On Tuesday, June 5, 2012, Parks, Chesin & Walbert scored a decisive victory for Seven Oaks Academy of Lilburn, Georgia, successfully defending the small daycare against a former employee’s appeal of the District Court’s Order dismissing her lawsuit. The plaintiff’s claims, which grew out of allegations of religious discrimination, included religious harassment, hostile work environment, civil conspiracy, and negligent hiring and retention, and sought the statutory maximums in compensatory and punitive damages.
In a per curiam opinion by Judges Carnes, Wilson, and Black, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals roundly rejected the plaintiff’s contentions that the District Court erred by granting an early motion filed by Parks, Chesin & Walbert to dismiss her case for failure to state a claim. When the plaintiff attempted to amend her complaint a second time, Parks, Chesin & Walbert opposed her motion and convinced the District Court that any efforts to save her foundering claims would be futile. On appeal, the Court of Appeals reviewed the plaintiff’s claims de novo, and, like the District Court, agreed with the positions taken by Parks, Chesin & Walbert, affirming both the dismissal and the denial of plaintiff’s motion for leave to amend the complaint.
The result means the end of a taxing legal battle for a local business and its owners, who can now get back to doing what they do best – caring for children in their community.
The opinion is available for download or viewing at the 11th Circuit’s website: http://www.ca11.uscourts.gov/unpub/ops/201115554.pdf