RENEE NEAL V HENRY FORD HOSPITAL
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STATE OF MICHIGAN
COURT OF APPEALS
RENEE NEAL,
UNPUBLISHED
March 22, 2011
Plaintiff-Appellant,
v
No. 295660
Wayne Circuit Court
LC No. 08-124868-CD
HENRY FORD HOSPITAL,
Defendant-Appellee.
Before: CAVANAGH, P.J., and JANSEN and SERVITTO, JJ.
PER CURIAM.
Plaintiff appeals as of right, challenging the circuit court’s orders granting defendant
summary disposition of plaintiff’s claims for race or gender discrimination, and unlawful
retaliation, contrary to the Michigan Civil Rights Act, MCL 37.2201 et seq. (CRA). We affirm.
This Court reviews a trial court’s decision on a motion for summary disposition de novo.
Maiden v Rozwood, 461 Mich 109, 118; 597 NW2d 817 (1999). The trial court granted
defendant’s motion under MCR 2.116(C)(10), which permits summary disposition when “there
is no genuine issue of material fact, and the moving party is entitled to judgment . . . as a matter
of law.”
Plaintiff first challenges the trial court’s dismissal of her claim for race or gender
discrimination. Plaintiff, an African-American female, argues that defendant discriminated
against her on the basis of her race or gender by applying its disciplinary policy to her in a
manner different than it did to other employees outside of her protected class. To establish a
prima facie case of disparate treatment in violation of the Civil Rights Act, plaintiff must prove
that she was a member of a protected class and that she was treated differently for the same or
similar conduct. Betty v Brooks & Perkins, 446 Mich 270, 281; 521 NW2d 518 (1994).
Plaintiff contends that defendant applied its disciplinary policy to her differently because
she was disciplined for her first misconduct in November 2007 at step three (suspension), rather
than at step one, and by then terminating her employment upon a second violation in September
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2008. Contrary to what plaintiff argues, the evidence shows that plaintiff was disciplined in a
manner consistent with defendant’s disciplinary policy. Plaintiff was disciplined in November
2007 for walking off the job, which is a “Group II” violation under defendant’s policy. Group II
violations are subject to immediate discharge. Instead, plaintiff was given the lesser penalty of a
suspension, placing her at step three under defendant’s disciplinary procedure. Further, she was
notified, consistent with defendant’s policy, that any further disciplinary violation would result in
termination.1 In September 2008, plaintiff was again subject to disciplinary action for violating
defendant’s attendance policy and her employment was terminated. Because plaintiff was
already at step three after her previous violation, her termination was consistent with defendant’s
written policy and the warning that plaintiff was given at the time of her previous violation.
Plaintiff did not present any evidence that defendant disciplined other employees in a different
manner for the same or similar conduct. Accordingly, the trial court did not err in granting
defendant’s motion for summary disposition of plaintiff’s discrimination claims.
Plaintiff also challenges the trial court’s dismissal of her claim for unlawful retaliation.
A prima facie case of retaliation requires the plaintiff to show the following elements:
(1) that [the plaintiff] engaged in a protected activity; (2) that this was
known by the defendant; (3) that the defendant took an employment action
adverse to the plaintiff; and (4) that there was a causal connection between the
protected activity and the adverse employment action. [Garg v Macomb Co
Community Mental Health Servs, 472 Mich 263, 273; 696 NW2d 646 (2005),
amended 473 Mich 1205 (2005) (citation and internal quotation marks omitted).]
“Something more than a temporal connection between protected conduct and an adverse
employment action is required to show causation where discrimination-based retaliation is
claimed.” West v Gen Motors Corp, 469 Mich 177, 186; 665 NW2d 468 (2003).
Although plaintiff argues that defendant retaliated against her by initially disciplining her
at step three in November 2007, as previously discussed, defendant’s decision to discipline her
with a step-three suspension for walking off the job, a “Group II” violation, is consistent with
defendant’s written policy. Furthermore, that decision was made before plaintiff made her report
of offensive conduct by a co-worker in December 2007, which is the basis for her retaliation
claim. Plaintiff states that she can show that she reported the misconduct earlier. However, the
transcript pages that plaintiff cites do not support her contentions. Moreover, plaintiff’s
complaint clearly specifies that the retaliation claim is premised on retaliation for a report that
1
Under defendant’s policy, “once an employee has received corrective action at one step, if
another incident necessitating progressive corrective action occurs within twelve (12) months, it
shall be applied at the next higher step.” Defendant’s policy provides that a step-four violation
includes termination.
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she made to Human Resources “[o]n or about December 2007 . . . .” The trial court correctly
granted defendant’s motion with respect to the retaliation claim because there was no genuine
issue of material fact that defendant’s administration of its discipline was not causally connected
to plaintiff’s complaint regarding her co-worker.
Affirmed.
/s/ Mark J. Cavanagh
/s/ Kathleen Jansen
/s/ Deborah A. Servitto
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