Equal Opportunity Emp't Comm'n v. United Health Programs of Am., Inc.

213 F.Supp.3d 377

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYMENT COMMISSION, Plaintiff,

v.UNITED HEALTH PROGRAMS OF AMERICA, INC. and Cost Containment Group, Inc., Defendants.

Elizabeth Ontaneda, Francine Pennisi, and Faith Pabon, Plaintiffs-Intervenors,

v.United Health Programs of America, Inc. and Cost Containment Group, Inc., Defendants.

14-CV-3673 (KAM)(JO)

United States District Court, E.D. New York.

Signed September 30, 2016

Andrea Chinyere Ezie, Kirsten J. Peters, Thomas Lepak, Nora E. Curtin, Robert D. Rose, U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Anthony G. Mango, Mango & Iacoviello, LLP, New York, NY, for Plaintiff/Plaintiffs-Intervenors.

Amy Joy Traub, Adam Ross Seldon, Ona T. Wang, Baker Hostetler LLP, New York, NY, Patrick M. Muldowney, Baker & Hostetler LLP, Orlando, FL, for Defendants.

MEMORANDUM & ORDER

MATSUMOTO, United States District Judge

The Equal Opportunity Employment Commission (the "EEOC") brings this action on behalf of a group of former employees ("claimants" or "plaintiffs") of United Health Programs of America Inc. ("UHP") and Cost Containment Group Inc. ("CCG") (collectively, "defendants") who claim principally that they were subjected to religious discrimination in their workplace in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq.¹ Claimants have moved for partial summary judgment on the discrete issue of whether certain practices and beliefs (referred to herein as "Onionhead" and "Harnessing Happiness") purportedly imposed on employees by supervisors in defendants' workplace constitute a religion. Defendants have cross-moved for summary judgment on all claims, the nature of which will be discussed in greater detail below. For the reasons stated herein, claimants' motion is GRANTED and defendants' motion is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part.

BACKGROUND

The facts provided below derive from the parties' Local Rule 56.1 statements, as well as from the deposition testimony and other exhibits attached by the parties in their cross-motions for summary judgment.² The facts below are undisputed unless otherwise noted. The court has construed the facts in the light most favorable to the non-moving party with respect to each motion.

I. Factual Background

A. Defendants' Companies and Other Related Entities

Defendants operate a "small wholesale company that provides discount medical plans to groups of individuals" as well as a number of other for-profit and non-profit entities.³ (Def. 56.1 ¶¶ 1-10.) Defendants' organizations, which at all relevant times employed fewer than 50 people, have conducted their business since 2006 out of a single office located in Long Island, New York. (Def. 56.1 ¶¶ 2-5.)

B. The Claimants

Claimants all worked for defendants for different periods of time:

(1) Sandra Benedict: September 2011 – March 2012. (Pl. 56.1 ¶ 144.)

(2) Danielle Diaz: July 2010 – December 15, 2012. (Id. ¶ 163.)

(3) Jennifer Honohan: Approximately 1992 – February 3, 2012. (Id. ¶ 193.)

(4) Karen Josey: March 2011 – Approximately November or December 2011. (Id. ¶ 237.)

(5) Regina Maldari: October 2004 – May 2008. (Id. ¶ 333.)

(6) Elizabeth Ontaneda: 1992 – August 24, 2010. (Id. 56.1 ¶ 259.)

(7) Faith Pabon: October 2010 – March 2012. (Id. ¶ 283.)

(8) Cynthia Pegullo: 2004 – 2007 and then again from 2008 – April 2011. (Def. 56.1 ¶ 262.)

(9) Francine Pennisi: November 2004 – August 2010. (Id. ¶ 276.)

(10) Elizabeth Safara: December 2004 – August 2008. (Id. ¶ 296.)

C. Onionhead and Harnessing Happiness Programs

Beginning around 2007, CCG Chief Executive Officer Robert Hodes ("Hodes") and Chief Operations Officer Tracy Bourandas ("Bourandas") determined that their previously effective corporate culture was deteriorating amid a difficult financial period for the company. (Def. 56.1 ¶¶ 37, 79-81.) Hodes and Bourandas hired Hodes's aunt, Denali Jordan ("Jordan" or "Denali"), to provide assistance. (Id. ¶¶ 77-81.) Jordan considered herself a teacher and parent to Hodes, and they maintained a close relationship. She stayed at Hodes's home when working at defendants' office. (Pl. 56.1 ¶ 73.) Before Jordan began working with defendants, she developed a program called Onionhead (Pl. 56.1 ¶ 2),⁴ the purpose and nature of which is strongly disputed by the parties. It is undisputed that defendants used the Onionhead program in the workplace after Jordan began to work with defendants. It is also undisputed that defendants provided administrative and financial support to Onionhead that was unrelated to defendants' other business. (Def. 56.1 ¶ 7.) Beyond the undisputed fact that Onionhead was utilized in defendants' workplace, however, the parties' respective views of when, how, and why Onionhead was implemented are practically irreconcilable and, as explained in greater detail throughout this memorandum and order, require a trial to resolve the disputed issues.

Defendants describe Onionhead as a multi-purpose conflict resolution tool, while plaintiffs characterize it as a system of religious beliefs and practices. (Compare, e.g. , Def. 56.1 ¶ 11 and Tab I, Jordan Dep. at 235, with, e.g. , Pl. 56.1 Resp. ¶ 11.) According to defendants, Jordan created Onionhead as a "tool to help children, including those with disabilities, identify, understand, and communicate emotions." (Def. 56.1 ¶ 12.) Although Onionhead was initially targeted toward children, gradually defendants contend that its purpose expanded to assist "people of all ages with addiction, abuse and domestic violence, family issues, marital problems, eldercare, death and dying, the full spectrum of autism and other cognitive disabilities or illnesses (such as Alzheimer's), and to generally develop better problem-solving and communication skills." (Id. ) Onionhead practices include the use of "tools," many of which describe a "total of 150 different emotions," including cards, pins, dictionaries, workshop materials, magnets, journals, and a "Declaration of Virtues of Empowerment." (Id. ¶¶ 13, 20(a)-(e).) Onionhead materials often include images of an anthropomorphic Onion. (E.g. , Jt. Exs. A-O.)

Beginning around 2011, Jordan merged some of the concepts and principles underlying Onionhead into a program referred to as Harnessing Happiness,⁵ which was designed to make Onionhead more "suitable for adults." (Jt. Ex. 2, ¶¶ 26-27; Def. 56.1 ¶¶ 25-27.) Harnessing Happiness is now the "umbrella name" Jordan employs to describe the programs she offers. (Def. 56.1 ¶ 25.) Today, Onionhead falls under the Harnessing Happiness "umbrella."⁶ (Id. )

Claimants maintain a widely divergent view of Onionhead and Harnessing Happiness. (Pl. 56.1 ¶¶ 1-45.) Claimants contend that Onionhead and Harnessing Happiness are a "system of religious beliefs and practices" with a corresponding "comprehensive system of multiple products and programs." (Pl. 56.1 ¶ 4; Pl. 56.1 Resp. ¶ 11.) Emails in the record regarding Onionhead and Harnessing Happiness, sent between Jordan and other supervisors and employees working for defendants, involve discussions about God, spirituality, demons, Satan, divine destinies, the "Source," purity, blessings, and miracles. (Jt. Exs. 8, 78-81, 89, 117.) In one email from 2011, Hodes groups Onionhead with "higher guidance teachings." (Jt. Ex. 117.) Claimants also emphasize that many of the materials associated with Onionhead and Harnessing Happiness — some of which, however, were not used at defendants' workplace — contain spiritual and religious imagery and iconography. (Pl. 56.1 ¶¶ 1-41.) For example, one Onionhead document is referred to as the Declaration of Virtues for Empowerment. (Jt. Ex. K.) The document contains a list of 12 virtues, and provides: "Because the road to Heaven is paved with the power of what is good in us, we have devised The Declaration of Virtues for Empowerment .... Onionhead's goal is to help transform negative thought forms into positive thought forms, thereby co-creating a new loving, wondrous garden for us all to thrive in." (Id. ) Another document, used in office workshops conducted by defendants while the majority of claimants were employed (Def. 56.1 Resp. ¶ 24), is referred to as the Onionhead Keys and Codes to Living Good. (Jt. Ex. M.) The document contains the following examples of religious and spiritual language:

• "Keys and codes have been a part of the Divine Plan from the beginning of time. Every sacred tribe and religion have codes hidden within their scripts, books and scrolls. It was, and still is, a way to integrate our heavenly nature into our human nature."

• "The Onionhead program is designed to transform negative thoughts and behaviors into positive thoughts and behaviors.... Choice, not chance, determines human destiny and only moral code determines the state of Heaven on Earth."

• "Our soul is our constant reminder of our higher self. It stays with us in order to keep us on the track of what is right and righteous."

(Id. )

D. Implementation of Onionhead at CCG

As noted above, Jordan first began working with defendants in 2007. Jordan's first visit to defendants' office was in October 2007, and she stayed for five days. (Pl. 56.1 ¶ 88.) She was introduced to and met with the employees during three separate group meetings. (Id. ) When Jordan initially arrived, defendants' upper managers referred to her as a "spiritual advisor," though she stated that she disliked the term.⁷ (Jt. Ex. 97 (email from Jordan stating that "I was called a spiritual advisor").) Jordan testified that when she first arrived at CCG, she viewed "a lot of disharmony." (Tab I, Denali Dep. at 21.) She also testified that she believed a disproportionate number of the employees "had cancer" and that she "had not been exposed to that before." (Id. ) Jordan testified that she "attempted to change the atmosphere and to try to create a camaraderie and a unification in the people." (Id. at 22; see also id. at 24 ("I felt that my role was to create more harmony, period.").) After Jordan's initial visit in October 2007, CCG brought her back in February 2008 and...