Kaite v. Altoona Student Transp., Inc., Case No. 3:17–cv–5

296 F.Supp.3d 736

Bonnie F. KAITE, Plaintiff,

v.ALTOONA STUDENT TRANSPORTATION, INC., Defendant.

Case No. 3:17–cv–5

United States District Court, W.D. Pennsylvania.

Signed October 30, 2017

Samuel J. Cordes, Nicholas A. Krakoff, Samuel J. Cordes & Associates, Pittsburgh, PA, for Plaintiff.

Douglas G. Smith, Mariah H. McGrogan, Jackson Lewis P.C., Pittsburgh, PA, for Defendant.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

KIM R. GIBSON, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

I. Introduction

Before the Court is Defendant's Renewed Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings. (ECF No. 17.) The motion has been fully briefed (see ECF Nos. 18, 25, 32) and is ripe for disposition. For the reasons stated below, Defendant's motion will be DENIED .

II. Jurisdiction

This Court has original jurisdiction over Plaintiff's civil rights claims under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331 and 1343, and supplemental jurisdiction over her related state law claims under 28 U.S.C. § 1367(a).

III. Background

Plaintiff filed a Complaint before this Court on January 12, 2017 (ECF No. 1), which Plaintiff subsequently amended on June 17, 2017. (ECF No. 14.) The Court accepts as true the following facts from the Amended Complaint for the sole purpose of deciding Defendant's Renewed Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings.

Defendant hired Plaintiff to work as a school bus driver in 2001. (Id. at 2.) In November, 2015, Defendant informed Plaintiff that, in accordance with a newly enacted state law, Plaintiff needed to undergo a background check to continue her employment. (Id. ) The background check required that Plaintiff be fingerprinted. (Id. )

Plaintiff is a devout Christian. (Id. ) Plaintiff informed Defendant that, according to her sincerely held religious beliefs, "the Book of Revelation prohibits the ‘mark of the devil,’ which she believes includes fingerprinting, and that she will not get into Heaven if she submits to fingerprinting." (Id. ) Plaintiff asked Defendant for an accommodation, specifically, whether she could perform a different type of background check that did not require her to be fingerprinted. (Id. )

Defendant informed Plaintiff that no accommodations were available, and terminated her for failing to comply with state law's fingerprinting requirement, effective December 31, 2015. (Id. at 2–3.) However, Defendant allowed at least one employee with "unreadable" fingerprints to participate in an alternative background check for which fingerprinting was not required. (Id. at 3.)

Plaintiff asserts three claims: (1) religious discrimination in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act ("Title VII") (see id. at 3–4); (2) retaliation, also in violation of Title VII (id. at 4–5); and (3) a related claim under the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act ("PHRA").¹ (Id. at 5–6.)

IV. Legal Standard

"The standard for deciding a motion for judgment on the pleadings filed pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(c) is not materially different from the standard for deciding a motion to dismiss filed pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6)." Zion v. Nassan, 283 F.R.D. 247, 254 (W.D. Pa. 2012) ; see Harleysville INS. Co. of New York v. Cerciello, No. 3:08-CV-2060, 2010 WL 11534317, at *2 (M.D. Pa. 2010) ("The standard of review used for a motion for judgment on the pleadings is substantively identical to that of a motion to dismiss."); see also Minnesota Lawyers Mut. Ins. Co. v. Ahrens, 432 Fed.Appx. 143, 147 (3d Cir. 2011).

Either motion may be used to seek the dismissal of a complaint based on a plaintiff's "failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted." Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6) ; id. at 12(h)(2)(B). The only difference between the two motions is that a Rule 12(b) motion must be made before a "responsive pleading" is filed, whereas a Rule 12(c) motion can be made "[a]fter the pleadings are closed." Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b) ; id. at 12(c); Cerciello, 2010 WL 11534317, at 2. "A court presented with a motion for judgment on the pleadings must consider the plaintiff's complaint, the defendant's answer, and any written instruments or exhibits attached to the pleadings." Anthony v. Torrance State Hosp., No. CV 3:16-29, 2016 WL 4581350, at *1 (W.D. Pa. 2016) (citing Perelman v. Perelman, 919 F.Supp.2d 512, 521 (E.D. Pa. 2013) ).

A complaint may be dismissed under Federal Rule of Civil Rule 12(b)(6) for "failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted." Connelly v. Lane Const. Corp., 809 F.3d 780, 786 (3d Cir. 2016). But, detailed pleading is not generally required. Id. The Rules demand only "a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief" to give the defendant fair notice of what the claim is and the grounds upon which it rests. Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007) (quoting Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2) ).

Under the pleading regime established by Twombly and Iqbal, a court reviewing the sufficiency of a complaint must take three steps.² First, the court must "tak[e] note of the elements [the] plaintiff must plead to state a claim." Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 675, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009). Second, the court should identify allegations that, "because they are no more than conclusions, are not entitled to the assumption of truth." Id. at 679, 129 S.Ct. 1937 ; see also Burtch v. Milberg Factors, Inc., 662 F.3d 212, 224 (3d Cir. 2011) ("Mere restatements of the elements of a claim are not entitled to the assumption of truth.") (citation omitted). Finally, "[w]hen there are well-pleaded factual allegations, [the] court should assume their veracity and then determine whether they plausibly give rise to an entitlement to relief." Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 679, 129 S.Ct. 1937. "A claim has facial plausibility when the plaintiff pleads factual content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged." Id. ; see also Connelly, 809 F.3d at 786. Ultimately, the plausibility determination is "a context-specific task that requires the reviewing court to draw on its judicial experience and common sense." Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 679, 129 S.Ct. 1937.

Because a motion for judgment on the pleadings is analyzed under the same standard as a motion to dismiss, "a court must accept all of the allegations in the pleadings of the party against whom the motion is addressed as true and draw all reasonable inferences in favor of the non-moving party." Zimmerman v. Corbett, 873 F.3d 414, 418 (3d Cir. 2017) ; see also Thompson v. Med–Mizer, Inc., No. 10-CV-02058, 2012 WL 12903830, at *1 (E.D. Pa. 2012) (when ruling on a defendant's motion for judgment on the pleadings, "all factual averments in plaintiff's Complaint must be accepted as true.") (citing Fowler v. UPMC Shadyside, 578 F.3d 203, 210 (3d Cir. 2009) ).

V. Discussion

A. Religious Discrimination Claim

"To establish a prima facie case of religious discrimination, the employee must show: (1) she holds a sincere religious belief that conflicts with a job requirement; (2) she informed her employer of the conflict; and (3) she was disciplined for failing to comply with the conflicting requirement." Webb v. City of Philadelphia, 562 F.3d 256, 259 (3d Cir. 2009) (citing Shelton v. Univ. of Med. & Dentistry of New Jersey, 223 F.3d 220, 224 (3d Cir. 2000) ). "Once all factors are established, the burden shifts to the employer to show either it made a good-faith effort to reasonably accommodate the religious belief, or such an accommodation would work an undue hardship upon the employer and its business." Webb, 562 F.3d at 259 ; Wilkerson v. New Media Tech. Charter Sch. Inc., 522 F.3d 315, 319 (3d Cir. 2008) (articulating the same three-part test); E.E.O.C. v. Aldi, Inc., No. CIV.A. 06-01210, 2008 WL 859249, at *5 (W.D. Pa. 2008) (same); Sowell v. RAV Investigative & Sec. Servs., Ltd., No. CV15-03657, 2016 WL 3014881, at *2 (E.D. Pa. 2016) (same). "If the employer satisfies its relatively low burden, the burden then shifts back to the plaintiff to prove, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the employer's articulated reasons were a pretext for discrimination." Sowell v. RAV Investigative & Sec. Servs., Ltd. , No. CV 15-03657, 2016 WL 3014881, at *2 (E.D. Pa. 2016) (citing Schwartzberg v. Mellon Bank, N.A., No. 06-1006, 2008 WL 111984, at *8 (W.D. Pa. 2008), aff'd, 307 Fed.Appx. 676 (3d Cir. 2009) ).

"An accommodation constitutes an ‘undue hardship’ if it would impose more than a de minimis cost on the employer." Webb, 562 F.3d at 259 (citing Trans World Airlines, Inc. v. Hardison, 432 U.S. 63, 84, 97 S.Ct. 2264, 53 L.Ed.2d 113 (1977) ). In determining whether an employer faces an "undue hardship," courts "focus on the specific context of each case, looking to both the fact as well as the magnitude of the alleged undue hardship." Webb, 562 F.3d at 260 (citing Protos v. Volkswagen of Am., Inc., 797 F.2d 129, 134 (3d Cir. 1986) ); Mathis v. Christian Heating & Air Conditioning, Inc., 158 F.Supp.3d 317, 332 (E.D. Pa. 2016) (same); Webster v. Dollar Gen., Inc., 197 F.Supp.3d 692, 703 (D.N.J. 2016) (noting that district courts must examine the specific factual circumstances of the case to determine whether undue hardship exists).

Defendant asserts that Plaintiff failed to establish a prima facie case of religious discrimination. (ECF No. 18 at 6–8.) Defendant claims that Plaintiff has not shown that she had a "religious" belief; Defendant asserts that the Third Circuit defines a "religious" belief as one that an employer can accommodate without undue hardship and that, because Defendant could not accommodate Plaintiff's belief without undue hardship, Plaintiff's preference to not be fingerprinted is not a "religious" belief. (Id. at 7.) Additionally, Defendant avers that Plaintiff has not alleged that she failed to comply with an "employment requirement," because the Pennsylvania's Child Protective Services Law ("CPSL"), not Defendant, imposed the requirement that Plaintiff undergo the background check that...