Crawford v. Babbitt

• Decision Date: 30 August 1999
• Docket Number: No. 97-8299,97-8299
• Citation: 186 F.3d 1322
• Parties: (11th Cir. 1999) Sylvia CRAWFORD, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Bruce BABBITT, Secretary of the Department of the Interior, Defendant-Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit

Page 1322

186 F.3d 1322 (11th Cir. 1999)

Sylvia CRAWFORD, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Bruce BABBITT, Secretary of the Department of the Interior, Defendant-Appellee.

No. 97-8299.

United States Court of Appeals Eleventh Circuit.

Aug. 30, 1999.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. (No. 1:96-cv-102-WLH), William L. Harper, Judge.

ON REMAND FROM THE SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES.

Before CARNES, Circuit Judge, KRAVITCH, Senior Circuit Judge, and MILLS^*, Senior District Judge.

CARNES, Circuit Judge:

The Supreme Court has vacated our prior opinion in this case, Crawford v. Babbitt, 148 F.3d 1318 (11th Cir.1998), and remanded the case to us for further consideration in light of its decision in West v. Gibson, 527 U.S. ----, 119 S.Ct. 1906, 144 L.Ed.2d 196 (1999). See Babbitt v. Crawford, 527 U.S. ----, 119 S.Ct. 2363, --- L.Ed.2d ---- (1999). In compliance with the Supreme Court's directive, we substitute this opinion for our prior one in this case.

In 1993, Sylvia Crawford, a former employee at the Fish and Wildlife Service, a Division of the Department of the Interior (the "Agency"), was sexually harassed by her supervisors and then retaliated against when she complained about it. After Crawford filed an administrative complaint, the Agency issued a final decision finding it had discriminated against her and awarding injunctive relief. Crawford subsequently brought suit in federal district court seeking compensatory damages. The court entered summary judgment against her on her claim for compensatory damages. Because we conclude that Crawford failed to exhaust her administrative remedies prior to filing this action, we affirm.

I. BACKGROUND

Crawford worked for the Agency during the latter part of 1993. On November 8, 1993 and December 28, 1993, she filed Equal Employment Opportunity ("EEO") discrimination claims with the Agency's Office for Equal Opportunity alleging that her supervisors had sexually harassed her and then retaliated against her when she complained. An investigator for the Agency's Office of Human Resources investigated the claims. Among other things, Crawford informed the investigator that one incident of harassment "upset" her and that the stress of the harassment led to a bleeding ulcer and other physical problems for which she had seen a doctor. The investigator issued a Report of Investigation in February 1995. By letter dated February 23, 1995, the Agency's Office of Human Resources sent Crawford the report and informed her that she could request a final decision on her claims from the Agency, with or without an administrative hearing before an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") administrative judge. On March 29, 1995, Crawford requested an administrative hearing.

On May 30, 1995, Judge Davi, the EEOC administrative judge, informed Crawford and the Agency that he had scheduled a pre-hearing conference on July 17, 1995 and a hearing on July 25, 1995. At the pre-hearing conference, the parties discussed their settlement negotiations. The Agency stated that it would not consider monetary settlement for compensatory damages because Crawford had not provided it with objective evidence of her alleged injuries or evidence demonstrating a causal connection between the harassment and Crawford's alleged injuries. The Agency also requested Crawford to provide any medical records or other evidence she intended to rely on at the July 25, 1995 hearing to substantiate her alleged injuries and causation. Crawford did not provide the Agency with the medical records or any other evidence, but she did indicate that two doctors would testify at the hearing to substantiate her entitlement to compensatory damages.

On July 25, 1995, Crawford requested a continuance of the hearing. Judge Davi denied the request and renewed settlement discussions between the parties. The Agency stated it would not pay Crawford compensatory damages unless she produced the evidence substantiating her injuries and causation as it had requested. After learning that the two doctors Crawford mentioned at the pre-hearing conference would not be testifying at the hearing, Judge Davi informed her that the hearing would proceed; but he also warned her that without the substantiating medical evidence, no compensatory damages would be awarded. Crawford then elected to waive the hearing and requested a final decision from the Agency on her claims. Although fully aware that the Agency had requested additional evidence to substantiate her alleged injuries and causation, Crawford did not submit that evidence in the nearly three months prior to the issuance of the Agency's final decision.

The Agency issued its final decision on October 20, 1995. In the decision, the Agency found it had subjected Crawford to sexual harassment and retaliation in violation of Title VII, and it awarded her injunctive relief, costs, and attorney fees. Although the decision noted Crawford's contention that she had "developed physical problems from the stress of [her] supervisor's sexual harassment," it did not award Crawford compensatory damages for those alleged injuries. The decision informed Crawford that if she was dissatisfied, she had the choice of filing an appeal with the EEOC or filing a civil action in United States District Court. She chose the latter option.

On January 12, 1996, Crawford filed this lawsuit against Bruce Babbitt in his official capacity as Secretary of the Interior. (For simplicity, we will refer to Babbitt as the Agency). Crawford's complaint referred to the Agency's final decision and alleged that as a result of the Agency's discrimination, she had suffered hospitalization and physical, mental, and emotional distress. The complaint requested that the court (1) enter a declaratory judgment stating that the Agency had discriminated against her in violation of Title VII, and (2) "enter a judgment against the [Agency] for compensatory damages associated with the undue stress suffered by Plaintiff as a result of the unlawful employment practices of Defendant."

After the parties consented to having the case tried before a magistrate judge, Crawford moved for partial summary judgment on the issue of liability. She argued that the Agency's final decision conclusively established its liability under Title VII, and she requested that the issue of compensatory damages for her alleged injuries proceed to a jury trial. The Agency responded that since compensatory damages were not awarded as part of its final decision, Crawford could seek either (1) enforcement of the Agency's final decision but forego a claim for compensatory damages, or (2) a de novo review of the entire dispute, including liability and damages.

On March 11, 1997, the magistrate judge granted Crawford's motion for partial summary judgment as to liability and ordered the injunctive relief set out in the Agency's decision. In addition, although the Agency had not filed a summary judgment motion, the magistrate judge entered judgment for it on Crawford's claim for compensatory damages. After Crawford's motion for reconsideration of that order was denied, she appealed, contending that the magistrate judge erred in dismissing her claim for compensatory damages. The Agency did not cross-appeal the entry of judgment in Crawford's favor on the issue of the Agency's liability for violating Title VII.

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW

We review a district court's grant of summary judgment de novo, using the same legal standard employed by the district court. See, e.g., Fitzpatrick v. City of Atlanta, 2 F.3d 1112, 1117 (11th Cir.1993). "Summary judgment is appropriate if the record shows no genuine issue of material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. When deciding whether summary judgment is appropriate, all evidence and reasonable factual inferences drawn therefrom are reviewed in a light most favorable to the non-moving party." Witter v. Delta Air Lines, Inc., 138 F.3d 1366, 1369 (11th Cir.1998) (internal citations and quotations omitted).

III. ANALYSIS

The crux of Crawford's claim is that she is entitled to compensatory damages for injuries she suffered as a result of the Agency's sexual harassment and retaliatory conduct in violation of Title VII. In granting judgment to the Agency on Crawford's claim for compensatory damages the magistrate judge relied upon two grounds, either of which, if valid, will support the judgment. First, the judge found that Crawford was barred from raising her claim for compensatory damages in district court because she had failed to adequately pursue it administratively, which means she had failed to exhaust her administrative remedies, although the judge did not use exhaustion...