Brown v. City of Little Rock
| Decision Date | 12 May 1997 |
| Docket Number | No. LR-C-96-524.,LR-C-96-524. |
| Citation | 3 F.Supp.2d 1003 |
| Parties | Andrea R. BROWN, Plaintiff, v. CITY OF LITTLE ROCK, et al., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Arkansas |
This is an employment discrimination case based upon allegations of sexual harassment and racial discrimination. Plaintiff Andrea R. Brown ("Brown") alleges that defendants the City of Little Rock ("City"), John Pryor ("Pryor"), Gary Davis ("Davis"), and Lynn Umholtz ("Umholtz") violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended by the Civil Rights Act of 1991, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5.1 Before the Court is defendants' motion for summary judgment.2 After carefully considering defendants' motion and plaintiffs response, this Court grants defendants' motion for summary judgment.
The following facts are undisputed. Plaintiff Brown was employed by the City from August 28, 1995 to February 28, 1996 as an Accounting Clerk II in the accounting and records division of the Finance Department. At all relevant times, defendant Pryor was the Director of the Finance Department and had ultimate authority over personnel decisions within the Department. Defendant Davis was the Accounting and Reporting Manager for the Finance Department and supervised defendant Umholtz. Defendant Umholtz was a Supervisor within the Finance Department and supervised plaintiff Brown.
At all relevant times, Brown's responsibilities as an Accounting Clerk II included data entry for accounts payable and filing and processing checks. Brown and Louise Drayton ("Drayton"), another African American female who was hired as an Accounting Clerk II months before Brown, were the only City employees supervised by defendant Umholtz, a Caucasian female.
When Brown was employed by the City, the City had a policy whereby non-uniformed employees were on probationary status for the first six (6) months of their employment. According to City policy, an extension of probationary status could be granted only for illness, injury, or extenuating circumstances. The City also had a policy which did not permit employees on probation to be awarded vacation days.
Brown suffered some stress during the time she worked for the City. She was attempting to buy one home and later actually bought a different home. Her stress over purchasing a home, and the accompanying credit problems, caused Brown to be absent from work on some occasions.
On January 12, 1996, Brown and Umholtz had a meeting about Brown's work performance. Brown claims that she was reprimanded. Among the issues discussed at the meeting were Brown's eating meals at her desk; not answering other telephones; not informing her immediate supervisor that she, Brown, would be absent; visiting with City employees from other areas; spending time on personal correspondence; and spending time not working while at work. At the meeting, Umholtz referred to a list of these issues. The list was written on something similar to a notepad or phone message pad.
Brown alleges that Umholtz made two sexually harassing comments, one in November of 1995 and the other in the first part of January of 1996. Brown does not allege that she experienced any sexual harassment prior to the comment in November of 1995, after the comment in the first part of January of 1996, or in between these two dates. Brown claims that Drayton was present when the two allegedly sexually harassing comments were made by Umholtz and that Mary Ellen Ewing ("Ewing"), another employee who dealt with the computer system in the City Finance Department, also was present when one of the comments was made.3
Brown does not allege that defendants Pryor, who was Director of the Finance Department, or Davis, who was Umholtz's immediate supervisor, were involved in the sexual harassment or in creating the allegedly hostile work environment. Brown admits that the environment of the area where she worked at the City was not anti-female. She cannot say whether she was treated worse than the City's male employees.
Brown does allege that she was treated differently than Jim Chandler ("Chandler"), a Caucasian male who had recently been hired by the City as Controller and second in command of the Finance Department. Brown knows nothing of Chandler's work qualifications or actual job performance. Brown does not allege that Umholtz or Davis were involved in any of the alleged discrimination or unequal treatment based upon sex involving Chandler and Brown. Brown also alleges that she was treated differently than Drayton, an African American female who held the same position as Brown, who had a number of months more experience than Brown, and who was the only individual in the Finance Department doing the same work as Brown.
Brown admits that while employed by the City, she attended an orientation meeting with someone from the City Personnel Department and was made aware that the City had certain policies and procedures. During the time Brown worked for the City, she never informed Pryor, Davis, the City Personnel Department, or anyone else at the City that she believed Umholtz had sexually harassed her or that she was otherwise discriminated against.
When the end of Brown's probationary period was approaching, Davis considered extending Brown's probationary status and sent a memorandum to the City Personnel Director, Britt Rice ("Rice"), advising that such an extension might be beneficial. However, Davis stated that Brown needed to improve her work habits. In response to Davis's memorandum, Rice strongly advised against granting an extension of Brown's probationary status.
On February 16, 1996, Umholtz and Davis had a meeting in Davis's office with Ewing and Alan Bohannon ("Bohannon"), two nonsupervisory employees of the Finance Department. Ewing dealt with the computer system in the Finance Department. Bohannon, although usually a non-supervisory employee assumed control of the accounting and records division of the Finance Department in Davis's absence. Umholtz, Davis, Ewing, and Bohannon are all Caucasian.
Neither Brown, Drayton, who was an African American female also employed as an Accounting Clerk II, nor Laverne Duvall ("Duvall"), who was an African American female employed as a Budget Compliance Analyst in the Finance Department, were asked to attend the meeting. The door was closed during the meeting, and the meeting lasted approximately 15-20 minutes. Brown did not know and no one told her what was discussed during the meeting. Brown was advised shortly after this meeting on February 16, 1996, that she would be terminated on February 28, 1996.
Brown was terminated from her position at the end of her probationary period on February 28, 1996. After being terminated, on April 1, 1996, Brown filed a charge of sex and race discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC"), alleging that she was terminated due to her race, African American, and her sex, female. The EEOC issued a Dismissal and Notice of Rights on April 10, 1996. Brown then filed the current lawsuit alleging that she was subjected to hostile environment sexual harassment while employed by the City and was terminated from her position as an Accounting Clerk II due to her race and sex.
In support of defendants' motion for summary judgment, defendants assert that there are no genuine issues of material fact and that they are entitled to judgment as a matter of law pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 56 on plaintiff's sexual harassment claim, discrimination claim, and disparate impact claim.
Summary judgment is appropriate when "the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law." Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). As a prerequisite to summary judgment, a moving party must demonstrate "an absence of evidence to support the non-moving party's case." Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 325, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). Once the moving party has properly supported its motion for summary judgment, the nonmoving party must "do more than simply show there is some metaphysical doubt as to the material facts." Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 586, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986). The nonmoving party may not rest on mere allegations or denials of her pleading but must "come forward with `specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial.'" Id. at 587 (). See also Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 256, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). The inferences to be drawn from the underlying facts must be viewed in the light most favorable to the party opposing the motion. Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co., 475 U.S. at 587, 106 S.Ct. 1348. However, "[w]here the record taken as a whole could not lead a rational trier of fact to find for the nonmoving party, there is no `genuine issue for trial.'" Id. (citation omitted). The mere existence of a factual dispute is insufficient alone to bar summary judgment; rather the dispute must be outcome determinative under prevailing law. Holloway v. Pigman, 884 F.2d 365, 366 (8th Cir.1989).
Title VII prohibits "an employer" from discriminating:
against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of such individual's race, color, religion, sex, or national origin....
42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2(a)(1).
"It is well-settled that a Title VII plaintiff alleging discriminatory treatment must prove that the defendant intentionally discriminated." Jiles v. Ingram, 944 F.2d 409, 413 (8th Cir.1991). The plaintiff may prove intentional discrimination through direct evidence. However, the plaintiff may also prove intentional...
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