Opinion ID: 1037086
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: counts vi & vii

Text: 17 Case: 12-15633 Date Filed: 08/12/2013 Page: 18 of 21 In Counts VI and VII, respectively, Cobb alleged that Roswell created a hostile work environment and that he was constructively discharged. He relies upon the same facts for both claims. Specifically, he alleges that the three incidents in which pictures of him were defaced and the younger officers’ use of allegedly ageist language around the Department produced a hostile work environment and forced him to retire, ending in his constructive discharge. To prove a hostile work environment claim, the plaintiff must show that (1) he belongs to a protected group; (2) he has been subject to unwelcome harassment; (3) the harassment was based on a protected characteristic; (4) the harassment was sufficiently severe or pervasive to alter the terms and conditions of his employment and create a discriminatorily abusive working environment; and (5) the employer is responsible for that environment either through a theory of direct or vicarious liability. Miller v. Kenworth of Dothan, Inc., 277 F.3d 1269, 1275 (11th Cir. 2002) (Title VII context). To show a hostile work environment, moreover, the plaintiff must show that the behavior resulted in an environment that a reasonable person would find hostile or abusive and that he, subjectively, perceived to be abusive. Id. at 1276. In looking at the objective severity of harassment, we consider the frequency and severity of the conduct; whether it was physically threatening or humiliating, as 18 Case: 12-15633 Date Filed: 08/12/2013 Page: 19 of 21 opposed to a mere offensive utterance; and whether the conduct unreasonably interfered with the plaintiff’s job performance. Id. Constructive discharge occurs when an employer deliberately makes working conditions intolerable, thereby forcing the employee to quit his job. Bryant v. Jones, 575 F.3d 1281, 1298 (11th Cir. 2009). To make a constructive discharge claim, the employee must demonstrate that the work environment and employment conditions were so unbearable that a reasonable person in that employee’s position would have been compelled to resign. Poole v. Country Club of Columbus, Inc., 129 F.3d 551, 553 (11th Cir. 1997). Establishing a constructive discharge claims is a more difficult “task than establishing a hostile work environment claim.” Bryant, 575 F.3d at 1298. As to Count VI, his hostile work environment claim, we conclude that Cobb failed to make out a prima facie case because (1) he did not show any connection between the three picture incidents and his age, and (2) he did not complain to any officials at Roswell of the alleged ageist language that younger officers used and, thus, did not show a basis for Roswell’s liability. See Miller, 277 F.3d at 1278‒79. Moreover, Cobb has not met the objective prong of proving a hostile work environment, because the record does not show that the work environment was permeated with discriminatory intimidation, ridicule and insult; rather, Cobb has pointed to a few discrete incidents apparently unrelated to his age. See id. at 19 Case: 12-15633 Date Filed: 08/12/2013 Page: 20 of 21 1276-77. Cobb did not create a genuine issue of material fact as to Count VII, his constructive discharge claim, because (1) he has not made out a prima facie case of a hostile work environment, (2) he relies upon the same facts for both claims, and (3) constructive discharge requires a greater showing than hostile work environment. See Bryant, 575 F.3d at 1298. Accordingly, we conclude that the district court properly granted summary judgment as to Counts VI and VII.