Dooley v. Mylan Pharms., Inc.

DEBORAH A. DOOLEY, Plaintiff, v. MYLAN PHARMACEUTICALS, INC., Defendant.

CIVIL ACTION NO. 1:13CV1

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF WEST VIRGINIA

DATED: April 30, 2014

(Judge Keeley)

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER GRANTING MYLAN PHARMACEUTICALS,

INC.'S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT [DKT. NO. 141]

Pending before the Court is the motion for summary judgment filed by the defendant, Mylan Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ("Mylan"). (Dkt. No. 141). For the reasons discussed during the March 29, 2014 hearing on the motion, and for those that follow, the Court GRANTS Mylan's motion.

I. PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On November 27, 2012, the plaintiff, Deborah Dooley ("Dooley"), sued Mylan in the Circuit Court of Monongalia County, West Virginia. Mylan subsequently removed the action to this Court on January 2, 2012, in accordance with 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331, 1367, 1441, and 1446. (Dkt. No. 1).

After filing a series of amended complaints, Dooley filed her fifth, and final, amended complaint on June 28, 2013, in which she alleged claims against Mylan for racial discrimination, harassment, retaliation, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. (Dkt. No. 60). On January 13, 2014, Mylan filed a motion for summary judgment based on a "Last Chance Agreement" that it hadentered into with Dooley on June 24, 2009. (Dkt. No. 139). The Court granted that motion on April 1, 2014. (Dkt. No. 162). Mylan then filed the instant motion for summary judgment, (dkt. no. 141), which is fully briefed and ripe for review.

II. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

The material facts in this case are largely undisputed and the Court has considered all inferences to be drawn from the facts in the light most favorable to the plaintiff. Matsushita Electrical Industrial Co., Ltd. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 574, 574 (1986).

A. Dooley's Employment History With Mylan

Dooley was hired by Mylan on March 25, 2002, as a tablet inspector at its plant in Morgantown, West Virginia. (Brunette Aff. ¶ 9). As a bargaining unit employee, the terms and conditions of her employment were governed by a collective bargaining agreement ("the Agreement") between Mylan and the United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied, Industrial and Service Workers International Union (the "Union"). Id. at ¶ 7.

Mylan terminated Dooley's employment in April, 2002, for a violation of the company's anti-nepotism policy. (Pl. Tr., 63:5-23; 64:22-65:1). Dooley sued Mylan over this termination, a dispute which the parties eventually settled in September, 2005. As part of that settlement, Mylan agreed to reinstate Dooley as anemployee. (Brunette Aff. ¶ 9). More than two (2) years later, on November 12, 2007, pursuant to the terms of the collective bargaining agreement, Dooley transferred to the position of Clerk in the Label Control Department, where she remained until she resigned her employment in August, 2013. (Pl. Tr., 69:22-71:5).

B. Dooley's Bereavement Leave

While employed in the Labor Control Department, Dooley requested bereavement leave on June 2, 2009, to attend the funeral of "her daughter's grandfather" in Las Vegas. (Pl. Tr., 193:9 - 194:4). Helen Bertalan, day shift supervisor, completed a "Death in the Family" form, which Dooley then signed, that indicated her request for bereavement leave was due to the death of her father-in-law. (Pl. Tr., 190:17 - 191:24); (Brunette Aff. ¶ 13, Ex. M). After Dooley returned from Las Vegas, however, Mylan's Human Relations Department discovered that the funeral she had attended was actually that of her ex-father-in-law, a relationship that did not entitle her to bereavement leave under Mylan's policy. (Pl. Tr., 191:18-21); (Brunette Aff. ¶ 14).

Due to this apparent violation of the bereavement leave allowed under Mylan's policy, Mylan suspended Dooley on June 12, 2009, pending completion of an investigation into the matter. (Brunette Aff. ¶ 15, Ex. N). Following that investigation, JessicaPforr, Senior Human Relations Associate at Mylan, confirmed that Dooley had attended the funeral of her ex-father-in-law, which violated Mylan's Code of Conduct. (Pl. Tr. p. 195:6-19). Rather than terminate her employment for violating the company's Code of Conduct, however, Mylan entered into a Last Chance Agreement with Dooley and the Union that had represented her during Mylan's investigation into the matter. (Brunette Aff. ¶ 16, Ex. O). As part of that Agreement, Dooley acknowledged she had engaged in conduct violative of Mylan's Code of Conduct that warranted termination of her employment. Id. Mylan, Dooley and the Union then "agreed that, in lieu of termination of [her] employment, Dooley [would] return to work" subject to the terms of the Agreement, which included a fifteen day suspension and waiver of any claims Dooley might have against Mylan relating to any events occurring prior to entering into the Agreement. Id. (Emphasis added). Dooley ultimately returned to work on July 9, 2009. Id. at ¶ 17, Ex. P.

C. Dooley's Complaints Regarding E-Mail Messages

Approximately two (2) years after she entered the Last Chance Agreement, on June 23, 2011, Dooley filed a complaint via e-mail with Mylan's Corporate Compliance Department, to which she attached e-mail messages from two co-workers, Joyce Jones ("Jones") and Rob Barker ("Barker"), that she found to be inappropriate. (Goletz Aff¶ 6, Ex. X). She complained that Jones had sent her e-mails stating Mylan had been sold to another company, and that Barker had sent e-mails that were "political contraband." Id. The e-mail messages sent by Jones and Barker forwarded to Mylan by Dooley were dated April 23, 2010, June 24, 2010, September 15, 2010, and September 28, 2010. Id.

Pursuant to company policy, Jim Brunette ("Brunette"), Mylan's Manager of Employee Relations, investigated Dooley's complaint. (Brunette Aff. ¶ 19). In doing so, he conducted interviews with Jones and Barker regarding their e-mail messages, during which he informed them about Mylan's harassment policy. Id. at ¶ 20. It is undisputed that, following these interviews, Dooley received no more offensive e-mail messages from Jones. Id.

On September 5, 2012, however, Dooley filed another complaint with Mylan's Corporate Compliance Department regarding other offensive e-mail messages she had received. (Goletz Aff. ¶ 8, Ex. Y). In this instance, she forwarded e-mail messages containing political jokes, primarily related to President Obama's economic policies. Id. After receiving her complaint, Tom Pirozzi ("Pirozzi"), Mylan's Vice President and Chief Compliance Officer, attempted to schedule a meeting with Dooley to discuss her complaint. Id. at ¶ 10, Ex. Z. Dooley responded by requesting thatshe be allowed to have her attorney present during the meeting. Pirozzi informed Dooley that, pursuant to the Agreement, she was entitled to have a representative of the Union present, but not an attorney. Id. Following this exchange, Dooley never responded further to Pirozzi's request to meet with her, and no meeting occurred.

D. Dooley's Parking Violations

On August 11, 2011, Mylan's Corporate Compliance Department received an anonymous complaint about Dooley parking in a reserved space, rather than in the general parking lot designated for bargaining unit employees. Id. at ¶ 11, Ex. AA. The caller indicated that he had received a ticket after parking in a reserved space, but Dooley had not. As a result of the complaint, Mylan conducted an investigation into the matter. Id.

The next day, August 12, 2011, Shane Swick ("Swick"), Label Control Supervisor, observed Dooley parking in a reserved space, and requested that she move her car and park in the general parking lot in the future. Id. at ¶ 13, Ex. BB. Despite this, on August 17, 2011, Dooley again parked in a reserved parking space and received a parking ticket as a consequence. Id. at ¶ 14, Ex. BB.

The next day, August 18, 2011, Dooley met with George Spanovich ("Spanovich"), Senior Manager of Corporate Security, todiscuss parking related concerns. Id. at ¶ 15, Ex. BB. At that meeting, she told Spanovich she was being singled out for scrutiny regarding parking, and also that she needed to park in a reserved space because she had a foot injury that prevented her from walking long distances. Id. at ¶ 16, Ex. BB. Spanovich assured Dooley she was not being singled out for scrutiny, and also suggested that she visit with an employee nurse in order to obtain a reasonable parking accommodation for her foot injury. Dooley, however, never sought such an accommodation. Id.

E. Dooley's Complaints Regarding Post-It Note in Cubical

On March 22, 2012, Brunette held an employee meeting regarding issues in the Label Control Department. (Brunette Aff. ¶ 23, Ex. T). During that meeting, Dooley reported that, a year earlier, she had found a post-it note in her cubicle that read "Bid Out Black Bitch." Id. She admitted that she had not provided anyone at Mylan with the original, or even a copy, of the note, and that she had not previously reported receiving it. Id. at ¶ 25, Ex. T. Brunette requested that she bring a copy of the note to him so that he could initiate an investigation. Id. at ¶ 26, Ex. T. On the next day, March 23, 2012, however, Dooley informed Swick, the Label Control Supervisor, that she would not provide Brunette with a copy of the note. Id. Consequently, because Dooley had discovered theoffending note over a year before reporting it to Mylan and then refused to provide anyone with either the original or a copy of it, Mylan was unable investigate the matter further. Id. at ¶ 27; see also, (Brunette Dep., 67:10-11) ("I had nowhere to go, nowhere to start, nowhere to start that investigation.").

F. Dooley's Resignation from Mylan

On January 16, 2013, Dooley stopped reporting to work as a result of medical issues related to workplace stress and depression. (Pl. Tr., 76:16-23). On July 19, 2013, she informed Swick via an e-mail that she would be medically cleared to return to work on July 29, 2013. Id. at...