Buntin v. City of Indianapolis
| Decision Date | 07 December 2011 |
| Docket Number | Cause No. 1:10–cv–0359–SEB–DML. |
| Citation | 838 F.Supp.2d 849 |
| Parties | Sunny BUNTIN, Plaintiff, v. The CITY OF INDIANAPOLIS, Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Southern District of Indiana |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Cherry Malichi, Gregory P. Gadson, Lee Cossell Kuehn & Love LLP, Indianapolis, IN, for Plaintiff.
Mark John Pizur, City of Indianapolis, Corporation Counsel, Indianapolis, IN, for Defendant.
ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANT'S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT
This cause is before the Court on Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment [Docket No. 38], filed on May 23, 2011, pursuant to Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and Local Rule 56.1. Plaintiff, Sunny Buntin,1 brings her claim against her former employer, the City of Indianapolis (the “City”), for its allegedly discriminatory actions toward her based on her race and gender (African–American), in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq. For the reasons detailed in this entry, we GRANT Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment.
Buntin submitted an application to become a police officer with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department (“IMPD”) in April 2008. IMPD accepted Buntin's application, and she was admitted as a probationary officer to the “Fourth Recruit Class” along with approximately forty-seven other recruits.
Pursuant to Indiana law, each of the designated probationary officers in the new class of recruits, including Buntin, underwent law enforcement training at IMPD's Training Academy. Generally, this training extends over approximately one year. The first phase of the training consists of classroom and on-site training. The second phase is called “Field Training,” during which each probationary officer is assigned to a field training officer (“FTO”), who guides and evaluates the probationary officer's performance and progress. Only those probationary officers who successfully complete both phases of the training may graduate and become a full members of IMPD with full police powers.
Buntin began her initial six month training phase on or about April 28, 2008. During her classroom training, Buntin received instruction, inter alia, on the proper manner to communicate over the IMPD radio system and how to respond to stressful or dangerous situations.
After successfully completing the first phase of training, Buntin began the second, Field Training, phase of the program. Field Training is meant to allow probationary officers to practice the lessons learned during the initial classroom portion of the training. As noted above, part of the Field Training includes probationary officers being assigned to a primary and other assisting FTOs who work with the probationary officer over the course of rotations. During this phase, the FTOs create Daily Observation Reports (“DORs”) to evaluate the probationary officers' performance. The DORs contain specific areas for which the probationary officers' performance is scored on a scale of one through seven—a score of one signifying “not acceptable,” a score of four signifying “minimal accepted,” and a score of seven signifying “superior.” A score of three or lower is considered unacceptable and failing. Over the course of four rotations, as the weeks pass, probationary officers are expected to handle increasing levels of law enforcement duties and receive higher scores in their DORs. For instance, scores on DORs in a probationary officer's first rotation are expected to be low, and non-passing scores are common. Scores in the second and third rotations, however, are expected to improve to a level at or exceeding acceptable standards. At the conclusion of each rotation, the FTO's supervisor completes a Rotation Summary Report.
During the fourth rotation of Field Training, probationary officers work again with the primary FTO to whom they were assigned for their initial rotation. This rotation is four weeks long and consists of two phases. First, the primary FTO is to evaluate the probationary officer's improvement since her initial rotation. By this time, the probationary officer is expected to handle 85–100% of the law enforcement duties with “little or no guidance.” Def.'s Ex. D at 29. Additionally, the probationary officer must “earn satisfactoryscores in all critical areas for at least a week” prior to being recommended for the second phase, or the “Plain Clothes Phase,” of the rotation. Def.'s Ex. D at 23. If the probationary officer does not enter the Plain Clothes Phase of the rotation due to having failed over the course of a week's time to achieve acceptable daily reports, the probationary officer is designated “Not Responding to Training” (“NRT”) and is required to undergo remedial training. During remedial training, a probationary officer “will ... have two weeks to markedly improve [her] performance in the designated area or areas or face separation from the program to include possible termination.” Def.'s Ex. D at 30.
Buntin's primary FTO and the officer with whom she trained during her initial rotation was Officer Cathy Faulk. Buntin's FTOs in subsequent training rotations included Officers Angelina Poe, Charles King, David Peace, Michael Burgess, and Rick Jones. Buntin testified that Officers Poe, King, and Peace evaluated her performance fairly. Buntin Dep. at 62. She testified that she did not have enough time with Officer Jones to allow Buntin to assess whether his evaluations of her were fair. Id. at 117. All of these officers performed evaluations of Buntin's performance in the DORs submitted to the record by both parties. See Def.'s Ex. 10; Pl.'s Ex. 2. Buntin's DOR scores varied, but the vast majority of those scores were between levels two and four in all areas of evaluation. Def.'s Ex. I. Although Buntin's scores appear to have improved over time and she earned several scores of five in late December 2008 and early January 2009, Buntin also received scores of two or three, i.e., an unacceptable or failing score, in several areas during the final weeks of her training. Id. Moreover, Buntin never earned above a level three in all critical areas during a one-week period, as required to move on to the Plain Clothes Phase of training. See id.
On or about January 23, 2009, Officer Faulk and Sergeant Linda Jackson determined that Buntin should not proceed to the Plain Clothes Phase of her fourth rotation. In the “Comments” section of Officer Faulk's recommendation, she wrote:
PO Buntin struggles daily with orientation. She has difficulty reading a map and often does not see the visual cues available that she is arriving or at least in the area of her assigned run. PO Buntin lacks confidence in decision making, she would rather not make a decision at all than make the wrong one. PO Buntin needs reassurance constantly that she is on the right course. PO is not assertive and does not seek out self intiated [sic] activity. PO notes traffic violations but does not stop cars.
Def.'s Ex. L.
Buntin was informed of the decision and about the NRT Plan on February 2, 2009. Of Buntin's class of recruits, only she and three other probationary officers were designated NRT. All four received some sort of remedial training; however, only one of these officers responded to the remedial training and completed Field Training. Buntin was assigned to remedial training with Officers Burgess and Peace. Buntin received three evaluations during her remedial training in which she was assigned scores of two, three, and four. Buntin did not complete the remedial training because she became ill and was eventually terminated.3
Buntin has alleged that Officer Faulk created a “racially charged environment” by “referring to Hispanics” as “license never received,” implying that all Hispanics have never qualified for a license, and African–Americans as “suspended prior,” implying that all African–Americans have had their licenses suspended. Compl. ¶ 11. She alleged that other similarly situated Caucasian officers were not subjected to this type of racial harassment. Id. ¶ 12. Buntin testified that she confronted Officer Faulk once about her use of the term “license never received.” Buntin Dep. at 176. However, she never made her complaints known to anyone other than Officer Faulk until the February 2nd meeting, when she was informed that she would have to undergo remedial training. During the meeting, Buntin asked to speak with Sergeants Jackson and Teagardin and Lieutenant Cleek alone, outside the presence of Officer Faulk. At that meeting, Buntin complained that Officer Faulk was “not a good FTO” for her. Def.'s Ex. N. She also complained that Officer Faulk's “issues” with her were not legitimately based on how well she performed her job and that Officer Fault expected her “to do things exactly the way that she would do them as opposed to taking into account that we may have different styles.” Id. Buntin testified that after she informed the other officers of her complaints regarding Officer Faulk, they “just all yelled at [her]” and told her that she had an unrealistic view of herself. Buntin Dep. at 179. Shortly before Buntin's employment was terminated, she filed a charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleging race and sex discrimination and retaliation.
Summary judgment is appropriate when the record shows 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); Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). Disputes concerning material facts are genuine where the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the non-moving party. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). In deciding whether genuine issues of material fact exist, the court construes all facts in...
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