United States District Court, N.D. Mississippi, Oxford Division
ORDER
MICHAEL P. MILLS UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
This
cause comes before the court on the motion of defendant
Dolgencorp, LLC d/b/a Dollar General Stores, Inc.
(“Dolgencorp”) for summary judgment, pursuant to
Fed.R.Civ.P. 56. Plaintiff Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission (“EEOC”) has responded in opposition
to the motion, and the court, having considered the memoranda
and submissions of the parties, concludes that the motion is
not well taken and should be denied.
This is
a sexual harassment case, filed by plaintiff EEOC, arising
out of a harmful work environment allegedly suffered by
Keoshal Hankins while working as a sales associate at the
Dollar General store in Red Banks, Mississippi. Plaintiff
contends that, during her brief employment at Dollar General
in 2012, [1] Hankins was subjected to repeated sexual
harassment by the store manager Jonathan Holloway, which
allegedly included propositions for sex and unwanted and
offensive physical contact. Plaintiff alleges that Hankins
reported this harassment to the assistant store manager Linda
Foshee as well as to lead sales associate Tara Hampton and
that Foshee relayed her complaints to Dolgencorp's
district manager Paul Grimes and senior human resources
manager Jennifer Smallwood. Plaintiff further contends that
defendant responded in a “painstakingly slow”
manner to the reports of harassment against Holloway,
although it acknowledges that it eventually terminated him,
approximately four months after initiating its investigation
into his conduct.
Defendant
has presently moved for summary judgment, arguing that there
is no genuine issue of fact regarding its liability for any
sexual harassment committed by Holloway and that it is
entitled to judgment as a matter of law. To establish a prima
facie case of a sexually hostile work environment under Title
VII, plaintiff must show that Hankins (1) belongs to a
protected class, (2) was subjected to unwelcome sexual
harassment, (3) the harassment was based on sex, [and] (4)
the harassment affected a term, condition, or privilege of
employment. Aryain v. Wal-Mart Stores if Tex, L.P.,
534 F.3d 473, 479 (5th Cir. 2008). In seeking summary
judgment, defendant only appears to dispute that plaintiff
can establish the fourth element of its prima facie case,
relating to the seriousness of the harassment allegedly
suffered by Hankins. To determine whether the alleged
harassment affected a term, condition, or privilege of her
employment, a plaintiff must show that the conduct was
“severe or pervasive.” Harvill v. Westward
Commc'ns, L.L.C., 433 F.3d 428, 434 (5th Cir. 2005).
In
responding to defendant's arguments that the alleged
harassment in this case was insufficiently severe, plaintiff
provided a list of the harassment which, it contends, Hankins
suffered. This court will quote this list in its entirety:
The summary of the facts of this case (cited previously) show
that during the vast majority of the four months that Mr.
Holloway supervised Ms. Hankins, Mr. Holloway daily directed
some form of unwelcome, offensive and lewd conduct of a
sexual nature when Ms. Hankins worked with Mr. Holloway.
These comments were as follows:
• Mr. Holloway asked Ms. Hankins to come to his house so
that he could eat pussy;
• Mr. Holloway made sexual gestures like licking his
tongue out at her
• Mr. Holloway said you don't want me to eat your
pussy;
• Mr. Holloway said, you know I love to eat pussy;
• Mr. Holloway said, I want to you to cum (sic) on my
face;
• Mr. Holloway said, I can separate being your manager
from outside. When we leave the store, it's personal;
• Mr. Holloway asked Ms. Hankins out on dates;
• Mr. Holloway told Ms. Hankins he wanted to fuck her;
• Mr. Holloway said he would fuck Ms. Hankins good;
• Mr. Holloway said he had a big dick;
• Mr. Holloway offered to pay Ms. Hankins to have sex
with him;
• Mr. Holloway appeared in the bathroom while she was
cleaning it and said the cameras could not see where they
were standing;
• Mr. Holloway rubbed his erect penis against Ms.
Hankins' buttocks;
• Mr. Holloway bumped his chest into Ms. Hankins'
breast;
• Mr. Holloway placed his hands on Ms. Hankins'
shoulders to rub her;
• Mr. Holloway peeked at Ms. Hankins in a sexual and
seductive manner from a different area of the store;
• Mr. Holloway walked out of his office on several
occasions with an erect penis that could be observed through
his pants;
• Mr. Holloway made eye contact with Ms. Hankins and
looked down toward his penis;
• Mr. Holloway grabbed his penis from outside his pants
to show its size;
• Mr. Holloway, while showing his erection, placed his
fingers up to his lips in the shape of the letter V and stuck
out his tongue;
• Mr. Holloway sent Ms. Hankins inappropriate text
message stating that he wanted to put his dick between Ms.
Hankins boobs and rub back and forth, that Ms. Hankins had
perfect breast, perfect body and that they should get
together soon;
• Mr. Holloway sent Ms. Hankins a text message stating
he wanted to kiss Ms. Hankins body and eat her pussy ...