Summary
finding two month gap between protected conduct and adverse employment action not "very close" and thus insufficient to prove causal connection
Summary of this case from Cockrell v. Greene Cnty. Hosp. Bd.Opinion
No. 10-11990 Non-Argument Calendar.
January 27, 2011.
Scott J. Crosby, Burch, Porter Johnson, PLLC, Memphis, TN, Thomas G. Whatley, Jr., Howard Whatley, PC, Savannah, GA, for Plaintiff-Appellee.
Stanley E. Harris, Jr., Matthew M. Bush, Dwight Thomas Feemster, Duffy Feemster, LLC, Savannah, GA, for Defendants-Appellants.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia. D.C. Docket No. 4:06-cv-00013-WTM-GRS.
Before DUBINA, Chief Judge, PRYOR and ANDERSON, Circuit Judges.
This is an appeal from a judgment entered in favor of plaintiff-appellee, Liberty Mutual Insurance Company ("Liberty Mutual") and against defendants-appellants, Eastern Personnel Services, Inc., Paul Day, d/b/a Eastern Personnel Services, Inc., and Paul Day, individually ("Eastern Personnel") after a bench trial. The case involves a claim for unpaid workers' compensation insurance premiums allegedly owed to Liberty Mutual by Eastern Personnel, pursuant to a workers' compensation policy issued to Eastern Personnel. Liberty Mutual also claims that the president and sole shareholder of Eastern Personnel, Paul Day ("Day"), negligently misrepresented information upon which Liberty Mutual relied to its detriment in issuing the policy to Eastern Personnel and in determining, prior to litigation, the premium due for the policy in question.
After conducting a bench trial, the district court issued a twelve-page memorandum opinion finding Eastern Personnel and Day jointly liable to Liberty Mutual for $427,160.62 in unpaid premiums. The district court entered judgment accordingly, and defendants then perfected this appeal.
We review findings of fact made by district courts under the clearly erroneous standard and conclusions of law de novo. Thomas v. Bryant, 614 F.3d 1288, 1303 (11th Cir. 2010).
After reviewing the record and reading the parties' briefs, we affirm the judgment entered in favor of Liberty Mutual based on the district court's well-reasoned opinion filed on March 31, 2010.