Haynes v. DC Water is Life

• Decision Date: 22 September 2017
• Docket Number: Civil Action No. 16–2086 (CKK)
• Citation: 271 F.Supp.3d 142
• Parties: Larry HAYNES, Plaintiff, v. DC WATER IS LIFE, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Columbia

271 F.Supp.3d 142

Larry HAYNES, Plaintiff,

v.DC WATER IS LIFE, Defendant.

Civil Action No. 16–2086 (CKK)

United States District Court, District of Columbia.

Signed September 22, 2017

David A. Branch, Law Offices of David A. Branch & Associates, PLLC, Washington, DC, for Plaintiff.

Alison N. Davis, Meredith Lynn Schramm–Strosser, Littler Mendelson, P.C., Washington, DC, for Defendant.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

COLLEEN KOLLAR–KOTELLY, United States District Judge

Plaintiff Larry Haynes brings this action against his former employer, the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority ("DC Water"), under the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA"), see 42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq . (Count I), Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ("Title VII"), see 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq. (Count II), 42 U.S.C. § 1981 (" Section 1981") (Count III), the Age Discrimination in Employment Act ("ADEA"), see 29 U.S.C. § 623 et seq . (Count IV), and the District of Columbia Human Rights Act ("DCHRA"), see D.C. Code § 2–1401 et seq . (Count V). He also brings a breach of contract claim (Count VI). Plaintiff demands declaratory and injunctive relief, compensatory and punitive damages, litigation expenses and reasonable attorney's fees.

This matter is before the Court on Defendant District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority's Motion for Summary Judgment, ECF No. 18. For the reasons discussed below, the Court concludes that plaintiff's claims under the ADA and the DCHRA are time-barred, that plaintiff failed to exhaust his age and race discrimination claims under the ADEA and Title VII, that DC Water did not violate Section 1981 by purposely discriminating against plaintiff on the basis of his race, and that plaintiff fails to state a breach of contract claim. Accordingly, the Court will grant DC Water's motion in its entirety.

I. BACKGROUND

Plaintiff is a 55–year old African American man, Pl.'s First Am. Compl., ECF No. 17 ("Am. Compl.") ¶ 4, who is dyslexic, see id . ¶ 9. DC Water "is an independent authority of the District of Columbia that provides retail water and wastewater sewer service to the District of Columbia." Id. ¶ 5. Its predecessor entity, the District of Columbia Department of Public Works, Water and Sewer Administration, hired plaintiff in 1988 as an Electrical Equipment Repairer 11/CDL. Id. ¶ 6.

An Electrical Equipment Repairer 11/CDL "perform[ed] a wide range of electrical duties independently under the supervision of an electrical foreman." Def. District of Columbia Water and Sewer Auth.'s Mem. of P. & A. in Support of its Mot. for Summ. J., ECF No. 18–1 ("Def.'s Mem."), Decl. of Charles Sweeney in Support of Def. District of Columbia Water and Sewer Auth.'s Mot. for Summ. J., ECF No. 18–3 ("Sweeney Decl.") ¶ 8.¹ Each person in this position was "only required to hold an apprentice electrician's license and a Commercial Driver's License [ (CDL) ]." Sweeney Decl. ¶ 8; see id ., Ex. 1 (Job Description, Electrical Equipment Repairer 11/CDL) at 2. "Throughout his employment with DC Water, [plaintiff] had an [a]pprentice [e]lectrician['s] license and a Class B [CDL.] " Am. Compl. ¶ 6.

In or about 2011, DC Water planned to reorganize and consolidate its "Department of Water, Department of Sewer, and the Water and Sewer Pump Maintenance Branch into one department called the Department of Distribution and Conveyance Systems." Sweeney Decl. ¶ 4. Management identified positions to abolish and identified "new positions ... to create to replace the abolished positions and/or meet new organizational requirements." Id. ¶ 6. One of the positions slated for abolishment was the Electrical Equipment Repairer 11/CDL position. Id. ¶ 7. DC Water announced the reorganization in 2014. Id.

It came to light during the reorganization process that District of Columbia licensure requirements for electricians required direct supervision over "employees holding only an apprentice electrician's license [by] a person holding a master electrician's license[.]" Id. ¶ 9. DC Water sought guidance from the District of Columbia Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs, see id. , which advised:

Pursuant to District law, "[a]n apprentice electrician shall work only under the direct personal supervision and control of a licensed master electrician or licensed master electrician specialist." See D.C. Official Code § 47–2853.92(a) (2010 Repl.) . Accordingly, an apprentice electrician employed by [DC Water] must be directly supervised, which means that a qualified individual must be present to observe and guide the work of an apprentice. Further, District law specifies that a master electrician or master electrician specialist must provide the necessary supervision. Therefore, a licensed journeyman electrician cannot supervise an apprentice. Thus, to comply with District law, any Electrical Foreman or General Foreman employed by [DC Water who] supervises the performance of electrical work must be licensed as a master electrician or master electrician specialist, as only a licensed master is legally authorized to assume responsible charge over the performance of electrical work in the District.

Id ., Ex. 2 (Letter to Stephanie Black, Manager, Learning and Development, DC Water, from Pamela Hall, Program Support Specialist, D.C. Board of Industrial Trades, Occupational and Professional Licensing Division, Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs, dated March 18, 2015) at 2–3 (emphasis in original).

"DC Water did not employ a sufficient number of master electricians to directly supervise the electricians with apprentice electrician['s] licenses." Id. ¶ 10. Management determined that, "[g]iven the financial and practical objectives of the planned reorganization, it was not practical or reasonable for DC Water to hire additional master electricians to individually oversee each Electrical Equipment Repairer 11/CDL." Id. Instead, DC Water "change[d] the minimum license qualifications for the Electrical Equipment Repairer 11/CDL position, and create[d] the Industrial Journeyman Electrician position to replace it." Id. ¶ 11. Each Industrial Journeyman Electrician was required to have a journeyman electrician's license and a CDL. Id. ¶ 12; see id ., Ex. 3 (Job Description, Industrial Journeyman Electrician) at 2.

American Federation of Government Employees Local 2553 ("Union") represented employees in the Electrical Equipment Repairer 11/CDL positions. See id. ¶ 13.² Pursuant to the collective bargaining agreement ("CBA"), DC Water notified the Union of its "decision that Electrical Equipment Repairer 11 employees needed a journeyman[ ] electrician['s] license" by hand-delivering a letter to the Union's president on July 11, 2014. Id. ¶ 14. In addition, DC Water outlined the reorganization in a PowerPoint presentation to Union representatives on that same date. Id. ¶ 15. "[T]he Union requested effects bargaining on July 16, 2014, id. ¶ 16, and bargaining began on or about August 26, 2014, id. ¶ 18.³ "Among the topics discussed was the requirement that ... Electrical Equipment Repairer 11/CDL employees obtain a journeyman electrician's license to qualify for the new position" of Industrial Journeyman Electrician. Id.

The Union and DC Water disagreed about the length of time within which an Electrical Equipment Repairer 11/CDL was to obtain a journeyman electrician's license. The Union proposed that an "employee[ ] holding an apprentice electrician's license be permitted a total of four (4) years to obtain [a] journeyman electrician's license." Id. ¶ 19. DC Water rejected this proposed timeframe because the journeyman electrician's license requirement was a legal requirement. Id. Ultimately DC Water and the Union entered into a Memorandum of Agreement ("MOA"), and with respect to the Electrical Equipment Repairer 11 positions, the parties agreed:

Current DC Water bargaining unit employees[ ] in the position of Electrical Equipment Repairer possessing a DC Apprentice Electrician['s] license selected for Industrial Journeyman Electrician and Industrial Specialist Electrician positions shall have until March 31, 2015 to acquire the required DC Journeyman Electrician['s] license. Beginning September 2, 2014, any bargaining unit member in possession of a DC Apprentice license may participate in training for and testing for the DC Journeyman Electrician['s] license. DC Water shall pay for this training. Employees are expected to test within thirty (30) calendar days of completing this training. Employees that fail the test may retest so long as the second test is taken by March 31, 2015.

Id ., Ex. 8 (Memorandum of Agreement Regarding the Department of Distribution and Conveyance Systems dated September 2, 2014) ¶ 4.

The MOA also included agreements with respect to other DC Water employees affected by the reorganization. For example:

For any AFGE Local 2553 bargaining unit employee in the position of Utility Systems Operator RW–08, hired into the position of a Utility Systems Operator I or II, the employee shall have 18 months to obtain the required certification. Any training shall be paid for by DC Water. If any employee fails a test at any point during the eighteen (18) month period [he] shall be allowed to retest at DC Water's expense, so long as the retest occurs prior to the conclusion of the eighteen (18) month period .... Provided the employee has obtained the certification in [his] area of prior work experience (Distribution or Collections), employees who do not meet a certification requirement because the testing authority determines the employee did not perform the requisite number of years of work in the classification, shall be provided the time needed to meet the classification requirement.

Id ., Ex. 8 ¶ 3.

Notwithstanding the MOA, in October 2014, "the Union initiated an unfair labor practice grievance under the procedures laid out in Article 58 of the [CBA]." Id. ¶ 23; see generally id ., Ex. 10 (Working Conditions Agreement Between DC Water and American Federation of Government...