Doe v. Matthew 25, Inc.

322 F.Supp.3d 843

Jane DOE, Plaintiff,

v.MATTHEW 25, INC., and James Finchum, Defendants.

Case No. 3:18-cv-00295

United States District Court, M.D. Tennessee, Nashville Division.

Signed July 30, 2018

Anne Hunter Williams, Heather M. Collins, Paige M. Lyle, Collins & Hunter PLLC, Brentwood, TN, for Plaintiff.

Kevin C. Klein, Tracy M. Lujan, Klein Bussell, PLLC, Cynthia A. Sherwood, Sherwood Boutique Litigation, PLC, William C. Mazzota, Farrar & Bates, LLP, Nashville, TN, for Defendants.

MEMORANDUM

ALETA A. TRAUGER, United States District Judge

James Finchum has filed a Partial Motion to Dismiss (Docket No. 12), to which Jane Doe has filed a Response (Docket No. 15). Matthew 25, Inc., ("Matthew 25") has filed a Motion to Dismiss (Docket No. 18), to which Doe has filed a Response (Docket No. 24), and Matthew 25 has filed a Reply (Docket No. 28). Finchum has filed a Motion to Stay (Docket No. 30), to which Doe has filed a Response (Docket No. 36), and Finchum has filed a Reply (Docket No. 39). For the reasons set out herein, the Motions to Dismiss will be granted in part and denied in part, and the Motion to Stay will be denied.

I. BACKGROUND ¹

Matthew 25 is a Nashville-based nonprofit that receives federal funding to provide training and education services. (Docket No. 1 ¶¶ 5–6.) Doe is an African-American woman and was, at all times relevant to this case, employed by Matthew 25. (Id. ¶ 4.) Finchum was hired as Matthew 25's executive director on March 3, 2016, a position from which he voluntarily resigned on January 11, 2018. (Id. ¶¶ 9, 25.) Finchum, who was the highest ranking executive at Matthew 25, persistently made comments to Doe regarding her physical appearance, telling her that she reminded him of a black woman that he used to date and describing aspects of the sexual activities he had engaged in with that woman. (Id. ¶ 10.). Doe also describes Finchum "cornering [her] in his office with the door closed and physically touching her." (Id. ) Finchum would also frequently call Doe's cell phone when she was not at work and ask her if she was in the bathroom or was taking a bath. Doe objected to Finchum about his behavior, but he continued. Throughout this time period, Finchum displayed an explosive temper and routinely yelled at and berated Doe and other female employees. (Id. ¶¶ 10–11, 18.)

In June 2016, Doe asked a member of Matthew 25's board of directors, Karen Baggett, to lunch at a restaurant. While there, Doe told Baggett that she was afraid of Finchum and asked Baggett for help. Baggett responded by telling Doe that "it would be ok," but Baggett took no corrective action. (Id. ¶ 12.)

In December 2016, Finchum called Doe into his office, began massaging her shoulders, placed her hand on his groin, exposed his penis to her, and masturbated to the point of ejaculation. (Id. ¶¶ 10, 14.) In April 2017, Finchum pressed his genitals into Doe's body from behind "and hunched his private parts against her buttocks until the front of his pants were wet." (Id. ¶¶ 10, 15.) In October 2017, Doe told her coworkers that Finchum had been harassing her, after which her coworkers began making an effort to prevent Doe from being left alone with Finchum. (Id. ¶ 16.)

On December 29, 2017, Doe attempted² to send an email to Finchum, which she copied to all members of the Matthew 25 board of directors:

This letter [is] to inform you, Jim[,] to let you know that your inappropriate behavior toward me is unwanted and to inform all the Board Members:

I am being subjected to sexual comments and advances from Jim/CEO. The CEO has gone as far [as] to expose himself to me. These advances, comments and all sexual behaviors are unwelcomed.

I don't want any problems. I just want this to stop, so I can do my job.

(Id. ¶ 19.) Doe's complaint prompted Matthew 25 to hire an outside consulting group, HR Compass, to investigate Finchum. (Id. ¶ 20.) While the investigation was ongoing, Finchum remained in his capacity as the highest ranking executive at Matthew 25. In order to avoid having to work alongside Finchum, Doe used accrued leave time for part of the period of the investigation. (Id. ¶ 22.) On January 8, 2018, Doe was interviewed by an employee of HR Compass. Doe detailed Finchum's actions toward her, and the HR Compass employee suggested that Doe file a police report. The next day, Doe filed a complaint regarding Finchum with the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department ("MNPD"). (Id. ¶¶ 23–24.) Two days later, Finchum resigned. (Id. ¶ 25.)

Doe claims to have suffered severe emotional injuries based on Finchum's actions, for which she has incurred medical expenses. In her Complaint, she states that she "asked to report her severe emotional injuries as a work-related injury and her request was denied." (Id. ¶ 27.) Matthew 25, however, has filed a Declaration of Hal E. Sauer, the president of its board of directors, explaining as follows:

In February 2018, [Doe] asked me if her counseling expenses might be covered by workers compensation insurance. I did not know the answer, so I contacted Matthew 25's workers compensation insurance carrier on February 7, 2018. While I spoke with the insurance representative, he initiated a claim with the information that I was able to provide him over the phone, including [Doe's] contact information. I believed the insurer would contact [Doe] for additional information.... I informed [Doe] by email on February 8, 2018 that a workers compensation claim had been initiated on her behalf.... Since then, through her counsel, [Doe] has been provided with the claim number, the claim, and contact information for Matthew 25's workers compensation insurer.

(Docket No. 21 ¶¶ 4–6.) Doe has since provided a letter, dated June 21, 2018, from Matthew 25's workers' compensation carrier, Eastern Alliance Insurance Group, denying workers compensation coverage for Doe's injuries because her "claim did not arise out of her employment." (Docket No. 32-1.)

On March 20, 2018, Doe filed her Complaint in this case. She pleads five counts: Count I is for common law assault and battery; Count II is for sexual harassment under the Tennessee Human Rights Act ("THRA"); Count III is for retaliation under the THRA; Count IV is for sex discrimination in a federally funded education program or activity, in violation of Title IX, 20 U.S.C. § 1681 ; and Count V is a claim for race discrimination, in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1981, on the ground that Doe "is an African American and was singled out for harassment on the basis of her race and sex," while "White employees were not subjected to the type of assault and battery [Doe] was." (Docket No. 1 ¶¶ 32–56.)

On April 27, 2018, Finchum filed a Partial Motion to Dismiss directed at Counts I and V. (Docket No. 12.) On May 21, 2018, Matthew 25 filed a Partial Motion to Dismiss, or, in the Alternative, for Summary Judgment, directed at Counts I, III, and V. (Docket No. 18) On June 26, 2018, Finchum filed a Motion to Stay (Docket No. 30), asking the court to stay all matters in this case, as related to him, in light of Doe's having filed a criminal complaint against him and the possibility that there is an ongoing criminal investigation regarding his alleged wrongdoing.

II. LEGAL STANDARD

A. Motion to Stay

A district court "has broad discretion to stay proceedings as an incident to its power to control its own docket." Clinton v. Jones , 520 U.S. 681, 706–07, 117 S.Ct. 1636, 137 L.Ed.2d 945 (1997) (citing Landis v. N. Am. Co. , 299 U.S. 248, 254, 57 S.Ct. 163, 81 L.Ed. 153 (1936) ). "The power to stay proceedings is incidental to the power inherent in every court to control the disposition of the causes [on] its docket with economy of time and effort for itself, for counsel and for litigants, and the entry of such an order ordinarily rests with the sound discretion of the District Court." F.T.C. v. E.M.A. Nationwide, Inc. , 767 F.3d 611, 626–27 (6th Cir. 2014) (quoting Ohio Envtl. Council v. U.S. Dist. Court , 565 F.2d 393, 396 (6th Cir. 1977) ). Nevertheless, the Sixth Circuit has recognized that "[a] stay of civil proceedings due to a pending criminal investigation is an extraordinary remedy." Id. (quoting United States v. Ogbazion , No. 3:12-cv-95, 2012 WL 4364306, at *1 (S.D. Ohio Sept. 24, 2012) ). A district court considering whether to stay a civil case in light of an overlapping criminal case usually considers the following factors:

1) the extent to which the issues in the criminal case overlap with those presented in the civil case; 2) the status of the case, including whether the defendants have been indicted; 3) the private interests of the plaintiffs in proceeding expeditiously weighed against the prejudice to plaintiffs caused by the delay; 4) the private interests of and burden on the defendants; 5) the interests of the courts; and 6) the public interest.

Id. (quoting Chao v. Fleming , 498 F.Supp.2d 1034, 1037 (W.D. Mich. 2007) ).

B. Motions to Dismiss

In deciding a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim under Rule 12(b)(6), the court will "construe the complaint in the light most favorable to the plaintiff, accept its allegations as true, and draw all reasonable inferences in favor of the plaintiff." Directv, Inc. v. Treesh , 487 F.3d 471, 476 (6th Cir. 2007) ; Inge v. Rock Fin. Corp. , 281 F.3d 613, 619 (6th Cir. 2002). The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure require only that a plaintiff provide "a short and plain statement of the claim that will give the defendant fair notice of what the plaintiff's claim is and the grounds upon which it rests." Conley v. Gibson , 355 U.S. 41, 47, 78 S.Ct. 99, 2 L.Ed.2d 80 (1957). The court must determine only whether "the claimant is entitled to offer evidence to support the claims," not whether the plaintiff can ultimately prove the facts alleged. Swierkiewicz v. Sorema N.A. , 534 U.S. 506, 511, 122 S.Ct. 992, 152 L.Ed.2d 1 (2002) (quoting Scheuer v. Rhodes , 416 U.S. 232, 236, 94 S.Ct. 1683, 40 L.Ed.2d 90 (1974) ).

The complaint's allegations,...