Hawkins v. Leggett

• Decision Date: 24 June 2013
• Docket Number: Civil Action No. 12–cv–00623 AW.
• Citation: 955 F.Supp.2d 474
• Parties: Jay HAWKINS, Plaintiff, v. Isiah LEGGETT et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Maryland

955 F.Supp.2d 474

Jay HAWKINS, Plaintiff,

v.Isiah LEGGETT et al., Defendants.

Civil Action No. 12–cv–00623 AW.

United States District Court,

D. Maryland,

Southern Division.

June 24, 2013.

C. Sei Hee Arii, Arii Law Firm, LLC, Gwenlynn Whittle D. Souza, Gwenlynn Whittle D. Souza, Rockville, MD, for Plaintiff.

Patricia P. Via, Paul F. Leonard, Jr., Rockville, MD, for Defendants.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

ALEXANDER WILLIAMS, JR., District Judge.

Plaintiff Jay Hawkins brings this employment discrimination action against several Defendants, including Montgomery County, Maryland. Pending before the Court are three Motions: (1) Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment; (2) Plaintiff's Motion for Leave to Amend Complaint; and (3) Plaintiff's Motion for Sanctions for Fabrication and Spoliation of Evidence. The Parties have exhaustively briefed all outstanding Motions. The Court has carefully reviewed the record and deems a hearing unnecessary. For the following reasons, the Court GRANTS Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment, DENIES Plaintiff's Motion for Leave to Amend Complaint, and DENIES Plaintiff's Motion for Sanctions for Fabrication and Spoliation of Evidence.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

This consolidated case sounds in employment discrimination. Plaintiff Jay Hawkins is an African–American male who worked for the Montgomery County Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (the Department) from 2006 to 2011 as a correctional officer. Defendants terminated Plaintiff in 2011 for lying and establishing an inappropriate relationship with an inmate. Plaintiff has sued the following Defendants: (1) Montgomery County, Maryland (the County); the Department; IsiahLeggett, County Executive for Montgomery County, Maryland; and Arthur Wallenstein, Director of the Department.

The Department operates two detention facilities: (1) Montgomery County Correctional Facility, located in Boyds, Maryland; and (2) Montgomery County Detention Center, located in Rockville, Maryland. Slightly over three-hundred correctional officers are employed at these facilities. The racial and gender makeup of the employees is as follows: African–American officers—199 (66%) (55 female, 144 male); Caucasian officers—90 (30%) (8 female, 82 male); Hispanic officers—7 (2%) (2 female, 5 male); and Asian–American officers—7 (2%) (all male).

The facility where Plaintiff worked was divided into three units which, in turn, were subdivided into pods. A pod is an area of the jail that houses a cluster of inmate cells. Correctional officers were posted at various pods throughout the facility. According to Plaintiff, the “medium/maximum” pods were the most dangerous because most of the lockdowns occurred there. Plaintiff was often assigned to the medium/maximum pods in Unit 2.

In 2009–2010, Plaintiff became concerned about what he perceived as a pattern of discrimination in the post assignments of correctional officers. Basically, Plaintiff believed that African–American guards were substantially more likely to be assigned to the most dangerous posts (i.e., the medium/maximum pods). Plaintiff eventually complained to Department officials.

The Department investigated Plaintiff's concerns. A deputy of Warden Robert L. Green conducted the investigation. Based on the deputy's investigation, Warden Green concluded that there “could have been the appearance” of a problem. Subsequently, more Caucasian and Hispanic females were assigned to the most dangerous posts.

Apparently dissatisfied with the Department's response to his concerns, Plaintiff informally complained about discrimination to Warden Green in August 2010. Plaintiff followed up his informal complaint by filing an EEOC charge in September 2010.

On or around August 26, 2010, the Department's Training Manager, Daedra Carrio, determined that the Department needed four general instructors to help with the overall training of the correctional officers. Carrio impaneled a diverse selection committee. Although some of the diverse panel members that Carrio originally appointed could not participate in the interview process, Carrio, as a Hispanic female, added herself to the panel to ensure that it was diverse. The panel interviewed twenty applicants, of which it planned to choose four. Doc. No. 49–20 at 4, 7. The interviewers completed a consensus evaluation form for each candidate and ranked the candidates when the interviews were over. Id. at 9, 13. Although he received a favorable recommendation, the panel did not rank Plaintiff in the top four and, hence, did not choose him for the trainer position. Id. at 14. Carrio did not know about Plaintiff's discrimination complaint when the panel selected the candidates. Id. at 17. Although Warden Green evidently had to approve the panel's recommendation, the panel made the decision to select the trainers. See id. at 10; Doc. No. 65–5 at 4. Green later asked Carrio for the evaluation forms and selection packet. Doc. No. 49–20 at 11. Warden Green apparently misplaced the selection packet.

In February 2011, during the pendency of Plaintiff's EEOC charge, Defendants learned that Plaintiff might have formed an inappropriate relationship with an inmate. An inmate named “Inmate Moore” approached Jennifer Zuckerman, a Department employee, and told her that he had received a note indicating that a federal investigator wanted to speak with him regarding a discrimination complaint. Inmate Moore approached Warden Green on the same day and told him that he had received a letter in the mail and that someone wanted him to talk to a federal investigator. Warden Green assigned Deputy Warden Gilliam and Zuckerman to investigate Inmate Moore's allegations. Gilliam and Zuckerman spoke with Moore and Moore gave them an “Inmate Pass” form with handwritten information written on the back. Doc. No. 49–29. Gilliam reviewed the handwriting and concluded that it was similar to Plaintiff's. Doc. No. 49–12 at 21–23; see Doc. No. 49–15 at 7–8.

On February 24, 2011, Gilliam met with Inmate Moore again. Moore allegedly told Gilliam that Plaintiff had sent him the letter and Inmate Pass form. Moore allegedly further stated that Plaintiff had given him another sheet of paper with several questions on it. Doc. No. 49–30. Gilliam also states that Moore told him that Plaintiff had let Moore out of his cell, approach the console and desk area where the correctional officers would sit, and let him look at information on a computer. Additionally, Gilliam states that Moore told him that Plaintiff wanted Moore's contact information so that Plaintiff or his lawyer could contact Moore when he left jail. Angela Washington, a Department official, interviewed Moore on the following day. Washington recommended that the Department go forward with a full investigation. Subsequently, Defendants placed Plaintiff on administrative leave with full pay pending an internal investigation by the Department. Doc. No. 49–3; see Doc. No. 49–31 at 2–3.

Bernard Woodard, a County investigator, led the investigation. In connection with his investigation, Woodard watched a videotape of the housing unit where the interactions between Plaintiff and Moore allegedly occurred and conducted some interviews. According to Woodard, Moore told him that Plaintiff wanted Moore to testify in the EEOC matter and that Plaintiff had let him out of his cell during unauthorized times. Moore also allegedly said that he thought Plaintiff was trying to pressure him to lie.

Woodard also interviewed Plaintiff. Woodard states that Plaintiff first told him that Plaintiff had not given Moore any written correspondence. Doc. No. 49–32 at 27–28. Woodard further states that he subsequently showed Plaintiff the two documents that Moore had produced, whereupon Plaintiff confessed that he had given Moore both documents. Id.

Plaintiff testifies that he saw Moore on February 21, 2011. Doc. No. 49–22 at 46. Plaintiff states that Moore told him that Moore had overheard a conversation between Officer Tarner and Lt. DeBoard in which they had gone into details about Plaintiff's EEOC complaint. Id. at 47–48. Plaintiff further testifies that Moore told him that he had heard Officer Tarner (Caucasian female) tell Lt. DeBoard that she could not stand Plaintiff's “black ass” and that she had received an undesirable post assignment because of Moore's complaint about perceived discrimination in post assignments. Id. at 74. In response, Plaintiff wrote down some information on two pieces of paper, one of which was the Inmate Pass form. Id. at 49. Plaintiff also states that he jotted down this information to inform Moore that Moore needed to tell the information to the EEOC investigator handling Plaintiff's discrimination complaint. Id. at 50.

On June 13, 2011, Woodard submitted a Memorandum memorializing the findings of his investigation. Doc. No. 49–33. Woodard made the following significant findings: (1) Plaintiff allowed Moore to remain outside of his cell during unauthorized times to validate Moore's allegations of discrimination and because Plaintiff was distraught after hearing Moore describe details of Plaintiff's EEOC complaint; (2) Plaintiff showed Moore post assignments and incident reports to confirm what Moore told Plaintiff; (3) Plaintiff saved Department documents to his personal flash drive to assist him with the filing of a discrimination complaint against Warden Green; (4) Plaintiff discussed the actions of his colleagues with Moore, thereby diminishing respect for Officer Tarner and reducing staff morale. Based on these findings, Woodard generally concluded that Plaintiff violated standards of conduct, codes of ethics, personnel regulations, and various other rules and policies. Id. at 8–9.

On July 19, 2011, the Department issued a Statement of Charges (Statement). The Statement outlines numerous personnel regulations, standards of conduct, and codes of ethics that Plaintiff's conduct violated. Doc. No. 49–6. The Statement notified Plaintiff...