Snow v. Cirrus Educ. Grp., Inc.

Full title: GINGER SNOW AND SUSAN CAMPBELL, Plaintiffs, v. CIRRUS EDUCATION GROUP…

Court: UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF GEORGIA MACON DIVISION

Date published: Dec 19, 2017

CIVIL ACTION NO. 5:17-CV-208 (MTT) (M.D. Ga. Dec. 19, 2017)

Opinion

CIVIL ACTION NO. 5:17-CV-208 (MTT)

12-19-2017

GINGER SNOW AND SUSAN CAMPBELL, Plaintiffs, v. CIRRUS EDUCATION GROUP, INC., Defendant.

MARC T. TREADWELL, JUDGE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

ORDER

At the December 19, 2017 hearing, the Court informed the parties that it would deny Cirrus Academy's Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss Plaintiffs Snow's and Campbell's hostile work environment claims. Doc. 7. This Order explains why.

I. DISCUSSION

To establish a prima facie case of racially hostile work environment, a plaintiff must show that: (1) she belongs to a protected group; (2) she has been subject to unwelcome harassment; (3) the harassment was based on her race; (4) the harassment was sufficiently severe or pervasive to alter the terms and conditions of employment and create a discriminatorily abusive working environment; and (5) a basis exists for holding the employer liable. Jones v. UPS Ground Freight, 683 F.3d 1283, 1292 (11th Cir. 2012) (citation omitted).

Here, the Plaintiffs are two white females who were allegedly harassed during their employment at Cirrus Academy. Docs. 1 ¶¶ 8-9; 16 ¶¶ 8-9. Specifically, in their initial and amended complaint,¹ the Plaintiffs plausibly allege that "[i]n approximately November through December of 2016," they began receiving racially hostile text messages from their co-workers, referring to them as "white bitches," "crackers," "Hitler lovers," and "white nazis," and stating "black power" and that Cirrus Academy would be an "all black school" once "we get the whites out." Id. ¶¶ 18-19. The messages also allegedly threatened the Plaintiffs and their families with violence if they reported the harassment. Id. ¶ 19. The Plaintiffs reported the alleged racial harassment to their supervisors but claim that no action was taken to remedy the harassment. Id. ¶¶ 20, 22. Clearly from these facts, the Plaintiffs have sufficiently alleged their hostile work environment claims.

1 The amended complaint contains the exact same hostile work environment claim allegations. Doc. 16. --------

II. CONCLUSION

Accordingly, Cirrus Academy's motion to dismiss the Plaintiffs' Title VII hostile work environment claims (Doc. 7) is DENIED.

SO ORDERED, this the 19th day of December, 2017.

S/ Marc T. Treadwell

MARC T. TREADWELL, JUDGE

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT