Dorcely v. Wyandanch Union Free School Dist.
| Decision Date | 30 September 2009 |
| Docket Number | No. 06 CV 1265 (DRH)(AKT).,06 CV 1265 (DRH)(AKT). |
| Parties | Jacques DORCELY, Plaintiff, v. WYANDANCH UNION FREE SCHOOL DISTRICT, Board of Education Wyandanch Union Free School District, Dr. Sherman Roberts, in his capacity as Interim Superintendent of Schools, Wyandanch Union Free School District, and Individually, Dr. Frank Satchel, in his capacity as Superintendent of Schools and Individually, Samuel Burnett, as Trustee and Individually, James Crawford, as Trustee and Individually, Rev. Henry Bacon, as Trustee and Individually, Denise Baines, as Trustee and Individually, Shirley Baker, as Trustee and Individually, Sister Sakinah Kareem, as Trustee and Individually, Barry White, as Trustee and Individually, Rev. Michael Talbert, as Trustee and Individually, Norina Geter, as Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources, Wyandanch Union Free School District, and Individually, Darlene White, as Principal for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Elementary School, Wyandanch Union Free School District and individually, Gina Talbert, as Principal for Milton L. Olive Middle School, Wyandanch Union Free School District, and Individually, Larry J. McCord, as attorney for the Wyandanch Union Free School District, and Individually, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of New York |
Harriet A. Gilliam, Esq., Riverhead, NY, for Plaintiff.
Ahmuty, Demers & McManus, Esqs., by Greg Curry, Esq., Robert J. Hindman, Esq., Albertson, NY, for District Defendants.
Castro & Trodden, LLC, by Brian A. Trodden, Esq., Smithtown, NY, for Defendant Larry J. McCord.
Plaintiff Jacques Dorcely filed the present action against defendants Wyandanch Union Free School District, Board of Education Wyandanch Union Free School District (the "Board of Education"), Dr. Sherman Roberts, in his capacity as Interim Superintendent of Schools, Wyandanch Union Free School District and Individually, Dr. Frank Satchel, in his capacity as Superintendent of Schools and Individually, Samuel Burnett, as Trustee and Individually, James Crawford, as Trustee and Individually, Rev. Henry Bacon, as Trustee and Individually, Denise Baines, as Trustee and Individually, Shirley Baker, as Trustee and Individually, Sister Sakinah Kareem, as Trustee and Individually, Barry White, as Trustee and Individually, Rev. Michael Talbert, as Trustee and Individually, Norina Geter, as Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources, Wyandanch Union Free School District, and Individually, Darlene White, as Principal for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Elementary School and Individually, Gina Talbert, as Principal for Milton L. Olive Middle School, Wyandanch Union Free School District and Individually, (collectively the "District Defendants"), and Larry J. McCord, as attorney for the Wyandanch Union Free School District and Individually ("Defendant McCord"), alleging violations of the equal protection and due process clauses pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 ("Section 1983"); violations of the First Amendment pursuant to Section 1983; and violations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000e et seq. ("Title VII"), Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, 42 U.S.C. § 2000d ("Title VI"), and the New York State Human Rights Law, N.Y. Exec. Law § 296 on the basis of his national origin and gender, and in retaliation for engaging in protected activity. The District Defendants and Defendant McCord (hereinafter "Defendants") have moved for summary judgment pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure ("Rule") 56. For the reasons that follow, Defendants' motion is granted.
The material facts, drawn from the Complaint and the parties' Local 56.1 Statements, are either undisputed or are taken in the light most favorable to Plaintiff, unless otherwise noted.
The Wyandanch Union Free School District (the "District") is located in Suffolk County and administers, inter alia, the Milton L. Olive Middle School (the "Middle School") and the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Elementary School (the "Elementary School"). Jacques Dorcely ("Plaintiff" or "Dorcely") is a male of Haitian national origin and holds Master's Degrees in education and in school psychology from Adelphi University. He was employed by the District as a full-time, probationary school psychologist from September 2, 2003 until September 18, 2004, the date of his termination.
Defendant Gina Talbert ("Talbert"), principal of the Middle School, interviewed Dorcely for the position of school psychologist, and in a memorandum dated August 19, 2003, recommended Plaintiff for that position to defendant Norina Geter ("Geter"), Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources for the District.1 At a Board of Education meeting on September 2, 2003, Plaintiff was appointed to the position of school psychologist in the Middle School, effective September 2, 2003. Dorcely's appointment had a three year probationary period.
On September 18, 2003, Talbert assigned Dorcely to act as a scribe to provide testing modifications for a special education student in a sixth grade classroom. During that class, a female student had an emotional outburst and the classroom teacher, Ms. Popco, went to Talbert's office to discuss the incident. Plaintiff was accused of unprofessionalism by Talbert for his response to the incident. Contrary to Talbert's accusations, Plaintiff maintained that his response to that situation was appropriate.
The following day, Talbert spoke with Plaintiff about a student who needed dyslexia testing and advised Dorcely to consult with Ms. Romagnano regarding a concern she had with the student. According to Plaintiff, Talbert had interrupted Dorcely's testing of a different student and had raised her voice at him. Plaintiff asked Talbert if they could discuss the matter privately, and Talbert used Mrs. Batchelor's office to continue their discussion. During the meeting, Talbert telephoned Vonnye Singleton ("Singleton"), the director of special education, and scheduled a meeting for the three of them for the following Monday. Following the telephone call, the meeting between Plaintiff and Talbert continued to digress. Dorcely raised issues with Talbert about the ineffective intervention measures that were in place in the building. Talbert allegedly told Dorcely that he did not know his job, that he did not fit into the culture of the school, that she did not want to see his face in the building and that he was being insubordinate.
Talbert immediately telephoned the interim superintendent, defendant Sherman Roberts ("Roberts"), informed him of the September 18th and September 19th incidents, memorialized the two events in writing, and recommended that Plaintiff be terminated. The following day, in a letter dated September 19, 2003 that was hand delivered to Plaintiff, Roberts advised him that, effective immediately, he was reassigned to administrative leave at home which would remain in effect until further instruction. In addition, the letter directed that Dorcely was not permitted to be on any school property of the District and was prohibited from making contact with the administration or staff from the Middle School or the District in general. Further, the letter advised Plaintiff not to contact him, but to await his contact as to the date and time that he would meet with all parties concerned with the matter. Roberts made arrangements to send Dorcely's personal belongings to his home by courier.
While he was on administrative leave at home, Dorcely was replaced by an African-American female school psychologist.
In a certified letter dated September 24, 2003, Geter informed Plaintiff that a recommendation for his termination would be presented to the Superintendent and the Board of Education, to be effective October 30, 2003, and that his reassignment to administrative leave at home would be continued. Plaintiff responded by requesting a statement of reasons for the proposed termination and a hearing before the Board of Education. Talbert prepared a memorandum outlining the reasons for her recommendation of Plaintiff's termination.
By letter dated October 9, 2003, Roberts set forth the reasons for Dorcely's termination, which included Plaintiff's failure to follow appropriate directions from the building principal; his failure to involve himself professionally in a classroom incident that he had witnessed; Plaintiff's intimidating, threatening, and inappropriate conduct towards school personnel; and Plaintiff's failure to maintain effective, professional communication with the building principal. Dorcely denied the allegations and responded that the statement of reasons were totally subjective, vague, and amounted to malicious actions by Talbert to have him removed from the Middle School. On December 9, 2003, Plaintiff was afforded a hearing before the Board of Education and testified on his own behalf.
At a Board of Education meeting held on January 21, 2004, the Board voted not to terminate Plaintiff's employment with the District. Roberts confirmed the vote to Plaintiff in a letter dated January 29, 2004, and notified Dorcely that he was reassigned to the Elementary School as a school psychologist, effective February 2, 2004 and would be under the direct supervision of the building principal defendant Darlene White ("White").
At the end of January 2004, Geter advised White that Plaintiff would be coming to the Elementary School as a school psychologist to help Dr. Ifalase ("Ifalase") with his cases. White had not known Dorcely prior to his reassignment and was unaware that he had been the subject of a disciplinary action.2 White and Singleton had a discussion about Plaintiff's assignment to assist Ifalase with his...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Carris v. First Student, Inc.
...734 F.Supp.2d at 318 (citing Freedom Holdings, Inc. v. Spitzer, 357 F.3d 205, 234 [2d Cir.2004] ); Dorcely v. Wyandanch Union Free Sch. Dist., 665 F.Supp.2d 178, 194 (E.D.N.Y.2009). Here, Plaintiff does not allege instances in her PAC where similarly situated employees were treated differen......
-
Broich v. The Inc. Vill. Of Southampton
...In any event, "[f]here is no recognized claim for retaliation under the Equal Protection Clause." Dorcely v. Wyandanch Union Free School District. 665 F.Supp.2d 178, 199, 201 (E.D.N.Y. 2009); see also Bernheim v. Litt, 79 F.3d 318, 323 (2d Cir. 1996); Frenkel v. New York City Off-Track Bett......
-
Rutherford v. Katonah-Lewisboro School Dist.
...type claims brought by public employees for action taken by their employers. Most recently, in Dorcely v. Wyandanch Union Free School District, 665 F.Supp.2d 178 (E.D.N.Y.2009), the plaintiff, a public school teacher, was advised by letter that he had been placed on paid administrative leav......
-
Morales v. NYS Dep't of Labor
...analyzed under the same three-part burden shifting framework of McDonnell Douglas as Title VII claims.” Dorcely v. Wyandanch Union Free Sch. Dist., 665 F.Supp.2d 178, 218 (E.D.N.Y.2009) (quoting Pacheco v. New York Presbyterian Hosp., 593 F.Supp.2d 599, 629 (S.D.N.Y.2009)). As such, “[t]o m......
-
Discrimination based on national origin, religion, and other grounds
...1977); Patton v. United Parcel Serv., Inc. , 910 F. Supp. 1250, 1268 (S.D. Tex. 1995); Dorcely v. Wyandanch Union Free Sch. Dist. , 665 F. Supp. 2d 178, 215 (E.D.N.Y. 2009). Furthermore, the employee’s complaint may be related to perceived discrimination; the court should not address whethe......
-
Discrimination Based on National Origin, Religion, and Other Grounds
...1977); Patton v. United Parcel Serv., Inc. , 910 F. Supp. 1250, 1268 (S.D. Tex. 1995); Dorcely v. Wyandanch Union Free Sch. Dist. , 665 F. Supp. 2d 178, 215 (E.D.N.Y. 2009). The anti-retaliation provisions clearly protect a broad range of employee opposition activities, including complainin......
-
Discrimination Based on National Origin, Religion, and Other Grounds
...1977); Patton v. United Parcel Serv., Inc. , 910 F. Supp. 1250, 1268 (S.D. Tex. 1995); Dorcely v. Wyandanch Union Free Sch. Dist. , 665 F. Supp. 2d 178, 215 (E.D.N.Y. 2009). Furthermore, the employee’s complaint may be related to perceived discrimination; the court should not address whethe......
-
Table of cases
...Dooling v. Bank of the West, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 99618 (E.D.Tex. Jul. 13, 2013), §25:2 Dorcely v. Wyandanch Union Free Sch. Dist. , 665 F. Supp. 2d 178, 215 (E.D.N.Y. 2009), §24:6.N.2 Dormeyer v. Comerica Bank-Illinois , 223 F.3d 579 (7th Cir. 2000), App. 25-2 Dornhecker v. Malibu Grand P......