Craig v. Dist. of Columbia

• Citation: 74 F.Supp.3d 349
• Decision Date: 24 November 2014
• Docket Number: Civil Action No.: 11–1200 RC
• Parties: Joanne T. Craig, Plaintiff, v. District of Columbia et al., Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Columbia

74 F.Supp.3d 349

Joanne T. Craig, Plaintiff

v.District of Columbia et al., Defendant.

Civil Action No.: 11–1200 RC

United States District Court, District of Columbia.

Signed November 24, 2014

Boniface K. Cobbina, Boniface K. Cobbina, Esquire, Washington, DC, for Plaintiff.

Kerslyn D. Featherstone, Shermineh C. Jones, Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia, Washington, DC, for Defendant.

Re Document No.: 70

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Granting in Part and Denying in Part Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment

RUDOLPH CONTRERAS, United States District Judge

I. INTRODUCTION

Plaintiff Joanne Craig alleges that she was sexually harassed by a co-worker at the Metropolitan Police Department (“MPD”), and that when she reported the harassment to her supervisor, her supervisor retaliated by denying her training and transferring her to another district. She brings this employment discrimination action against her employer, the District of Columbia (the “District”), and her former supervisor, Joel Maupin (collectively, the “Defendants”), alleging claims of sex discrimination and retaliation under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq. (“Title VII”) and the District of Columbia Human Rights Act, D.C.Code §§ 2–1401 –01 et seq. (“DCHRA”). Now pending before the Court is the Defendants' motion for summary judgment. The Defendants argue first that the Plaintiff's claims are barred because they are unexhausted and untimely, and second, that the Plaintiff has failed to establish a prima facie case of discrimination or retaliation. Upon consideration of the Defendants' motion, the memoranda in support thereof and opposition thereto, and the evidentiary record submitted by both parties to supplement their filings, the Court will grant in part and deny in part the Defendants' motion for summary judgment.

II. FACTUAL BACKGROUND¹

Plaintiff Joanne Craig is a female who began working for MPD as a police officer in 1988. 2d Am. Compl. ¶¶ 8–9, ECF No. 26.² In November 1995, she was promoted to the position of sergeant and assigned to MPD's Seventh District. Id. ¶ 11. Eric Levenberry is a male who joined MPD as an officer in 1992 and became a sergeant in 2001. See Levenberry Dep. 21:8–22:4, 44:1–45:4, Sept. 16, 2013, ECF No. 76–3. Sgt. Craig first encountered Sgt. Eric Levenberry in 2006 when the latter was assigned to investigate an incident involving one of Sgt. Craig's officers. See 2d Am. Compl. ¶ 13. Sgt. Craig recalled that Sgt. Levenberry cut her off when she was answering one of his questions, but that he was respectful to her subordinate male officer. Id. ; Craig Dep. 95:18–97:2, May 14, 2013, ECF Nos. 70–2, 76–2.

In early 2007, Sgt. Levenberry was detailed to the Seventh District. 2d Am. Compl. ¶ 14. Sgts. Craig and Levenberry worked in different offices and had little or no contact during Sgt. Levenberry's first several months at the Seventh District. See id. ¶ 14. During a chance parking lot encounter in October 2007, however, Sgt. Levenberry told Sgt. Craig that a female officer at the Seventh District had made a complaint against him alleging that he had harassed her. Craig Dep. 26:6–27:2; 2d Am. Compl. ¶ 16. While discussing the complaining officer's allegation, Sgt. Levenberry stated that the female officer was not his type and that “nobody wants her big stinky butt anyway.” 2d Am. Compl. ¶ 16. Sgt. Craig was taken aback by the comment and promptly ended the conversation. Id.

In December 2007, Sgts. Craig and Levenberry began working the same shift out of the Seventh District's sergeant's office. See id. ¶ 17. And although Sgt. Craig would have preferred to avoid Sgt. Levenberry,³ for the first several weeks that they worked together, she and Sgt. Levenberry had a cordial relationship. Id. ¶ 22. Beginning in February 2008, however, that relationship began to deteriorate. Id. ¶ 23.

A. Allegations regarding Sgt. Levenberry

According to Sgt. Craig, her trouble with Sgt. Levenberry began around February 2008, when he started to cut her off when she was speaking. See Craig Dep. 100:3–11. He frequently disagreed with or contradicted Sgt. Craig, and she believed that he did so to undermine her. Id. at 100:12–17. Sgt. Craig responded to this behavior by walking away from Sgt. Levenberry when he attempted to initiate a conversation, and by refusing to address him when speaking to others. Id. at 100:18–101:1. Despite her attempts to avoid speaking with him, however, Sgt. Levenberry continued to approach Sgt. Craig. In March 2008, he began asking Sgt. Craig questions about her personal life. Id. at 100:12–103:13. When Sgt. Levenberry asked Sgt. Craig if she was married, she suspected that he might be considering asking her out and told him that she was not married but was seeing someone. Id. at 102:7–11. Her suspicions were later proven correct when despite her statement that she was seeing someone, Sgt. Levenberry asked Sgt. Craig if she wanted to go out with him. Id. at 103:4–13. Frustrated with his refusal to listen, she ended the conversation by declining forcefully and telling him that he needed to “go home and fuck [his] wife.” Id. at 103:4–13.

That same month, Sgt. Craig became the subject of an unrelated and confidential internal affairs investigation regarding her off-duty conduct. Although the investigation should have been confidential, Sgt. Craig believed that Sgt. Levenberry somehow obtained information about it because he told Sgt. Craig that he knew about the investigation, that she could discuss it with him, and that he had important information for her. 2d Am. Compl. ¶¶ 30–34. Sgt. Levenberry also loudly announced to the office that Sgt. Craig had been “down at IAD” upon her return from an interview there, which Sgt. Craig found embarrassing. Id. ¶ 33. On another occasion, Sgt. Levenberry sat down next to Sgt. Craig's desk and pulled her between his legs, telling her that he was there for her if she wanted to talk. Id. ¶ 44. When Sgt. Craig tried to move away and to pull Sgt. Levenberry's hands off of her chair, he refused to release her and told her to be quiet, only letting her pull away from him after she got even louder. Id.

During the spring and summer of 2008, Sgt. Levenberry repeatedly complimented Sgt. Craig's physical appearance, commented on the impropriety of her attire, and stared at her in a lecherous way. Id. ¶¶ 35, 40, 41. He also rubbed her hair without permission. Id. At one point in March 2008, Sgt. Levenberry told Sgt. Craig “this is where babies come from,” while sitting with his legs open and rubbing his groin. Id. at 104:5–17; 2d Am. Compl. ¶ 27. Sgt. Craig also recalls an encounter in the summer of 2008 when Sgt. Levenberry interrupted her conversation with another sergeant, saying “oh you think you're bad, huh.” Id. ¶ 36. When Sgt. Craig replied that she did not think so but that she would express her opinion, Sgt. Levenberry proceeded to chase her around the room until another sergeant blocked her path, at which point Sgt. Levenberry picked her up, threw her over his shoulders, placed his hands on her buttocks, and said “see, you ain't bad.” Id. Sgt. Levenberry ignored Sgt. Craig's repeated requests to be let down until she began to kick and scream. Id. Shortly after that incident, Sergeant Craig complained about Sgt. Levenberry's conduct to her superior, Lieutenant Peter Hunt.⁴ Id. ¶ 37. Lieutenant Hunt told her that they needed to learn how to get along and to “stop being silly.” Id. Sgt. Craig decided to go about her work and hoped that Sgt. Levenberry would leave her alone. Craig Dep. 108:4–15.

At some point after Sgt. Craig complained to Lieutenant Hunt, she came in to do roll call and sat down at the table two chairs away from Sgt. Levenberry. Id. at 110:1–112:4. Sgt. Levenberry then got up and moved to the area where officers were sitting, which Sgt. Craig felt was disrespectful. Id. She also felt undermined by Sgt. Levenberry when he cut her off or contradicted the instructions she gave to officers during roll call, and she observed that he did not treat their male co-workers in a similar fashion. Id. at 112:6–18, 114:13–18. Further, she alleges that as a result of her efforts to avoid Sgt. Levenberry and the sergeant's office, Sgt. Levenberry frequently misinformed the supervising lieutenants regarding Sgt. Craig's whereabouts and work hours, subjecting her to increased scrutiny. 2d Am. Compl. ¶ 46. She also contends that her efforts to avoid Sgt. Levenberry's harassment negatively affected her work, id. ¶ 45, and took a serious toll on her mental and physical well-being, id. ¶ 58.

In addition, Sgt. Craig asserts that Sgt. Levenberry reported her partnership with another sergeant in an effort to isolate her, id. ¶ 39, made an inappropriate comment about not knowing why Sgt. Craig was mad because he did not sleep with her, id. ¶ 43, and told her that he knew who she was “messing with” and that she ought to “fuck up, not down,” id. ¶ 47. Then, on September 23, 2008, Sgt. Craig's partner asked her to fill in for him in handling check off. Id. ¶ 51. Sgt. Levenberry was the roll call official that day, and when Sgt. Craig told him that she would be substituting for her partner, Sgt. Levenberry was rude and ignored her.Id. Sgt. Craig responded by asking if Sgt. Levenberry was “going to continue to be a Butt Hole,” which prompted Sgt. Levenberry to jump out of his chair yelling, forcing her back as he pressed up against her, pointed a finger in her face and called her “a fucking bitch.” Craig Dep. 15:12–19, 89:2–21. Sgt. Craig feared for her safety during the altercation, and she filed a PD–119 complaint form with Lieutenant Patricia Janifer in response to the incident. See id. at 15:10–19.

Lieutenant Janifer held a meeting with Sgts. Craig and Levenberry about the conflict between the two in September. Although Sgt. Craig alleges that she told Lt. Janifer that Sgt. Levenberry was sexually harassing her, see Pl.'s Answer to Defs.' Interrog. No. 11, ECF No. 80, she...