THERESA D. S. HEYWARD ET AL. v. JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT OF THE STATE OF CONNECTICUT ET AL.
(AC 39232)
Appellate Court of Connecticut
Argued October 10—officially released December 19, 2017
DiPentima, C. J., and Keller and Pellegrino, Js.
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Syllabus
The plaintiff T, a clerk in а state courthouse, sought to recover damages from her employer, the defendant Judicial Department, and her supervisor, the defendant A, for their alleged employment discrimination in violation of the applicable provision (
- The trial court properly struck T‘s hostile work environment claim; the conduct alleged by T in her complaint was not sufficiently severe or pervasive so as to alter the conditions of her employment and to create a hostile work environment, as T alleged only two instances of racial remarks, with one of those remarks having been made toward a third person, and two instances of inappropriate conduct alleged to have occurred within a one year span did not meet the high standard of severe and pervasive, and the remainder of T‘s allegations concerned routine workplace matters, such as requests for time off, lunch breaks, performance evaluations and favoritism, which were not unreasonable conditions to be subjected to in the employment context.
- The trial court properly struck T‘s claim of race discrimination, T having pleaded insufficient facts to establish a prima facie case of discrimination; T did not allege any facts demonstrating that she had been subjected to an adverse employment action by her employer, as her allegations that A had placed a disciplinary e-mail in her personnel file and had yelled at her in front of coworkers and members of the public for having given incorrect information did not constitute an adverse employment action in the absence of evidence showing that T had been terminated, demoted or given diminished responsibilities, or that she suffered a decrease in salary or material loss in benefits.
Argued October 10—officially released December 19, 2017
Procedural History
Action to recover damages for, inter alia, alleged employment discrimination, and for other relief, brought to the Superior Court in the judicial district of Waterbury, where the court, Zemetis, J., granted in part the defendants’ motion to dismiss, rendered judgment thereon, and transferred the matter to the judicial district of Hartford; thereafter, the plaintiffs appealed to this court, which dismissed the appeal in part and affirmed the judgment in part; subsequently, the court, Noble, J., granted the named defendant‘s motion to strike, and the plaintiffs appealed to this court; thereafter, the court, Noble, J., granted the named defendant‘s motion for judgment and rendеred judgment thereon, and the plaintiffs filed an amended appeal. Affirmed.
Ann E. Lynch, assistant attorney general, with whom, on the brief, was George Jepsen, attorney general,
Opinion
PELLEGRINO, J. In this action arising out of alleged workplace discrimination, the plaintiff Theresa D. S. Heyward appeals from the judgment of the trial court rendered in favor of the defendant Judicial Department of the state of Connecticut.1 On appeal, the plaintiff claims that the court erred in granting the defendant‘s motion to strike her hostile work environment and racial discrimination claims. We disagree and, accordingly, affirm the judgment of the trial court.
In Heyward v. Judicial Department, 159 Conn. App. 794, 797-98, 124 A.3d 920 (2015), this court set forth the following undisputed facts and procedural history: “[The plaintiff], who is African-American, was employed as an administrative clerk in the clerk‘s office for the Superior Court in Meriden. At all relevant times, she was the only nonwhite employee working in the Meriden clerk‘s office.
“On July 18, 2012, [the plaintiff] filed a complaint with the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities (CHRO), alleging that she had been subjeсted to harassment, discrimination and denied time off for medical appointments due to her race and gender, and as retaliation for engaging in protected activities. In her CHRO complaint, [the plaintiff] named the [defendant] as the sole respondent. She alleged that her supervisor, [Robert A.] Axelrod, had subjected her to a hostile work environment on the basis of her sex and race . . . .
“On March 7, 2013, [the plaintiff] received a release of jurisdictiоn letter from the CHRO, authorizing her to bring an action in the Superior Court for the claims alleged in her CHRO complaint. On August 8, 2013, [the plaintiff and her husband]2 filed a six count amended complaint [in the Superior Court] against the [defendant and Axelrod]. The first five counts were brought by [the plaintiff] against [the defendant and Axelrod], and alleged, respectively, creation of a hostile work environment, race based discrimination, disability discrimination, negligent infliction of emotional distress, аnd defamation.
“The [defendant] moved to dismiss the amended complaint on August 14, 2013, arguing that the court lacked subject matter jurisdiction to hear the case for a number of reasons. With respect to the [defendant],
On February 21, 2014, the plaintiff appealed from the court‘s dismissal of the latter four counts of her amended complaint. On September 15, 2015, this court dismissеd the appeal as to the defendant for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, concluding that the plaintiff had not appealed from a final judgment. See id., 805. While that appeal was pending, the defendant moved to strike the remaining two counts of the plaintiff‘s amended complaint, alleging hostile work environment and race discrimination. On December 10, 2015, the plaintiff filed her memorandum in opposition to the defendant‘s motion to strike. On April 12, 2016, the court issued a memorandum of decision granting the defendant‘s motion to strike on the ground that the plaintiff‘s amended complaint did not allege sufficient facts to support claims of hostile work environment or race discrimination, and, in the alternative, that the plaintiff‘s memorandum in opposition was inadequately briefed.3 This appeal followed.4 Additional facts will be set forth as necessary.
The plaintiff claims that the court improperly struck her hostile work environment and race discrimination claims and contends that she is “entitlеd to the broadest construction of the allegations of the amended complaint without [formulaic words] being required.” We disagree and conclude that the plaintiff has pleaded insufficient facts to state a claim of hostile work environment or race discrimination.
We first set forth the appropriate standard of review in an appeal from the granting of a motion to strike. “Because a motion to strike challenges the legal sufficiency of a pleading and, consequently, requires no factual findings by the trial court, our review of the court‘s ruling . . . is plenary.” (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Amato v. Hearst Corp., 149 Conn. App. 774, 777, 89 A.3d 977 (2014). “The role of the trial court [is] to examine the [complaint], construed in favor of the [plaintiff], to determine whether the [pleading party has] stated a legally sufficient cause of action.” (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Szczapa v. United Parcel Service, Inc., 56 Conn. App. 325, 328, 743 A.2d 622, cert. denied, 252 Conn. 951, 748 A.2d 299 (2000). “It is fundamental that in determining the sufficiency of a complaint challenged by a defеndant‘s motion to strike, all well-pleaded facts and those facts necessarily implied from the allegations are taken as admitted. . . . For the purpose of ruling upon a motion to strike, the facts alleged in a complaint, though not the legal conclusions it may contain, are deemed to be admitted. . . . A motion to strike is properly granted if the complaint alleges mere conclusions of law that are unsupported by the facts allegеd.” (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Amato v. Hearst Corp., supra, 777-78.
The following additional facts are necessary for our discussion. Our decision in the plaintiff‘s prior appeal summarizes the well-pleaded facts set forth in paragraphs nine and ten of the amended complaint as follows: “Axelrod allegedly told an African-American police officer that he ‘must be working hard’ because he was ’
In granting the defendant‘s motion to strike, the court stated: “[The plaintiff] has not asserted in her objection that in fact the conduct alleged in her complaint created a workplace ‘permeated with discriminatory intimidation, ridicule, and insult that is sufficiently severe or pervasive to alter the conditions of [her] employment and create an abusive working environment.’ Brittel v. Dept. of Correction, [247 Conn. 148, 166–67, 717 A.2d 1254 (1998)]. The court does not find that such has been alleged. Similarly, the plaintiff has not objected to the defendant‘s motion to strike on the ground that her complaint in fact alleges an adverse employment action as a cоnsequence of the state‘s conduct as is required to state a claim for [race] discrimination. Buster v. Wallingford, [557 F. Supp. 2d 294 (D. Conn. 2008)]. A review of the complaint indicates no such pleading.”
With these factual allegations and legal principles in mind, we address the sufficiency of the plaintiff‘s pleadings with respect to her hostile work environment and race discrimination claims.
I
We first address the plaintiff‘s hostile work environment claim. The plaintiff, in count one of her amended complaint, alleges the following: “The conduct of the [defendant and Axelrod] created a hostile work environment for [the plaintiff] in violation of the Connecticut Fair Employment Practices Act, [
We begin by setting forth the applicable legal framework.
In the present case, the plaintiff alleged only two instances of racial remаrks, with one of those remarks being made toward a third person. “Although not bound by it, we review federal precedent concerning employment discrimination for guidance in enforcing our own antidiscrimination statutes.” (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Thomson v. Dept. of Social Services, 176 Conn. App. 122, 131, 169 A.3d 256, cert. denied, 327 Conn. 962 (2017). The United States Supreme Court has held that the “mere utterance of an . . . epithet which engenders offensive feelings in an employee . . . does not sufficiently affect the conditions of employment to implicate
We next address the sufficiency of the plaintiff‘s race discrimination claim. The plaintiff, in count two of her amended complaint, alleges the following: “The conduct of the defendants was race discrimination against [the plaintiff] in violation of the Connecticut Fair Employment Practices Act and . . . Axelrod‘s conduct was egregiously not in compliance with the pertinent law/regulations/policies he was charged with abiding by/enforcing that the defendant . . . did not, or improperly so, train him to do/oversee him.” The plaintiff contends that this language, when read in conjunction with paragraphs nine and ten, “manifestly means that an adverse employment action . . . has been alleged . . . .” We disagree and conclude that the plaintiff did not allege any facts demonstrating that she was subjected to an adverse employment action by the defendant.
The following legal principles guide our analysis of the plaintiff‘s discrimination claim. “The [legal] framework this court employs in assessing disparate treatment discrimination claims under Connecticut law was adapted from the United States Supreme Court‘s decision in McDonnell Douglass Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 802, 93 S. Ct. 1817, 36 L. Ed. 2d 668 (1973), and its progeny.”5 (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Tomick v. United Parcel Services, Inc., 157 Conn. App. 312, 325, 115 A.3d 1143 (2015), aff‘d, 324 Conn. 470, 153 A.3d 615 (2016). Accordingly, under our state law, in order for the plaintiff to prevail on her claim of race discrimination based on disparate treatment, she must first establish a prima facie case of discrimination. “To establish a prima facie case of discrimination . . . the [plaintiff] must demonstrate that (1) [she] is in a proteсted class; (2) [she] was qualified for the position; (3) [she] suffered an adverse employment action; and (4) that the adverse action occurred under circumstances giving rise to an inference of discrimination.” (Emphasis added; internal quotation marks omitted.) Jones v. Dept. of Children & Families, 172 Conn. App. 14, 25, 158 A.3d 356 (2017). “A plaintiff sustains an adverse employment action if he or she endures a materially adverse change in the terms and conditions of employment. . . . To be materially adverse a change in working conditions must be more disruptive than a mere inconvenience or an alteration of job responsibilities. . . . [A]n adverse employment action [has been defined] as a significant change in employment status, such as hiring, firing, failing to promote, reassignment with significantly different responsibilities, or a decision causing a significant change in benefits.” (Citation omitted; internal quotation marks omitted.) Amato v. Hearst Corp., supra, 149 Conn. App. 781; id., 783 (holding that employee failed to allege adverse employment aсtion as result of being placed on performance improvement plan because she did not additionally allege that her salary or benefits had decreased, or that there was change in employment status).
In the present case, the plaintiff alleges that Axelrod placed a disciplinary e-mail in her personnel file and also yelled at her in front of coworkers and members of the public for giving incorrect information. Federаl courts, however, have held that a disciplinary letter does not constitute a materially adverse employment action.6 See, e.g., Chang v. Safe Horizons, 254 Fed. Appx. 838, 839 (2d Cir. 2007) (holding that oral and written warnings do not constitute adverse employment actions); Joseph v. Leavitt, 465 F.3d 87, 91 (2d Cir. 2006) (“[t]he application of the [employer‘s] disciplinary policies to [the employee], without more, does not constitute [an] adverse employment action“); Mattern v. Eastman Kodak Co., 104 F.3d 702, 708 (5th Cir. 1997) (holding that disciplinary filings and supervisor‘s reprimands are not adverse еmployment actions), cert. denied, 522 U.S. 932, 118 S. Ct. 336, 139 L. Ed. 2d 260 (1997).
The reprimands and admonishments alleged by the plaintiff, in the absence of evidence showing that she was terminated, demoted or given diminished responsibilities, or that she suffered a decrease in salary or material loss in benefits, do not constitute an adverse employment action. We therefore conclude that the trial court properly struck the plaintiff‘s race discrimination claim.
The judgment is affirmed.
In this opinion the other judges concurred.