Retaliation Cases

Employment termination

Summary judgment Civ.R. 56 employment discrimination retaliation R.C. 4112.02. As plaintiff could not show that a similarly situated, non-protected person was treated more favorably, she did not establish a prima facie case of discrimination. Additionally, the court determined that no reasonable finder of fact could conclude that plaintiff established a prima facie case of retaliation. Plaintiff failed to adduce evidence of a causal connection between her participation in an interview with an investigator and her termination. Defendant's motion for summary judgment was granted.

Summary judgment Title VII employment discrimination and retaliation sexual harassment

The trial court did not abuse its discretion when it admitted Plaintiff's Exhibits 29 and 36 into evidence during trial because the probative value of the exhibits substantially outweighed any danger of any prejudice to the appellants. The jury's verdict in favor of the plaintiff with respect to his claims for breach of contract, discrimination, and retaliation were not against the manifest weight of the evidence. The trial court did not err when it overruled the appellants' motions for directed verdicts and motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict. The trial court did not abuse its discretion when it denied the appellants' untimely motion for leave to amend their answer to include the after-acquired evidence defense. Judgment affirmed.

summary judgment - sex discrimination - gender discrimination - sexual harassment - privacy interest - R.C. 4112.02(A) - retaliatory discrimination - circumstantial evidence - R.C. 4112.02(I) - aiding and abetting to commit discrimination - R.C. 4112.02(J)

Single joint employer doctrine retaliatory discharge sexual harassment/hostile work environment jury interrogatories plain error closing arguments

In the absence of a genuine issue of material fact, the trial court did not err in granting summary judgment in favor of Miami Valley Hospital on Noelle Diller's claims of sexual harassment (hostile environment) and retaliation. While the trial court abused its discretion in striking Exhibits B, C, and D, attached to Diller's memorandum in opposition to MVH's motion for summary judgment, since the Exhibits were properly authenticated business records, the documents were either not in dispute, were otherwise part of the record, or were not relevant to the summary judgment decision, and the error was harmless. Judgment affirmed.

The plaintiff, Pamela Azar, appealed the grant of a motion for judgment as a matter of law in favor of the defendants, the Town of Lincoln, the Lincoln School Committee, and John Ward, in his official capacity as finance director for the Town of Lincoln, on her hostile work environment and retaliation claims. On appeal, the plaintiff argued that the trial justice erred in granting the motion because the plaintiff had presented sufficient evidence for a reasonable jury to find both a hostile work environment and that the defendants had retaliated against her in response to her advocacy for her disabled son's education. The Supreme Court held that the plaintiff's hostile work environment claims pursuant to the Rhode Island Civil Rights Act (RICRA), G.L. 1956 chapter 112 of title 42, and the Civil Rights of People with Disabilities Act (CRPDA), G.L. 1956 chapter 87 of title 42, were barred by the statute of limitations because the events to which the plaintiff testified occurred more than three years prior to the filing of the complaint. The Court also held that the plaintiff's retaliation claim pursuant to the CRPDA was barred because she failed to exhaust her administrative remedies. Finally, the Court concluded that her retaliation claim pursuant to the RICRA failed as a matter of law because the plaintiff did not provide sufficient evidence such that a reasonable jury could find that the defendants' actions were in retaliation for the plaintiff's advocacy for her son. As such, the Supreme Court affirmed the Superior Court's judgment.

Subject matter jurisdiction N.C. Gen. Stat. 126-34.02 Whistleblower grievance