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Lawrence v. Chemprene Inc.

Secondhand Comment by Non-Supervisory Co-Worker Does Not Constitute a Hostile Environment

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OPINION & ORDER Before the Court is Defendants’ motion for summary judgment. (Doc. 62.) I. BACKGROUND The following facts are based on the Defendants’ Local Civil Rule 56.1 Statement and Plaintiff’s Response and are undisputed except as noted. A. Facts 1. Allegations of Discrimination in the Workplace Plaintiff Miguel Lawrence began working for Defendant Chemprene, Inc., (“Chemprene”), in the early 1990s. (Doc. 78 (“P’s 56.1 Resp.”) 1.)¹ During the relevant period, Plaintiff worked in the mixing department and held the title of “Chemical Warehouse Group Leader.” (Id.) In December 2007, Plaintiff told his supervisor, George Dionysius, that a coworker named Alba Arvelo told Aswad Simmons, another employee in the mixing department, “[T]ell that black [motherfucker] to order bags,” in reference to Plaintiff. (Id.

12-13 (second alteration in original).) Dionysius told Plaintiff to report the incident to Human Resources (“HR”), which Plaintiff did. (Id. 15.) Arvelo was terminated a day or two later. (Id.) On an unspecified date, Plaintiff complained to Defendant Susan Garrison, Chemprene’s Production Supervisor, (id. 3), about another coworker named Jorge Rodriguez. (Id. 18.) Plaintiff told Garrison that Rodriguez was loitering in the mixing department, and Garrison agreed that Rodriguez should not be spending time there. (Id.) Garrison investigated the incident and learned that Plaintiff and Rodriguez had a history of conflict, including an incident for which Rodriguez was formally reprimanded in 1998. (See id.

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