Moore v. City of Philadelphia
| Citation | 461 F.3d 331 |
| Decision Date | 30 August 2006 |
| Docket Number | No. 03-1473.,No. 03-1465.,03-1465.,03-1473. |
| Parties | *Myrna MOORE; Sheila Young; Raymond Carnation; William McKenna; Richard Safford v. CITY OF PHILADELPHIA; John Moroney, Sgt.; Frank Bachmeyer, Lt.; William Colarulo, Capt.; Cullen, Lt.; Wilson, Lt.; Frank Hogan, Lt.; David Hogan, Lt.; Frank Mach, Sgt.; John Hewitt, Sgt.; Joseph Jackson, Sgt. Raymond Carnation; William McKenna, Appellants in No. 03-1465. *(Amended per Clerk's 4/14/03 Order). Michael McKenna, Appellant in No. 03-1473 v. City of Philadelphia; Hogan, Lt.; Cullen, Lt.; Wilson, Lt.; Moroney, Sgt.; Frank Bachmeyer, Lt.; William Colarulo, Capt.; Joseph O'Connor, Inspector; Frank Mack; Joseph Jackson; John Hewitt. |
| Court | United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (3rd Circuit) |
Elliott Schulder, Gregory M. Lipper (Argued), Covington & Burling, Washington, DC, for Appellants.
Romulo L. Diaz, City Solicitor, Elise M. Bruhl, Deputy City Solicitor, Appeals (Argued), City of Philadelphia Law Department, Philadelphia, PA, for Appellees.
Before FUENTES, STAPLETON and ALARCON,* Circuit Judges.
Michael McKenna, William McKenna, and Raymond Carnation are all former police officers who worked in the 7-squad of the 25th District of the Philadelphia Police Department. All three officers are white. They claim that their supervisors violated their right under Title VII to be free from retaliation for opposing racial discrimination in the workplace. The District Court granted summary judgment in favor of their employer. Accordingly, in the course of our review, we will view the record in the light most favorable to the plaintiffs. We will reverse as we find that these three police officers have raised triable issues as to whether they suffered unlawful retaliation.
In August 1997, Captain William Colarulo took the helm of the 25th District of the Philadelphia Police Department and assumed command of the 7-squad within that district. At that time, Michael McKenna (hereinafter "Michael") was a beat officer in the 7-squad. In August of 1997, Michael's brother, William McKenna (hereinafter "William") and Raymond Carnation (hereinafter "Carnation") were transferred to the 7-squad from another squad within the 25th District.
When Colarulo assumed control, the 25th District — "the Badlands" — was known for having one of the highest violent crime rates in Philadelphia. To respond to the crime rates in the area, Colarulo set up barricades in certain neighborhoods that required a constant presence of beat officers in the 7-squad. The 7-squad did not have a regular sergeant supervisor at that time.1 Various beat officers took advantage of this lack of supervision by not patrolling their beat properly and failing to man those barricades.
William and Carnation were partners on their beat. From the moment they arrived at the 7-squad in August 1997, the two complained of various forms of harassment by fellow officers — e.g. not getting courtesy rides from other officers, not having access to radios on their shift, other officers interfering with their radio communication . . . etc. Also, William and Carnation interacted with several African-American officers on the 7-squad, answering work-related questions and socializing with them in the office. Apparently, this was not the norm in the 7-squad. One of these African-American officers told William that the other white officers in the 7-squad did not speak with her. William and Carnation also heard complaints about tense race relations at the squad from other black officers.
In October of 1997, Sergeant John Moroney became the permanent supervisor of the 7-squad. Throughout the fall and winter of 1997, these plaintiffs witnessed numerous incidents that indicated that Moroney would exacerbate the racial discord in the 7-squad.
Michael reported several instances where Moroney made racially derogatory comments about black officers in front of him, each time eliciting an objection from Michael. The District Court summarized:
Sometime in October of 1997, [Michael] heard Moroney say "I'm going to get that nigger Safford." [Michael] said, . . .
[Michael], while on duty, approached Myrna Moore, an African-American officer [in the 7-squad] who was . . . standing outside by herself in the rain. She told [Michael] that she had been told to stand at that location. [Michael] told her that she was supposed to be . . . [working with him to patrol] the area in the car, not on foot. . . . [When Sergeant Moroney saw Moore in Michael's car, Moroney asked Michael, not in Moore's presence]: "What's the nigger doing in the car?" [Michael] responded, Sergeant Moroney told [Michael] that Officer Moore was being punished. [Michael] said To which Sergeant Moroney replied, "Well if you don't like it . . . you want to see how it's like to work with a nigger." Moroney then instructed [Michael] to drive the police vehicle back and drop it off . . . [and then Moroney] drove him back to the location where Officer Moore was standing and Moroney told the plaintiff to stand there with Moore and not to move from that location. . . .
At a different time in the fall or winter of 1997, Sergeant Moroney made the comment that "[a female officer] better watch herself, because these niggers around here will kill her." [Michael] told Sergeant Moroney not to use those words. . . .
Also during the fall or winter of 1997, Sergeant Moroney stated, in [Michael's] presence, "why are they hiring these niggers?" . . . [Michael] responded,
William and Carnation also witnessed incidents that revealed Moroney's attitudes regarding the African-American officers he supervised. Moroney was one of the supervisors in the squad from which William and Carnation had transferred in August 1997. Within a week or two of Moroney taking over the 7-squad in October 1997, William and Carnation relayed numerous grievances regarding their workplace and fellow officers to Moroney. During those initial conversations, they told him about "racial problems" within the 7-squad. After those initial conversations, they heard various complaints from African-American officers about Moroney's conduct as a supervisor. Myrna Moore, a black female officer, told William that she thought that Moroney was "blatantly a racist" and that he assigned her white counterparts to work in the building while she had to work outside in the cold. App. at 298. William relayed that conversation to Moroney in what he later described as an effort to "forewarn" Moroney. Moroney replied that William could "tell that critter to do what she has to do." App. at 193. In another incident, William and Moroney heard an African-American officer's voice on the police radio, to which Moroney commented: App. at 156. William responded: Id. Carnation observed Moroney being rude to black officers, not socializing with them as he did with white officers, bragging about "sick checking" one black officer late at night, making jokes about black officers being "stupid" or "slow," and ridiculing a black officer for being hospitalized after choking on a chicken bone. App. at 891-92.
At the same time, other workplace tensions began to develop for the plaintiffs in this case. In late 1997, Michael overheard five or six colleagues in the 7-squad discussing how to get more overtime by having each officer say they were involved in a drug arrest so that each would be called into court. Michael immediately reported this "piling-on" scheme to Moroney and Moroney immediately went into the squad room where the discussion had occurred. Shortly thereafter, Moroney imposed a rule there would be no more than two officers allowed to participate in a drug arrest. A few days after this incident, Michael saw graffiti on the walls of the bathroom that included his name and words like "rat," "asshole," and "snitch." The word "rat" was written on Michael's time sheets and other paperwork.
At some point after William and Carnation reported the numerous problems they had with fellow officers to Moroney, the other officers began to refer to Carnation and William as "rat" and "snitch" over the radio and make "rat noises" in front of them. In December 1997 or January 1998, the bathroom was covered in graffiti referring to Carnation and William as "rats," "snitches," and "pussies," and noted that the two officers "belong in a rat hole." The words "rat # 1" was written on William's January 1998 time sheet.
In October 1997, William and Carnation first raised concerns about racial tensions in the squad to their superiors. In that month, William and Carnation were shot at while on their beat. The suspects were apprehended by other police officers within a minute and a half. Five minutes after the shooting William and Carnation were relieved so that they could give a statement as to what had happened. Their temporary sergeant supervisor recommended commendation for their role in the shooting. Within a week of the shooting, they had a meeting with Captain Colarulo and Lieutenant Frank Bachmeyer to express concern that they did not receive back-up after the shooting quickly because "we felt that it was the...
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