Moore v. Freeman

• Decision Date: 13 January 2004
• Docket Number: No. 01-6536.,No. 01-6372.,01-6372.,01-6536.
• Citation: 355 F.3d 558
• Parties: Charles W. MOORE, Plaintiff-Appellee (01-6372); Plaintiff-Appellant (01-6536), v. Moses FREEMAN, in his individual and official capacities, and The City of Chattanooga, Defendants-Appellants (01-6372); Defendants-Appellees (01-6536).
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit

355 F.3d 558

Charles W. MOORE, Plaintiff-Appellee (01-6372); Plaintiff-Appellant (01-6536), v. Moses FREEMAN, in his individual and official capacities, and The City of Chattanooga, Defendants-Appellants (01-6372); Defendants-Appellees (01-6536).

No. 01-6372.

No. 01-6536.

United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit.

Argued October 21, 2003.

Decided and Filed January 13, 2004.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, R. Allan Edgar, Chief Judge.

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Michael A. McMahan (argued and briefed), Kenneth O. Fritz (briefed), Nelson, McMahan & Noblett, Chattanooga, TN, for Defendants.

Reuben N. Pelot IV (argued and briefed), Ronald T. Hill (briefed), Egerton, McAfee, Armistead & Davis, Knoxville, TN, for Plaintiff.

Before KEITH, DAUGHTREY, and GILMAN, Circuit Judges.

OPINION

DAUGHTREY, Circuit Judge.

The defendants, Moses Freeman and the City of Chattanooga, appeal from a jury verdict awarding the plaintiff, Charles Moore, back pay and damages for emotional and mental distress, based on his claim of retaliation under the Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 U.S.C. §§ 201-219 (FLSA). The defendants claim (1) that there was insufficient evidence to support the jury's finding that they retaliated against Moore, (2) that damages for emotional and mental distress are not recoverable under the applicable provision of the FLSA, and (3) that the verdict was excessive. Because we conclude that the evidence of retaliation was sufficient to support the verdict and that damages for emotional and mental distress were properly recovered under the Act, we affirm the district court's judgment sustaining the jury verdict in the plaintiff's favor.

On cross-appeal, the plaintiff contends that the district court erred in reducing his request for attorney's fees by five-sixths on the theory that he had prevailed on only one of his six claims. This use of a mathematical formula constituted an abuse of discretion under existing Sixth Circuit precedent and will require a remand for correction. The plaintiff also contends that the damages should be doubled as liquidated damages, but we conclude that this issue is not properly before us on appeal.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Plaintiff Charles Moore was hired by the City of Chattanooga in October 1997 as a code inspector in the city's housing division. His initial annual salary, and that of Joseph Sheats, who started in the same position on the same day as Moore, was $20,777. Also hired as a code inspector on that day was Mary Hutson, at a starting salary of $26,751. Hutson is a white woman; Moore and Sheats are both black men. The defendant, Moses Freemen, who was the department's administrator at the time the three new hires began, claimed that Hutson was paid more because of her prior work experience and training and because she had turned down the job at the original salary. On the other hand, plaintiff Moore later testified that when he asked whether the salary was negotiable, he was told it was not.

Several months later, when Moore learned of the disparity between his and Hutson's salaries, he raised the issue with Freeman at a February 1998 staff meeting and was told by Freeman that he would work to get Moore's salary raised. Before that meeting, Hutson had complained to Freeman that she was being mistreated by some of her co-workers. She complained again after the meeting and also reported to her direct supervisor, Dan Thomas, that she felt that other people in the office resented her and that she was caught in a hostile work environment. In particular, she complained of some interactions she had had with some of her black co-workers, including both Moore and Sheats, that she felt were negative. Thomas reported the latter conversation to Freeman, who directed Thomas to conduct an investigation into Hutson's allegations. Thomas did so but concluded to his own satisfaction that the work environment was not hostile.

According to Freeman, by April 1998 the office was in such turmoil that he felt compelled to take some action to regain control. Concluding that the problems had begun about the time that Moore, Hutson, and Sheats had started working in the housing department, Freeman decided to fire all three of them. Before he could carry out this plan, however, Hutson told Freeman she was quitting, and Freeman placed her on two weeks paid administrative leave. He later testified that he took this action because he wanted to terminate all three employees collectively and because he was worried Hutson was "building a case against the city." Around the same time, Freeman directed Thomas to extend the probationary periods for Moore, Sheats, and Hutson an additional 90 days beyond the normal six-month period imposed on new employees. Freeman apparently accepted Hutson's resignation on April 28, 1998. Two days later, he fired Moore, who then remained unemployed for approximately four months before securing a new, better-paying job.

At trial, Moore testified that the experience of being fired was "demoralizing," like being "slapped in the face." He said that he had worried about paying the family's bills and that he lost his health insurance and had to pull his children out of their soccer league because he feared that they might get injured at a time when he had no insurance coverage. He also testified that the stress of having lost his job affected his relationship with his children — one of whom drew a picture of him as a monster — and with his wife. Moore's wife testified that Moore had trouble sleeping during the period he was between jobs, and a friend of his testified that Moore became short-tempered, lost his appetite, and began having neck pains.

Moore and Sheats had originally filed a joint complaint in federal court against the City of Chattanooga and several city officials under the FLSA, the Equal Pay Act, 29 U.S.C. § 206(d), Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e — 2000e-17, and the Tennessee Human Rights Act, Tenn.Code Ann. §§ 4-21-101 — 1004. However, Sheats entered a voluntary dismissal, and Moore proceeded to trial alone. At its conclusion, the district court granted the defendants' motion for judgment as a matter of law in part, and the only claims that went to the jury were Moore's claims against Freeman in his official capacity and against the City under the FLSA, the Equal Pay Act, and the Tennessee Human Rights Act for sex discrimination. The jury found that defendants did not violate the Equal Pay Act or discriminate against Moore based on sex. It did find, however, that the defendants violated the FLSA by discharging Moore in retaliation for his complaints about unequal pay and awarded him $10,232 in back pay and $40,000 for mental and emotional distress.

The City then filed a motion for remittitur on the back pay award and asked that the remainder of the award be set aside, contending that mental and emotional damages are not authorized by the FLSA. Moore filed a request for attorney's fees and costs and moved to alter or amend judgment by doubling the compensatory damages as liquidated damages. The district court reduced the back-pay award to $7,200 but denied the rest of the defendants' motion, holding that damages for mental and emotional distress due to retaliation can be recovered under the FLSA and finding that the damage award of $40,000 was not excessive. The court also denied Moore's motion to alter or amend the judgment, noting that an award of damages to employees who suffered from retaliation was compensatory in nature and that liquidated damages would not further this purpose. Finally, the court reserved ruling on the plaintiff's motion for attorney's fees and asked for further documentation, specifically on the amount of time spent on legal issues and whether the work was expended on behalf of Moore or Sheats. Moore submitted more information, but the district court found that it was still not sufficiently specific. The district judge therefore awarded Moore one-sixth of the attorney's fees and costs he had requested, on the theory that he had prevailed on only one of the six claims he brought in the original complaint. The defendants have appealed the jury verdict and the damage award approved by the district court. The plaintiff has cross-appealed the calculation of attorney's fees and costs.

II. DISCUSSION

A. Sufficiency of the Evidence

The defendants assert that the plaintiff did not sufficiently prove that he engaged in statutorily-protected activity, that his dismissal was related to the protected activity, or that the defendants' proffered reason why the plaintiff was dismissed was pretextual, addressing each of these contentions under the burden-shifting analysis set out in McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 93 S.Ct. 1817, 36 L.Ed.2d 668 (1973), and urging that we find that the plaintiff failed to establish a prima facie case of retaliation. We have held, however, that "after a trial on the merits, a reviewing court should not focus on the elements of the prima facie case but should assess the ultimate question of discrimination." Kovacevich v. Kent State Univ., 224 F.3d 806, 821 (6th Cir.2000) (citing EEOC v. Avery Dennison Corp., 104 F.3d 858, 862 (6th Cir.1997)). We have, nevertheless, recognized that whether the plaintiff made out a prima facie case may be "relevant to our review of that ultimate question." Gray v. Toshiba Am. Consumer Prods., Inc., 263 F.3d 595, 599 (6th Cir.2001).

Moore was clearly engaged in statutorily-protected activity, given the fact that the anti-retaliation provisions of the FLSA can be triggered by informal complaints, see EEOC v. Romeo Cmty. Schs., 976 F.2d 985, 989-90 (6th Cir.1992), and that the defendants do not dispute that Moore protested to Freeman about his unequal pay. Although the defendants continue to argue that the issue of Moore's pay was resolved by the time Moore was fired, that...