Gunter v. Cambridge-Lee Indus., LLC

186 F.Supp.3d 440

Vincent Gunter, Plaintiff

v.Cambridge-Lee Industries, LLC, Defendant

CIVIL ACTION NO. 14-2925

United States District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania.

Signed May 11, 2016

Samuel A. Dion, Dion & Goldberger, Philadelphia, PA, for Plaintiff.

Ronald L. Williams, J. Benjamin Nevius, Jennifer J. Hanlin, Fox Rothschild LLP, Exton, PA, for Defendant.

MEMORANDUM

STENGEL, District Judge

Vincent Gunter filed an action against Cambridge-Lee Industries ("CLI"), his former employer, asserting claims of interference, retaliation, and discrimination under the Family and Medical Leave Act ("FMLA"), 29 U.S.C. § 2601, et seq . Specifically, Mr. Gunter claims that the defendant interfered with his FMLA rights by disciplining him, and later terminating him, for being absent on days that should have been deemed FMLA-protected. CLI filed a motion for summary judgment. For the following reasons, I will grant the motion in part and deny it in part.

I. BACKGROUND

Located in Reading, Pennsylvania, CLI is a manufacturer and distributer of copper tubing necessary for a variety of commercial applications. See Document #21-2, Exhibit A at ¶ 2. In June 2006, CLI hired Mr. Gunter as a millwright at Plant 4 of its Reading facility. See Document #21-2, Exhibit B at 9. A collective bargaining agreement negotiated between CLI and the United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union (the "contract") governed Mr. Gunter's employment relationship with CLI.¹ See Document #21, Exhibit B at 10; Exhibit C at 6.

A. The Union Contract and CLI's FMLA Policy Update

Mr. Gunter, in his role as a Shop Steward and member of the Union's grievance committee, was familiar with the contract, and was aware of CLI's FMLA policies and procedures. See Document #21-2, Exhibit B at 10-11, 13-15. The contract contained a section on the FMLA and CLI's Absentee Control Policy. See Document #21-4, Exhibit C at 62-64, 84-89. The contract's Absentee Control Policy assigned points to different categories of absences and tardiness. Id. at 86-88. The point calculations are as follows:

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Id. at 86. Points are not assessed to employees who take FMLA-protected absences. Id. at 63-64. I note that if an employee has "perfect attendance" for a calendar month, one point is deducted from his or her total. See Document #26-1 at 8; see also Document #21-2 at 86; Document #21-4 at 87. If the employee enjoys perfect attendance for an entire calendar year, his or her total number of points is reduced to zero. Id.

The contract also requires an employee who believes he has received an inaccurate point total to grieve the matter. See Document #21-3, Exhibit C at 13. The first step in the grievance procedure is for an employee to raise the matter with a shop steward, who must then investigate the matter and submit a written Grievance Fact Finding Form to the employee's foreperson. Id. at 14. After the aggrieved employee's foreperson makes a determination, the employee may appeal that decision by filling out a grievance form within ten working days of the date of the foreperson's answer. Id. at 13-14. Ultimately, if an employee fails to grieve a disciplinary action, the contract prevents an employee's later contest of that discipline. Id. at 16.

In October 2012, CLI updated its FMLA policy. See Document #21, Exhibit B at 11; Document #21-5, Exhibit E. CLI's FMLA Policy Update requires employees who need to take FMLA leave to "contact Joan Lacki in Human Resources. Leave requests must be made at least 30 days in advance for ‘Foreseeable’ absences, and as soon as practicable for emergency absences." See Document #21-5, Exhibit E. The Policy also contains a section detailing additional steps an employee needs to take to report an FMLA absence. Id. The Policy states that to report an FMLA-protected absence, employees must (1) "[c]all in to Cambridge-Lee to report the absence as per normal call off procedures;" and (2) "[c]all in to the FMLA Administrator to report the absence and verify the details of the absence." Id. The updated Policy warned employees that "[f]ailure to follow these requirements could delay your FMLA request and proper designation of an absence for payroll." Id.

B. Mr. Gunter Accumulates Points Under the Contract's Absentee Control Policy

On September 30, 2012, Mr. Gunter received a written warning for accumulating six points under CLI's Absentee Control Policy. See Document #21, Exhibit B at 19; Exhibit G. Mr. Gunter did not grieve those points. See Document #21-2, Exhibit B at 21-22. On November 20, 2012, Mr. Gunter received a second written warning for accumulating three additional points. Id. at 22, Exhibit H. Mr. Gunter did not grieve this second warning. Id. at 22. On March 31, 2013, Mr. Gunter received a written warning entitled, "THREE DAY SUSPENSION," because he had accumulated twelve points.² See Document #21-2, Exhibit B at 22-23. Mr. Gunter does not remember whether he grieved his March point total or the resulting suspension notice. Id. at 24. Because Mr. Gunter had perfect attendance for the months of February and April 2013, two points were deducted from his total, in keeping with the Policy. Id.

C. Mr. Gunter Suffers Exacerbation of Asthma

On May 5, 2013, Mr. Gunter reported to his 10 p.m. shift, but left work to go to St. Joseph's Medical Center at 3:30 a.m., on May 6, 2013, because he experienced difficulty breathing. See Document #21, Exhibit B at 24, 25, 28-29; Exhibit J. Mr. Gunter was released from the hospital later that day. See Document #21-2, Exhibit B at 36-37. Records from Mr. Gunter's hospital visit show that he was diagnosed with an exacerbation of asthma but was deemed able to return to work on May 7, 2013. See Document #21-5, Exhibit J. The treatment provider at St. Joseph's restricted Mr. Gunter to work "light duty, 2 days, then return to normal activity." Id. Mr. Gunter did not return to work on May 7, 2013. He called out using the normal CLI call-off procedure, and received one point for his absence. See Document #21-2, Exhibit B at 58-59; see also Document #21-6, Exhibit K.

On the morning of May 9, 2013, Mr. Gunter saw his physician, Dr. Nguyen, who gave him a note stating: "pt excused from work due to asthma until released by Dr. Nguyen." See Document #21-2, Exhibit B at 37-38, 40, 43; Exhibit L at 9. That evening, Mr. Gunter returned to work, and presented his supervisor, Dennis Zulick, with the medical records from St. Joseph's Hospital that authorized him to work "light duty." See Document #21-2, Exhibit B at 61. Mr. Gunter stated that Mr. Zulick sent him home early from his shift that evening because there was no light duty work available. Id. at 60-61. CLI added a half point to Mr. Gunter's point tally due to his early departure from work May 9, 2013. Id. at 60. Mr. Gunter did not work from May 10 through 23, 2013 and was assessed one point by CLI for this stretch of absences. Id. at 60-62.

D. Mr. Gunter Requests FMLA Certification Paperwork from CLI

Mr. Gunter indicates that, after seeing Dr. Nguyen on May 9, 2013, he contacted Steven Letcavage, CLI's Human Resources Director, and requested that FMLA paperwork be faxed to Dr. Nguyen's office. See Document #26-1, Exhibit A at ¶ 5. On May 14, 2013, Joan Lacki asked Mr. Letcavage if she should send short term disability and FMLA paperwork to Mr. Gunter in response to a "garbled" voice message Mr. Gunter had left on Mr. Letcavage's voicemail. See Document #28-3, Exhibit I at 11-14; Document #28-4, Exhibit J at 23-25. Mr. Letcavage did not direct Ms. Lacki to send the FMLA paperwork at that time, and it was not sent to Mr. Gunter that day. See Document #28-3, Exhibit I at 13.

On May 22, 2013, Mr. Gunter left Mr. Letcavage another voicemail requesting that CLI fax the necessary FMLA paperwork to Dr. Nguyen. In that voicemail, Mr. Gunter provided a fax number for Dr. Nguyen's office. See Document #28-4, Exhibit J at 6-7. After receiving the voice message, Mr. Letcavage directed Ms. Lacki to fax the paperwork to Mr. Gunter's physician. See Document 21-2, Exhibit A at ¶ 6. The next morning, May 23, 2013, Ms. Lacki attempted to fax the FMLA paperwork, but was unable to do so because the fax number provided by Mr. Gunter "didn't work." See Document #28-3, Exhibit I at 17-18, 30-31; Document #28-4, Exhibit J at 11-12. Ms. Lacki stated that because the fax number was incorrect, she decided to mail the FMLA certification forms directly to Mr. Gunter on May 23, 2013. See Document #28-3, Exhibit I at 20-21.

Mr. Gunter adamantly denies receiving the FMLA and short term disability paperwork from CLI that was purportedly sent on May 23, 2013. See Document #28-1, Exhibit H at 108. The letter that Ms. Lacki allegedly sent to Mr. Gunter was not sent by certified mail, did not include Mr. Gunter's zip code, did not refer explicitly to FMLA paperwork, and did not set a deadline to return such paperwork. See Document #27-4 Exhibit F; Document #28-3, Exhibit I at 24, 26. Mr. Gunter attended follow-up appointments at Dr. Nguyen's office on both May 16 and May 23, 2013. See Document #26-1, Exhibit A at ¶¶ 9-10. Dr. Nguyen released Mr. Gunter to return to work on May 23, 2013, but was of the opinion that "[Mr. Gunter] would require intermittent leave from work in the future if his condition became exacerbated again." See Document #26-2, Exhibit B at ¶ 10.

E. Mr. Gunter Continues to Accumulate Points in June 2013

On May 31, 2013, Mr. Gunter received a fourth written warning entitled, "3 DAY SUSPENSION," for accumulating 13.5 points. See Document #21-6, Exhibit M. This notice of suspension stated that Mr. Gunter would be terminated if he incurred another one and a half points. Id. Mr. Gunter returned to work on May 24, 2013, and from that date until June 10, 2013, did not incur any points for infractions of the Absentee Control Policy. See Document #21-2, Exhibit B at 63.

On June 11, 2013, Mr. Gunter was late for work and did not call CLI to inform anyone of...