Opinion ID: 873387
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Hubbard’s Sales Associate Job

Text: Defendant Meritage is a builder of planned residential communities. In late October 2008, Plaintiff Hubbard began working for Defendant Meritage as a sales associate at one of its communities, The Oaks at Brandy Lake. In June 2009, Hubbard told Brian Kittle, her direct supervisor, that she might be pregnant. Soon after, Hubbard learned she was not pregnant, but she told Kittle she intended to start a family. The next day, Kittle transferred Hubbard to the Live Oak Reserve community, Defendant Meritage’s most desirable and bestselling community. 1 In her brief on appeal, Hubbard does not challenge the district court’s grant of summary judgment on her claims of sex and gender discrimination and retaliation and thus she has abandoned these claims. See United States v. Jernigan, 341 F.3d 1273, 1283 n.8 (11th Cir. 2003). We consider only Hubbard’s pregnancy discrimination claims. 3 Case: 12-15172 Date Filed: 05/30/2013 Page: 4 of 13 Hubbard took the place of another sales associate, Thomas Temmel, who was transferred to Lake Roberts. Kittle testified that he transferred Hubbard because she said she was starting a family, and he wanted to give her a good start by selling lots in Live Oak. In his deposition, Kittle explained, however, that because Live Oak was a high-demand community in an otherwise bad economy, Meritage planned to cycle sales associates in and out of Live Oak to give different employees the opportunity to earn commissions. Later that summer, Hubbard did in fact become pregnant. Hubbard informed Kittle of her pregnancy on August 25, 2009. The next day, Hubbard was transferred from Live Oak to Indian Lakes, a much slower selling community, trading places with another sales associate, Candace Roberts. Kittle declined Hubbard’s requests to be transferred back to Live Oak. Kittle repeatedly questioned Hubbard about whether she planned to take maternity leave or was going to “take the [commission] money and quit.”