Ragland v. BM2 Freight Servs., Inc., CIVIL ACTION NO.: 2:18-CV-22 (WOB-CJS)

JASON RAGLAND PLAINTIFF v. BM2 FREIGHT SERVICES, INC. DEFENDANT

CIVIL ACTION NO.: 2:18-CV-22 (WOB-CJS)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF KENTUCKY NORTHERN DIVISION AT COVINGTON

November 22, 2019

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

This matter is before the Court on the motion for summary judgment by defendant BM2 Freight Services, Inc. ("BM2"). (Doc. 32).

The Court heard oral argument on this motion on Friday, August 23, 2019, and thereafter took the matter under submission. (Doc. 40).

After further study, the Court now issues the following Memorandum Opinion and Order.

Factual and Procedural Background

Plaintiff Jason Ragland ("Ragland") served in the United States Marine Corps from 1999 to 2004, and from 2005 to 2008 he worked for the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Diplomatic Security and served in combat duty in Iraq. (Doc. 26-4). From 2008 to approximately 2012, Ragland operated a military procurement business. (Id.; Ragland Depo. at 19-22).

When Ragland moved back to Cincinnati, Ohio, he told a friend who operated a freight business that he was interested in working in the freight logistics field. (Ragland Depo. at 18-19). Ragland, however, had no experience in that field, and his friend's company did not provide training, so the friend referred Ragland to BM2. (Id.) BM2 is a full-service brokerage company that operates throughout the United States and Canada, which was started in 2008. BM2 is owned by Kevin Ball, Matthew Mason, and Jeffrey Mason. (Ball Depo. at 7-8, 21).

Ragland provided BM2 with his resume that listed his military service and experience as a security contractor. (Ragland Depo. at 12-13). Ball testified that Ragland's military experience "got him in the door" and was one reason they hired Ragland because BM2 was hoping to secure Department of Defense and other government business. (Ball Depo. at 75, 203).

Ragland began at BM2 as an assistant to obtain on-the-job training, and he then progressed to an account executive. (Ragland Depo. 32-34). In 2014 or 2015, Ragland was promoted to senior account executive and he became one of BM2's top salespeople. (Ragland Depo. 45-47; Ball Dep. 61-62; M. Mason Dep. 6).

In January 2016, BM2 hired Scott Klever ("Klever"), who became Ragland's supervisor and BM2's Vice-President of Business Development. (M. Mason Dep. 6; Ball Dep. 53; Klever Depo. 5-6). After he was hired, Klever raised Ragland's pay and that of anotherleading salesperson, Jess Meloche. (Ragland Depo. at 151). Around the same time, company management decided to have four team "leads" and chose Ragland as one of them. (M. Mason Dep. 6).

Ragland testified that he does not have PTSD as a result of his military service, and that he never told or hinted to anyone at BM2 that he had PTSD. (Ragland Depo. at 118). However, he testified that several co-workers at BM2 asked him if he had PTSD or had killed anyone. (Ragland Depo. 118-119, 121-). Ragland testified that he told them that such questions were "weird" or "awkward."

Klever once asked Ragland about his combat experience in Iraq while the two men were driving to Michigan for a business meeting. Ragland testified that he found this "awkward" and probably told Klever that he did not have PTSD. (Ragland Depo. 119-121). Ragland did not recall that Klever asked any further questions or that the subject ever came up again between them.

Ragland testified that Ball once asked him about his combat experience on a business trip to Washington, D.C., but he could not recall if Ball asked him if he had PTSD. (Ragland Depo. at 126-127). Neither Jeff Mason nor Matthew Mason ever asked Ragland if he had PTSD. (Id.).

On March 21, 2016, Ball sent Ragland an email asking him if he had put in a bid on a government account that BM2 had assigned to him. (Doc. 30-10). Ragland responded that he had not, andBall asked him why. An exchange followed in which Ragland implied that Ball did not understand government contracts; Ball explained that if Ragland was not going to try to develop the business, Ball could reassign it:

I just want to make sure whoever has the account is spending the necessary time & effort to do what it takes to earn freight.

If you want more time on the account, just let me know. But it does BM2 no good to have that account sit dormant while no one works on it. So if you are not going to do it, I need to give it to someone else who will.

(Doc. 30-10 at 2).

Ragland responded:

Do you think I'm not doing it right? I spend months getting everything in order, finding the right people, building rate matrixes, and learning the different systems that the government uses.

I feel like I'm getting accused of not doing my job because I didn't bid on one RFP in 3.5 years.

I understand that you guys are frustrated with the market, but I have always done my job and I have done a great job at it as it has allowed BM2 to grow tremendously.

Sorry, but I feel like I'm getting attacked.

(Doc. 30-10 at 1).

Ball responded:

In no way are you getting attacked. You are taking this way too personally and getting defensive. Nothing in anything I wrote was personal in nature. I didn't question your ability, I didn't say anything about you in any way. I was asking aboutan account. That is very concerning that you would get so defensive about this.

I don't know why you think I am not allowed to question you and how you do things. Whether you are a million dollar broker or just starting out, as your boss and the owner of this company, it is well within my boundaries to question how an account is being run. In fact the real problem would be if I didn't take a good hard look at every aspect of the business and see how it can improve. I do that with every aspect of the business. In this case I bring up an account that hasn't generated a dollar's worth of revenue in 3 years and it makes you upset? Why shouldn't I question it? You were handpicked for that account. Of course I am going to question where the failure lies with that account! You have obviously been very successful with the APL account, so that tells me you are a very capable broker. That makes it even more puzzling on why the government freight hasn't taken off.

Bottom line is you do have to answer to me. Just the way it works. I leave you alone and largely let you do your thing because you are a profitable broker. But I have every right to question the status of an account that I personally put in your hands.

(Id.).

Ball testified that he did not like the fact that Ragland was ignoring an account that Ball had given him, and he also felt that Ragland's attitude when questioned by management was inappropriately defensive. (Ball Depo. 75-78

Around the same time, BM2 management decided that they had become lax about enforcing the 8:00 a.m. start time for employees and that it sent the wrong message. On March 29, 2016, Ball sent out an email stating that all employees were required to startwork strictly at 8:00 AM. (Ball Depo. 64-65; Doc. 30-8). Later that day, the Human Resources Manager followed up with an email to all employees which stated, in part:

Good morning Team-

As previously discussed in Kevin's email, as of tomorrow, 3/30/16, our 8:00 start time will be strongly enforced. We will be monitoring arrival times and issuing written warnings to anyone who is not here by 8:00.

(Doc. 30-11 at 3).

Ragland immediately emailed Matthew Mason and told him he felt this was a form of "micromanaging" and that because of his sales performance, he did not "want to be categorized with everyone else." (Id.; Ragland Dep. at 65-66, 76). The next day, Ball sent out a very stern email noting that the 8:00 start time policy had been "met with some discord" but that it was "non-negotiable" regardless of any employee's "numbers" or "position." (Doc. 30-9).

Ragland also had a dispute with management about one of his potential "tagged" sales prospects that management gave to another broker because they believed that Ragland was not doing enough to solicit the prospect's business. (M. Mason Dep. 10-13; Ball Dep. 40-41). Matthew Mason testified that Ragland questioned Mason's integrity while discussing the incident, and that the discussion became so heated that Mason called Ball into the room to defuse the situation. (M. Mason Dep. 16-18). Ragland testified that such"an incident" like that "could have happened," but he denies that he questioned Mason's ethics or that Ball was called into the room. (Ragland Depo. at 78-84).

In May, after terminating an account executive named Tyler Reed, BM2 had to reassign his accounts. Ragland testified that Klever and Matthew Mason met with the account executives and told them that Reed's accounts would be divided among the four team leaders and then to the rest of the company. (Ragland Depo. at 86-87). Ragland testified, however, that BM2 was not obligated to assign the accounts to him or any other team leader. (Ragland Depo. at 87).

On May 16, 2016, Klever began reassigning Reed's accounts to other executives. Ragland testified that he saw Klever assigning accounts to others "all day" and that, by 5:00 p.m. when Klever had not yet assigned him any of the accounts, Ragland texted him to see what customers he would be getting. (Ragland Depo. 87-88). By that time, Ragland had printed out a list of Reed's accounts.

When Ragland found Klever, he asked him which of Reed's accounts he would be getting. Klever and Ragland went into Ball's office, which was empty, and Klever explained to Ragland which accounts he was being assigned. (Ragland Depo. at 88-90). Unhappy with this information, Ragland took the piece of paper showing Reed's accounts, crumbled it, threw it into a trash can and stated, "I don't know why I keep getting treated like shit." (Ragland Dep.89-91; Meloche Dep. 39-40). He then left Ball's office, went back to his desk to get his keys and wallet, and then left. (Ragland Depo. at 94).

The next morning, Klever told Matthew Mason about the incident and that he felt that Ragland had...