Long v. AT & T Information Systems Inc.
| Citation | 733 F. Supp. 188 |
| Decision Date | 20 March 1990 |
| Docket Number | 85 Civ. 8770 (WCC). |
| Parties | J. Russell LONG, Plaintiff, v. AT & T INFORMATION SYSTEMS INC., Defendant. |
| Court | United States District Courts. 2nd Circuit. United States District Courts. 2nd Circuit. Southern District of New York |
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Charles Berkman, Arnold Lande, David Waller, Law Student, of counsel, Brooklyn, for plaintiff.
Benetar Bernstein Schair & Stein, Michael I. Bernstein, Kenneth D. Stein, Robert L. Becker, George D. Zuckerman, of counsel, New York City, for defendant.
In this action, plaintiff asserts that defendant engaged in a host of discriminatory employment practices and retaliatory actions in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ("Title VII"), as amended, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq., and the New York Human Rights Law ("Human Rights Law"), N.Y.Exec.Law § 290 et seq., as well as racial discrimination in violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1866, as amended, 42 U.S.C. § 1981. Defendant moves for summary judgment on all of plaintiff's claims pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). For the reasons set forth below, defendant's motion is granted in part and denied in part.
Plaintiff J. Russell Long, a 38-year-old black male, was employed by New York Telephone Company ("NY Tel"), first as an Account Executive ("AE") and then as an Account Executive Industry Consultant ("AEIC") in the Forest Products Industries Division between June 16, 1980 and December 31, 1982.1 Plaintiff was then employed by defendant AT & T Information Systems Inc. ("AT & T-IS"), formerly named American Bell, Inc. ("ABI"), between January 1, 1983 and November 4, 1985, as an AEIC assigned to a branch in the manufacturing sector.2 This position entailed leasing, and later selling, voice and data equipment to customers serviced by AT & T-IS's Large Business Systems division and often necessitated meeting at the customer's place of business. At all relevant times, both AEs and AEICs were compensated on the basis of salary and potential commissions, on a 70%-30% basis.
On June 24, 1983, Long suffered a back and leg injury and was unable to return to work until November 1, 1983. Upon his return, Long was placed on limited duty because of work-related restrictions recommended by his doctor and concurred in by defendant's medical department.3 A special position was created in which Long was initially assigned administrative duties and then assigned to an account team where he assisted in the coordination and delivery of equipment for television events. According to AT & T-IS, these duties were normally performed by a Marketing Support Specialist ("MSS"), a classification paid at a lower level than the AE and AEIC classifications. Long claims that many of his job functions were those typically performed by AEs or AEICs.
In December 1984, defendant's medical department determined that Long's disability was permanent. Plaintiff was told that he could no longer continue indefinitely in the position which was created on the assumption that his disability was temporary and that a search would be conducted to find him an appropriate permanent position. Both the extent of the search and the conditions imposed on it by plaintiff are vigorously disputed by the parties. For example, various employees of defendant attest that plaintiff informed them in connection with the search that he would only work in New York City, while Long contends that, notwithstanding his expressed preference for a New York position, he was willing to consider other areas as well. AT & T-IS claims that a lateral job search was conducted within the New York industrial area between December 1984 and January 1985 and that a lateral and downgraded job search was conducted between February and October of 1985. AT & T-IS also claims that company-wide downsizing of approximately 24,000 jobs significantly reduced the number of available positions. AT & T-IS maintains that plaintiff was discharged from his position on November 4, 1985 because a suitable permanent position could not be found.
During Long's employ, he filed one charge of discrimination and two charges of retaliation, one of which he amended, with the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission ("EEOC"). After his employment was terminated, plaintiff filed another EEOC charge alleging both discrimination and retaliation.
In Patterson v. McLean Credit Union, ___ U.S. ___, 109 S.Ct. 2363, 105 L.Ed.2d 132 (1989), the Supreme Court substantially narrowed the scope of section 1981. Cautioning against straining the clear meaning of the section, the Supreme Court held that section 1981 protects two rights: the right to "make" contracts and the right to "enforce" contracts. Id. 109 S.Ct. at 2372. The Supreme Court ruled, "where an alleged act of discrimination does not involve the impairment of one of these specific rights, § 1981 provides no relief." Id.
According to Patterson, the right to "make" contracts, "extends only to the formation of a contract, but not to problems that may arise later from the conditions of continuing employment." Id. In other words, the right to make contracts does not include the employer's conduct after the initial contract relationship has been established. With respect to the right to "enforce" contracts, this right "embraces protection of a legal process, and of a right of access to legal process, that will address and resolve contract-law claims without regard to race." Id. 109 S.Ct. at 2373. It also covers "wholly private efforts to impede access to the courts or obstruct nonjudicial methods of adjudicating disputes about the force of binding obligations." Id. In light of these principles, this Court now turns to the present action.
It is clear that Long's discrimination claims regarding his working assignments, accounts, compensation and benefits for his alleged job-related injury relate to postformation conduct concerning his terms and conditions of employment and as such are not actionable under section 1981. Patterson, 109 S.Ct. 2363; Gonzalez v. Home Ins. Co., 50 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. 1173 (BNA), 1989 WL 106467 (S.D.N.Y.1989); Williams v. National R.R. Passenger Corp., 716 F.Supp. 49 (D.D.C.1989).
Patterson did not specifically address the applicability of section 1981 to discriminatory termination. However, the vast majority of cases subsequent to Patterson hold that discriminatory termination involves neither the right to make nor the right to enforce contracts. See Gonzalez, 50 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. 1173 (BNA) (S.D.N. Y.1989); Alexander v. N.Y. Medical College, 721 F.Supp. 587 (S.D.N.Y.1989); Overby v. Chevron U.S.A., Inc., 884 F.2d 470 (9th Cir.1989); Hall v. County of Cook, 719 F.Supp. 721 (N.D.Ill.1989).4 As noted in Alexander, actions such as demotions and retaliatory discharges take place after the initial employment contract is made and therefore do not implicate the making of the contract itself. Alexander, 721 F.Supp. at 588. Long's termination, which occurred almost three years after his initial employment contract with AT & T-IS, constitutes postformation conduct not covered by section 1981. Nor is the right to enforce contracts implicated in any way. Thus, Long's termination does not fall within the scope of section 1981.
Long argues that in retaliation for his attempts to enforce his contract rights, AT & T-IS denied him promotions, created a hazardous work environment, subjected him to racial slurs and ultimately terminated his employment. AT & T-IS claims that these charges relate to postformation conduct and that to hold otherwise would circumvent Title VII's administrative scheme. This Court agrees that retaliation claims are not actionable under section 1981.5
Courts have employed various rationales to except retaliation claims from section 1981's coverage. In Williams, the district court stated that, while plaintiff alleged that defendant tried to impede her efforts to pursue her remedies for racial discrimination by downgrading her position, the plaintiff did not allege that the defendant tried to impede plaintiff from enforcing any contract rights, as defined in Patterson. According to the district court, "once the Court has concluded that the claims of discrimination in working conditions and pay do not involve contract rights as defined in Patterson, it must follow that the claim of retaliation against the plaintiff for pursuing these other claims is not a claim that involves contract rights." Williams, 716 F.Supp. at 52.
In Matthews v. Northern Telecom, Inc., No. 88 Civ. 583, 1989 WL 131343 (S.D.N.Y. Nov. 1, 1989), and Dangerfield v. Mission Press, 50 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. 1171 (BNA), 1989 WL 88199 (N.D.Ill.1989), the courts applied a different rationale for finding retaliation claims not actionable under section 1981. The Matthews court cited the language in Patterson, in which the Supreme Court quoted with approval the statement that the right to enforce contracts refers to "the removal of legal disabilities to ... enforce a contract." 109 S.Ct. at 2373 (quoting Runyon v. McCrary, 427 U.S. 160 n. 5, 96 S.Ct. 2586 n. 5, 49 L.Ed.2d 415 (1976) (dissenting opinion)). The Matthews and Dangerfield courts found that even if the employer's retaliatory behavior placed practical hindrances in plaintiff's way, it had not caused a legal obstruction to plaintiff's case and therefore was not within the scope of section 1981. See also Alexander, 721 F.Supp. at 588 ().
Lastly, the Ninth Circuit Court observed in a retaliatory discharge suit:
Reading section 1981 too broadly would permit plaintiffs to circumvent Title VII's detailed statutory prerequisites to bringing an action in federal court, thereby frustrating Title VII's conciliatory goals and disrupting the...
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