MARK CHRISTOPHER TRACY, Plaintiff,
v.
VAIL RESORTS, INC. d/b/a Park City Mountain Resort; and DOES 1-20, Defendants.
No. 2:21-cv-00250-TC-DBP
United States District Court, D. Utah
November 4, 2021
Chief Magistrate Judge Dustin B. Pead
ORDER ADOPTING MAGISTRATE JUDGE'S REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION
TENA CAMPBELL, United States District Judge
Plaintiff Mark Tracy sued Defendant Vail Resorts, Inc. after he was fired from his job at the Vail-owned Park City Mountain Resort. Mr. Tracy alleged that Vail terminated his employment as retaliation against his reporting hazardous working conditions at the Resort. Vail moved to dismiss the suit under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). The court referred this case to Chief Magistrate Judge Dustin B. Pead under 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(B). Judge Pead submitted an eight-page Report and Recommendation (R&R) (ECF No. 15), in which he recommends that the court grant Vail's motion and dismiss Mr. Tracy's complaint.
Mr. Tracy filed a timely objection to Judge Pead's R&R. (ECF No. 16.) Accordingly, the court will “make a de novo determination” of the portions of the R&R to which Mr. Tracy objects. 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1); Fed.R.Civ.P. 72(b)(3). Mr. Tracy makes three principal objections. First, he maintains that reporting hazardous working conditions at the Resort was indeed a Title VII protected activity. Second, he claims that as an employee over forty years old, he is a member of a protected class. Third, he asserts that the burden should now shift to Vail to “offer the Court a plausible reason for its decision to terminate” his job. (Obj. to R&R at 2, ECF No. 16.)
None of Mr. Tracy's...
