ROADMAN v. SELECT SPECIALTY HOSPITAL et al
Filing
54
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER denying 45 Motion to Compel Discovery. Moreover, it is hereby Ordered as follows: The parties shall complete all fact discovery by 11/2/2018, including inter alia, the three depositions referenced at oral argument and any other matters. The Post-Discovery Status Conference currently scheduled for 8/3/2018 at 11:00 a.m. is rescheduled for 12/142018, at 11:00 a.m., and as more fully stated in said Memorandum Opinion and Order. Signed by Judge Kim R. Gibson on 7/30/2018. (dlg)
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA
DONNA ROADMAN,
)
Case No. 3:16-cv-246
)
)
Plaintiffs,
JUDGE KIM R. GIBSON
)
)
)
v.
)
SELECT SPECIALTY HOSPITAL and
RONALD LEWIS,
)
)
)
)
)
Defendants.
MEMORANDUM OPINION
I.
Introduction
Pending before this Court is Plaintiff's Motion to Compel Discovery. (ECF No. 45.) All
parties have filed briefs (ECF No. 45, 46) and participated in oral argument (ECF No. 53) on this
Motion, and it is ripe for disposition.
This case arises from Plaintiff Donna Roadman' s ("Roadman") allegations that Defendant
Ronald Lewis ("Lewis") sexually harassed her at her workplace, Defendant Select Specialty
Hospital ("Select"). See Roadman v. Select Specialty Hospital, Case No. 3:16-cv-246, 2018 WL 557922,
at *1 (W.D. Pa. Jan. 23, 2018) (Gibson, J.); Roadman v. Select Specialty Hospital, 3:16-cv-246, 2017 WL
4236581 (W.D. Pa. Sept. 22, 2017) (Gibson, J.). Roadman asks this Court to order Lewis and Select
to respond to a number of discovery requests. Based on the statements made by Roadman' s
counsel at the oral argument on July 26, 2018, some of these outstanding discovery disputes have
been resolved. However, to the extent these discovery disputes have not been resolved by
counsel for the parties, the Court concludes that Defendants have fully met their discovery
obligations by responding to all relevant requests within the scope of discovery provided for by
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(l). See Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(b)(l).
Accordingly, for the reasons that follow, Plaintiff's Motion to Compel Discovery (ECF No.
45) is DENIED.
II.
Jurisdiction & Venue
The Court has jurisdiction over Roadman' s federal claim under Title VII pursuant to 28
U.S.C. § 1331. The Court has supplemental jurisdiction over the state law claims pursuant to 28
U.S.C. § 1367. Venue is proper in this district under 28 U.S.C. § 1391(b)(2) because the alleged
events giving rise to Roadman's claims occurred in Johnstown, Cambria County, Pennsylvania.
(ECF No. 30 'Il 2.)
III.
Factual Background1
Defendant Select, a specialty care hospital offering rehabilitative care and long term acute
care, hired Roadman as a registered nurse to work at its Johnstown location on July 7, 2015. (ECF
No. 30 'Il'Il 6-8.) During the first week of her employment, Roadman did orientation. (Id. 'Il 10.)
During the second week of Roadman' s employment, Roadman was introduced to Lewis, a
registered nurse who had worked for Select for several years prior to Roadman's employment.
(Id.
'Il'Il 11-12.) Select assigned Lewis to train Roadman for her new position.
(Id.
'Il 13.)
Before beginning her training, a number of other employees made comments to Roadman
concerning Lewis's behavior. (Id. <[ 14.) These comments included: (1) a nurse named Jamie
The Court draws this factual background from its Memorandum Opinion and Order of January 23, 2018
that decided Defendants' Motion to Dismiss the Amended Complaint in Part. See Roadman v. Select Specialty
Hospital, Case No. 3:16-cv-246, 2018 WL 557922, at *1-*2 (W.D. Pa. Jan. 23, 2018) (Gibson, J.). Thus, this
factual background is derived from the allegations made by Plaintiff in her Amended Complaint. (See ECF
No. 30.)
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telling Roadman to "be careful" around Lewis because "he hit on her," (2) Jamie suggesting
"being mean" to Lewis so that he would not harass or continue to harass her, (3) a respiratory
therapist informing Roadman that Lewis liked her and wanted to date her, and (4) another
respiratory therapist joking in front of Lewis and Roadman, therein "implying knowledge" of
Lewis's intentions, that Roadman would never go out with Lewis. (Id.<_![ 14.)
Thereafter, the Amended Complaint alleges that, with approval and knowledge of Select,
Lewis created and maintained a hostile work environment for Roadman because of her gender
by engaging in the following behavior: (1) demanding dates, intimating that Roadman should
sleep with him, touching Roadman's buttocks, and touching Roadman's cheeks; (2) calling
Roadman "babe" and "hun" and commenting on Roadman' s appearance by stating Roadman
was "cute," "pretty," or "sexy" on "diverse dates"; (3) texting Roadman on her cell phone number
that he acquired for purposes of orientation and calling Roadman "babe" or "hun" in those
messages; (4) scolding, degrading, and belittling Roadman concerning her nursing skills and job
performance when Roadman refused his unwelcome advances; (5) grabbing Roadman by the
waist and grinding his crotch into her buttocks to the point where Roadman "felt Mr. Lewis's
erect penis against her" on one occasion in the medicine room; and (6) "by other such actions too
numerous to list in their entirety." (Id.
<_![
15.) Roadman also alleges that Lewis's references to
Roadman as "babe" and "hun" and the touching of Roadman's buttocks and cheeks "regularly
occurred in front of staff and were open and notorious to the other employees of Select." (Id.
<_!I
16.)
Roadman reported this behavior to her scheduler, Renee Lightcap ("Lightcap") and
requested to be trained by someone other than Lewis. (Id.<_![ 17.) Lightcap complied, and Ronald
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Lindros ("Lindros") completed Roadman's remaining week of orientation. (Id. cir 18.) Roadman
completed her orientation with Lindros, but she was scheduled to work at the same time as Lewis
for several days. (Id. cir 19.) Roadman called off work on these days to avoid working with Lewis.
(Id. cir 20.)
After returning from vacation, Roadman's supervisor, Danielle Smorto ("Smorto"),
telephoned Roadman and "asked her what happened." (Id. cir 21.) Roadman reported the alleged
harassment to Smorto by telephone and sent a follow-up e-mail. (Id. circir 23-23.) Smorto told
Roadman that she would investigate the situation, instructed Roadman not to discuss the matters
with anyone, and changed the weekend work schedule so that Roadman and Lewis would not
be working together. (Id. circir 25-27.)
Approximately one week after speaking with Smorto regarding the alleged harassment,
Smorto called Roadman into a meeting with Smorto and Matt Gost ("Gost"), a human resources
employee. (Id. cir 28.) At this meeting, Smorto and Gost told Roadman that they had "investigated
her complaints with Mr. Lewis, exclusively" and that Lewis had denied her accusations. (Id. circir
29-30.) Roadman then informed Smorto and Gost that she could not work with Lewis, requested
that she not be scheduled with Lewis, and advised them that she had received inappropriate text
messages from Lewis. (Id. circir 31-32.)
After this meeting, Roadman also discussed the matter with Barb Foster ("Foster")whose position, if any, with Select is not set forth in the Amended Complaint-and stated that
she did not want to work with Lewis. (Id. cir 33.) Roadman provided copies of the abovereferenced text messages to Foster and told her that Jamie Cotterman-presumably the same
nurse who told Roadman to "be[] mean" to Lewis so he would not harass her-could corroborate
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her concerns. (Id.
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