. 74 (Def.’s Resp. to Pl.’s Statement of Facts at 6) (Page ID #2070). Davis told Wyatt it was because Mullen informed Davis that Wyatt's performance was unsatisfactory. Id. at 7 (Page ID #2071). However, in November, Mullen approached Wyatt to discuss her removal from the project. Mullen denied that he said anything negative and told Wyatt he asked for Davis to remove Wyatt because Mullen needed a project manager that could devote more time to the project. Id . During October, despite Wyatt's attempts to avoid Mullen, he continued to touch Wyatt and rub down her shoulders to her buttocks, even though Wyatt asked Mullen to stop. Id. at 3, 7–8 (Page ID #2067, 2071–72).

On or about November 10, 2015, Wyatt reported Mullen's unwelcomed touching, but not the hotel incident, to another manager, David Butler. Id. at 9 (Page ID #2073). Butler asked Wyatt if he could escalate the issue to HR, which Butler did on November 19, 2015. Id. at 9–10 (Page ID #2073–74). On December 1, 2015, Wyatt, overwhelmed by Mullen's unabated groping, reached out to HR on her own initiative, asking if she could discuss some concerns. R. 70-4 (Wyatt Ex. 17 HR Notes at 2) (Page ID #1225). HR did not interview Butler until December 2, 2015. R. 74 (Def.’s Resp. to Pl.’s Statement of Facts at 11) (Page ID #2075). HR also interviewed Wyatt on December 3, 2015, and Wyatt disclosed all of Mullen's harassment, including the hotel incident. Id . Mullen remained in the workplace until December 9, 2015, when Nissan interviewed him regarding the allegations and then walked him out of the office. Id. at 12 (Page ID #2076). HR recommended his termination on December 10, 2015, which was approved on December 11, 2015, but Mullen resigned on December 13, 2015, before his termination could be effected. R. 70-6 (Petty Ex. 12 Recommendation for Termination) (Page ID #1542).

On December 8, 2015, Wyatt took medical leave for back surgery and did not return to work until May 2016. Upon her return, she and her doctors requested workplace accommodations, very similar to the ones she requested when she last returned from medical leave in May 2015. R. 69 (Pl.’s Resp. to Def.’s Statement of Facts at 6–7) (Page ID #880–81); R. 74 (Def.’s Resp. to Pl.’s Statement of Facts at 18–19) (Page ID #2082–83). However, Nissan refused to accommodate her request for a forty-hour work week. R. 74 (Def.’s Resp. to Pl.’s Statement of Facts at 24) (Page ID #2088). Wyatt also asserts that Davis and HR Manager Lance Petty harassed her about her requested accommodations. Id. at 19–20 (Page ID #2083–84).

After Wyatt's return in May 2016, Davis met with Wyatt to discuss her performance for fiscal year 2015. First, on or about June 11, 2016, Davis gave Wyatt her first ever "below expectations" annual performance evaluation, citing concerns about her performance on several projects, including the ABC project. R. 69 (Pl.’s Resp. to Def.’s Statement of Facts at 4) (Page ID #878); R. 74 (Def.’s Resp. to Pl.’s Statement of Facts at 21) (Page ID #2085). On June 15, 2016, Davis met with Wyatt and issued her a Manager's Performance Improvement Expectations ("MPIE") for her performance over the past year, although Davis had made the decision to issue the MPIE and drafted it in December 2015. R. 69 (Pl.’s Resp. to Def.’s Statement of Facts at 5) (Page ID #879); R. 74 (Def.’s Resp. to Pl.’s Statement of Facts at 22–23) (Page ID #2086–87). An MPIE provides notice of unsatisfactory performance to an employee so that they can correct issues prior to receiving disciplinary action. On June 27, 2016, Wyatt filed a charge of discrimination with the EEOC, which was served on Nissan on June 30, 2016, and read by Davis shortly after. R. 74 (Def.’s Resp. to Pl.’s Statement of Facts at 23–24) (Page ID #2087–88). Subsequently, in January 2017, Davis issued Wyatt a 90-day Performance Improvement Plan ("PIP"), asserting that Wyatt's performance had not improved. R. 69 (Pl.’s Resp. to Def.’s Statement of Facts at 5) (Page ID #879); R. 74 (Def.’s Resp. to Pl.’s Statement of Facts at 26) (Page ID #2090). Wyatt refused to sign the PIP because she disagreed with his assessment and believed that it was retaliatory. R. 74 (Def.’s Resp. to Pl.’s Statement of Facts at 26) (Page ID #2090). Finally, in February 2017, Wyatt took medical leave and has continued to be on leave. Id .

Wyatt filed a complaint against Nissan, alleging, inter alia, a hostile-work-environment claim under Title VII, a failure-to-accommodate claim under the ADA, and retaliation claims under Title VII, the ADA, and the FMLA. Discovery proceeded, and Nissan filed a motion for summary judgment. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of Nissan on all of Wyatt's claims. Wyatt v. Nissan North Am. , Inc. , No. 3:17-cv-1545, 2019 WL 6682197, at *18 (M.D. Tenn. Dec. 6, 2019). Wyatt appealed.

II. ANALYSIS

A. Standard of Review

"We review a grant of summary judgment de novo." Thaddeus-X v. Blatter , 175 F.3d 378, 385 (6th Cir. 1999) (en banc). Summary judgment is a granted "if the movant shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56(a). "[W]e will reverse a grant of summary judgment...