Hargens v. US Dept. of Agriculture
| Decision Date | 26 October 1994 |
| Docket Number | No. C 92-4076.,C 92-4076. |
| Citation | 865 F. Supp. 1314 |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Northern District of West Virginia |
| Parties | G. Dean HARGENS, Plaintiffs, v. UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, Secretary Mike Espy, et al., Defendants. |
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I John Rossi, Des Moines, IA, for plaintiff.
Willis A. Buell, Asst. U.S. Atty., Sioux City, IA, for defendants.
ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART DEFENDANT'S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT
I. PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND ........................................................... 1317
II. STANDARDS FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT .................................................. 1318
III. FINDINGS OF FACT ................................................................ 1320
A. Undisputed Facts ............................................................ 1320
B. Disputed Facts .............................................................. 1321
IV. LEGAL ANALYSIS .................................................................. 1321
A. The Rehabilitation Act Claim ................................................ 1321
1. Exhaustion Of Administrative Remedies ................................... 1323
2. Consideration Of Claims Not Raised In An EEO Complaint .................. 1324
B. The Title VII Retaliation Claim ............................................. 1328
V. CONCLUSION ...................................................................... 1330
In this employment discrimination litigation, plaintiff claims that he was constructively discharged from his position as a county executive director for the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service (ASCS) in retaliation for making claims of sexual harassment to United States Department of Agriculture Equal Employment Opportunity investigators in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-3 and that he was constructively discharged for a mental disability in violation of § 501 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (hereinafter the Rehabilitation Act), 29 U.S.C. § 791. The defendant Secretary of Agriculture has moved for summary judgment first on the ground that there is no genuine issue of material fact that ASCS took no actions in reprisal or retaliation for activities of the plaintiff protected under Title VII. The Secretary of Agriculture has also moved for summary judgment on the ground that plaintiff has not exhausted administrative remedies on his claim under the Rehabilitation Act and cannot, in any event, establish a claim of disability under that act.
Plaintiff G. Dean Hargens (Hargens), the former county executive director of the Hardin County, Iowa, office of the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service (ASCS), filed his complaint in this action on September 15, 1992. Hargens's complaint alleged sexual harassment in the form of retaliation for filing sexual harassment claims with his superiors and the Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) officer of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e, a claim of discharge for a mental disability in violation of § 501 of the Rehabilitation Act, 29 U.S.C. § 791, a claim of violation of 5 U.S.C. § 2302(b)(8), commonly known as a "whistle-blower" protection provision, and claims of contractual interference, libel, slander, and invasion of privacy. Defendants were USDA Secretary Edward Madigan (for whom Secretary Mike Espy was subsequently substituted); the Hardin County, Iowa, ASCS; the Iowa State ASCS; and Hardin County ASCS County Committee Members Craig A. Olthoff, Harold Lloyd, Douglas Munson, and Leland Coburn. Defendants moved to extend time to answer, and then on December 16, 1992, moved to dismiss the complaint. While that motion was pending, on June 9, 1993, Hargens filed an amended complaint.
On October 4, 1993, Hon. Donald E. O'Brien, Senior Judge, entered an order dismissing the claims of contractual interference, libel, slander, invasion of privacy, and the whistle-blower claim under 5 U.S.C. § 2302(b)(8), and dismissing all defendants except Secretary of Agriculture Mike Espy. Thus, the only claims remaining are the Title VII claim of retaliation and the Rehabilitation Act claim under 29 U.S.C. § 791. Espy has moved for summary judgment on these remaining claims.
The Eighth Circuit recognizes "that summary judgment is a drastic remedy and must be exercised with extreme care to prevent taking genuine issues of fact away from juries." Wabun-Inini v. Sessions, 900 F.2d 1234, 1238 (8th Cir.1990). On the other hand, the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure have authorized for nearly 60 years "motions for summary judgment upon proper showings of the lack of a genuine, triable issue of material fact." Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 327, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 2554, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). Thus, "summary judgment procedure is properly regarded not as a disfavored procedural shortcut, but rather as an integral part of the Federal Rules as a whole, which are designed `to secure the just, speedy and inexpensive determination of every action.'" Wabun-Inini, 900 F.2d at 1238 (quoting Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 327, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 2554, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986)); Hartnagel v. Norman, 953 F.2d 394, 396 (8th Cir.1992).
The standard for granting summary judgment is well established. Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure states in pertinent part:
Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(b) & (c) (emphasis added); see also Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322-23, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 2552, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986); Munz v. Michael, 28 F.3d 795, 798 (8th Cir.1994); Roth v. U.S.S. Great Lakes Fleet, Inc., 25 F.3d 707, 708 (8th Cir. 1994); Cole v. Bone, 993 F.2d 1328, 1331 (8th Cir.1993); Woodsmith Publishing Co. v. Meredith Corp., 904 F.2d 1244, 1247 (8th Cir.1990); Wabun-Inini, 900 F.2d at 1238 (citing Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c)).1 A court considering a motion for summary judgment must view all the facts in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party, here Hargens, and give Hargens the benefit of all reasonable inferences that can be drawn from the facts. Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 587, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 1356, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986) (quoting United States v. Diebold, Inc., 369 U.S. 654, 655, 82 S.Ct. 993, 994, 8 L.Ed.2d 176 (1962)); Munz v. Michael, 28 F.3d 795, 796 (8th Cir.1994); Allison v. Flexway Trucking, Inc., 28 F.3d 64, 66 (8th Cir.1994); Johnson v. Group Health Plan, Inc., 994 F.2d 543, 545 (8th Cir.1993); Burk v. Beene, 948 F.2d 489, 492 (8th Cir.1991); Coday v. City of Springfield, 939 F.2d 666, 667 (8th Cir.1991), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 112 S.Ct. 1170, 117 L.Ed.2d 416 (1992).
Procedurally, the moving party, here Espy, bears "the initial responsibility of informing the district court of the basis for his motion and identifying those portions of the record which show lack of a genuine issue." Hartnagel, 953 F.2d at 395 (citing Celotex, 477 U.S. at 323, 106 S.Ct. at 2552); see also Reed v. Woodruff County, Ark., 7 F.3d 808, 810 (8th Cir.1993). Espy is not required by Rule 56 to support his motion with affidavits or other similar materials negating the opponent's claim. Id.
"When a moving party has carried its burden under Rule 56(c), its opponent must do more than simply show there is some metaphysical doubt as to the material facts." Matsushita, 475 U.S. at 586, 106 S.Ct. at 1355. Hargens is required under Rule 56(e) to go beyond the pleadings, and by affidavits, or by the "depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file," designate "specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial." Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(e); Celotex, 477 U.S. at 324, 106 S.Ct. at 2553. Although "direct proof is not required to create a jury question, ... to avoid summary judgment, `the facts and circumstances relied upon must attain the dignity of substantial evidence and must not be such as merely to create a suspicion.'" Metge v. Baehler, 762 F.2d 621, 625 (8th Cir.1985) (quoting Impro Products, Inc. v. Herrick, 715 F.2d 1267, 1272 (8th Cir.1983), cert. denied, 465 U.S. 1026, 104 S.Ct. 1282, 79 L.Ed.2d 686 (1984)), cert. denied, 474 U.S. 1057, 106 S.Ct. 798, 88 L.Ed.2d 774 (1986). The necessary proof that the nonmoving party must produce is not precisely measurable, but the evidence must be "such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party." Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 2510, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986); Allison v. Flexway Trucking, Inc., 28 F.3d 64, 66 (8th Cir. 1994).
In Anderson, 477 U.S. at 249, 106 S.Ct. at 2510, Celotex, 477 U.S. at 323-24, 106 S.Ct. at 2552-53, and Matsushita, 475 U.S. at 586-87, 106 S.Ct. at 1355-56, the Supreme Court established that a summary judgment motion should be interpreted by the trial court to accomplish its purpose of disposing of factually unsupported claims, and the trial judge's function is not to weigh the evidence and determine the truth of the matter, but to determine whether there is a genuine issue for trial. Johnson v. Enron Corp., 906 F.2d 1234, 1237 (8th Cir.1990). The trial court, therefore, must "assess the adequacy of the nonmovants' response and whether that showing, on admissible evidence, would be sufficient to carry the burden of proof at trial." Hartn...
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