Engh v. LEAM Drilling Systems, LLC

Filing 55

ORDER ADOPTING REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION; adopting 41 Report and Recommendation; granting 20 Motion for Summary Judgment by Judge Daniel L. Hovland.(MM)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF NORTH DAKOTA
NORTHWESTERN DIVISION
Timothy Engh,

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Plaintiff,
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ORDER ADOPTING REPORT
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AND RECOMMENDATION
vs.
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Case No. 4:13-cv-34
LEAM Drilling Systems, LLC,
)
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Defendant.
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______________________________________________________________________________
The Plaintiff, Timothy Engh, initiated this Title VII race discrimination action against LEAM
Drilling Systems, LLC (“LEAM”) on March 15, 2013. See Docket No. 1. LEAM filed a motion
for summary judgment on May 1, 2014. See Docket No. 20. The motion was referred to Magistrate
Judge Karen K. Klein for a Report and Recommendation on September 4, 2014. See Docket No.
34. Engh filed a response to the motion on September 11, 2014, and an amended response on
September 16, 2014. See Docket Nos. 35 and 37. LEAM filed a reply on October 2, 2014. See
Docket No. 40. On December 31, 2014, Judge Klein issued her Report and Recommendation in
which she recommended the motion be granted. See Docket No. 41. The parties were initially given
until January 19, 2015, to file any objections to the Report and Recommendation. The time for
objections was extended until February 9, 2015. Engh filed an objection on February 9, 2015. See
Docket No. 50.
The Court has carefully reviewed the Report and Recommendation, relevant case law, and
the entire record, and finds the Report and Recommendation to be persuasive. The Court concludes
Judge Klein applied the appropriate legal standards and reached the correct conclusion. Engh failed
to demonstrate that he was terminated under circumstances which raise an inference of
discrimination and thus he has failed to establish a prima facie case race discrimination. In addition,

the evidence adduced by Engh would not permit a reasonable fact finder to conclude LEAM’s claim
it fired him for poor job performance was a pretext for race discrimination.
Accordingly, the Court ADOPTS the Report and Recommendation (Docket No. 41) in its
entirety and GRANTS the Defendant’s motion for summary judgment (Docket No. 20).
IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated this 24th day of February, 2015.
/s/ Daniel L. Hovland
Daniel L. Hovland, District Judge
United States District Court

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