Brown v. Polk County, Iowa

• Decision Date: 11 August 1993
• Docket Number: Civ. No. 4-91-10674.
• Citation: 832 F. Supp. 1305
• Parties: Isaiah BROWN, Plaintiff, v. POLK COUNTY, IOWA, a Municipal Corporation; Ray Sears, Former Polk County Administrator for Polk County; and The Polk County Board of Supervisors, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of Iowa

832 F. Supp. 1305

Isaiah BROWN, Plaintiff, v. POLK COUNTY, IOWA, a Municipal Corporation; Ray Sears, Former Polk County Administrator for Polk County; and The Polk County Board of Supervisors, Defendants.

Civ. No. 4-91-10674.

United States District Court, S.D. Iowa, C.D.

August 11, 1993.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Robert A. Wright, Jr., Des Moines, IA, for plaintiff.

Mark Godwin, Asst. Polk County Atty., Des Moines, IA, for defendants.

ORDER

LONGSTAFF, District Judge.

Plaintiff, Isaiah Brown, brought this action against his former employer, Polk County and Ray Sears, alleging violations of Title VII and 42 U.S.C. § 1983. A bench trial commenced on Monday, May 10, 1993. Plaintiff was represented by Robert A. Wright, Jr. and Defendants were represented by Assistant Polk County Attorney, Mark Godwin.

I. INTRODUCTION

This suit arises out of Plaintiff's termination as Director of the Information Services Department of Polk County. Plaintiff, Isaiah ("Ike") Brown maintains his discharge was the result of racial and religious discrimination. Plaintiff also asserts that Defendants violated his First Amendment rights of freedom of expression and freedom of religion.

On February 11, 1991, Plaintiff filed a complaint with the Iowa Civil Rights Commission and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleging discrimination by his employer, Polk County. Plaintiff received a right-to-sue letter and brought this action alleging violations of 42 U.S.C. § 1983, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Iowa Civil Rights Act.

II. FACTUAL FINDINGS

Plaintiff, Isaiah Brown, is a 39 year-old African-American male and self-professed born-again Christian. Plaintiff was hired by the Defendant, Polk County, in 1983 as Manager of Computer Operations for Polk County. He served in that capacity until 1986 when he was promoted to the position of Director of the Polk County Information Services Department ("ISD").¹ Plaintiff served as the Director of Information Services until he was terminated on December 3, 1990. In his capacity as Director of the ISD, Plaintiff was responsible for planning and organizing Polk County's data processing operations. Plaintiff gave technical data processing advice to department heads and elected officials. Plaintiff also supervised approximately 50 employees in the data processing department. As a technical specialist in data processing, Plaintiff made periodic suggestions for improvement in the County's data processing programs. If deemed appropriate by County Administrator Ray Sears or the appropriate review committee, Plaintiff's recommendations were presented to the Board of Supervisors for consideration.

As ISD Director, Plaintiff experienced difficulty with project scheduling. Many ISD projects were behind schedule, requiring the frequent revision of proposed project timetables. In 1988, an oversight board called the Systems Development Review Committee (SDRC) was created to monitor the ISD. The SDRC was composed of Supervisor Clark Rasmussen, Comptroller Jim Koolhof, and Sears. Plaintiff was an ex-officio member of the Committee. The plans, projects and budget for Plaintiff's department were reviewed by the SDRC before submission to the Polk County Board of Supervisors.

As a department head, Plaintiff was evaluated on an annual basis by his immediate supervisor, Ray Sears. For the most part, Plaintiff's evaluations were satisfactory. Sears, however, expressed concern with Plaintiff's ability to communicate, delegate authority and maintain pre-determined schedules in Plaintiff's 1988, 1989 and 1990 performance evaluations. Sears also cited problems with morale in the ISD.

In late 1989 the ISD continued to experience delays in meeting project deadlines. In an attempt to address the problem, the Board of Supervisors entered into a contract with an outside consulting firm to evaluate the ISD. The study concluded with a written report recommending various changes in the ISD, including a complete shift in the mission of the ISD from a "development" department to a "maintenance" department, the furlough of twenty-five (25) employees, the elimination of 11 positions, and the reclassification of several other positions. The restructuring process was to be completed by May 1, 1990.

Upon learning of the planned reorganization, ISD employees began to speculate as to which employees would be placed in jeopardy by the reorganization. Rumors were further fueled by low morale and a polarization within the ISD. The source of that polarization, at least in part, was a division in the department between a cohesive group of born-again Christian employees and the other ISD employees. Plaintiff, as a born-again Christian, was close to those ISD employees who shared his faith. The group's affiliation began in 1985, with the formation of an early morning Bible study held before working hours in the Polk County Administration Building.² After the organized Bible study ceased, the group remained close and sometimes gathered to pray or discuss their personal problems. On at least one occasion, the group engaged in spontaneous prayer in Brown's office. As may have been expected, the closeness of the born-again Christian faction caused resentment among the other ISD employees. Consequently, when news of a reorganization reached employees in the ISD, there was concern that Brown would give rehiring preference to members of the born-again Christian group.

Concerned with rumors about reorganization, Brown issued a memorandum stating religious affiliation would play no role in reorganization decisions. Brown then called a department-wide meeting to emphasize that preference would not be given born-again Christians. On May 2, 1990 Brown met with the rehired employees to further facilitate departmental communication. At that meeting, Brown professed his Christianity but pointed out to the rehired employees that their religious beliefs did not enter into the decision making process. Brown also discussed with employees the importance of a work ethic. In so doing, he referenced a passage in the Bible which spoke against slothfulness.³

In the spring and early summer of 1990, complaints of inappropriate religious activities in the ISD were made to the Personnel Department and to the office of the County Administrator. Based upon these complaints, Ray Sears requested an investigation into religious activity in the ISD. Thomas Evans, Labor Relations Manager for Polk County, filed a report on July 16, 1990.⁴ In addition to prayer meetings and religious counseling, the report indicated that Brown also had Bible study notes typed by his secretary and that Brown solicited funds from employees for a church project.⁵ As a result of the report, Plaintiff was issued a written reprimand on July 20, 1990. The reprimand ordered Brown to end his role in all religious activities on County time and to see that employees in the department did the same. The reprimand also ordered Brown to cease all religious proselytizing, witnessing or counseling at work.⁶ Plaintiff did not receive the full raise that he expected in 1990 because of the reprimand.

Shortly after Plaintiff's reprimand, Ray Sears attended a departmental meeting in Brown's office. At that meeting, Sears noticed certain religious items on Plaintiff's desk and office walls. Sears instructed Plaintiff to remove all religious paraphernalia from his office. The items that Brown was instructed to remove included a wall plaque, a framed wall poster, a ceramic item with the Lord's prayer and a small folding stained glass plaque. Brown was also instructed to remove a small Bible which he kept in his desk. Brown complied with Mr. Sears' orders to remove these items.

In August of 1990 a series of newspaper articles appeared in the Des Moines Register detailing the incidents of religious activity within the ISD. The reports also indicated that several employees had filed charges with the EEOC alleging religious discrimination during the reorganization process. In any case, Plaintiff continued as supervisor of the ISD, and no new instances of religious activity were reported.

On November 20, 1990, Ray Sears issued Ike Brown another written reprimand. The reprimand addressed two actions taken by Brown which reflected poorly on his judgment with regard to budgetary matters. First, Sears expressed concern over Brown's utilization of bargaining unit employees on an on-call basis. Although not contrary to their union contract, Sears was disturbed with the lack of budgetary funds for such a use of employees. Second, Sears also voiced concern with Brown's recommendations relating to changes in the data processing system in the County Treasurer's Office.⁷ Specifically, Sears noted that there were more efficient and affordable alternatives to Brown's proposal.

In November of 1990, Ray Sears ordered Tom Evans to conduct another investigation of the ISD. This time, however, the investigation was prompted by reports that county computers were being used for personal business. Inappropriate use of County computers was a reoccurring problem in the ISD. Plaintiff previously sought to address the issue through a department-wide memorandum. Despite the memorandum, however, personal use of computers by ISD employees continued. Among the items found on ISD computers during the investigation were pornography, games, personal budgets and religious material.⁸

Evans completed his investigation into the personal use of computers on Friday, November 30, 1990. When Evans left work on November 30, he had not yet completed a written report for Sears. Over the weekend, an excess of 10 inches of snow fell on the Des Moines area. On Monday morning, Tom Evans was snowbound and unable to get to work. Upon learning that Evans' investigation was complete, however, Ray Sears made arrangements for a Polk County employee to pick up Evans with a four wheel drive vehicle. Evans made it into the office and met...