Tuttle v. Baptist Health Med. Grp., Inc., Civil Action No. 5:17-CV-240-CHB

379 F.Supp.3d 622

Shannon TUTTLE, Plaintiff,

v.BAPTIST HEALTH MEDICAL GROUP, INC. d/b/a Baptist Health Pulmonary & Critical Care, Defendant.

Civil Action No. 5:17-CV-240-CHB

United States District Court, E.D. Kentucky, Central Division. (at Lexington).

Signed March 31, 2019

Rachel A. Shelton, William Nicholas Wallingford, Wallingford Law, PSC, Lexington, KY, for Plaintiff.

Lauren Claycomb, Raymond C. Haley, III, Katherine A. Garbarino, Fisher & Phillips, Louisville, KY, for Defendant.

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER GRANTING MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

CLARIA HORN BOOM, UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT JUDGE

This matter is before the Court on the Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment [R. 23] and the Plaintiff's Motion in Limine [R. 28]. On May 31, 2017, Plaintiff Shannon Tuttle filed this lawsuit, bringing claims for violation of the Americans with Disability Act (ADA), violation of the Kentucky Civil Rights Act (KCRA), and common-law wrongful termination. [R. 1] The Defendant moved for summary judgment nearly a year later, [R. 23], and a hearing was held on that motion and the Motion in Limine [R. 28] on August 13, 2018. [See R. 43] For the reasons discussed below, the Plaintiff has not demonstrated a genuine issue as to a material fact, and her claims must fail. Accordingly, the Court will grant the Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment as to all claims.

I. BACKGROUND

The Plaintiff worked as a medical assistant for the Defendant's predecessor from 2005 to July 2010, and then for the Defendant from July 2010 until her termination on November 16, 2016. [R. 24-1, Deposition of Shannon Tuttle ("Tuttle Depo.") at pp. 68-70, 88-89, Page ID#: 288, 293; R. 24-2, Employee Separation Form at p. 1] The Plaintiff asserts that "[d]uring over ten years of employment at the same office, [her] performance was praised by physicians and the practice manager for whom she worked." [R. 24, Plaintiff's Response to Motion for Summary Judgment ("Plaintiff's Response") at p. 3 (citing R. 24-4, Deposition of John Harrison ("Harrison Depo.") at p. 21 and R. 24-5, Affidavit of Donna Dunn ("Dunn Aff.")) ] However, the deposition and affidavit which she cites contain statements from the manager and from one physician made after the onset of litigation, not statements (or references to statements) made during the Plaintiff's employment with the Defendant. See id.

In October 2015, the Plaintiff learned that her son, Dylan Cartwright, had been diagnosed as HIV-positive. [R. 24-1, Tuttle Depo. at pp. 94-95, Page ID#: 295] The Plaintiff testified that she told Donna Dunn, the Practice Manager in Plaintiff's office, about her son's HIV-positive diagnosis (though it is unclear when); that she knew when she told Dunn that Dunn would keep this information confidential; and that she has no reason to think that Dunn did not do so. [R. 24-1, Tuttle Depo. at pp. 96-97, Page ID#: 295] The Plaintiff did not name any other of her coworkers when asked if she told anyone about her son's diagnosis, although Dr. John Harrison (a doctor who worked in the same office as the Plaintiff) also apparently knew. See id. ; R. 24-4, Harrison Depo. at pp. 31-32.

On December 22, 2015, the Plaintiff used the Defendant's computer system to access her son's medical records without authorization. [R. 24-1, Tuttle Depo. at pp. 117-118, Page ID#: 300, 301; R. 23-2, Portions of Plaintiff's Deposition and Deposition Exhibits at pp. 26-27, Page ID#: 133-134] The Plaintiff admitted that she knew this was wrong [R. 24-1, Tuttle Depo. at p. 118, Page ID#: 301]. Based on this incident, the Defendant issued the Plaintiff a final warning in January 2016. [R. 23-2, Portions of Plaintiff's Deposition and Deposition Exhibits at id. ]

On or about August 22, 2016, several area news organizations ran stories stating that Cartwright was HIV-positive and was facing charges after intentionally biting a corrections officer knowing that he was HIV-positive. [See R. 24-3, News Stories] The Plaintiff claims that she "soon learned that many of her coworkers were discussing" these news stories. [R. 24, Plaintiff's Response at p. 3] She testified that one of her coworkers, Michelle Clemons,¹ approached the plaintiff and expressed sympathy over the situation. [R. 24-1, Tuttle Depo. at p. 131, Page ID#: 304] The Defendant argues that "[w]hile [the Plaintiff] believes all of her co-workers had seen news coverage of the incident involving her son, the only person she could specifically identify was Michelle Clemons." [R. 23-1, Memorandum in Support of Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment ("Summary Judgment Memo") at p. 3] But the Plaintiff also testified that Clemons (and perhaps a second coworker – the record is not clear on this point) told Plaintiff that Nancy VanDyke (yet another coworker) had shown one of the news videos in a "huddle" with "four or five of them."² [R. 24-1, Tuttle Depo. at p. 132, Page ID#: 304] Another coworker, Brandy Martin, testified that she discussed one of the news stories with "Florence."³ [R. 24-6, Deposition of Brandy Martin ("Martin Depo.") at pp. 75-76, Page ID#: 467-68] The Plaintiff testified that she discussed "the story" with Dunn. [R. 24-1, Tuttle Depo. at p. 125, Page ID#: 302] The Plaintiff testified that she did not discuss the incident with any coworkers other than Clemons and Dunn. [R. 24-1, Tuttle Depo. at p. 125, Page ID#: 302]

Though she testified to having a "good relationship overall" with her coworkers before the story, the Plaintiff claims that after the news stories were published, she was "alienated" from her coworkers and "treated poorly and unprofessionally, hindering her ability to perform her job duties."⁴ [R. 24-1, Tuttle Depo. at p. 124, Page ID#: 302; R. 24, Plaintiff's Response at p. 3 (citing⁵ R. 24-1, Tuttle Depo. at p. 126, Page ID#: 303) ] The Plaintiff claims that she was "ostracized by co-workers with whom she previously had a professional and collaborative relationship, including ... Stephanie Salyers ... Melissa Haggard ... Toni Milam ... Nancy VanDyke ... Florence Bates ... Regina Leach⁶ ... and ... Brandy Martin." [R. 24, Plaintiff's Response at p. 4 (citing Tuttle Depo. at pp. 126-134, Page ID#: 303-305) ] Citing her own testimony as well as Dunn's affidavit, the Plaintiff claims that "[t]he front desk staff ... including Haggard, Salyers, and Milam, refused to provide Tuttle with notice of appointment arrivals." [Id. (citing R. 24-1, Tuttle Depo. at pp. 126, 130-32, Page ID#: 303, 304; R. 24-5, Dunn Aff.) ] However, Dunn's affidavit merely states that Tuttle told Dunn that this was the case. [R. 24-5, Dunn Aff. at pp. 3-4] After the Plaintiff complained to Dunn about this issue, Dunn "discussed the office protocol for notifying clinical staff members that patients had arrived with reception staff, including" Haggard, Salyers, and Milam. [R. 24-5, Dunn Aff. at pp. 3-4; R. 24-1, Tuttle Depo. at pp. 135-136, Page ID#: 305]

The Plaintiff also claims that many staff members, including Haggard, Milam, Salyers, Bates, VanDyke, Leach, and Martin, "refused to speak with Plaintiff, or to remain in the same room of Defendant's premises with her." [R. 24, Plaintiff's Response at p. 4 (citing R. 24-1, Tuttle Depo. at pp. 126, 130, Page ID#: 303, 304) ] Finally, the Plaintiff testified that another coworker, Ranada Boone, told the Plaintiff that Martin "expressed a refusal to eat any dish prepared by the Plaintiff for an upcoming office potluck." [R. 24, Plaintiff's Response at p. 4; R. 24-1, Tuttle Depo. at pp. 99-100, Page ID#: 296] Based on this comment, the Plaintiff testified that she thought Martin believed HIV to be communicable in ways other than the exchange of bodily fluids. Id. The Plaintiff testified that she is not aware of any other comments from coworkers regarding HIV. Id. at p. 101.

On October 26, 2016, one of the Defendant's employees, Angela Allen, made an anonymous call to Shannon Robinson, the Defendant's Operations Manager. [R. 24-7, Deposition of Shannon Robinson ("Robinson Depo.") at pp. 5, 15-16, 27] Allen complained about bullying/being "picked on," favoritism, and changed job duties, specifically mentioning Dunn by name. [R. 24-7, Robinson Depo. at pp. 16-19; R. 24-8, Deposition of Amy Morrison ("Morrison Depo.") at p. 23] She did not mention anyone else or refer to the Plaintiff. [R. 24-7, Robinson Depo at pp. 17-19]

Allen's complaint kicked off an investigation. Robinson testified that she "hardly ever" conducted human resources investigations. [R. 24-7, Robinson Depo. at pp. 10] She testified that she could recall one other human resources investigation that she "kind of sat in on." Id. at p. 11. She testified that this other investigation "wasn't anything to [the] magnitude" of the investigation into Allen's complaint, that she "shouldn't even call it an investigation," and that it was just a "meeting" or "more me going and talking to each employee and just listening." Id. at pp. 12-13. After receiving Allen's complaint, Robinson conferred with Amy Morrison, her supervisor and the Defendant's Director of Operations. [R. 24-7, Robinson Depo. at pp. 19-20; R. 24-8, Morrison Depo. at pp. 5, 9-10] Morrison suggested that Robinson speak with Lisa Stidham, who worked in Human Resources.⁷ [R. 24-7, Robinson Depo. at p. 20] Robinson did so the next day, asking Stidham what she thought Robinson should do. [R. 24-7, Robinson Depo. at p. 20] Stidham advised talking to each employee, and at Robinson's request, emailed her a list of sample questions. Id. at p. 21. The sample included the following list of information that should be gathered:

Statement of complaining employee should include the following (1) date and time of incident, (2) the location of incident, (3) the company employees involved, (4) any witnesses to the incident, (5) precise nature of the complaint, (6) any additional facts relevant to the complaint.

[R. 24-9, Investigation Questionnaire at p. 2, Page ID#: 698] Stidham's sample list also included the following...