Fletcher v. Commonwealth (Apgar, J.) No. CL10000921-00, September 24, 2010: Roanoke City Cir.Ct; Paul G. Beers for plaintiff; Stephen M. Hall, AAG, for defendant. VLW 010-8-211, 6 pp.

A state prison guard being sued in a federal complaint alleging abusive treatment of inmates is entitled to a defense provided by the commonwealth, and a Roanoke City Circuit Court grants summary judgement to plaintff prison guard on this point.

$2,500,000 Settlement and $160,000 Verdict Two women traveling in the same motor vehicle were injured when the defendant's truck dropped its load of lumber directly into their path on a rural road in Pittsylvania County. Both parties filed suit against the trucking company.

The 47-year-old driver was seriously injured. She underwent nine surgical procedures followed by extensive physical therapy and faced the prospect of at least one future surgery. Plaintiff had an excellent employment history as a factory worker, but as a result of her injuries, could not return to that position. Plaintiff walks with a limp because of her lower extremity fractures.

PRIOR HISTORY: Session v. Anderson, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12078 (W.D. Va., Feb. 11, 2010)
COUNSEL:  [*1] For Marilyn Morgan Session, Plaintiff: Jonathan Martin Rogers, LEAD ATTORNEY, FLOYD, VA.
For Tiffany C. Anderson, Montgomery County School Board, Defendants: Jeremy Ethridge Carroll, LEAD ATTORNEY, GLENN FELDMANN DARBY & GOODLATTE, ROANOKE, VA.
JUDGES: Samuel G. Wilson, UNITED STATES DIS-TRICT JUDGE.
OPINION BY: Samuel G. Wilson

OPINION
MEMORANDUM OPINION

This is an action brought pursuant to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e, et seq. (2006) ("Title VII"), by plaintiff Marilyn Session ("Ses-sion") against her employer, the Montgomery County School Board ("the Board"). 1 Session, an African-American female, alleges that the Board retaliated against her because she filed a grievance with the Board against the Superintendent, Dr. Tiffany Anderson ("An-derson"), who is also an African-American female, for making racially derogatory comments on two occasions. The Board has moved for summary judgment on the ground that Session cannot establish a prima facie case of retaliation in violation of Title VII because Session neither was opposing an actual unlawful employment practice, nor could Session have reasonably believed that she was. The court finds that Anderson's alleged, isolated comments were  [*2] neither sufficient to create a racially hostile working environment, nor sufficient to give rise to an objectively reasonable belief that Anderson had violated Title VII. Accordingly, the court grants the Board's motion for summary judgment.

1  Session originally also brought suit against Dr. Tiffany Anderson, the former Superintendent of the Montgomery County Public Schools. Anderson was dismissed from the case pursuant to her motion to dismiss on February 11, 2010.