Hadley v. City of Mebane
| Decision Date | 31 March 2020 |
| Docket Number | 1:18CV366 |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Middle District of North Carolina |
| Parties | MONTRENA HADLEY, Plaintiff, v. CITY OF MEBANE, DAVID CHEEK, CHRISTOPHER ROLLINS, and ESTHER BENNETT, Defendants. |
This matter comes before the court on Defendants City of Mebane ("the City"), David Cheek, Christopher Rollins, and Esther Bennett's Partial Motion to Dismiss. (Doc. 18.) Defendants filed a brief in support of their motion, (Doc. 19). Plaintiff Montrena Hadley has responded, (Doc. 26), and Defendants have replied, (Doc. 29). This matter is ripe for resolution and for the following reasons, this court finds that Defendants' Partial Motion to Dismiss will be granted. Defendants do not challenge Plaintiff's First Claim as to the City or Plaintiff's Third Claim to the extent that Plaintiff alleges a violation of her right to equal protection from discrimination based on race and/or sex. (Doc. 19.)
On a motion to dismiss, a court must "accept as true all of the factual allegations contained in the complaint . . . ." Ray v. Roane, 948 F.3d 222, 226 (4th Cir. 2020) (citing King v. Rubenstein, 825 F.3d 206, 212 (4th Cir. 2016)). The facts, taken in the light most favorable to Plaintiff, are as follows.
Plaintiff Montrena Hadley is an African-American female employee of Defendant, City of Mebane, North Carolina (the "City"). (Am. Compl. (Doc. 13) ¶¶ 2, 14, 16.) The City hired her as a Planning Director in 2001. (Id. ¶ 16.)1 The Planning Director is a supervisory position and serves as the head of the City's Planning and Zoning Department. (Id.) Plaintiff was the City's first and only black department head until 2006. (See id. ¶ 21.) She was the City's only black female department head until Defendants replaced her with a white male in 2017. (Id. ¶ 22.)
Defendant David Cheek is a white male whom the City has employed since 2009. (Id. ¶¶ 4, 40.) Cheek served as Assistant City Manager until 2012 and has served as City Manager since then. (Id. ¶¶ 4, 44.) Defendant Christopher Rollins is a whitemale whom the City has employed as Assistant City Manager since 2013. (Id. ¶ 5.) Defendant Esther Bennett, (collectively with Cheek and Rollins, "Individual Defendants"), is a white female whom the City has employed as Human Resources Director and Risk Manager since 2009. (Id. ¶ 6.) Plaintiff sues Individual Defendants in their individual and official capacities. (Id. ¶¶ 4-6.)
A plaintiff "alleging discrimination in violation of Title VII must first file an administrative charge with the EEOC within a certain time of the alleged unlawful act." Chacko v. Patuxent Inst., 429 F.3d 505, 508 (4th Cir. 2005). Plaintiff must "describe generally the action or practices complained of." Id. at 508 (quoting 29 C.F.R. § 1601.12(b) (2004)). A plaintiff's Title VII claims in court, however, may not "exceed the scope of the EEOC charge and any charges that would naturally have arisen from an investigation thereof, they are procedurally barred." Id. (quoting Dennis v. Cty. of Fairfax, 55 F.3d 151, 156 (4th Cir. 1995)). Because Plaintiff's EEOC Charge necessarily circumscribes what Plaintiff may now plead, the court will begin with that Charge.
In her May 9, 2017 EEOC Charge, Plaintiff's allegations relate primarily to her not receiving a promotion. (Am. Compl.(Doc. 13) Ex. 1, EEOC Charge (Doc. 13-1) at 1.) She alleges that she was hired by the City as a Planning Director in 2001 and has been reporting to a white male Assistant City Manager since 2013. (Id.) Plaintiff further alleges that in 2014, her "title was changed to Planning Officer, but [she] retained the same responsibilities and pay." (Id.) Finally, she claims that in 2016, the Assistant City Manager notified her that the City was hiring a Development Director, which was an external job posting. (Id.) Plaintiff charges that she applied and was interviewed for the position but was not selected. (Id.) Instead, Defendants hired a white male who was "neither more qualified nor more experienced" than Plaintiff. (Id.)
In her position as Planning Director, Plaintiff had a variety of responsibilities, including overseeing the Mebane Planning Board, making recommendations about zoning and planning proposals, and maintaining the daily operations of the Planning and Zoning Department, among others. (Id. ¶¶ 23-25.)
In addition to those responsibilities, Plaintiff alleges that she effectively performed the responsibilities of a Zoning Administrator, regularly working fifty to sixty hours per week — more than any other salaried City employee. (Id. ¶¶ 27, 30-31.) During Plaintiff's employment with the City, the City Councilhad not allocated funds to the Planning Department for additional hires to alleviate Plaintiff's workload, despite certain assurances from former-City Manager Wilson that it would. (Id. ¶¶ 34, 36-37.)
Wilson retired as City Manager in 2012, but the City did not announce a job vacancy to recruit replacement candidates. (Id. ¶¶ 42-43.) Rather, in the months leading up to Wilson's retirement, Defendant Cheek was chosen to replace Wilson, in turn creating a vacancy for Assistant City Manager. (Id. ¶ 44.) The City did not post a vacancy for the Assistant City Manager position either. (Id. ¶ 45.)
Before he retired, Wilson told Plaintiff not to pursue the Assistant City Manager position. (See id. ¶ 46.) Plaintiff nevertheless informed Defendant Cheek of her interest in the Assistant City Manager position. (Id. ¶ 47.) Cheek interviewed Plaintiff but did not offer her the position, explaining that he needed someone "more familiar with pump stations." (Id. ¶ 47.) Upon learning of Plaintiff's interview with Defendant Cheek, Wilson told Plaintiff that "she should only apply for positions in cities where minorities or women are encouraged to apply." (Id. ¶ 48.) Defendant Cheek ultimately hired his long-time friend, Defendant Rollins, as Assistant City Manager. (Id. ¶¶ 49-50.) Defendant Rollins previously served as the CityManager for the City of Graham, North Carolina. (Id. ¶ 49.) Plaintiff alleges that no City employee ever formally interviewed Defendant Rollins for the position. (Id. ¶ 51.)
Plaintiff asked Defendant Bennett, the City's Human Resources Director, if she could file a grievance or appeal of Cheek's denial of her application for Assistant City Manager. (See id. ¶ 54.) The City had no related policy or procedure outlining such an appeal. (Id.) Defendant Bennett told Plaintiff that she could ask to discuss it later but took no other action. (Id.)
In January 2013, Defendant Rollins started as Assistant City Manager, overseeing Plaintiff as Planning Director. (Id. ¶ 55.) Defendant Cheek and/or Defendant Rollins allegedly approached former-City Manager Wilson after he retired to discuss replacing Plaintiff as head of the Planning Department. (Id. ¶ 62.) Wilson allegedly told them to wait until Plaintiff retired. (Id. ¶ 63.) Plaintiff alleges that Defendant Rollins did not want to work closely with Plaintiff due to her race and/or sex, (id. ¶¶ 60-61), and subjected her to more scrutiny than other employees under his supervision, who are all white, (id. ¶ 58).2 Plaintiff alleges that she is the only City employee"who has been singled out and disparately treated to her detriment in regards to performance evaluations and review scores." (Id. ¶ 59.)
In the spring of 2013, Defendants worked with the Piedmont Triad Regional Council of Governments ("PTRC") to conduct a Classification and Pay Plan Study. (Id. ¶ 64.) The study allegedly found that Plaintiff was performing the duties of a Planning Officer, not a Planning Director. (Id. ¶¶ 66-67.) As a result of the Classification and Pay Plan Study, Defendants changed Plaintiff's job title in 2014, from Planning Director to Planning Officer. (Id. ¶ 65.) Plaintiff's salary and responsibilities did not change, and Plaintiff continued to act in a "supervisory role as the sole-member of the Planning & Zoning Department," despite her new role being a nonsupervisory position. (Id. ¶¶ 64-65, 77-78, 83.)3 Plaintiff alleges that she continued to perform all the functions of the Planning Director satisfactorily after her title change to Planning Officer. (Id. ¶ 81.) She also alleges that no grievance or appeal procedure existed to allow her to challenge her job-title change. (Id. ¶ 76.)
When Defendants changed Plaintiff's title, they contended that she was not performing several of the Planning Director's job functions and that Defendant Rollins was himself performing several of those functions. (Id. ¶¶ 66-67.) Plaintiff disputes this contention, alleging that Defendants' decision to change her job title was not based on her job performance, but rather because, as Defendant Rollins told her, "a couple of knuckleheads" on the City Council did not think she could do the job. (Id. ¶¶ 68-70.) The City Council for the City of Mebane is all-white. (Id. ¶ 71.) Plaintiff alleges that one councilman and/or his company has been subject to multiple complaints of racial discrimination, one resulting in a monetary settlement. (Id. ¶¶ 73-74.)
Plaintiff alleges that the job-title change was an "arbitrary and capricious adverse employment action." (Id. ¶ 84.) She alleges that she was subjected to disparate treatment because of her race and/or sex. (Id. ¶ 86.)
A few years later, on or around October 28, 2016, Defendant Rollins told Plaintiff that he was "thinking about going in another direction" with the Planning Department and that Defendants Cheek and Bennett were drafting a description for a new "Director" or "Manager" position. (Id. ¶ 90.) On or aroundNovember 1, 2016, Defendant Bennett posted on the City's website a job announcement for a "Development Director," made up of portions of...
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