Chin v. Port Auth. of New York & New Jersey
| Decision Date | 10 July 2012 |
| Docket Number | No. 10-1904-cv(L),No. 10-2031-cv(XAP),10-1904-cv(L),10-2031-cv(XAP) |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit |
| Parties | HOWARD CHIN, RICHARD WONG, SANRIT BOONCOME, MICHAEL CHUNG, Plaintiffs-Appellees-Cross-Appellants, THE PORT AUTHORITY POLICE ASIAN JADE SOCIETY OF NEW YORK & NEW JERSEY INC., CHRISTIAN ENG, NICHOLAS YUM, ALAN LEW, DAVID LIM, GEORGE MARTINEZ, STANLEY CHIN, MILTON FONG, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. THE PORT AUTHORITY OF NEW YORK & NEW JERSEY, Defendant-Appellant-Cross-Appellee. |
Before: MCLAUGHLIN, CABRANES, and LIVINGSTON, Circuit Judges.
Defendant-appellant the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, Inc. ("Port Authority") and plaintiff-appellants Howard Chin, Richard Wong, Sanrit Booncome, and Michael Chung appeal from a judgment of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum, Judge) holding, after a jury trial, that the Port Authority violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by failing to promote seven plaintiffs, and awarding plaintiffs-appellees Christian Eng, Nicholas Yum, Alan Lew, David Lim, George Martinez, Stanley Chin, and Milton Fong back pay, compensatory damages, and equitable relief. We conclude that the pattern-or-practice method of proving liability was not available to plaintiffs in this private, nonclass action and so REVERSE as to the submission of this theory of liability to the jury. We also REVERSE with respect to the district court's determinationthat pursuant to the plaintiffs' disparate impact theory, the "continuing violation" doctrine permitted the award of damages and equitable relief in connection with conduct predating the statute of limitations. We therefore VACATE the back pay awards to Eng, Lew, Stanley Chin, and Fong; VACATE the jury's compensatory damage awards with respect to Eng, Yum, Lew, Lim, Martinez, Stanley Chin, and Fong; VACATE the retroactive promotion of Lew; VACATE the salary and pension adjustments for Lew, Stanley Chin, and Fong; and REMAND to the district court for a new trial on damages as to these plaintiffs and for reconsideration of the equitable relief afforded to them to the extent such relief was premised on failures to promote occurring outside the statute of limitations. With respect to all other issues raised by the parties on appeal, we AFFIRM.
KAREN R. KING (Susanna M. Buergel, on the briefs), Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, New York, New York, for Plaintiffs-Appellees-Cross-Appellants and Plaintiffs-Appellees.
KATHLEEN GILL MILLER (Milton H. Pachter & James M. Begley, on the briefs), Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, New York, New York, for Defendant-Appellant-Cross-Appellee.
Plaintiffs-appellees, eleven Asian Americans currently or formerly employed as police officers by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey ("Port Authority"), sued the Port Authority under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq., alleging that they were passed over for promotions because of their race. The plaintiffs asserted three theories of liability for discrimination: individual disparate treatment, pattern-or-practice disparate treatment, and disparate impact. After a nine-day trial, a unanimousjury found the Port Authority liable for discrimination against seven of the plaintiffs under all three theories and awarded back pay and compensatory damages to each of those seven plaintiffs. The district court (Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum, Judge) also granted equitable relief to certain of the prevailing plaintiffs in the form of retroactive promotions, seniority benefits, and salary and pension adjustments corresponding with the hypothetical promotion dates that the jury apparently selected as a basis for calculating these plaintiffs' back pay awards.
On appeal, the Port Authority argues: (1) that evidence predating the onset of the statute of limitations should not have been admitted; (2) that the evidence was insufficient to support the jury's verdict with respect to each of the plaintiffs' theories; and (3) that the damages and equitable relief were premised on time-barred claims and were otherwise excessive. With regard to the plaintiffs' individual disparate treatment allegations, we hold that the district court properly admitted background evidence predating the onset of the limitations period and that there was sufficient evidence for a reasonable juror to conclude that the Port Authority discriminated against the seven prevailing plaintiffs within the limitations period. The district court erred, however, in: (1) submitting the pattern-or-practice disparate treatment theory to the jury in this private, nonclass action; and (2) concluding that the "continuing violation"doctrine applied to the plaintiffs' disparate impact theory so that the jury could award back pay and compensatory damages for harms predating the onset of the statute of limitations. We therefore vacate the back pay for four of the plaintiffs, whose awards correspond with hypothetical promotion dates beyond the limitations period, as well as the injunctive relief for three of the same plaintiffs, and we also vacate the award of compensatory damages for all seven prevailing plaintiffs. We remand for a new trial on damages as to all seven prevailing plaintiffs and for reconsideration of equitable relief to the extent such relief was premised on failures to promote occurring outside the limitations period.
The four plaintiffs who did not prevail at trial cross-appeal, arguing that the district court erred by excluding expert testimony from an industrial psychologist. One of these plaintiffs, cross-appellant Howard Chin, further argues that the district court erred in denying the plaintiffs' motion for sanctions in the form of an adverse inference instruction due to the Port Authority's destruction of promotion records. Finding no abuse of discretion in the district court's determinations as to these matters, we affirm.
The Port Authority is a bi-state transportation agency whose facilities are policed by its Public Safety Department. The eleven plaintiffs-appellees in this case are Asian Americans who were employed by that department as policeofficers. Christian Eng was hired in 1977, David Lim in 1980, Richard Wong in 1983, Milton Fong in 1985, Howard Chin and Alan Lew in 1987, Stanley Chin in 1988, George Martinez and Nicholas Yum in 1993, and Michael Chung and Sanrit Booncome in 1999. All of the plaintiffs were members of the Port Authority Police Asian Jade Society of New York & New Jersey Inc. ("Asian Jade Society"), a nonprofit organization comprised of Port Authority police officers of Asian or Pacific Islander origin, whose stated goal is to "promot[e] understanding, friendship and cooperation among members of the Port Authority police department."
During the period relevant to this case, entry-level police officers in the Port Authority's police department could be promoted to the rank of Sergeant, the first level in a hierarchy of supervisory positions (followed by Lieutenant, Captain, Inspector, Chief, and finally Superintendent of Police). To become eligible for promotion to Sergeant, a police officer was required (among other requirements) to pass an examination, which would place him on an "eligibility list" for a period of time. When such a list expired, the officer would have to pass the examination again to be placed on the new list. Three lists were in effect during the period relevant to this case: the 1996 List, the 1999 List, and the2002 List.1 These lists were "horizontal," which meant that the lists did not rank the officers, but merely established eligibility for promotion.
Each Port Authority facility's commanding officer (generally a Captain) was periodically asked to recommend eligible officers for promotion, at their discretion. The Port Authority did not dictate any criteria for recommendation. Moreover, commanding officers were free to make recommendation decisions themselves, solicit input from the police officers' direct supervisors (generally Sergeants and Lieutenants), or delegate the responsibility entirely to the direct supervisors. A promotion folder was prepared for each recommended officer, which included a performance evaluation by a supervisor, a photograph of the officer, and his record of absences, commendations, awards, and disciplinary history.
Officers recommended in this way were typically considered by the Chiefs' Board, in which the Chiefs would collectively decide which officers to recommend to the Superintendent. The Chiefs' Board did not operate under any writtenguidelines, and from 1996 through September 2001, took no minutes or notes. Each Chief would vote regarding each recommended officer, and any officer who received a majority of votes from the Chiefs' Board would then be recommended to the Superintendent. This step in the process was not always necessary to promotion, however; for example, Acting Superintendent Joseph Morris did not use the Chiefs' Board at all during his tenure from September 2001 through April 2002.
The ultimate decision to promote an officer to Sergeant belonged solely to the Superintendent. In fact, the Superintendent occasionally promoted officers whom the Chiefs' Board had declined to recommend ahead of those recommended by the Board.
As of January 31, 2001, no Asian American had ever been promoted to Sergeant.
On January 31, 2001, the Asian Jade Society filed a charge of discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") on behalf of its members, claiming that the Port Authority had denied Asian American police officers promotions because of their race. On August 29, 2003, the EEOC determined that there was reasonable cause to believe the Port Authority had violated Title VII, and on January 25, 2005, the Department ofJustice...
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