Barnes v. Crowne Investments, Inc., Civ.A.03-0850-CG-M.

391 F.Supp.2d 1108

Letha F. BARNES Plaintiff, v. CROWNE INVESTMENTS, INC., Defendant.

No. Civ.A.03-0850-CG-M.

United States District Court, S.D. Alabama, Southern Division.

May 16, 2005.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Letha F. Barnes, Atmore, AL, pro se.

Ronnie L. Williams, Mobile, AL, for Plaintiff.

Kristen L. Hathcoat, Price H. Carroll, W. Christopher Arbery, Hunton & Williams, Atlanta, GA, P. Richard Hartley, Hartley, Hickman, Greenville, AL, for Defendant.

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

GRANADE, Chief Judge.

This cause is before the court on the motion of defendant, Crowne Investments, Inc., ("Crowne") for summary judgment (Doc. 25), plaintiff's response thereto (Doc. 30), and defendant's reply (Doc. 33). For the reasons stated below, the court finds that plaintiff has not proffered sufficient evidence to demonstrate a genuine issue as to any material fact. As such, the court finds that summary judgment is due to be GRANTED in favor of defendant, Crowne Investments, Inc.

FACTS

Defendant, Crowne Investments, Inc., maintains a long term health care facility in Brewton, Alabama, known as West Gate Village LLC. (Manninc Decl. ¶ 3). Plaintiff, Letha Barnes, is African American. Plaintiff began working at West Gate Village on October 11, 2000, as an RN charge nurse. (Barnes depo. pp. 39, 53). Plaintiff's duties included treatment and medication functions typically performed by an LPN. (Gulley Decl. ¶ 8). Louis Gulley, an African American, was plaintiff's supervisor at all times during plaintiff's employment. (Gulley Decl. ¶ 3, Barnes depo. p. 60). Gulley reported to Mark Manning, the administrator of West Gate Village, who is Caucasian. (Manning Decl. ¶ 4, Gulley Decl. ¶ 15).

Plaintiff resigned from West Gate Village in April 2001 and began working for West Florida Hospital. (Barnes depo. pp. 65-66, 69-70). Plaintiff was terminated from West Florida Hospital on June 11, 2001, (Barnes depo. p. 70). She was rehired by West Gate Village as an RN Charge Nurse. (Barnes depo. pp. 70-74). In September 2001, plaintiff was reassigned to be an RN Supervisor. (Barnes depo. pp. 74, 98). Plaintiff later became dissatisfied with her assignments and shift because she wanted an RN assignment that would give her a fixed schedule on the day shift. (Barnes depo. pp. 90, 99-100).

Plaintiff wrote three letters to West Gate's management during the course of her employment there. On November 5, 2001, plaintiff wrote a letter to Manning inquiring about why she had not yet begun to accrue vacation and sick time. (Barnes depo. pp. 76-78, 80 & Ex. 9). Manning met with plaintiff and explained that she would not be eligible for vacation time until a year after her rehire date. (Barnes depo. p. 77; Manning Decl. ¶ 8). Plaintiff admits that the denial of vacation time was not racially based. (Barnes depo. pp. 80-81).

On April 19, 2002, plaintiff wrote a letter to Manning and Gulley concerning her schedule and inquiring as to why she did not receive any of three RN positions that had become available. (Barnes depo. p. 97 & Ex. 10). Manning and Gulley met with plaintiff and explained why she had not been assigned to the positions. (Manning Decl. ¶¶ 9-10). One of the positions was not an RN position and was filled by an unlicensed nurse who is African American. (Barnes depo. pp. 87-89). The two RN positions were given to RNs who had more experience, or who Gulley and Manning felt were better suited for the position. One of the RNs assigned to the new position is African American. (Barnes depo, pp. 81-83).

On July 12, 2002, plaintiff wrote a third letter to Manning and Gulley expressing her concerns that her schedule had gotten worse and she had been taken off the "on-call list" after her April 19, 2002, letter and alleging that Gulley had threatened to terminate her. (Barnes depo. pp. 109-110 & Ex. 12). Manning and Gulley again met with plaintiff to discuss her concerns. (Barnes depo. p. 105; Manning Decl. ¶ 11). According to Manning and Gulley, they had concerns about plaintiff's job performance, nursing skills, and judgment. (Gulley Decl. ¶ 18; Manning Decl. ¶¶ 11-12).

On July 29, 2002, plaintiff sent another letter to Crowne's corporate headquarters complaining about several of the same issues she had raised in her previous letters. (Barnes depo. pp. 111, 116 & Ex. 13). Neither this, nor any of the previous letters, mentioned race or racial discrimination.

Plaintiff received her annual performance evaluation in June 2002. (Barnes depo pp. 94-96). Gulley rated plaintiff at below normal in two out of ten categories. (Barnes depo. pp. 94-96). The evaluation also included comments that stated that plaintiff needed to "improve her communication skills and needed to ask[ ] more questions, be[ ] true to herself about what she doesn't understand," "slow[ ] down, and recheck[ ] what she's done" and "be more self-motivated." Gully stated in the evaluation that plaintiff could improve "if she will identify herself as being a part of the management team, and not become defensive or retaliatory when other staff report her actions." The evaluation also stated that at times plaintiff does not follow though with assigned tasks. Plaintiff admits that the comments were not the result of racial bias. (Barnes dep. p. 96).

On August 5, 2002, Gulley issued plaintiff a disciplinary written warning for improperly transcribing a medication order on the wrong patient's chart. (Barnes depo. pp. 122-23 & Ex. 14). Plaintiff admits to the mistake. (Barnes depo. p. 123, 125). Gulley considered this to be a serious error. (Barnes depo. p. 122, Gulley Decl. ¶ 20).

On August 15, 2002, plaintiff received a written warning for exhibiting rude and discourteous behavior toward a co-worker. (Barnes depo. pp. 131-32 & Ex. 15). Plaintiff had been informed that she would need to stay late that day because her replacement could not come in and plaintiff responded "Hell, this is ridiculous. I'm calling Mr. Manning." (Barnes depo. p. 131 & Ex. 15). Plaintiff admits that she said "hell" and that such a statement violates the company's policies. (Barnes depo. p. 132-33, 138).

On November 29, 2002, plaintiff filed an EEOC charge of discrimination against Crowne alleging that she had been discriminated against when she did not receive the Care Plan Nurse position, when she was taken off the on-call list, and when she lost vacation time and seniority after she left West Gate Village for a period of time. (Barnes depo. pp. 139-44 & Ex. 16). Plaintiff also alleged that she had been retaliated against for complaining about these issues. (Barnes depo. p. 143). On January 21, 2003, plaintiff and Crowne attempted to mediate the EEOC charge, but the parties were unable to resolve the matter. (Manning Decl. ¶ 18).

On March 4, 2003, an African American LPN reported that plaintiff had left medication in a drawer of the medicine cart. (Barnes depo. Ex. 18; Manning Decl. ¶ 28; Gulley Decl. ¶ 29). The RN Supervisor states that, upon investigating the report, she discovered that plaintiff had failed to administer medication. (Manning Decl. ¶ 28 & Ex. G, Gulley Decl. ¶ 29, Barnes depo. Ex. 18). Nurses who are unable to administer medication are supposed to write an explanation on the back of the MAR indicating why it was not administered. (Barnes depo. pp. 162-169). Plaintiff admitted that she improperly left the medicine in the cart and that she forgot to write on the MAR any explanation as to why it was not administered. (Barnes depo. pp. 162-63).

On March 5, 2003, Manning and Gulley met with plaintiff to issue plaintiff a written warning for two separate incidents that occurred in February, her failure to administer a medicine patch and her failure to change bandages. (plaintiff depo. pp. 152-53 & Ex. 17). The written warning stated that any further violation of the employee handbook or failure to follow facility policies will result in termination. (plaintiff depo. Ex. 17). Also in February, Manning and Gulley received a complaint from an African American LPN, who stated that plaintiff threatened to slap her. (Manning Decl. ¶ 26; Barnes depo. Ex. 18). Plaintiff denies that the incident occurred, but several employees confirmed the LPN's story. (Manning Decl. ¶ 27 & Ex. F, Gulley Decl. ¶ 28).

On March 6, 2003, plaintiff was notified that she was suspended pending investigation into the recent incidents involving unacceptable performance in resident care and alleged threats towards other employees at the nursing home. (Barnes depo. p. 160 & Ex. 19). After investigating the incidents, Manning and Gulley concluded that plaintiff violated Crowne's medical care procedures and basic standards of nursing care on several occasions. (Barnes depo. p. 173 & Ex. 19). Manning and Gulley met with plaintiff on March 18, 2003, and informed her of their decision to terminate plaintiff.

LEGAL ANALYSIS

A. Summary Judgment Standard

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56(c) provides that summary judgment shall be granted: "if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." The trial court's function is not "to weigh the evidence and determine the truth of the matter but to determine whether there is a genuine issue for trial." Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 249, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). "The mere existence of some evidence to support the non-moving party is not sufficient for denial of summary judgment; there must be `sufficient evidence favoring the nonmoving party for a jury to return a verdict for that party.'" Bailey v. Allgas, Inc., 284 F.3d 1237, 1243 (11th Cir.2002) (quoting Anderson, 477 U.S. at 249, 106 S.Ct. 2505). "If the evidence is merely colorable, or is not significantly probative, summary judgment may be granted." Anderson, at 249, 106 S.Ct. 2505. (internal...