Highfield v. City of Vanceburg

• Docket Number: Civil Action No. 0:21-052-DCR
• Decision Date: 29 November 2022
• Citation: Highfield v. City of Vanceburg, 643 F.Supp.3d 706 (E.D. Ky. 2022)
• Parties: Carey HIGHFIELD, Plaintiff, v. The CITY OF VANCEBURG, KENTUCKY, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Kentucky

643 F.Supp.3d 706

Carey HIGHFIELD, Plaintiff, v. The CITY OF VANCEBURG, KENTUCKY, Defendant.

Civil Action No. 0:21-052-DCR

United States District Court, E.D. Kentucky, Northern Division. (at Ashland)

Signed November 29, 2022

Robert L. Roark, Tyler Zachary Korus, Roark & Korus, PLLC, Lexington, KY, for Plaintiff.

Rhese David McKenzie, Scott Sennett, Campbell Woods, PLLC, Ashland, KY, for Defendant.

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

Danny C. Reeves, Chief Judge

The City of Vanceburg Police Department hired Carey Highfield(hereafter, the "plaintiff" or "Highfield") to work as a part-time police officer in August of 2020.[RecordNo. 8, ¶¶ 9, 11] Unfortunately, their employment relationship soured quickly.Highfield was fired on January 19, 2021.He filed this lawsuit against the City of Vanceburg(hereafter, the "defendant" or the "City") soon thereafter, claiming that its police department violated federal and state anti-discrimination laws by rejecting his application for a full-time position on account of his age and by firing him because he filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.[Id.at ¶¶ 9, 11, 23-38]

The City has now moved for summary judgment on Highfield's claims.[RecordNo. 36] For the reasons that follow, the motion will be granted in part and denied in part.

I.Background

Highfield has twice served as a police officer with the City's police department.[Record No. 30, p. 35]He first worked as a patrolman in May of 1996, immediately after he graduated from the police academy.[Id. at p. 17] Highfield resigned from that position several months later and pursued other career paths.[Id. at pp. 18-35]He applied to work for the department a second time in May of 2019 and it kept his application on file for a year.[Id. at p. 36] The department advertised that it would "possibly be hiring two (2) Police Officer Recruits" in the summer of 2020.[RecordNo. 38-3] The advertisement specified that "[a]pplicants must be able to attend the 23-week Academy at the Department of Criminal Justice" as a condition of employment.[Id.]As Mayor Dane Blankenship explained, the department sought to hire additional recruits to reduce existing officer overtime.[Record No. 31, p. 39] Highfield contacted Police Chief Joseph Billman to inquire about the positions.[Record Nos. 30, pp. 35-36, 31, p. 13]

The department interviewed four individuals for the advertised positions: Highfield (age 53), Brett Lee(age 26), and Zach Prater(age 31).¹[Record No. 31, p. 14] Mayor Blankenship and Chief Billman took part in interviewing all four candidates.[Id.]Blankenship decided to offer Highfield a part-time position following the interview process, despite Billman's objection that he"didn't want to deal with [Highfield] again."[Record No. 32, pp. 28, 31] Highfield contends that Blankenship and Chief Billman promised that he would be promoted to a full-time position after another officer retired, which they expected would happen at the end of 2020.[Record No. 30, pp. 41-42] Blankenship and Billman deny making this promise.[Record Nos. 31, pp. 17-18, 32, p. 51]

Around the same time that Highfield was offered a part-time position, Blankenship extended conditional employment offers to Prater and Lee. [Record No. 32, p. 34] Highfield claims that the other two officers were given conditional offers soon after he began working in August, but Billman asserts that Prater and Lee received offers in October.[Record Nos. 32, pp. 33-34, 38, p. 4] Lee testified that he received a conditional offer of employment on October 15, 2020, and began working full time for the Department after his graduation from the police academy in December 2021.[Record No. 29, pp. 12-15] Prater received a conditional offer on September 29, 2020, and began working full time after his graduation from the police academy in September 2021.[Record Nos. 35, pp. 10, 29, 38-5, p. 4] Prater and Lee's employment offers were conditioned on their completing the 23-week police academy training course, the same course that Highfield completed in 1996.[Record Nos. 30, p. 13, 32, p. 34] Blankenship denies having any reason for offering Highfield a part-time position while extending conditional, full-time offers to Prater and Lee. [Record No. 31, pp. 16-18]

Highfield began working 24 hours per week for the department in the fall of 2020.[Record No. 32, p. 28]He was not permitted to work "on the street" until he updated his certification on several areas that had expired since he last worked for the department.[Record No. 30, p. 50, 32, p. 28] Chief Billman explains that he would not consider Highfield for full-time employment until his certification was updated.[Record No. 32, pp. 28-29] The department enrolled him in several online training courses to assist the plaintiff in reaching that goal.[Record No. 30, pp. 52-57] Highfield completed one course in November of 2020.[Record No. 30, pp. 52-53]

Highfield states that he first learned that Prater had been hired by the department in November 2020 and that Lee had been hired in January 2021.[Id. at pp. 59-62] After discovering that other officers had been hired to potentially work full-time, Highfield wrote to Mayor Blankenship, Chief Billman, and the City Council requesting a full-time position.[RecordNo. 38-6] Highfield's letter states that he"wish[es] to be considered for Full-Time [sic] Police Officer Position for the City of Vanceburg," and that he can work full-time "as long as [he] receive[s] Basic Officer Skills, Penal Code Update, And [sic] Constitutional Procedures within (1) year from hire date."[Id.]Highfield testified that he wrote this letter in "an attempt for [the department] to give me the position I should have gotten to start with."[Record No. 30, p. 64] Highfield claims that when he asked Chief Billman about the letter on January 15, Billman stated that he would no longer have a position with the department once "the young guys get out of the academy."[Id. at pp. 65-66] Billman and Blankenship assert that they did not receive Highfield's letter and did not become aware of it until after this lawsuit was filed.[Record Nos. 31, p. 44, 32, p. 54]

On the evening of January 15, 2021, Highfield discussed his request to go full-time with Blankenship.Mayor Blankenship had finished dinner with a friend (Robert Farrow) and needed to go back to his office to retrieve some papers.[Record No. 31, p. 27] Because the mayor did not have keys to his office, he asked Highfield (who was working at the time) to unlock the door.[Id.]Highfield followed Blankenship into his office after opening the door [Id. at p. 28, Record No. 30, p. 68] but the parties dispute what happened next.

Highfield claims that he calmly asked Blankenship about his letter requesting full-time status, to which Blankenship responded that "[y]ou was [sic] never going to be full-time."[Record No. 30, p. 68]He states that he asked Blankenship why the City would "spend $8,000 a piece in salary to send people through the academy that's [sic] never been through the academy?"[Id.]And Highfield further explains that he pointed to a pin on his chest, indicating that he had graduated from the academy while he spoke with Blankenship.[Id.]Highfield claims that Blankenship responded by stating that "[w]e need younger help.Look at us.I could die tomorrow.You could die tomorrow."[Id.]He contends that he immediately walked out of Blankenship's office after recognizing that he was "definitely getting discriminated against 100 percent."[Id. at pp. 68-69] Highfield continued to work his shift that evening and worked another shift the following day.[Record No. 31, p. 32]

As noted, Blankenship remembers things differently.The mayor asserts that, after Highfield unlocked the door, he"immediately started in" asking why the department did not hire him for a full-time position.[Record No. 31, p. 23]The defendant claims that throughout the conversation Highfield "became visibly upset, aggressively leaned over the mayor's desk" and "pound[ed] his chest and badge while demanding a promotion to full-time status."[RecordNo. 36-1, p. 5] The City's motion emphasizes, and Highfield confirms, that Highfield was on duty during the encounter and was carrying a gun.[RecordNo. 36-1, p. 5] Blankenship denies saying that Highfield "could die tomorrow" or making any comment related to Highfield's age during this conversation.[Record No. 31, pp. 22-23]

Robert Farrow provided deposition testimony regarding the confrontation, although he admits that he did not observe the entire meeting.[RecordNo. 33] Farrow states that he observed Highfield "standing up,""poking himself right in the chest," and raising his voice with the mayor, although he notes that he left the room after Highfield became more agitated.[Id. at pp. 13-14] Farrow entered the mayor's office after Highfield left and noted that Blankenship looked shaken, indicating that he was frightened.[Id. at p. 15] However, Blankenship did not report the incident to Chief Billman until the following Monday.[Record No. 31, p. 24]

Highfield met with Vanceburg City Council MemberRoger Jahn the following day to discuss the confrontation with Blankenship.Highfield told Jahn via Facebook Messenger that he left a letter requesting full-time work on Blankenship's desk and that the mayor "got angry" when Highfield attempted to discuss his request.[RecordNo. 38-7] Jahn responded that they should meet in person.[Id.]During their in-person meeting later that day, Highfield claims that he told Jahn that he planned to contact the EEOC about the department's alleged discrimination.[Record No. 30, p. 77] Jahn disagrees with this representation, claiming that Highfield never mentioned that he had suffered unlawful discrimination or that he planned to file a complaint with the EEOC.[Record No. 34, pp. 17-18] Instead, Jahn contends that he first learned about Highfield's action against...