Jennifer Bexley v. Bass Underwriters, Inc.

Summary

The United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama denied Bass Underwriters, Inc.’s motion for summary judgment in Jennifer Bexley’s Title VII action. The claims concern alleged sex and pregnancy discrimination, retaliation, and failure to accommodate breastfeeding. The court held that the plaintiff presented sufficient circumstantial evidence, including suspicious timing and disputed evidence regarding the employer’s stated performance-based rationale, to allow the discrimination claim to proceed.

Holdings

1. Summary judgment was improper because the record contained sufficient suspicious timing, ambiguous statements, inconsistent and shifting explanations, and evidence of pretext to permit a reasonable jury to infer intentional sex or pregnancy discrimination under the convincing-mosaic framework.
2. Summary judgment was improper on the retaliation claims because the record could support findings that Bexley engaged in protected activity by requesting or taking maternity leave and by raising breastfeeding-related work limitations, that probation and termination were adverse actions, and that the protected activity was a but-for cause of those actions.
3. Summary judgment was improper because Bass failed to establish that Bexley made no accommodation request, that it denied no request, or that Bexley could not produce evidence of persons treated more favorably.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Bass was entitled to summary judgment on Bexley's Title VII sex and pregnancy discrimination claim.
2. Whether Bass was entitled to summary judgment on Bexley's retaliation claims based on her maternity leave and breastfeeding-related protected activity.
3. Whether Bass was entitled to summary judgment on Bexley's Title VII failure-to-accommodate claim concerning breastfeeding.

Disposition

other