Eggleston v. South Bend Community School Corp.

• Decision Date: 22 April 1994
• Docket Number: No. 3:92cv00672 AS.,3:92cv00672 AS.
• Citation: 858 F. Supp. 841
• Parties: Eugene EGGLESTON, Plaintiff, v. SOUTH BEND COMMUNITY SCHOOL CORPORATION, William Farrell, Clarke Dippell, and Christopher Clarke Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of Indiana

858 F. Supp. 841

Eugene EGGLESTON, Plaintiff, v. SOUTH BEND COMMUNITY SCHOOL CORPORATION, William Farrell, Clarke Dippell, and Christopher Clarke Defendants.

No. 3:92cv00672 AS.

United States District Court, N.D. Indiana, South Bend Division.

April 22, 1994.

John C. Hamilton, Doran Blackmond Ready Hamilton and Williams, South Bend, IN, for Eugene Eggleston.

Donald L. Dawson, Thomas E. Wheeler, II, Kightlinger and Gray, Indianapolis, IN, Marva J. Leonard-Dent, South Bend Community School Corp., South Bend, IN, for South Bend Community School Corp.

Thomas E. Wheeler, II, Kightlinger and Gray, Indianapolis, IN, Thomas J. Brunner, Jr., Paul J. Peralta, Kevin D. O'Rear, Baker and Daniels, Robert J. Konopa, Konopa and Murphy PC, South Bend, IN, for William Hugh Farrell, Clarke E. Dippell and Christopher Clarke.

Gail S. Coleman, E.E.O.C., Washington, DC, for E.E.O.C., amicus curiae.

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

ALLEN SHARP, Chief Judge.

I.

The plaintiff, Eugene Eggleston, filed his original Complaint on October 6, 1992. The Third Amended Complaint, filed on August 2, 1993, contains several claims against the above-captioned defendants. First, the plaintiff asserts illegal retaliation under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act ("ADEA"). Next, the plaintiff alleges violations of the ADEA, the First Amendment, and the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983.¹ In addition, the plaintiff alleges a state claim based on the intentional infliction of emotional distress. Finally, the plaintiff also seeks compensatory and punitive damages in connection with the ADEA claim.

The plaintiff is a high school teacher and football coach and is employed by the South Bend School Corporation ("School Corporation"). In February 1988, the plaintiff filed a charge of age discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC"). In pursuing this charge, the plaintiff alleged that the School Corporation had denied him a teaching position because of his age in violation of the ADEA. On December 28, 1989, the EEOC found the plaintiff's charge of age discrimination was supported by probable cause. In March 1990, the plaintiff, the School Corporation, and the EEOC entered into a conciliation agreement. The School Corporation agreed that all employment practices were to be conducted in a non-discriminatory manner. In addition, the School Corporation agreed that the plaintiff would be paid back wages and that it would rehire the plaintiff for the balance of the 1989-90 school year as a substitute teacher and as a permanent teacher for the 1990-91 school year forward. Finally, and most importantly, to this matter, the conciliation agreement contained the following provision:

The parties agree that there shall be no discrimination or retaliation of any kind against the Charging Party, including, but not limited to, consideration for coaching positions, because of opposition to any practice declared unlawful under any statute administered by the EEOC or because of the filing of a charge; .... The parties to this conciliation agreement agree that if the Charging Party wishes to apply for a coaching position, he will be considered for the position on the same basis as any other candidate who may apply for the position.

See Conciliation Agreement (emphasis added).

After the conciliation agreement went into effect, the plaintiff was the head freshman coach at Adams High School and head 8th grade coach at a Edison Middle School. During the pendency of his coaching, the plaintiff indicated that he had to file three grievances against the School Corporation for certain violations of his contractual rights secured under a labor agreement, and that all of those grievances had been settled in his favor.

Additionally, in May 1992, the plaintiff filed a charge of retaliation based upon the School Corporation's violation of the conciliation agreement. This second charge alleged that the School Corporation was retaliating against him for having filed the first ADEA charge. In pursuing this action, the plaintiff maintained that the School Corporation subjected him to a continuing pattern of harassment and intimidation, and removed him from his duties as Edison Middle School head football coach. Furthermore, in this action, the plaintiff explained that the head coach failed to provide him with the requisite assistance and cooperation in the performance necessary for proper coaching. On September 28, 1992, the Commission found cause to believe that the School Corporation had violated the retaliation provisions of the ADEA.

The plaintiff filed his original Complaint on October 6, 1992, with this court based on the EEOC's finding of cause. Thereafter, on December 21, 1992, the plaintiff filed a second charge of retaliation with the EEOC. This represents the plaintiff's third proceeding with the EEOC (age discrimination, retaliation, and retaliation). The plaintiff also indicates that he amended his Complaint to assert personal injury claims against several individual employees of the School Corporation.

On November 1, 1993, the School Corporation moved for summary judgment on all claims. The abovementioned individual defendants ("Farrell, Dippell, and Clarke") moved for summary judgment on November 15, 1993. On December 14, 1993, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed an amicus curiae brief in opposition to defendants' motions for summary judgment. On January 12, 1994, and February 18, 1994, the plaintiff filed responses to the defendants' motions. The School Corporation and the individual defendants both filed a reply brief on February 22, 1994. In addition, the individual defendants filed a response to the EEOC's amicus curiae brief on February 22, 1994. On March 7, 1994, the plaintiff filed a surreply to the individual defendants' reply. Finally, on March 11, 1994, the individual defendants filed a response to the plaintiff's surreply. This court has held several hearings — the most recent hearing was held on March 25, 1994.

II.

Summary judgment is proper if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories and admissions on file, together with any affidavits, show that there exists no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56; Russo v. Health, Welfare & Pension Fund, Local 705, 984 F.2d 762 (7th Cir.1993).

A thorough discussion of Rule 56 by the Supreme Court of the United States can be found in a trilogy of cases decided in 1986. See, Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986); Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986)²; and Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). Celotex addressed the initial burdens of the parties under Rule 56, and Anderson addressed the standards under which the record is to be analyzed within the structure of Rule 56.

The initial burden is on the moving party to demonstrate, "with or without supporting affidavits," the absence of a genuine issue of material fact and that judgment as a matter of law should be granted in the moving party's favor. Celotex, 477 U.S. at 324, 106 S.Ct. at 2553 (quoting Fed.R.Civ.P. 56). A material question of fact is a question which will be outcome determinative of an issue in the case. The Supreme Court has instructed that the facts material in a specific case shall be determined by the substantive law controlling the given case or issue. Anderson, 477 U.S. at 248, 106 S.Ct. at 2510.

Once the moving party has met the initial burden, the opposing party must "go beyond the pleadings" and "designate `specific facts showing that there is a genuine material issue for trial.'" Id. The nonmoving party cannot rest on its pleadings, Hughes v. Joliet Correctional Center, 931 F.2d 425, 428 (7th Cir.1991), or upon conclusory allegations in affidavits. Cusson-Cobb v. O'Lessker, 953 F.2d 1079, 1081 (7th Cir.1992). "The days are gone, if they ever existed, when the nonmoving party could sit back and simply poke holes in the moving party's summary judgment motion." Fitzpatrick v. Catholic Bishop of Chicago, 916 F.2d 1254, 1256 (7th Cir.1990).

During its analysis, this court must construe the facts and draw all reasonable inferences in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. Brennan v. Daley, 929 F.2d 346, 348 (7th Cir.1991). Furthermore, it is required to analyze summary judgment motions under the standard of proof relevant to the case or issue. Anderson, 477 U.S. at 252-255, 106 S.Ct. at 2512-14.

The 1986 Supreme Court trilogy was recently re-examined in Eastman Kodak v. Image Technical Services, ___ U.S. ___, 112 S.Ct. 2072, 119 L.Ed.2d 265 (1992), a case born in the context of antitrust law. The most that can be said for Kodak is that it did not tinker with Celotex and Anderson, and possibly involves an attempt to clarify Matsushita. This view is well supported by an in-depth academic analysis in Schwarzer, Hirsch, and Barrans, The Analysis and Decision of Summary Judgment Motions, 139 F.R.D. 441 (1991).

III.

In McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 93 S.Ct. 1817, 36 L.Ed.2d 668 (1973), and Texas Dep't of Community Affairs v. Burdine, 450 U.S. 248, 101 S.Ct. 1089, 67 L.Ed.2d 207 (1981), the Supreme Court established the framework for the evaluation of employment discrimination claims. "The burden of proof formula set forth in McDonnell Douglas apply to cases under the ADEA." Bates v. Carborundum Co., 623 F.Supp. 613, 617 (N.D.Ind. 1985). First, the employee must establish a prima facie case of discrimination. Next, the employer has the burden of producing a legitimate nondiscriminatory reason for the challenged action. Finally, the burden shifts back to the employee to show that the proffered reasons are pretextual. Id.

The plaintiff's prima facie case is based on the following...