Bryant v. Bell Atlantic Maryland, Inc.

Decision Date29 April 2002
Docket NumberNo. 01-1541.,01-1541.
Citation288 F.3d 124
PartiesJoseph BRYANT, Sr., Plaintiff-Appellant, v. BELL ATLANTIC MARYLAND, INCORPORATED; Bell Atlantic Network Services, Incorporated, Defendants-Appellees.
CourtU.S. Court of Appeals — Fourth Circuit

ARGUED: Howard Jay Needle, Baltimore, Maryland, for Appellant. Ralph Michael Smith, Dechert, Price & Rhoads, Washington, D.C., for Appellees.

Before WIDENER and MICHAEL, Circuit Judges, and Frank J. MAGILL, Senior Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, sitting by designation.

Affirmed by published opinion. Senior Judge MAGILL wrote the opinion, in which Judge WIDENER and Judge MICHAEL joined.

OPINION

MAGILL, Senior Circuit Judge.

Joseph Bryant, Sr., appeals the district court's decision dismissing on summary judgment his claim seeking enforcement of an arbitration award won by Bryant against his employer, Bell Atlantic Maryland, Inc., and Bell Atlantic Network Services, Inc. (collectively "Bell Atlantic"). Bryant also appeals the district court's decision dismissing on summary judgment his claims of employment discrimination because of his color, race, and/or gender in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e, et seq. ("Title VII"), and 42 U.S.C. § 1981 ("Section 1981"), and unlawful retaliation, in violation of Title VII. Bryant contends that (1) he has standing to seek enforcement of the arbitration award, (2) the district court erred in failing to recognize the recent Supreme Court clarification to the proof requirements under the burden-shifting standard in Title VII and Section 1981 cases, and (3) the district court erred in granting summary judgment because there are genuine issues of material fact still in dispute. For the reasons stated below, we affirm.

I. BACKGROUND

Joseph Bryant, an African-American employee of Bell Atlantic since 1973, belongs to a bargaining unit represented by the Communications Workers of America, AFL-CIO ("CWA"). As a member of the CWA, Bryant's employment is covered by a collective bargaining agreement between Bell Atlantic and the CWA. In 1995, Bell Atlantic implemented the Red Letter Day policy, or Assigned Overtime Availability policy, to address increased customer service demands and the cost and inconsistency of a volunteer overtime system. Under the policy, Bell Atlantic posted a schedule, encompassing a period of several weeks, which notified employees of specific days that they must be available to work overtime if the need arose. In addition, an employee was assigned one Red Letter Day per week, with the assigned day of the week varying from week to week. When the policy was first implemented, employees were required to complete one overtime assignment on their Red Letter Day after their regular assigned jobs were completed. In late 1995 or early 1996, Bell Atlantic amended the policy, requiring employees to perform two overtime jobs per Red Letter Day.1

In 1995, Bryant, a single parent with physical custody of his two minor children, protested the Red Letter Day policy in a grievance arguing that it was difficult for him to work week-night overtime and meet his child care responsibilities. Prior to the implementation of the policy, Bryant refused overtime assignments because of his child care responsibilities and incurred no discipline for his refusals. However, in 1995, after implementation of the policy, Bryant received a written warning, a one-day suspension, and a three-day and five-hour suspension for failure to work his assigned Red Letter Days. On September 27, 1995, when Bryant returned to work following his suspension, he received a memo from a supervisor indicating that if he failed to work his Red Letter Days, or did not get someone to work for him and notify his supervisor, disciplinary action, up to and including dismissal, would be taken against him.

Between late 1995 and early 1996, Bryant made an effort to meet his Red Letter Day obligations by swapping assignments with co-workers and picking up his children at 6:00 p.m. from after-school care. However, when Bell Atlantic amended the Red Letter Day policy to require employees to complete two overtime assignments, Bryant again had difficulty meeting his Red Letter Day obligations. At some time during this period, the president of the CWA asked Bell Atlantic management to allow co-workers to perform Bryant's Red Letter Day assignments. Bell Atlantic, however, allegedly refused this offer. On August 1, 1996, a Red Letter Day, Bryant did not complete his regular jobs until 6:00 p.m.; consequently, Bryant was unable to perform his overtime assignments. On August 5, 1996, Bryant received a nine-day suspension.

During a meeting between Bryant and Bell Atlantic on August 28, 1996, Bell Atlantic presented Bryant with four options of accommodation. Bryant's child care responsibilities made it impossible for Bryant to consider three of the options. Bryant agreed to attempt the fourth option, which required Bryant to designate one day during the week as his regular Red Letter Day, leave work early on that day to pick up his children from school, transport his children to a care provider, and then return to work to complete his overtime assignments. This accommodation, however, apparently did not resolve the conflict.

From September 30, 1996, through mid-December 1996, Bell Atlantic excused Bryant from working his Red Letter Days for medical reasons. On December 18, 1996, Bell Atlantic notified Bryant that his medical excuse had terminated. Then, on January 6, 1997, Bell Atlantic issued Bryant a final warning and a thirty-day suspension for failing to complete two overtime assignments on two separate occasions. Bryant returned to work on February 18, 1997. On March 3, 1997, Bryant's child care obligations made it impossible for him to complete his second Red Letter Day assignment. On March 5, 1997, Bell Atlantic followed through with its final warning and terminated Bryant. A company memo indicated that the basis for Bryant's discharge was repeated insubordination in failing to work assigned over-time.

The CWA filed a grievance on Bryant's behalf which, under the terms of the collective bargaining agreement, culminated in submission to an arbitrator the question whether Bell Atlantic had "just cause" to terminate Bryant's employment. The union represented Bryant before the arbitrator, and the adequacy of that representation has not been challenged. On July 30, 1998, after determining that Bell Atlantic did not have just cause to terminate Bryant, the arbitrator ordered Bell Atlantic to reinstate Bryant to his former position, or a substantially similar position, and to make Bryant "whole" for all losses suffered from the time of his discharge to his reinstatement. The arbitrator also strongly suggested that Bryant be placed in a position that did not fall under the Red Letter Day policy or, in the alternative, that Bryant be scheduled for overtime in a manner that would allow him to meet his workplace and child care obligations. In August 1998, Bryant was reinstated by Bell Atlantic as a Construction Lineman, a position that has the same salary, same benefits, and similar promotional opportunities as his previous position. Bryant's new position is not subject to the Red Letter Day policy. Bell Atlantic also paid Bryant all of the back pay that the CWA stated was owed him.

On August 28, 1997, with his grievance against Bell Atlantic still pending, Bryant filed a charge of discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") and the Maryland Commission on Human Relations ("MCHR") for his March 5, 1997 termination. In his EEOC complaint, Bryant alleged that he was discriminated against on the basis of his race. On January 20, 1999, the EEOC issued Bryant a right-to-sue letter.

On April 20, 1999, Bryant filed two civil actions against Bell Atlantic in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City. In the first complaint, Bryant sought enforcement of his July 30, 1998 arbitration award pursuant to the Maryland Uniform Arbitration Act (the "Act"), Md.Code (1974, 1998 Repl. Vol.), § 3-227 of the Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article. Bryant's second complaint included the following seven allegations: (1) discrimination based on color, race, and/or gender in violation of Title VII for discipline, suspension, and discharge; (2) discrimination based on race and/or color in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1981; (3) denial of the benefits of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment; (4) wrongful discharge in violation of the public policies of the State of Maryland; (5) retaliation in violation of Title VII based on Bryant's EEOC and MCHR filings, and his grievance filings and the arbitration proceedings conducted pursuant thereto; (6) intentional infliction of emotional distress; and (7) invasion of privacy.

Bell Atlantic successfully removed both complaints to the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, and the district court consolidated both cases. Thereafter, Bell Atlantic filed a motion for summary judgment. In an order filed on March 16, 2001, the district court granted Bell Atlantic's motion for summary judgment on all counts. The district court held that Bryant failed to establish a prima facie case of discrimination under Title VII or Section 1981. Moreover, the district court held that Bryant's claim seeking enforcement of the arbitration award could not survive because of Bryant's failure to exhaust the dispute resolution procedures specified in the collective bargaining agreement. In addition, the district court held that Bryant's right to bring a claim to enforce an arbitration award under the collective bargaining agreement was contingent upon a showing that the CWA breached its duty of fair representation. Thus, because Bryant did not attempt to demonstrate...

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