Equal Emp't Opportunity Comm'n v. DHL Express (USA), Inc.

• Decision Date: 30 December 2021
• Docket Number: 10 C 6139
• Citation: 577 F.Supp.3d 754
• Parties: EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION, Plaintiff, and Reginald Bailey, Kenneth Briscoe, Oliver Dean, Melvin Edwards, John Ellis, Ronnie Ford, Benita Green-Riley, Nathaniel Jackson, Michael Johnson, Anthony Jordan, Miranda Lester, Sandra McNeely, Edgar Medley, Timothy Price, Alonzo Studstill, Paul Thomas, Randy Thompson, Sharee Washington, George White, and Sandra Williams, Intervenor-Plaintiffs, v. DHL EXPRESS (USA), INC., Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of Illinois

577 F.Supp.3d 754

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION, Plaintiff,

and

Reginald Bailey, Kenneth Briscoe, Oliver Dean, Melvin Edwards, John Ellis, Ronnie Ford, Benita Green-Riley, Nathaniel Jackson, Michael Johnson, Anthony Jordan, Miranda Lester, Sandra McNeely, Edgar Medley, Timothy Price, Alonzo Studstill, Paul Thomas, Randy Thompson, Sharee Washington, George White, and Sandra Williams,¹ Intervenor-Plaintiffs,

v.DHL EXPRESS (USA), INC., Defendant.

No. 10 C 6139

United States District Court, N.D. Illinois, Eastern Division.

Signed December 30, 2021

Ann M. Henry, Bradley S. Fiorito, John C. Hendrickson, Laurie S. Elkin, Elizabeth B. Banaszak, Ethan M.M. Cohen, Gregory M. Gochanour, United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Chicago, IL, for Plaintiff.

Lee D. Winston, Pro Hac Vice, Winston Cooks, LLC, Birmingham, AL, for Intervenor-Plaintiff Nathaniel Jackson.

Lee D. Winston, Pro Hac Vice, Roderick T. Cooks, Pro Hac Vice, Winston Cooks, LLC, Birmingham, AL, Leonard C. Goodman, Melissa Ann Matuzak, Attorney at Law, Chicago, IL, for Intervenor-Plaintiffs Sheree Washington, Alonzo Studstill, Melvin Edwards, Paul Thomas, Anthony Jordan, Sandra Williams, George White, John Ellis, Edgar Medley, Oliver Dean, Ronnie Ford, Sandra McNeely, Miranda Lester, Reginald Bailey, Timothy Price, Michael Johnson, Kenneth Brisco, Benita Green-Riley, Randy Thompson.

Camille Annette Olson, Matthew James Gagnon, Richard Burk Lapp, Uma Chandrasekaran, Seyfarth Shaw LLP, Chicago, IL, David Bennett Ross, Seyfarth Shaw LLP, New York, NY, for Defendant.

ORDER

John Z. Lee, United States District Judge On behalf of eighty-three truck drivers, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") has sued DHL Express (USA), Inc. ("DHL") for discrimination on account of race² in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ("Title VII"), 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq. Specifically, the EEOC alleges that DHL assigned Black truck drivers to more dangerous or demanding routes, tasked them with more arduous dock work, and segregated them from white drivers. Twenty-one of these drivers have intervened and additionally assert a claim under Title I of the Civil Rights Act of 1991, 42 U.S.C. § 1981a ("section 1981").³ DHL has moved for summary judgment as to the EEOC's claims, the intervenors' claims, and their requests for punitive damages. For the reasons below, the motion is granted in part and denied in part.

I. Background ⁴

A. The Parties

DHL provides express shipping services. Def.'s LR 56.1(a)(2) Statement of Facts ("DSOF") ¶ 1, ECF No. 365. During the time frame relevant to this lawsuit, DHL operated regional shipping stations in Alsip (also known as Midway), Lisle, and Franklin Park, Illinois, among other places. Id. ; see Def.'s Ex. 5, Bailey Dep. ("Bailey Dep.") at 40:21–41:7, ECF No. 366-1. The parties consistently refer to these stations by code name, and the Court similarly will refer to the Alsip shipping center as "JOT," Lisle as "DPA," and Franklin Park as "ORD." DSOF ¶ 4. After undergoing corporate restructuring in 2008, DHL consolidated the operations of the JOT and DPA stations within the ORD facility. Id. ¶ 2.

Within each of DHL's shipping stations, Field Service Supervisors ("supervisors") assign drivers to different routes and dock work. Def.'s Ex. 89, Colella Dep. ("Colella Dep.") at 7:17–23:9, ECF No. 366-5. Supervisors are authorized to discipline a driver and are not required to seek approval to do so. Id. at 10:16–21; Def.'s Ex. 88, Brandt Dep. ("Brandt Dep") at 36:3–9, ECF No. 366-5; Def.'s Ex. 90, Montgomery Dep. ("Montgomery Dep.") at 13:13–14:13, ECF No. 366-5; Def.'s Ex. 95, Sintich Dep. ("Sintich Dep.") at 23:5–7, ECF No. 366-5. Supervisors also may recommend to the station's manager that a driver be terminated. See Brandt Dep. at 35:9–11; Montgomery Dep. at 13:13–14:13; Sintich Dep. at 23:16–19.

The EEOC is a federal agency authorized to bring actions to enforce Title VII. See 42 U.S.C. § 2000e–5(f)(1), (3). The EEOC claims that DHL supervisors at JOT and DPA issued route assignments in a discriminatory manner from 2005 to 2009. It also asserts that supervisors at ORD engaged in a similar practice from 2009 to the present. In addition, the EEOC alleges that supervisors at all three shipping centers assigned dock work based upon an individual's race and segregated employees into different races since 2005. The EEOC has brought this enforcement action on behalf of eighty-three Black truck drivers currently or formerly employed at JOT, DPA, and ORD. Id. ¶ 4.

The drivers include:

1. Akenton, Maxwell	17. Fefee, David
2. Allen, Calvin	18. Percy Fields
3. Anderson, Darrell	19. Ford, Ronnie*
4. Azor, Philip	20. Foster, DeMarco
5. Bailey, Reginald*	21. Fulks, Michael
6. Bonslater-Burnett, Alma	22. Gilbert, Paul
7. Brantley, Andrea	23. Green, Nicholas
8. Briscoe, Kenneth*	24. Green-Riley, Benita*
9. Britton, Thomas	25. Haven, Johann
10. Brown, Derwin	26. Hayes, Jimmie
11. Buffkin, Shuray	27. Hill, Felicia
12. Calhoun, Anthony	28. Hopkins, Philip
13. Cummings, Kevin	29. Huggins, Lisa
14. Dean, Oliver*	30. Jackson, Demario
15. Edwards, Melvin*	31. Jackson, Nathaniel*
16. Ellis, John*	32. Johnson, Christopher
33. Johnson, JC	59. Robertson, Allan
34. Johnson, Michael*	60. Robinson, Aubrey
35. Jones, Joseph	61. Robinson, Ryan
36. Jones, Sean	62. Robinson, Sharon
37. Jordan, Anthony*	63. Scott, John
38. Kelly, Allan	64. Shields, Millicent
39. Kelly, Reginald	65. Singleton, Renard
40. Lester, Miranda*	66. Smart, Kirby
41. Lewis, Leslie	67. Smith, Curtis
42. Lowe, Michael	68. Smith, Darrell
43. Lyons, Robert	69. Smith, William
44. Martin, Charles	70. Stewart, Gregory
45. May, Edward	71. Stewart, Loron
46. McCall, Anthony	72. Street, Toxey
47. McNeal, Aldrich	73. Studstill, Alonzo*
48. McNeely, Sandra*	74. Thomas, Paul*
49. Medley, Edgar*	75. Thompson, Randy*
50. Miller, Erskine	76. Thornton, Jerry
51. Murphy, Alonzo	77. Washington, Sharee*
52. Noys, Antonio	78. Wetherspoon, Ricky
53. Oliver, Landers	79. White, George*
54. Perry, Angela	80. Williams, Arthur
55. Price, Timothy*	81. Williams, Sandra*
56. Quarles, Chris	82. Willis, Sheldon
57. Reams, Lewis	83. Young, Jamaine
58. Redd, Willie

EEOC & Intervenors' LR 56.1(b)(2) Statement of Additional Facts ("PSOAF") ¶ 2, ECF No. 374. (An asterisk next to a driver's name denotes that the driver has intervened in the case.)

DHL drivers typically pick-up and deliver parcels along routes within DHL's service areas. DSOF ¶ 5. They also perform dock assignments such as loading, unloading, and sorting freight and letters. Id.

Drivers are subject to a collective bargaining agreement ("CBA"). Id. ¶ 23. Under the CBA, the particular shipping center and time slot to which a driver is assigned depends largely on her seniority. Id. A driver can bid for a time slot and shipping center through an annual bidding process. Id. Once a driver is assigned to a center and a time slot, however, routes and dock work are allocated by supervisors. Id. ¶ 24; PSOAF ¶¶ 19, 85; Colella Dep. at 7:17–23:9.

B. Procedural History

Before the case was assigned to this Court, DHL moved for partial summary judgment before then-District Judge Amy St. Eve. Judge St. Eve granted the motion as to certain intervenors' individual discrimination claims and denied the motion as to the EEOC's claims on behalf of those intervenors. EEOC v. DHL Exp. (USA), Inc. , No. 10 C 6139, 2011 WL 1326941, at *1 (N.D. Ill. Apr. 7, 2011). Summary judgment was awarded in DHL's favor as to claims brought by six intervenors, because they had signed waivers and releases as part of DHL's Voluntary Separation Programs. They are (1) Reginald Bailey, (2) Benita Green-Riley, (3) Anthony Jordan, (4) Sandra McNeely, (5) Randy Thompson, and (6) Sandra Williams. Id. at *9 ; see Pls.' Resp. DSOF ("Resp. DSOF") ¶ 31, ECF No. 368. Fourteen other intervenors did not sign the waiver and release, and their claims remain. These intervenors are: (1) Kenneth Briscoe, (2) Oliver Dean, (3) Melvin Edwards, (4) John Ellis, (5) Ronnie Ford, (6) Nathaniel Jackson, (7) Michael Johnson, (8) Miranda Lester, (9) Edgar Medley, (10) Timothy Price, (11) Alonzo Studstill, (12) Paul Thomas, (13) Sharee Washington, and (14) George White (collectively, the "remaining intervenors").

In addition to the claims asserted by the individual intervenors, the EEOC also filed claims on their behalf. In response, DHL sought summary judgment as to the EEOC's claims related to the six drivers, whose individual claims were dismissed, but Judge St. Eve denied that request, explaining that the EEOC's "enforcement authority is not derivative of the legal rights of individuals even when it is seeking to make them whole." E.E.O.C. v. DHL Exp. (USA), Inc. , 2011 WL 1326941, at *4 (quoting EEOC v. Sidley Austin LLP , 437 F.3d 695, 696 (7th Cir. 2006) ).

In the end, what remains before this Court are the EEOC's claims on behalf of all eighty-three drivers (including all twenty intervenors), as well as the individual claims of the fourteen intervenors, who did not sign a waiver and release.

C. Alleged Discrimination at JOT, DPA, and ORD

The EEOC and the remaining intervenors claim that DHL supervisors discriminated against them due to their race at one or more of the three DHL stations at issue. Specifically, they contend that they were assigned more dangerous and demanding routes and more arduous dock work and were subjected to segregation.⁵

1. JOT (Alsip)

The claims related to JOT are based upon incidents that occurred at that facility from 2005 until the station's closure sometime in 2009. See DSOF ¶ 2.

a. JOT Supervisors and Routes

Between 2005 and 2009, Frank Pehlke, Robert Sintich, and Steven Szajkovics supervised the morning shift, and Rocco Colella, William Ehrhart, Robert Guerrero, and Anthony Matwij supervised the afternoon shift. PSOAF ¶¶ 3, 47; Colella Dep. at 6:14–14:6; id. at 32:11–20; Sintich Dep. at 12:3–14. During the morning shift, Pehlke, Sintich, or Szajkovics were responsible for assigning routes. Sintich Dep. at 15:16–17:24. In the afternoon shift, Matwij and Ehrhart...