Gathenji

ORDER ON DEFENDANTS’ SUMMARY JUDGMENT MOTION (Doc. 24)

Introduction

Defendants Autozoners, LLC. (“Auto-Zone”) and Rick Torres (“Mr. Torres”) (collectively “defendants”) move for summary judgment against plaintiff Richard Gathenji (“Mr. Gathenji”). Mr. Gathenji, an Autozone employee, asserts ten claims against defendants for race and national origin discrimination, harassment, and retaliation. Defendants contend that the uncontroverted evidence establishes that Mr. Gathenji’s demotion was legitimate and based on a non-discriminatory reason; Mr. Gathenji’s harassment and retaliation claims fail; Mr. Gathenji failed to exhaust administrative remedies as to his claims against Mr. Torres; and Mr. Gathenji is unable to pursue punitive damages. Mr. Gathenji opposed the motion successfully to establish a prima facie case for discrimination, but failed to establish his harassment and retaliation claims. In addition, while Mr. Gathenji exhausted administrative remedies against Mr. Torres, he may not pursue exemplary damages against defendants. Accordingly, this Court GRANTS in part and DENIES in part defendants’ summary judgment motion.

Background

Autozone hired Mr. Gathenji, an African…