Facts

Melanie Dixon sued Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Neil Baterseh, Jennifer Luna, Oscar Nunez, and Marcil Perez, in connection with her employment at Wal-Mart.

PLAINTIFF'S CONTENTIONS:
Dixon worked as a sales associate for Wal-Mart under the supervision of the individual defendants. Dixon contended she performed her job in a competent manner, and had even been promoted. She also contended sh had received several excellent evaluations and received an award for being "#1 in the district" for zoning and stocking in 2007. She received many other accolades for her job performance.

Dixon asserted that she suffered from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, which she had verbally shared with her co-workers. Her co-workers claimed to have also noticed this behavior. In addition, plaintiff contended she also suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, social panic disorder and depression brought on by past abuse and traumatic experiences. She also openly talked about these medical conditions to her co-workers.

Dixon contended that beginning in January 2007, her supervisors, the individual defendants, began harassing her in the workplace. She claimed she was blamed for telling on Perez for repeatedly using handicap parking spots. Plaintiff claimed defendants constantly picked on her to stand outside for her entire shift. She also contended that instead of allowing her to work in "softlines" given that she was an experienced worker, plaintiff claimed defendants always picked her to supervise the pallets of freight coming into the store.

During this time, Dixon contended that she felt anxious and nauseous, and claimed that she constantly feared being terminated for any slight mistake. Before her eventual termination, she received several write-ups that she contended were unwarranted. For example, she contended that defendants took advantage of her OCD behavior by making her clean up messy locations. Dixon also contended that defendants placed her in the stationary or crafts department, knowing that the little unorganized items would drive her crazy.

In another incident, Dixon also complained to Bateresh, her supervisor, regarding another supervisor's harassment. Then, Dixon contended that instead of listening to her concerns, Bateresh screamed and belittled her. In the end, she contended that defendants took no corrective actions regarding her complaints.

In late May 2010, Dixon injured her finger with a box cutter while on the job. Her supervisor assured her that she would not be fired because of the incident. However, upon her return, she was fired for her alleged misconduct of working in an unsafe manner relating to her finger injury. Meanwhile, Dixon contended that her termination was due to her disability and complaint about the harassment and retaliation.

Dixon sued Wal-Mart and the individual defendants asserting various causes of action under the FEHA for discrimination, harassment based on disability, failure to accommodate, failure to engage in the interactive process, failure to prevent discrimination and harassment, retaliation, as well as wrongful termination in violation of FEHA, public policy, and California's labor laws.

DEFENDANTS' CONTENTIONS:
Defendants disputed all of Dixon's claims, and moved for summary judgment.

Result

The court found that Dixon had failed to raise a triable issue of fact with regard to her claims, and granted summary judgment of the entire complaint as to all defendants.

Other Information

FILING DATE: May 24, 2012.