Goodall-Gaillard v. N.J. Dep't of Corr.
| Decision Date | 24 June 2014 |
| Docket Number | Civ. No. 2:09-00954 (KM)(MAH) |
| Parties | STACEY GOODALL-GAILLARD, Plaintiff, v. NEW JERSEY DEP'T OF CORRECTIONS, et al., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of New Jersey |
This matter comes before the Court upon motions for summary judgment brought on behalf of two separate groups of Defendants (Docket Nos. 148, 149). Because each group joins in the arguments of the other, I discuss the motions together.
The factual allegations are highly involved. I have attempted to categorize Plaintiff's many allegations and place them in rough chronological order. (See Section I.B, pp. 4-32, infra.) Because it is difficult to assess their significance on first reading, I preview my legal analysis very briefly.
The causes of action fall into two broad categories: Constitutional claims, and discrimination claims under Title VII and parallel state law. For threshold legal reasons, the Constitutional claims primarily implicate, not DOC, but the individual defendants in their individual capacities. Contrariwise, the statutory claims primarily implicate DOC, and not the individual defendants. The Constitutional claims against the individuals are dismissed primarily because they are legally infirm. Thus, for example, there is no viable First Amendment retaliation issue for trial, mostly because Plaintiff did not express herself on matters of public concern. There is no Fourth Amendment issue because an unwanted sexual advance is not a search or seizure. (See Section II.B, pp. 38-41, infra.) The statutory claims against DOC for Title VII retaliation and discrimination primarily fail because the claimed issues of fact either do not have evidentiary support or are not material to the particular cause of action against DOC, and hence do not survive the McDonnell Douglas burden-shiftinganalysis. Thus, for example, Plaintiff's myriad filed grievances concerning routine workplace complaints, because they are not plausibly linked to gender or any other protected category, fail to support a Title VII retaliation claim. Many allegations are accompanied by accusations of gender bias, but there is insufficient specific evidence of discriminatory animus. (See Section II.C, pp. 47-55, infra.)
Finding that there is no genuine issue of material fact requiring trial, I enter summary judgment in favor of the Defendants.
The plaintiff, Stacey Goodall-Gaillard, brings this civil rights action against the New Jersey Department of Corrections ("DOC"), Commissioner George Hayman, Assistant Commissioner Lydell Sherrer, Assistant Administrator Eric Stokes, Chief Dean Yatauro, Chief Antonio Campos, Captain Richard Gilgallon, Lieutenant Wilfred Mungro, Lieutenant William Anderson, Sergeant Darron Daye, Luther Gregg, and Lance Byrd. See AC (Docket No. 17).
The Amended Complaint ("AC") alleges that Defendants unfairly targeted Plaintiff, a female Corrections Officer ("CO") at Northern State Prison, and subjected her to discriminatory treatment at her work place. Id. She alleges that this discrimination was based on her gender and her status as the recipient of seniority credit under a consent decree entered in Holland v. N.J. Dep't. of Corrections,. 246 F.3d 267 (3d Cir. 2001). AC ¶¶ 19-20.
The Amended Complaint contains eleven causes of action in all. Plaintiff alleges violations of the First, Fourth, Fifth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution (Counts 1-4); Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Count 5); 42 U.S.C. § 1981 (Count 6); and the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination ("LAD") (Count 7). She also alleges conspiracy to violate her constitutional rights (Count 8), as well as additional violations of 42 U.S.C. § 1983 under theories of deliberate indifference, selective enforcement, and Monell liability (Counts 9-11).
On August 20, 2008, Plaintiff filed a Charge of Discrimination ("EEOC Charge") against the DOC with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC"). The EEOC Charge alleged that she was subjected to a hostile work environment, and that she was discriminated against on the basisof her gender in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Defendants' Joint Statement of Material Fact ("DSMF") Ex. RR, EEOC Charge 8/22/2008. The EEOC issued a right-to-sue letter on December 8, 2008, but noted that its investigation did not confirm any statutory violations. DSMF Ex. DDD, EEOC Right to Sue Letter 12/4/2003. Plaintiff, acting pro se, filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey on March 4, 2009. Complaint (Docket No. I).1 Plaintiff obtained counsel on September 10, 2009. (Docket No. 16). On September 23, 2009, with the benefit of counsel, she filed an Amended Complaint ("AC"). (Docket No. 17).
On October 22, 2009, Defendants Greg, Mungro, Anderson, Daye, Byrd, Hayman, Sherrer, Stokes, Yatauro, Campos, Gilgallon and DOC filed a motion to dismiss the Amended Complaint on the basis of the Younger and Rooker-Feldman abstention doctrines. (Docket No. 22). In an Opinion and Order dated March 15, 2010, Hon. Faith Hochberg, the District Judge then assigned to the case, denied the motion to dismiss. (Docket No. 37). Plaintiff moved to amend the Complaint a second time on February 17, 2011. (Docket No. 86). Then-Magistrate Judge Patty Schwartz2 denied the motion to amend on March 24, 2011. (Docket No. 102).
The Defendants moved for summary judgment on May 31, 2011. (Docket Nos. 148, 149). After the motions were filed, the case was reassigned: first to Judge Claire C. Cecchi on June 30, 2011 (Docket No. 176), then temporarily to Judge Esther Salas on August 22, 2011 (Docket No. 211), and then back to Judge Cecchi on September 19, 2011. The summary judgment motions were administratively terminated by Judge Cecchi on November 6, 2011, to allow for settlement discussions. (Docket No. 215). On June 7, 2012, the Court referred the case to an appointed mediator. (Docket No. 222).
The case was reassigned to me on August 1, 2012. (Docket No. 225). Following an unsuccessful mediation, the summary judgment motions were reinstated on January 15, 2013. (Docket No. 230).
The Amended Complaint alleges that the Defendants unlawfully discriminated against Plaintiff and violated her constitutional rights while she was employed by DOC. Defendants Hayman and Stokes are sued in their official capacities only. Defendants Sherrer, Yatauro, and Campos are sued in their official, individual, and supervisory capacities. AC ¶¶ 7-11. Plaintiff seeks compensatory damages of $250,000 for each cause of action, as well as punitive damages, attorneys' fees and costs, and any other relief the Court finds just and reasonable. AC at 12.
Plaintiff generally alleges that she was unfairly targeted by the Defendants because of her gender and her status as a beneficiary of the Holland consent decree. AC ¶¶ 19-21. Under the terms of that consent decree, she received eight years' retroactive seniority credit. She alleges that she was warned not to disclose that fact to protect herself against retaliation. Id. ¶ 20. For several years, alleges Plaintiff, she has been subjected to more severe punishment than male colleagues, and has been assigned menial jobs because she would not accede to the sexual demands of Defendants. Id. ¶ 22. She also alleges that less qualified recruits are given preferential treatment because they engage in improper relations with supervisors. Id. ¶ 23. Plaintiff alleges that she has been "forced out of work" on more than one occasion, deprived of herprivately-owned weapon, and subjected to an increased workload. Id. ¶ 24-25. Finally, Plaintiff alleges that when she complained about the misconduct, Defendants unfairly disciplined, harassed, and retaliated against her. See id. ¶ 26-24.
DOC policy prohibits employment discrimination or harassment based on race or sex/gender. It is a violation of that policy to treat an employee less favorably based on her membership in a protected category, or to use derogatory or demeaning references regarding the protected categories. Retaliation based on claims of discrimination under the policy is also prohibited.
The DOC policy provides in relevant part:
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