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11th District reverses Trumbull County racial discrimination case
TRACEY BLAIR
Legal News Reporter
Published: July 6, 2018
A Trumbull County judge improperly granted summary judgment to the defendants in a racial discrimination case, the 11th District Court of Appeals has ruled.
Ronnie Grubbs is an African-American who began working as a tool and die maker at Delphi’s Plant 11 in Warren in 1997.
According to case summary, Grubbs was discharged in 2014 but returned to work in December 2015 when the union negotiated a last-chance agreement with the company. The agreement allowed Grubbs to return to active status only after all permanently laid off tool and die makers had been made an offer to return to work.
This meant that two Caucasian tool and die makers, John Daugherty and Keith Zreliak, would return to work before Grubbs. Daugherty had been terminated for physically threatening other employees and Zreliak for stealing. In addition, both men had less seniority than Grubbs.
Grubbs argued he was treated less favorably than nonminority employees and received disciplines that were either not merited or not proportionate to the alleged misconduct.
He also sued for wrongful termination, retaliation and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
Grubbs was disciplined 16 times between 2007 and 2014. Ten of the incidents were later removed from his record through the Industrial Division of the Communications Workers of America Local 717’s grievance procedure.
Grubbs claimed the plant’s general supervisor, Thomas Flak, “always had it in for me and my race.” He also alleged that George Svirbely, a labor representative, failed to represent him impartially.
Grubbs also accused supervisor Dominic Amato of addressing him as “bro” and “brother” rather than his name, and that Amato retaliated against him after Grubb recorded him being verbally abusive to another Delphi employee.
His alleged violations included “wasting time or loitering in toilets during work hours,” failing to properly call off work, falling asleep, being out of his assigned work area and “intimidating” a co-worker.
Grubbs filed two complaints with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and also complained to the company’s human resources department and the National Labor Relations Board.
During the investigation, witnesses disputed Amato’s accusation that Grubbs was not in his assigned work area.
Grubbs requested that Larry Peoples, the plant’s African-American human resources manager, be present at the disciplinary hearing. However, Peoples said he did not learn of the situation until Grubbs was already terminated.
On appeal, Grubbs said the trial court wrongfully determined there were no genuine issues of material fact to be litigated.
The appellate court agreed, finding he established a prima facie case of employment discrimination based on race.
“It is notable that Grubbs worked at Delphi for 10 years without incurring significant discipline,” 11th District Judge Diane V. Grendell stated in her opinion. “In the seven years that Flak was the general supervisor at Plant 11, Grubbs was disciplined a total of 16 times. Although 10 of those disciplines were ultimately removed from his record, the result was his discharge under Delphi’s system of progressive discipline. There is evidence that similarly situated non-minority employees were treated more favorably, particularly in respect to the discipline received for violating the laptop and video device policy and the FMLA call-off procedures. Grubbs’ return to work also evidences disparate treatment inasmuch as other tool and die workers with less seniority and arguably more serious disciplinary infractions were returned prior to Grubbs.”
The panel was not swayed by Delphi’s submitted evidence of legitimate, nondiscriminatory reasons for Grubbs’ discipline.
“Delphi has failed to explain the specific reason for the disciplines or identify other employees who have been disciplined for the same infraction,” Judge Grendell added. “The nature of the discipline, suspension for over three weeks without pay, hardly seems proportionate to the seriousness of the alleged misconduct.”
A jury must now decide whether Flak and his co-defendants were motivated by a racial bias or a personal dislike of Grubbs.
Appellate judges Thomas R. Wright and Colleen Mary O’Toole concurred.
The case is cited Grubbs v. Delphi Automotive Sys., 2018-Ohio-2352.