Byers v. Dallas Morning News

• Citation: 209 F.3d 419
• Decision Date: 24 April 2000
• Docket Number: No. 99-10554,99-10554
• Parties: (5th Cir. 2000) Robert C. Byers, Jr., Plaintiff-Appellant, v. The Dallas Morning News, Inc., Defendant-Appellee
• Court: United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (5th Circuit)

Page 419

209 F.3d 419 (5th Cir. 2000)

Robert C. Byers, Jr., Plaintiff-Appellant, v. The Dallas Morning News, Inc., Defendant-Appellee.

No. 99-10554

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT

April 24, 2000

[Copyrighted Material Omitted]

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas

Before REYNALDO G. GARZA, HIGGINBOTHAM, and BENAVIDES, Circuit Judges.

REYNALDO G. GARZA, Circuit Judge:

BACKGROUND

A. Procedural History

On May 14, 1997, Plaintiff Robert C. Byers, Jr. ("Byers") filed suit against Defendant The Dallas Morning News, Inc. ("TDMN"), alleging race discrimination and retaliation in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended ("Title VII"), 42 U.S.C. 2000e, et seq. On January 16, 1998, Byers filed his First Amended Complaint and Jury Demand, adding claims of race discrimination and retaliation based on 42 U.S.C. 1981. ¹ After TDMN filed a Motion for Summary Judgment, the district court issued its Memorandum Opinion and Order, granting summary judgment in favor of TDMN on all claims. On January 7, 1999, the district court entered a Final Judgment. Byers perfected his appeal to this Court by timely filing his Notice of Appeal on February 4, 1999. Based on the district court's subsequent Request for Leave to Consider rule 60(b) Motion, filed on March 19, 1999, this Court remanded the case to the district court without retaining jurisdiction on April 18, 1999. On April 22, 1999, the district court entered its Order Modifying Judgment under Rule 60. On May 7, 1999, Byers perfected his appeal to this Court by timely filing his Notice of Appeal.

B. Facts

On February 13, 1985, TDMN hired Byers, a white man, as a financial analyst. In February of 1988, TDMN promoted Byers to General Accounting Manager. After receiving his promotion, Byers reported to Scott Messer, who is white. On March 1, 1993, Reginald Brown, who had been the Assistant Controller at A.H. Belo Corporation, the parent corporation of TDMN, replaced Messer and became President of Finance at TDMN. Brown, a black man, served as Byers's direct supervisor at TDMN from March 1, 1993 until Byers's termination on February 27, 1996.

On March 23, 1993, Byers and one of his supervisors recommended that Loira Baker, who is black, be discharged from the Accounts Payable Department because she had exhibited performance problems similar to those of a white employee, Ann Self, who had been terminated from the Department previously. Brown decided not to discharge Baker, instead conducting a review of the entire Accounts Payable Department to discern the reasons for the performance problems in the department. Byers alleges that he subsequently complained to Mark Rapier, in Human Resources, about Brown's hiring and firing practices.

On or about August 30, 1993, Brown gave Byers a three-month performance evaluation. Although Byers received relatively high marks in certain categories, Byers was dissatisfied with the scores he received in the areas of Initiative and Resourcefulness, Judgment, Communications and Working Relationships. The evidence shows that prior to this August 1993 appraisal, Byers had failed to perform a high priority task assigned to him by Brown. On September 7, 1993, Byers sent a response to his evaluation to Ellen Wilson, in which he claimed that he was the "victim of [Brown's] personal biases" and that Brown had to "relinquish his personal vendetta" against him.

On May 9, 1994, Byers left work after lunch claiming that he was ill. When Byers returned to work, he observed that Brown had recorded "sick leave" on Byers's timecard for the half-day of work he missed. Byers confronted Brown, informing him that exempt employees must receive credit for working a full day even though they only work a half day. Brown responded that he did not agree with this policy. Later that day, Brown sent Byers an e-mail stating that he had spoken with Human Resources and that he had been mistaken about the sick leave policy. On May 16, 1994, at a Department Supervisors Meeting attended by many of the Department's managers and supervisors, Byers challenged Brown about the timecard notation. Four days later, Brown issued Byers a Written Warning for his conduct during the Supervisors Meeting. Byers alleges that his sick leave incident is another example of Brown's racial discrimination against him because black supervisors were treated differently. Specifically, Madeline Norris was allowed to work from home, and Elaine Kidd took two days off without reporting it. However, Norris had received prior authorization from Brown and her immediate supervisor to work from home due to back problems. In addition, Byers later admitted that Kidd reported directly to him and that he was unaware of how her leave issue was resolved.

Byers, as General Accounting Manger, supervised employees in the Accounts Payable department at TDMN. In December of 1995, Byers held a meeting with the Accounts Payable clerks to discuss problems with unrecorded checks. While there is some disagreement in the record as to the exact occurrences at the meeting, it is undisputed that Byers placed two stacks of paper on the table, one containing correct invoices and the other containing incorrect invoices. It is further undisputed that Byers asked the two poor performers who had created the incorrect invoices to stay after the meeting with him. Lastly, it is undisputed that Byers was not the direct supervisor of either of these clerks and that he had circumvented the authority of two intermediary managers. After the meeting, the two clerks went to Brown to request immediate transfers from Byers's supervision. Brown later told Byers that his approach to the meeting was inappropriate and that he should have let the more immediate supervisor handle the issue.

Subsequent to the December 1995 meeting, Brown determined that he no longer wanted Byers working in a management position in his department and contacted both TDMN's Production Department and Belo Corporation's Broadcast Division to inquire about employment opportunities for Byers. Neither Department felt that Byers was the right candidate for their openings. Brown then met with managers Bill Cox, Ellen Wilson and Joe Daume to discuss terminating Byers's employment. All three managers agreed with Brown that Byers should be terminated.

After Brown made the recommendation for termination, but before Byers was notified of his termination, Brown attended meetings at which Brown praised the work of Elaine Kidd, who is black, and Julie Bimmerman and Yvonne Morgan, who are both white. Byers was not at the meeting but heard about the praise for Kidd. Byers then sent an e-mail to Brown, which he copied to Kidd, Bimmerman, Morgan, and another employee, in which he informed Brown that there were other employees besides Kidd who deserved recognition. Brown responded that he had also praised Bimmerman and Morgan and reprimanded Byers for questioning his judgment in front of other employees.

On February 27, 1996, Brown and Daume called a meeting with Byers to inform him that his employment was terminated. Yvonne Morgan, who is white, assumed most of Byers's job responsibilities after the termination. On or about December 16, 1996, Gary J. Wierzbicki, who is white, filled the position of General Accounting Manager. On or about May 23, 1996, Byers filed a Charge of Discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC"), claiming he was the victim of discrimination based on his race and retaliation based on his prior complaints of race discrimination, in violation of Title VII. On May 14, 1997, after receiving his right to sue letter from the EEOC, Byers filed suit in federal district court. Byers's First Amended Complaint was filed with this Court on January 16, 1998. Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment, which the district court granted was filed with this Court on October 16, 1998.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

Courts of Appeals review summary judgments de novo, applying the same standard as the district courts. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56. The moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law when the pleadings, answers to interrogatories, admissions and affidavits on file indicate no genuine issue as to any material fact. See Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 2552, 91 L.Ed.2d 265, 273 (1986). If the burden at trial rests on the non-movant, the movant must merely demonstrate an absence of evidentiary support in the record for the non-movant's case. See id.

This Court will consider the evidence in the light most favorable to the non-movant, yet the non-movant may not rely on mere allegations in the pleadings; rather, the non-movant must respond to the motion for summary judgment by setting forth particular facts indicating that there is a genuine issue for trial. See Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248-49, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). After the non-movant has been given the opportunity to raise a genuine factual issue, if no reasonable juror could find for the non-movant, summary judgment will be granted. See Celotex Corp., 477 U.S. at 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548; Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c).

ANALYSIS

A. Procedural Claims

1. Statute of Limitations for Title VII and 1981

Under 42 U.S.C. 2000e-5(e)(1), for causes of action in which the aggrieved party has "initially instituted proceedings with a State or local agency with authority to grant or seek relief," an EEOC Charge must be filed "within three hundred days after the alleged unlawful employment practice occurred." 42 U.S.C. 2000e-5(e)(1) For Title VII claims based on an employee's termination, the 300-day statute of limitations period for filing a discrimination charge with the EEOC begins to run at the time of termination, which is viewed as a discrete act of discrimination. See Delaware State College v. Ricks, 449 U.S. 250, 101 S.Ct. 498, 66 L.Ed.2d 431 (1980). Byers was terminated...