Hurley v. Tupelo Pub. Sch. Dist.

152 F.Supp.3d 581

Peggy Hurley, Plaintiff

v.Tupelo Public School District, Lynne H. Rogers, and Judy Stark, Defendants

CIVIL ACTION NO. 1:14-CV-177-SA-DAS

United States District Court, N.D. Mississippi, Aberdeen Division.

Signed December 22, 2015

Luther C. Fisher, IV, Luke Fisher Law, PLLC, Oxford, MS, for Plaintiff.

Berkley N. Huskison, Mitchell McNutt & Sams, Columbus, MS, for Defendants.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Sharion Aycock, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

Plaintiff Hurley filed her Complaint [1] in this Court on September 26, 2014 pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging that she was discriminated against by her employer, the Tupelo Public School District (TPSD), because she is gay. Specifically, Plaintiff alleges that because of her sexual orientation, her pay was cut, she was not considered for open positions in the District, and the Defendants created and subjected her to a hostile work environment.¹ Plaintiff also brings a state law claim against individual defendants Rogers and Stark for intentional infliction of emotional distress, and seeks punitive damages. Finally, Plaintiff seeks prospective injunctive relief from TPSD, specifically that she be allowed to receive manager training and be fairly considered for manager positions. This matter now comes before the Court on the Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment [35] on all of Plaintiff's claims. The Plaintiff responded [39] and the Defendants replied [41], making this motion ripe for review.

Factual and Procedural Background

In November of 2011, the TPSD hired Hurley as cafeteria manager of the Church Street School. At that time, Church Street School housed TPSD's alternative school program and did not have a full service cafeteria. Main dishes were prepared at another cafeteria and delivered to Church Street School. Hurley, supervising one employee, was responsible for preparing side dishes and other food items, assembling the meals, and serving around sixty students each day. Hurley reported to Lynne Rogers, the Director of Food Services for TPSD. Hurley's salary was $17,964.

In June of 2012, TPSD sent Hurley, along with other district cafeteria managers, to a one-week training and certification course in Jackson, Mississippi. Hurley completed the program and received the certification. Hurley's partner, now spouse, Monica Bristow traveled to Jackson with Hurley.

After the training session in Jackson, Stark and other employees that attended the training reported to Rogers about Hurley's behavior during the training week. Stark reported that Hurley behaved inappropriately in and out of the classroom by using profanity and was generally unprofessional. Stark and others further reported that after class Hurley drank excessively in the hotel bar and used profanity. Rogers also learned that Hurley was seen kissing and being openly affectionate with her partner in the hotel. According to Rogers, she was aware that Hurley was gay at this time.²

The TPSD decided to close the Church Street School facility after the 2012-2013 school year. As a result, Hurley's position was eliminated. Due to a declining number of students prior to the closing, Hurley began taking on additional responsibilities at the Lawndale and Joyner cafeterias, which did not have cafeteria managers of their own at that time. Hurley made bank deposits and assisted with record keeping including filling out the “red book”.³ During this time, Hurley talked with Rogers about continuing her employment in a different position after the Church Street School closed. Rogers anticipated that a float manager position would be created and available the following school year, but the School Board would not make a decision about that position until later in the summer.

Starting in June of 2013, Hurley worked as a cafeteria cashier in the summer food service program at Tupelo Middle School. Dorothy Lattimore was the cafeteria manager. The summer food service program served a number of different groups including the Tupelo Middle School basketball team, and the Tupelo Boys and Girls Club.

Rogers met with Hurley twice on June 28, 2013, and their impressions of these meetings are very different. According to Hurley, Rogers accused her of being racist and of trying to turn another employee gay. According to Rogers, several employees complained about Hurley's unprofessional conduct, use of profanity, and other inappropriate comments, and she met with Hurley to discuss legitimate employment related issues and to issue her a verbal warning. Both Hurley and Rogers concede that at least one topic of discussion at these two meetings was a complaint from TPSD employee Dorothy Lattimore. According to Lattimore, Hurley invited her over to swim in her pool and have some fun, and asked her if she knew anyone that Hurley could sleep with because her partner was out of town. Lattimore also reported that other employees asked her if Hurley was trying to “turn her out”. Rogers issued a verbal warning to Hurley, accompanied by a performance correction notice, which Hurley signed. The correction notice cites Hurley for disrespectful conduct, use of profanity, unprofessional conduct, and references the complaint by Lattimore.⁴ Hurley alleges that up until these meetings, she had a positive working relationship with the TPSD, but that after this time, her work life took a dramatic turn for the worse. Hurley attributes this shift to her belief that this was the first time that Rogers learned that she was gay.

On August 2, 2013, the School Board approved Hurley for the float manager position. Rogers and Hurley discussed the potential for Hurley to gain experience in training as a float manager that would prepare her to manage a full service cafeteria in a larger school. In particular, Hurley needed experience with truck ordering. According to Rogers, the float manager position paid less than the Church Street position, $17,280 instead of $17,964, but did not require management of a particular cafeteria, and involved serving fewer students.⁵ As float manager, Hurley worked out of the Tupelo Middle School cafeteria but traveled to the Fillmore Center to deliver and serve meals. The Fillmore Center did not have its own cafeteria. Hurley was responsible for traveling back and forth from the Middle School to deliver and serve breakfast and lunch at Fillmore, after which she would finish out her day at the Middle School counting that day's money and filling out the Middle School's red book.

During the spring of 2014 Hurley attended another certification and training program with other managers, this time at Itawamba Community College. This class met in the evenings after working hours. Around this same time, Judy Stark was promoted to manager of the Tupelo Middle School cafeteria. According to Rogers, she again received negative reports about Hurley's behavior during the training sessions, specifically that Hurley was abrupt and unprofessional in the classroom, and that she made statements to the instructor about bringing beer to the sessions. According to Hurley, she was only joking about getting beer and pizza in class. Rogers talked to Hurley about her behavior in the class but did not issue any formal warning or reprimand.

Hurley injured her shoulder while transporting food to the Fillmore Center on February 14, 2014, and attempting to operate a heavy metal gate. Hurley's injury eventually required surgery, and her doctor placed her on weight lift restrictions. Hurley missed some work as a result of her injury, but was requested to, and did schedule her appointments around work hours when possible. According to Hurley, she was repeatedly expected to perform duties outside her work restrictions, such as lifting heavy boxes, in spite of written orders to the contrary.

In April of 2014, Rogers requested a work performance update on Hurley from Judy Stark, who was by now the Tupelo Middle School cafeteria manager. Rogers and her assistant, Suzy Parker, met with Hurley on April 25, 2014 to discuss issues from this performance update. Rogers issued a written agenda containing six specific issues for Hurley to address.⁶ Most of the issues involved Hurley's working relationship with Stark. Rogers, Parker, and Hurley signed this agenda.

A devastating tornado struck the city of Tupelo and the surrounding area on April 28, 2014. Many homes and businesses were damaged or destroyed in the storm. Hurley's home sustained substantial damage. Hurley missed some work directly after the tornado. Because she had used all of her sick days for her shoulder injury and related doctor's visits, Hurley took unpaid time off under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA). Hurley alleges that she was never told that she was using her sick leave to attend medical appointments for her shoulder.

Hurley returned to work for the 2014-2015 school year, again as float manager, and attended training sessions on August 1, 2014, and August 6, 2014. On August 14, 2014, Rogers and Tupelo Middle School Principal, Dr. Luse, met with Hurley and issued a written warning to her. According to Rogers, the written warning came as a result of Hurley's refusal to follow Stark's instructions. According to Stark and Rogers, Stark and Tupelo Middle School Assistant Principal Cossey instructed Hurley to make phone calls to school parents whose children had unpaid balances with the cafeteria. According to Stark, Hurley refused to make the calls and told Stark that she (Stark) was not her boss, and that she only took orders from Rogers. According to Hurley, she never made the calls because she was never given a list to call from. Among other things, the written warning also cites Hurley for using profanity, being disrespectful, and making negative comments regarding work assignments.

Hurley was again on FMLA leave beginning August 15, 2014 and filed this suit on August 26, 2014. Hurley did not return to work until September 2, 2014. On September 3, 2014, Hurley left work early and requested additional...