Brown v. Transforming Lives, Inc.

Summary

The Delaware Superior Court considers defendants’ motion for summary judgment in an employment-discrimination and whistleblower-retaliation action brought under the Delaware Discrimination in Employment Act and Delaware Whistleblowers’ Protection Act. The court addresses joint-employer status, gender discrimination, hostile work environment, retaliation, and whether the plaintiff reported a qualifying statutory violation. The opinion text provided ends before the court’s complete discussion and disposition are visible.

Holdings

1. A genuine issue of material fact existed as to whether Transforming Lives, Inc. jointly employed Brown with Akoben, LLC. Contractual language describing the companies' employment relationship was relevant but not dispositive, and the evidence regarding offers of employment, supervision, termination communications, and W-2 forms required a factfinder to resolve the issue.
2. Defendants were entitled to summary judgment on Brown's claim that they denied her the new position because of her gender because the record contained no evidence from which a reasonable factfinder could infer that gender was a motivating factor in the decision.
3. Defendants were entitled to summary judgment on Brown's hostile-work-environment claim because the isolated incidents she identified were neither severe nor pervasive and the record did not support an inference that the conduct was motivated by gender.
4. Defendants were entitled to summary judgment on Brown's DDEA retaliation claim because the record did not show that she reported gender discrimination or establish a causal connection between her alleged complaint and the denial of the new position.
5. Akoben was entitled to summary judgment on Brown's DWPA claim because the record supported neither an actual statutory or regulatory violation nor a reasonable belief that the director had advocated fraud or another qualifying violation.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the summary-judgment record created a genuine issue of fact as to whether Transforming Lives, Inc. and Akoben, LLC jointly employed Brown for purposes of the Delaware Discrimination in Employment Act.
2. Whether Brown presented evidence that defendants denied her the new position because of her gender.
3. Whether Brown presented evidence of severe or pervasive gender-based harassment sufficient to support a hostile-work-environment claim under the Delaware Discrimination in Employment Act.
4. Whether Brown engaged in protected activity and established causation for her Delaware Discrimination in Employment Act retaliation claim.
5. Whether Brown's report concerning allegedly improper billing identified an actual or reasonably believed statutory, regulatory, or policy violation sufficient to support a Delaware Whistleblowers' Protection Act claim.

Disposition

other