Charette v. St. John Valley Soil & Water Conservation Dist.

• Citation: 332 F.Supp.3d 316
• Decision Date: 17 August 2018
• Docket Number: Docket no. 1:17-CV-35-GZS
• Parties: Diane M. CHARETTE, Plaintiff, v. ST. JOHN VALLEY SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION DISTRICT, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Maine

332 F.Supp.3d 316

Diane M. CHARETTE, Plaintiff,

v.ST. JOHN VALLEY SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION DISTRICT, et al., Defendants.

Docket no. 1:17-CV-35-GZS

United States District Court, D. Maine.

Signed August 17, 2018

John P. Gause, Eastern Maine Law LLC, Bangor, ME, for Plaintiff.

Susan P. Herman, Assistant Attorney General, Kelly L. Morrell, Office of the Attorney General, Augusta, ME, Eric J. Uhl, Littler Mendelson, PC, Portland, ME, for Defendants.

ORDER ON DEFENDANTS' MOTIONS FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

George Z. Singal, United States District Judge

Before the Court is a Motion for Summary Judgment by Defendants St. John Valley Soil and Water Conservation District, Duane Theriault, and Kurt Coulombe (ECF No. 67 ) ("Joint Motion") and a Motion for Summary Judgment by Defendant David Potter (ECF No. 68 ) ("Potter's Motion"). After careful review of the record and the parties' briefs, the Court GRANTS IN PART and DENIES IN PART the Joint Motion and GRANTS IN PART and DENIES IN PART Potter's Motion, for the reasons outlined below.

I. LEGAL STANDARD

Generally, a party is entitled to summary judgment if, on the record before the Court, it appears "that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a). "[T]he mere existence of some alleged factual dispute between the parties will not defeat an otherwise properly supported motion for summary judgment; the requirement is that there be no genuine issue of material fact." Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 247-48, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). An issue is "genuine" if "the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party." Id. at 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505. A "material fact" is one that has "the potential to affect the outcome of the suit under the applicable law." Nereida-Gonzalez v. Tirado-Delgado, 990 F.2d 701, 703 (1st Cir. 1993).

The party moving for summary judgment must demonstrate an absence of evidence to support the nonmoving party's case. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 325, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). In determining whether this burden is met, the Court must view the record in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party and give that party the benefit of all reasonable inferences in its favor. See Santoni v. Potter, 369 F.3d 594, 598 (1st Cir. 2004).

Once the moving party has made this preliminary showing, the nonmoving party must "produce specific facts, in suitable evidentiary form, to establish the presence of a trialworthy issue." Triangle Trading Co., Inc. v. Robroy Indus., Inc., 200 F.3d 1, 2 (1st Cir. 1999) (quotation marks and internal ellipsis omitted); see also Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(e). "Mere allegations, or conjecture unsupported in the record, are insufficient." Barros-Villahermosa v. United States, 642 F.3d 56, 58 (1st Cir. 2011) (quoting Rivera-Marcano v. Normeat Royal Dane Quality A/S, 998 F.2d 34, 37 (1st Cir. 1993) ); see also Wilson v. Moulison N. Corp., 639 F.3d 1, 6 (1st Cir. 2011) ("A properly supported summary judgment motion cannot be defeated by conclusory allegations, improbable inferences, periphrastic circumlocutions, or rank speculation."). "As to any essential factual element of its claim on which the nonmovant would bear the burden of proof at trial, its failure to come forward with sufficient evidence to generate a trialworthy issue warrants summary judgment for the moving party." In re Ralar Distribs., Inc., 4 F.3d 62, 67 (1st Cir. 1993). "However, summary judgment is improper when the record is sufficiently open-ended to permit a rational factfinder to resolve a material factual dispute in favor of either side." Morales-Melecio v. United States (Dep't of Health and Human Servs.), 890 F.3d 361, 368 (1st Cir. 2018) (quotation marks omitted).

II. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

Having reviewed the record and the statements of material fact in accordance with Local Rule 56, "the Court constructs the following narrative from the undisputed facts as well as the disputed material facts viewed in the light most favorable to the non-movant," here, Charette.

Ramsdell v. Huhtamaki, Inc., 992 F.Supp.2d 1, 5 (D. Me. 2014).¹ The St. John Valley Soil and Water Conservation District (the "District") is a state agency created by statute, with the purpose of, among other things, carrying out preventive and control measures with respect to flood prevention and the conservation, development, utilization, and disposal of water within the district, and of providing information, education, and technical assistance needed to help protect and enhance natural resources and to use them wisely.² The District occupies space in an office leased by the United States Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service ("NRCS") in Fort Kent.³

The District is governed by a five-member, volunteer Board of Supervisors, who are either elected or appointed by the Commissioner of the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry ("DACF"), and an Associate Supervisor appointed by the Board of Supervisors. During 2015 and 2016, the District's Board of Supervisors consisted of Defendant David Potter, Defendant Duane Theriault, Defendant Kurt Coulombe, John "Gene" Desjardin, Peter Smith, and an Associate Supervisor, Thomas Schneck.⁴ At all relevant times, Potter was self-employed as the sole employee of his Fort Kent farm. Theriault was self-employed on the farm he owns with his father in St. Agatha. Coulombe was employed as an equipment operator by a contractor in Madawaska. The Board of Supervisors elected Potter as Chair of the Board in March 2014. The Board generally meets on a monthly basis. Board meetings are open to the public.⁵ Unless otherwise noted, the District had a sole employee, a District Coordinator, during the periods at issue.

In 2014, after the previous District Coordinator left the position, the Supervisors undertook a hiring process. Although the exact mechanics of the hiring process and how many people were offered the position is ambiguous, it appears that the District's first choice after interviews was a woman who ultimately rejected the offer. (Joint Stipulated Record ("SR") 216-17; 285-86.)⁶ Eventually, when Plaintiff Diane Charette was under consideration as a potential hire, Potter was opposed to hiring her because he believed she lacked qualifications. (SR 286.) Theriault was also opposed to hiring her because he thought she was not the right person for the job. (SR 376.) Smith believes that Potter had wanted to hire what Smith considered to be a less-qualified man. (SR 347-48.) In the end, however, the District hired Charette as District Coordinator as of August 26, 2014. As District Coordinator, Charette's job responsibilities included acting as receptionist for the District office; attending and reporting at monthly Board meetings; working closely with the Board to implement the District's Long Range Plan; carrying out the directives of the Board of Supervisors as conveyed at its meetings; communicating weekly with the Board Chair; performing office administrative and business management duties; carrying out administrative functions such as maintaining minutes of the Board meetings, reporting monthly activities, and keeping balance sheets and profit/loss statements; attending other meetings as approved by the Board Chair; developing media relations and producing press releases; communicating with District members and recruiting new members; engaging in fundraising activities associated with specific projects and programs; maintaining eligibility for federal grants; and other projects and assignments as assigned by the Board. Charette's job responsibilities also included providing office support to NRCS staff pursuant to an Operational Agreement, working on certain projects for the NRCS pursuant to a Contribution Agreement, and complying with USDA security requirements, which included obtaining a LincPass. A LincPass is required, in connection with security clearance, to access the U.S. government's computer systems. Previous District Coordinators Casey Cote and Sigrid Houlette regularly attended monthly Board meetings; reported to the Board members on various issues, including projects in progress; took notes; and prepared the Board meeting minutes for the public record. Cote, who was District Coordinator from May 2008 until December 2010, has stated,

An important part of my job was to report directly to the Board members at the meetings about District business. I took notes during the meetings and prepared the minutes for the public record. It was a central part of my duties as District Coordinator to attend Board meetings and meet with the Board Chair as my supervisor.

(SR 411.) Houlette, who was District Coordinator from February 2011 until April 2014 has stated,

As the District Coordinator, I attended the monthly meetings of the Board of Supervisors. At these meetings, I reported to the Board members on various issues, including the projects I was working on and the progress I had made on tasks that the Board has assigned to me at the prior month's Board meeting. I also took notes during the meetings and prepared the minutes for the public record. Attending Board meetings and communicating with the Board Chair at and between meetings was an integral part of my job as District Coordinator.

(SR 412.)

Charette received a copy of, and read, the District's Personnel Policy and the District Coordinator job description before she started working for the District. Pursuant to the District's Personnel Policy, Charette was an employee at-will, subject to a six-month probationary period that could be extended. Charette worked a flex schedule of thirty-two hours per week, which allowed her to choose the specific hours she worked. Although the Board is responsible for hiring and general long-term supervision of the District Coordinator, the Board Chair is responsible for supervising the District...