Bryant v. Jones
| Decision Date | 21 November 2006 |
| Docket Number | No. 1:04 CV 2462 WSD.,1:04 CV 2462 WSD. |
| Parties | Michael BRYANT, John Drake, Becky Kelley and Herbert Lowe, Plaintiffs, v. Vernon JONES, Marilyn Boyd Drew, Morris Williams, Richard Stogner and Joe Stone in their individual and official capacities, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Northern District of Georgia |
James L. Hollis, John Thomas Morgan, III, Joshua Barrett Belinfante, Michael J. Bowers, Christopher Scott Anulewicz, Balch & Bingham, Atlanta, GA, for Plaintiffs.
Brent L. Wilson, Nancy Fullerton Reynolds, Elarbee Thompson Sapp & Wilson, Scott R. Sausser, Elizabeth Penn Payne, Penn Payne LLC, Robert B. Remar, Kerri Anne Gildow, Rogers & Hardin, Atlanta, GA, for Defendants.
This matter is before the Court on Defendant Richard Stogner's Renewed Motion for Summary Judgment ("Stogner MSJ") [256], Defendant Joe Stone's Renewed Motion for Summary Judgment ("Stone MSJ") [257], Defendant Vernon Jones's Renewed Motion for Summary Judgment ("Jones MSJ") [259], Defendant Marilyn Boyd Drew's Renewed Motion for Summary Judgment ("Drew MSJ") [262], and Defendant Morris Williams's Renewed Motion for Summary Judgment ("Williams MSJ") [263].1
This case concerns alleged discriminatory employment practices in DeKalb County. The claims are brought by three white managers and one black manager. The white managers, Becky Kelley, Michael Bryant and John Drake, claim they were discriminated against and suffered a hostile work environment based on their race. The black manager, Herbert Lowe, claims he suffered illegal retaliation because he refused to participate in discrimination against white county managers. The allegations center around employment practices that allegedly commenced with the change in DeKalb County leadership in 2001.
Defendant Vernon Jones, a black male, was elected DeKalb County's Chief Executive Officer ("CEO") in November 2000 and assumed office on January 1, 2001. Typical of administration changes in government, a number of organizational and reporting structure changes occurred when Jones become the CEO. Plaintiffs allege these structural changes were implemented, in part, to enact a plan to replace white county managers with black county managers in order to increase the overall number of minorities in county government managerial positions, and that this was done to benefit Defendant Jones politically. Plaintiffs allege this plan directly impacted the Parks and Recreation Department ("Parks Department" or "the department") and them personally. They claim Defendants' discriminatory policies caused them to suffer adverse employment actions, created a hostile work environment with the goal of coercing them to terminate their employment, and generally constituted actionable racial discrimination.
On January 1, 2001, Kelley, Bryant and Drake were managerial employees of the Parks Department. Plaintiff Becky Kelley a white female, had been employed by DeKalb County since 1976. Sixteen years after becoming a county employee, in 1992 she was appointed as the Director of the Parks Department with authority over the department's operation and programs. Kelley was serving in this position when Jones assumed his duties as CEO in January 2001. Plaintiff Michael Bryant, a white male, was hired by DeKalb County in 2000 as the Deputy Director of Revenue Management and Support in the Parks Department, and he reported to Kelley. He was serving as Deputy Director on January 1, 2001, when. Jones became CEO. Plaintiff John Drake, a white male, was hired by DeKalb in 1975 and became the Assistant Director of the Purchasing and Contracting Department in 1997. He was serving in this position on January 1, 2001. Plaintiff Lowe, a black male, started employment with DeKalb County on September 16, 2002. He was hired as the Deputy Director of Strategic Management and Development for the Parks Department.
Plaintiffs allege that Defendants, all of whom were senior managers either in Dekalb County generally or the Parks Department specifically, played central roles in a plan to discriminate against white Parks Department managers. There are five Defendants alleged to be involved in the plan to discriminate against Plaintiffs. Defendant Vernon Jones, a black male, is the elected DeKalb County CEO. Defendant Richard Stogner, a white male, was hired by Jones as his executive assistant. Stogner assumed his position when Jones took office. Defendant Joe Stone, a black male, is the DeKalb County Director of Human Resources with overall supervisory authority over human resources, hiring, assignment and other personnel functions within the county. Defendant Morris Williams, a black male, is the Assistant County Administrator with supervisory responsibility for a variety of county departments, including the Parks Department. Defendant Marilyn Boyd Drew, a black female, was first hired in April 2001, initially as the Parks Department's Director of Recreation Services, but was promoted ten months later to the position of Acting Director of the Parks Department, replacing Plaintiff Kelley. Drew became the permanent Director of the department a month later.
Plaintiffs Bryant Drake and Kelley allege that once Defendants took their management positions under Jones, they began a systematic effort to adversely affect Plaintiffs' work duties and environment, which was calculated to force the white Plaintiffs to terminate their county, employment so that black managers could be hired to replace them. Plaintiff Lowe alleges he opposed the plan to discriminate against white managers, and Defendants responded by engaging in administrative maneuvers which resulted in the abolishment of his position. Defendants, he alleges, engaged in unlawful retaliation against him for his opposition to illegal discrimination. The alleged impact on each Plaintiff is discussed separately.
Kelley had served as the Director of the Department of Parks and Recreation for nine years when Jones became the CEO. There is no evidence in the record suggesting that Kelley did not perform her job duties well and to the satisfaction of her superiors. Almost immediately after Jones assumed office, Kelley claims he began to confront her. On one occasion, Jones became very angry with Kelley on a phone call. A second confrontation occurred when, in a private meeting in Jones's office, Jones yelled and screamed at Kelley and approached her in such a way that Kelley believed Jones was going to hit her. At this meeting, Jones imposed_ restrictions on Kelley's duties as Director of the Parks Department, including prohibiting her from communicating with the press and from speaking to members of the DeKalb County Board of Commissioners ("the Board"), responsibilities Kelley had been performing in her capacity as Director. Kelley stated that on two occasions Defendant Stegner told her that "she didn't understand the geopolitical issues of DeKalb County and that she could not relate to powerful black men."
Kelley's Director responsibilities were, as she viewed it, further limited after January 2001. Before January 2001, she was, as department Director, responsible for reviewing applicants seeking employment in her department. After January 2001, she was prohibited from interviewing candidates unless Defendant Williams was present. Consistent with this changed policy, in early 2001, Kelley and Williams interviewed candidates for the Deputy Director of Recreation in the Parks Department. Kelley considered a white male to be one of the top candidates for the position, but Williams told Kelley they could not recommend a white candidate to Jones because he would not accept a white candidate. The white candidate was not recommended. Kelley was told by Stegner to offer the position to Defendant Drew, a black candidate. Stogner suggested to Kelley that by offering Drew the position, Kelley could "get in good" with Williams. Drew was offered the position, and she was hired on April 30, 2001.
Once Drew was hired, Jones and Williams began to exclude Kelley from discussions and decisions regarding the Parks Department and its operation. Specifically, she was not informed of or consulted about hiring in her department. Stegner commented to Kelley that Jones wanted "to showcase black parks and showcase black employees," which she understood as Stogner's explanation regarding why she was being excluded from department planning discussions and decisions.
On February 12, 2002, Jones issued an executive order implementing significant structural changes in the Parks Department. The order had a significant impact on Kelley and her duties. She was removed as Director of the department and reassigned to a group to coordinate the county Greenspace program. The transfer did not affect her salary and benefits. Defendant Drew, hired just a few months earlier, was appointed Acting Director to replace Kelley. Kelley's Greenspace assignment was a significant change in her duties and authority. She was not given a title, and her reporting chain was changed. Rather than reporting to the CEO's office, as she had done as the Director of the Parks Department, as a member of the Greenspace group she reported to an Assistant County Administrator. Drew also attempted to place Kelley in a small windowless office that had been used as a storage area.2 As the Greenspace coordinator, Kelley's input was ignored and her recommendations rebuffed to such an extent that she did not consider herself to have any authority or job responsibilities. She described her job as one that ultimately was reduced to "coloring maps." About seven months later, on September 25, 2002, she submitted her resignation...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Jones v. City of College Park, Ga, Civil No. 1:05-CV-1797-JTC.
...personal stake" exception to which Plaintiff refers has not, however, been adopted by the Eleventh Circuit. Bryant v. Jones, 464 F.Supp.2d 1273, 1288 (N.D.Ga.2006)(finding that the exception does not exist under current Eleventh Circuit law and that, even if it did, it would only apply to d......
-
Bryant v. Jones
...order). 3. The facts provided here largely track those recited by the district court in its thoroughgoing opinion. See Bryant v. Jones, 464 F.Supp.2d 1273 (N.D.Ga.2006). 4. In the appendix, we provide an organizational chart to assist in understanding the hierarchy of the DeKalb County 5. U......
-
Williams v. Hawkeye Community College
...Ass'n, 199 Fed. Appx. 46, 48 (2d Cir.2006) (unpublished disposition). The court respectfully disagrees with Bryant v. Jones, 464 F.Supp.2d 1273, 1290-92 (N.D.Ga.2006), reconsideration denied, No. 1:04-CV-2462-WSD, 2007 WL 113959 (Jan. 10, 2007), which held, under circumstances nearly identi......
-
Knox v. City of Monroe
...analysis of the statute of limitations issue persuasive and consistent with the Supreme Court's holding in Jones. Cf. Bryant v. Jones, 464 F.Supp.2d 1273 (N.D.Ga.2006) (Holding that a § 1983 cause of action asserting § 1981 rights based on failure to promote, transfer, and hostile work envi......