Golden v. World Sec. Agency, Inc.

• Decision Date: 02 August 2012
• Docket Number: Case No. 10 C 7673.
• Parties: Deano GOLDEN, Phylon Moore, and Latrice Reed, Plaintiffs, v. WORLD SECURITY AGENCY, INC., World Security Bureau, Inc., Glendon Groves, and Ibriham Kiswani, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of Illinois

884 F.Supp.2d 675

Deano GOLDEN, Phylon Moore, and Latrice Reed, Plaintiffs,

v.WORLD SECURITY AGENCY, INC., World Security Bureau, Inc., Glendon Groves, and Ibriham Kiswani, Defendants.

Case No. 10 C 7673.

United States District Court,

N.D. Illinois,

Eastern Division.

Aug. 2, 2012.

Jason D. Keck, Uche O. Asonye, Asonye & Associates, Chicago, IL, for Plaintiffs.

Mark David Hansen, Anthony Sargent Graefe, Graefe & Hansen, Ltd., Chicago, IL, for Defendants.

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

MATTHEW F. KENNELLY, District Judge.

Deano Golden, Phylon Moore, and Latrice Reed have sued World Security Agency, Inc. and World Security Bureau, Inc. (collectively WSB), as well as two WSB employees, Ibriham Kiswani and Glendon Groves. Plaintiffs claim that WSB, Groves, and Kiswani subjected them to a hostile work environment, discriminated against them based on their race (African–American), retaliated against them for complaining about this harassment, caused them emotional distress, and failed to comply with federal and state wage laws. Defendants have moved for summary judgment. For the reasons stated below, the Court grants defendants' motion in part and denies it in part.

Background

WSB is a licensed security company that provides guards for facilities including ChicagoHousing Authority (CHA) developments. Kiswani is WSB's operations manager. In that position, he “make[s] sure that the chain of command is followed, [that] paperwork is done correctly, [that] disciplinary actions are accounted for and made,” and he oversees other “day-to-day operations.” Kiswani Dep. at 19:7–12. Kiswani's brother Muhammad also works for WSB and, among other things, is “involved in investigating employee complaints of harassment or discrimination in the workplace, and providing advice to Field Supervisors in addressing personnel issues.” Defs.' L.R. 56.1 Stmt. ¶ 3.

Below the operations manager in WSB's organizational hierarchy are field supervisors, who oversee daily operations at the various work sites. Some field supervisors have the authority to discipline, hire, and fire other employees. Field supervisors oversee site supervisors, who direct guard activities at a particular site. The precise scope of the responsibilities of a site supervisor is a contested issue in this case, and the Court will discuss it in more detail below.

Groves began working for WSB as a security guard in October 2009. He has worked at several CHA sites. WSB initially assigned him to Cabrini Green, later transferred him to Dearborn Homes, and then transferred him to Henry Horner Homes as a site supervisor in February or March 2010. The controversy in this case is based on plaintiffs' alleged experiences with Groves at Dearborn and Henry Horner.

Golden began working for WSB as a security guard in December 2009. After an initial assignment at a facility known at Ickes, he worked for less than two weeks at Dearborn before being transferred to Henry Horner. While at Henry Horner, he worked the same shift as Groves on two occasions and spoke with him once. Golden testified that a resident who was assigned to the “tenant patrol” told him that Groves had used the word “nigger” and that he heard from Hernandez and the other plaintiffs that “Groves had used racial slurs and called some people monkeys.” Defs.' L.R. 56.1 Stmt. ¶ 77. Golden never personally heard Groves use a racial slur. Golden testified that submitted three written complaints regarding Groves's behavior, including one based on a tenant's report of Groves's use of a racial slur and another indicating that Golden “fear[ed] for [his] life” because Groves was armed and had indicated a racial bias. Golden Dep. at 127:5–7.

Moore started working for WSB as a security guard in February 2009. After his initial assignment at Ickes, he worked at Dearborn for a few days and was then moved to Henry Horner. On one occasion at Dearborn, he overheard Groves say to another guard, “Look at this monkey.” The other guard later told Moore that Groves's comment was meant to refer to Moore. Moore testified that he reported the comment to field supervisor Serfin Herrera. He found out just afterward that he was being transferred to Henry Horner. Upon arriving at Henry Horner, Moore found that Groves was assigned to be his supervisor. Moore again complained to Herrera. Almost immediately after Moore did so, Groves received a phone call. Groves then told Moore that “he wanted to apologize for whatever [Moore] heard.” Moore Dep. at 126:5–6. Moore did not accept the apology but did not make any other complaints about the comment.

Moore also testified that “on occasions” he heard Groves “verbally downgrade or talk down to the African Americans in the Henry Horners,” including “maybe at least once a day” making statements such as “sit your black ass down” and “[t]hey need to get their black asses in the house.” Moore Dep. at 182–183. Moore testified that Groves “may have said things, say, ‘zoo animals', or ‘they're caged up, they don't want to leave the projects like animals.’ ” Id. at 186:22–24. Moore never heard Groves use the word “nigger,” but he heard from the same tenant patrol member as Golden that Groves had done so. Moore never submitted a written report to any supervisor or manager regarding an incident that he considered to amount to harassment. Other than the comment reported to Herrera, there is no evidence that Moore reported other incidents.

WSB hired Reed as a security guard in June 2009. After her initial assignment at Ickes, Reed was transferred to Henry Horner in the winter of 2009–10. Reed testified that in the spring of 2010, she overheard Groves telling another guard that he “work[s] with a whole bunch of niggers.” Reed Dep. at 74:1–2. Reed testified that she told Herrera about this statement. Reed testified that Groves sent her a text message containing an image of stick figures including “a black hangman that was hanging from a rope and the rest of [the] hangmen was white.” Id. at 91:9–10. Reed told Groves that she did not think the image was funny, but she did not report it to anyone.

Reed testified that she heard Groves referring to Henry Horner residents' children as “little black-ass boys” and “little niggers,” and that he used those or similar words every day the two worked together. Id. at 144. She also testified that she heard Groves use the terms “porch monkey,” “spic,” and “wetback.” Id. She said that she reported to Herrera in March 2010 that Groves was “kind of getting into it with the tenants by calling them black A's and—well, black ass and little N words, nigger words.” Id. at 57:20–22. She testified that she made similar complaints to field supervisor John Henley in March 2010 and to Herrera in April 2010.

In the early morning hours of September 9, 2010, while WSB security guard Victor Hernandez was working the overnight shift, he showed field supervisor Henley an image that Groves had sent him via text message.¹ The image depicts “light beer” cans wearing Ku Klux Klan-style white hoods surrounding a darker-colored beer bottle hanging from a rope. The image was accompanied by the statement, “can't keep the dark ones with light ones anymore.” Pls.' Resp. to Defs.' L.R. 56.1 Stmt. ¶ 29. Henley reported the image to Israel Ortiz, another field supervisor, who reported it to Ibriham and Muhammad Kiswani. At some point, Hernandez showed the image to Golden, Reed, and Moore. Golden asked Henley to forward the picture to his cell phone. Golden said that his head started hurting after he saw the image. Moore said that he was present when Hernandez showed the image to Kiswani.

Later in the morning of September 9, Muhammad and Ortiz met with Groves at Henry Horner. During the meeting, Groves confirmed that he had sent the text message but said that he had done so inadvertently. The parties dispute what, if any, consequences Groves faced after that. Groves testified that he was suspended for five days and wrote an “apology letter” that was distributed to all the staff. Plaintiffs dispute the timing and distribution of the letter, and they argue that Groves's pay stubs do not reflect that a suspension occurred. Groves was also transferred to another site after the incident, although the parties dispute when and for what reason this occurred.

Golden testified that, at some point, he saw a confederate flag on the handgrip of Groves's firearm and on the rear window of Groves's car. Golden never reported these sightings or spoke with Groves about them. Moore testified that he saw the flag on Groves's gun as well as on a sticker on the glove box inside Groves's car. Moore never reported these sightings or spoke with Groves about them. Reed testified that she saw the flag on the gun but did not report it to management. Reed also said that she saw a flag on the dashboard of Groves's car.

WSB received notices dated October 5, 2010 that plaintiffs had filed charges with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). These charges included claims that Groves had displayed the confederate flag in his vehicle, on his gun, and on his cell phone. Upon receiving the charges, Muhammad Kiswani and a field supervisor went to the Washington Park site, where Groves was working at the time. They took photographs of Groves's vehicle, which at that time contained an American flag but no confederate flag. They also asked to see Groves's gun, but there was no confederate flag image on it.

On or around October 15, 2010, Golden went to the WSB garage to pick up his paycheck. When he did so, he also received a work schedule that showed that he had been reassigned to a different CHA site. He believed that his commute to this site would be “at least an hour, two hours,” whereas his commute to Henry Horner had been “20, 30 minutes.” Golden Dep. at 214:9–14. Although he remained on the midnight–to–8–a.m. shift, the new schedule reduced the number of shifts he worked by “a day or two.” Id. at 159:5. He testified that he...