Coretta Collier v. David P. Steiner, Postmaster General, and Victoria Polito

Summary

The United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma considers a motion to dismiss employment discrimination claims brought by a pro se United States Postal Service employee. The court allows the plaintiff’s race-discrimination and Rehabilitation Act claims to proceed, while dismissing without prejudice her EEO-retaliation and hostile-work-environment claims. The court also dismisses the individual defendant, Victoria Polito, because the Postmaster General is the proper defendant for the federal employment claims.

Holdings

1. The complaint plausibly alleged race-based disparate-treatment discrimination and therefore survived the Rule 12(b)(6) motion.
2. Collier failed to plausibly allege a causal connection between her EEO activity and the alleged retaliatory conduct; the retaliation claim was dismissed without prejudice and without leave to amend.
3. The alleged isolated altercation, investigative interview, suspension, and single alleged racial remark did not plausibly establish a workplace permeated by discrimination sufficiently severe or pervasive to alter the conditions of employment; the hostile-work-environment claim was dismissed without prejudice and without leave to amend.
4. The court construed Collier's disability-related claims as claims under the Rehabilitation Act rather than the ADA and denied dismissal because Defendant offered no other basis for dismissing those claims.
5. Victoria Polito was dismissed from the action in her individual capacity because Collier conceded that the Postmaster General was the proper agency defendant and did not oppose Polito's dismissal.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Collier plausibly alleged race-based disparate-treatment discrimination under Title VII.
2. Whether Collier plausibly alleged EEO retaliation under Title VII.
3. Whether Collier plausibly alleged a hostile work environment based on race, disability, or protected activity.
4. Whether Collier's disability-discrimination and failure-to-accommodate claims were properly construed under the Rehabilitation Act rather than the ADA and survived Rule 12(b)(6) dismissal.
5. Whether Victoria Polito should remain an individual defendant in the employment-discrimination action.

Disposition

other