Boyd v. State, Civ. Action No. 00-00047(JBS) (D. N.J. 2/6/2001), Civ. Action No. 00-00047(JBS)
| Decision Date | 06 February 2001 |
| Docket Number | Civ. Action No. 00-00047(JBS) |
| Parties | DOREEN BOYD, Plaintiff, v. STATE OF NEW JERSEY, et al., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of New Jersey |
Theresa D. Brown, Esquire, Willingboro, New Jersey, Willan Franklyn Joseph, Esquire, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Attorneys for Plaintiff.
John J. Farmer, Jr., Attorney General of New Jersey, By: Meryl G. Nadler, Deputy Attorney General, Trenton, New Jersey, Attorney for Defendant.
In this employment discrimination case, plaintiff Doreen Boyd, an African American female, brings suit against defendants the State of New Jersey, Janice Mintz and Louise Coon (individually and in their official capacities), alleging that, under color of law, defendants intentionally deprived plaintiff of property, equal protection, and due process pursuant to 42 U.S.C. §§ 1981 and 1983, and that her civil rights were violation pursuant to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000e et seq. ("Title VII") and the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination, N.J.S.A. 10:5-1, et seq. ("NJLAD"). Plaintiff claims that she was deprived of her property rights and discriminated against when an offer for employment with the Camden County Medical Examiner's Office was withdrawn, despite plaintiff's high score on the qualifying examination and high placement on the employment consideration list, after the County discovered that plaintiff lacked the requisite three years experience in investigating the medical cause of human death. Presently before this Court is defendants' motion to dismiss and/or motion for summary judgment on all claims pursuant to Rules 12(b)(6) and/or 56, Fed. R. Civ. P., respectively. For the reasons discussed herein, defendants' motion for summary judgment will be granted. Plaintiff's claims will be dismissed with prejudice.
On March 26, 1997, the Department of Personnel ("DOP") promulgated new employment requirements for the position of County Medical Examiner's Office Investigator. (Nadler Certification, ¶ 6 and Ex. E at 3.) On October 14, 1997, the Department of Personnel ("DOP") application filing period closed for the position of Investigator, County Medical Examiner's Office. (Defs.' Mot. for Summ. J. Br. at 6; Nadler Certification, Ex. E at 1.) Candidates wishing to compete for the Investigator position were required to have the required experience by the date the application period closed. (Defs.' Br. at 6); see also, N.J.S.A. 4A:4-2.3(b).
The DOP job specification (# 02183) for the investigator position sought by plaintiff, which was enacted on March 26, 1997, lists the requirements for the position:
EXPERIENCE
Three (3) years of experience in investigating the medical cause of death in humans.
NOTE: Successful completion of thirty (30) hours of
instruction in death investigation conducted by . . . an institution of higher education or other agency approved by the State Medical Examiner may be substituted for one (1) year of the required experience.
NOTE: Where the duties of a particular position involve making a determination of and the pronouncement of death, appointees will be required to possess either:
A current and valid registration as a professional nurse in the State of New Jersey
A current and valid license to practice medicine in the State of New Jersey.
(Nadler Certification, Ex. C at 2.) Plaintiff does not challenge that this set of requirements became effective on March 26, 1997 or that the application closing date for the examination she took in October, 1997 was October 14, 1997. (Pl.'s Br. at 3.) Plaintiff repeatedly asserts that she met the job requirements for the investigator position at the time she applied for the job (Am. Compl., ¶ 13; Pls.' Br. at 3.), although she does not dispute the fact that she lacks three years experience in investigating the cause of human death. (See Pl.'s Br., Ex. D, Letter from Boyd to Coon of 04/07/98.)2 Although plaintiff acknowledges that the job specification submitted by defendants had an effective date of March 27, 1997 (see Pl.'s Br. at 3), plaintiff speculates that it is "quite possibl[e] [that] Plaintiff was qualified under the Division's rules when she applied for the test" and states that she was not advised that the eligibility criteria for the job had changed. (Id.) Plaintiff has submitted no facts that would be admissible in evidence which support her theory that she met the eligibility qualifications required for the Investigator position in October, 1997.
In October, 1997, plaintiff took the civil service examination for the position of Camden County Medical Examiner's Office Investigator. (Defs.' Br. at 5; Pl.'s Opp. Br. at 2.) On January 1, 1998, plaintiff was notified that she had passed the examination and that she was ranked second on the list for the position of County Medical Examiner's Office Investigator. Plaintiff interviewed for, and was initially offered, an investigator position until the County determined that plaintiff lacked the requisite three years experience in investigating the medical cause of death of humans. (Defs.' Br., at 5-6; Pl.'s Br. at 2-3.) On March 12, 1998, Richard J. Dodson, Director of the Camden County Division of Human Resources ("Dodson") wrote to Louise Coon at the Department of Personnel ("DOP") and requested that plaintiff's name be removed from the eligibility list because she did not possess the requisite employment or educational experience. (Pl.'s Opp. Br., Ex. G.)3
On March 30, 1998, plaintiff was notified that her name had been removed from the list for employment as a Camden County Medical Examiner's Office Investigator because she "lack[ed] the minimum requirements for the position as listed in the job specification." (Pl.'s Br., Ex. B.) This notice clearly advised plaintiff that she could, within twenty days of the notice, appeal to the Department of Personnel by supplying proofs, arguments, and issues that show that this determination is not valid. (Id.) On April 7, 1998, plaintiff wrote to Louise Conn and claimed that her removal from the eligibility list must have been a mistake because she had completed all the requirements for eligibility. (Id., Ex. D.) Plaintiff wrote that (Id.) Plaintiff also wrote, "[i]f I am removed from the list because of a technicality, then others ahead of me with less credentials should be removed [from the eligibility list] also."4 Absent any other appeal, plaintiff's letter was treated as an administrative appeal, the results of which are discussed at length below. (See Nadler Certification, Ex. E.) Plaintiff reapplied for the position of investigator in June, 1998. (Pl.'s Br. at 17, n.3; Nadler Certification, Ex. B.) On August 26, 1998, the New Jersey DOP again advised plaintiff that she was ineligible for employment as a Medical Examiner's Office Investigator because she lacked sufficient experience for the position. (Id., Ex. C.)
On September 2, 1998, plaintiff filed a complaint with the EEOC, alleging that she had been discriminated against because of her sex. (Nadler Certification, Ex. B.) Plaintiff noted that all investigators at the Medical Examiner's Office were male and that male investigators were hired in March, 1998 and August, 1998. (Id.) No mention of plaintiff's race was made in the EEOC complaint. On October 1, 1999, the EEOC sent plaintiff a notice of dismissal and right to sue letter. (Nadler Certification, Ex. D.)
On December 9, 1999, the New Jersey DOP Merit System Board ("Merit Board") denied plaintiff's administrative appeal related to her removal from the employment eligibility list for the Camden County Medical Examiner's Office. In its decision, the Merit Board reviewed the applicable requirements for the investigator position, and noted that "[i]n order for experience to be considered applicable, the primary focus of the experience had to be investigating the medical cause of death of humans." (Nadler Certification, Ex. E, Final Admin. Action of the Merit System Board at 1)(emphasis added). The Merit Board Decision further noted that the experience requirement had to be satisfied by the October 14, 1997 closing date for the filing of applications. (Nadler Certification, Ex. E at 1.)5
According to the Merit Board Decision, only four applications were received for the investigator position and only two applicants, Eugene Kain and plaintiff, were ranked based on their test scores and test questionnaire responses concerning education and experience. (Nadler Certification, Ex. E at 2.) The first ranked candidate, Eugene Kain, was appointed to the position of investigator on March 23, 1998. (Id.) During their review of plaintiff's appeal, the Merit Board discovered a discrepancy between the experience information that plaintiff listed on the questionnaire portion of the civil service examination and the information contained on her resume and in the DOP record. (Id.) Plaintiff's DOP record and resume revealed that she possessed a Bachelor's degree and was a licensed funeral director. (Id.) Plaintiff completed 30 hours of death investigation and possessed a certificate from the Saint Louis School of Medical Examiners. (Id.) Plaintiff's other work experience included special education teacher, Funeral Director, Mortician, adjunct professor, and cocktail waitress. (Id.)
The Merit Board Decision compared plaintiff's experience as listed on her resume (discussed above) with the experience she reported on the civil service test questionnaire:
She stated that she possessed three years of experience in visiting death scenes and gathering essential facts including interviewing witnesses, medical professionals and bereaved families of the deceased. On one of her responses to the...
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