Davis, et al. v. Ricketts, et al., No. 13-2388 (8th Cir. 2014)
Annotate this CasePlaintiffs filed suit against OEF and Hugo under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. 2000e-1 et seq., and Nebraska law, alleging sexual harassment and retaliation. Plaintiffs Davis and Duncan also sued Joe Ricketts, the CEO of OEF and owner of Hugo, for tortious interference with their expectation of continued employment. The court affirmed the district court's grant of summary judgment to Hugo and OEF because the court found that the undisputed facts in the record show that OEF and Hugo are not an integrated enterprise and because the court agreed with the district court that Ricketts, as CEO of OEF and acting on behalf of OEF, cannot be a third party interferer.
Court Description: Civil case - Employment discrimination. Although plaintiffs produced evidence establishing common control and financial backing for defendants OEF and Hugo, this was not sufficient to establish that the defendant companies were a single employer or overcome the strong presumption of organizational separateness; as a result, plaintiffs failed to show the companies were single, integrated entity for Title VII purposes; since their employer did not, as a separate entity, meet the statutory numerosity requirement, their Title VII and Nebraska Fair Employment Practices Act claims failed, and the district court did not err in granting defendants' motion for summary judgment; plaintiffs failed to properly plead a claim of tortious interference under Nebraska law against defendant Ricketts, and the district court did not err in dismissing the claim. Chief Judge Riley, concurring in part and dissenting in part.
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