Buie v. Charter Communications, 6:17-cv-03007

Background

Tonia Buie was Charter Communications’ HR Director II at a Simpsonville SC call center. After a leadership change (Stockton’s November 2015 termination), she began reporting to Operations Director Kelly Evans, with dotted-line HR reporting to Richard Farber.
On January 18, 2016 Evans and Buie met about bathroom-break accommodations; Evans directed cancellation of all such accommodations and asked to see medical records. Buie opposed the directive, raised legal concerns, and alerted Farber.
Buie took FMLA leave Jan. 20–29, 2016 for exacerbated depression; Farber approved and Buie asked he not share her medical details with Evans.
After the January meeting, Evans escalated complaints about Buie’s performance, circulated a draft corrective action, and suspended Buie on March 18, 2016. Buie was terminated March 25, 2016, following an HR investigation prompted by an exit-interview incident involving employee Jonathan Edens.
After trial the court found Charter liable for ADA retaliation (Buie opposed an ADA-related practice) but not liable for FMLA retaliation (no causal link to leave). The court awarded Buie $206,288.17 in back pay plus prejudgment interest and reserved attorney’s fees for later briefing.

Issues

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether opposing expiration of bathroom-break accommodations constituted protected "oppositional" activity under the ADA	Buie opposed a wholesale cancellation of individualized accommodations and reasonably believed it violated the ADA	Charter (via Evans) contended Buie did not oppose the change (Evans testified Buie proposed expiration) and that cancellation was lawful under schedule-adherence policy	Court: Buie engaged in protected activity; credited Buie’s account and found her belief objectively reasonable
Whether Buie’s oppositional activity was a but‑for cause of suspension/termination (ADA causation)	Buie: termination followed her opposition and escalation to Farber; termination was pretextual	Charter: termination was for legitimate, cumulative performance issues and complaints predating January 2016	Court: Found proffered performance reasons pretextual; Buie’s opposition was a but‑for cause; ADA retaliation proven
Whether Buie’s FMLA leave was a cause of adverse action (FMLA retaliation)	Buie: Evans had disparaging views toward FMLA users; disciplinary actions close in time to leave support causation	Charter: Evans knew little or nothing about Buie’s medical reason; disciplinary push followed the Jan. 18 confrontation, not the leave	Court: No causal link established between FMLA leave and termination; FMLA claim denied
Appropriate remedies: mitigation, back pay, front pay, fees	Buie sought back pay, front pay, fees, LTIP, bonuses	Charter argued mitigation and speculation bar some awards; front pay unduly speculative due to post-termination employment	Court: Buie must mitigate; back pay awarded but reduced for voluntary resignation from a mitigative job; bonuses/3% raises denied as speculative; front pay denied; LTIP vesting amounts during back-pay period included; attorney’s fees to be briefed

Key Cases Cited

Jacobs v. N.C. Admin. Off. of the Cts., 780 F.3d 562 (4th Cir. 2015) (ADA interactive-process duty and accommodation law)
Guessous v. Fairview Prop. Invs., LLC, 828 F.3d 208 (4th Cir. 2016) (elements for ADA retaliation claim)
Foster v. Univ. of Maryland-Eastern Shore, 787 F.3d 243 (4th Cir. 2015) (retaliation causation discussion)
Freilich v. Upper Chesapeake Health, 313 F.3d 205 (4th Cir. 2002) (reasonable, good-faith belief suffices for protected opposition)
Reeves v. Sanderson Plumbing Prods., 530 U.S. 133 (2000) (pretext analysis and burden of proof on employer’s justification)
Desert Palace, Inc. v. Costa, 539 U.S. 90 (2003) (circumstantial and direct evidence treated alike in discrimination cases)
Burrage v. United States, 134 S. Ct. 881 (2014) (but‑for causation need not be sole cause)
Clark Cty. Sch. Dist. v. Breeden, 532 U.S. 268 (2001) (temporal proximity must be very close to establish causation alone)
Price v. Thompson, 380 F.3d 209 (4th Cir. 2004) (temporal proximity and causal inference)
Fry v. Rand Constr. Corp., 964 F.3d 239 (4th Cir. 2020) (discussion of FMLA retaliation standards and causation)
Hannah P. v. Coats, 916 F.3d 327 (4th Cir. 2019) (elements for FMLA retaliation)
Dotson v. Pfizer, 558 F.3d 284 (4th Cir. 2009) (front-pay considerations and comparative post-termination earnings)
Westmoreland v. TWC Admin. LLC, 924 F.3d 718 (4th Cir. 2019) (sudden adverse evaluations after long good service may suggest pretext)
Bryant v. Aiken Reg’l Med. Ctrs., Inc., 333 F.3d 536 (4th Cir. 2003) (‘‘nitpicky’’ criticisms may indicate retaliation)