Hill v. Taconic Develop. Disabilities Services
| Decision Date | 04 January 2002 |
| Docket Number | No. 00 CIV 4631 CM.,00 CIV 4631 CM. |
| Citation | 181 F.Supp.2d 303 |
| Parties | Ruth HILL, Plaintiff, v. TACONIC DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES SERVICES OFFICE, a subdivision of the New York State Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities, David Sucato, Dan McNeil and Katherine Bainer, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Southern District of New York |
Michael H. Sussman, Law Offices of Michael H. Sussman, Goshen, NY, for plaintiff.
Laura V. Jones, Eliot Spitzer, Attorney General, New York City, for defendants.
Plaintiff Ruth Hill sues the Taconic Developmental Disabilities Services Office ("Taconic DDSO"), and her supervisors David Sucato, Dan McNeil and Katherine Bainer, under 42 U.S.C. §§ 1981, 1983 and 2000e et. seq. ("Title VII") and New York Executive Law § 296 for employment discrimination based on her race.
Defendants move for summary judgment pursuant to Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
On a motion for summary judgment, the Court views the facts most favorably to the non-moving party — in this case, the plaintiff — and draws all inferences in the plaintiff's favor. See Cifarelli v. Village of Babylon, 93 F.3d 47, 51 (2d Cir.1996).
Plaintiff is a fifty-seven year-old black woman who began working in 1991 for Taconic DDSO, a subdivision of the New York State Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities ("OMRDD"), as a Developmental Aide II ("DA II"). Plaintiff worked at the Wassaic, New York campus ("Wassaic"), which houses several hundred developmentally disabled adults. As a DA II, plaintiff was responsible for supervising direct care staff. Plaintiff was one of the few African-American supervisors at Wassaic. (Hill Aff. at ¶ 4.)
Defendant Dan McNeil, a DA III at Wassaic, was plaintiff's direct supervisor from 1991 to 1995 and from December 1997 to October 1998. Defendant Katherine Bainer, a "Team Leader" at Wassaic, was plaintiff's second-level supervisor in 1991-92 and from March 1998 to July 2000. Defendant David Sucato was the Director of the Taconic DDSO from July 1997 to October 2000.
The Taconic DDSO consists of residential buildings on the Wassaic campus and residential houses in the surrounding communities. The residents of both are called "consumers." Plaintiff, one of few black supervisors at Wassaic, initially was placed at a building named Kennedy Hall.
According to Hill, while at Kennedy Hall, McNeil treated her (and another black DA II, Leomie Hudson) differently than he treated white supervisors. He allegedly allowed white subordinates to be insubordinate to Hill and Hudson without taking action — but took disciplinary action against staff members who were insubordinate or hostile toward white supervisors.
On one occasion, Hill found herself in an argument with a subordinate, Brenda Palmer. After the argument, Palmer allegedly said to a co-worker that Hill could "kiss my lily white ass." (McNeil Dep. at 53.) Hill filed a complaint about Palmer with McNeil. McNeil told her that "since you didn't hear [Palmer] say that there is nothing that can be done." (Hill. Dep. at 50.) In response, McNeil took Palmer aside and verbally counseled her that such remarks were inappropriate and unacceptable, especially to a DA II (McNeil Aff. ¶ 9.) McNeil did not refer Palmer for discipline and did not place a counseling memorandum in her personnel file. (McNeil Dep. 52-54.) He felt that the November 14, 2001 verbal counseling was sufficient since Palmer had just had an argument with the plaintiff. (McNeil Aff. ¶ 9.)
Plaintiff also complained that George Martin, a white employee, was allowed to leave his evening shift early. McNeil states that he granted him this accommodation because his wife also worked at Taconic DDSO and their second automobile needed repairs. Allowing Martin to leave early meant that his wife could have the car to get to her shift on time. This situation lasted for a week and a half until the automobile was fixed. McNeil claims that he allowed Hawley Wellman, an African-American employee, a similar accommodation when he had a car repair problem. (McNeil Aff. ¶ 19.)
In or about 1993, another black supervisor at Wassaic, Leomie Hudson, circulated a petition protesting discriminatory treatment of black employees and supervisors. Hill and approximately twenty others signed the petition and presented it to the then-director of Taconic DDSO, Hollis Shaw.
Director Shaw, who is black, did an investigation of the complaints and decided there were insufficient grounds to discipline McNeil. One of the issues raised in the investigation was whether McNeil applied a different standard for blacks and whites in reviewing Time & Attendance ("T & A") sheets. Shaw concluded that McNeil was more lenient with respect to two particular employees because he knew they had certain health problems. Shaw gave McNeil a written counseling and was told that he could not make such exceptions because of the appearance of unfairness. (McNeill Aff. ¶ 12.)
In 1994, Shaw instituted a two-day "Diversity Training" for all employees. Plaintiff contends that McNeil's allegedly discriminatory conduct continued despite the Diversity Training. She charges that in or about 1994, Hudson's white colleague George Valdick, reported to Hudson that he had heard McNeil say, (Hudson Aff. ¶ 12.)1 At Hudson's request, Valdick put his statement in writing, and gave it to Mary Parker, Taconic DDSO's former Affirmative Action officer. However, Hudson heard no response from Parker or anyone else at Taconic DDSO about McNeil's remarks. McNeil was told he was being investigated, but was never asked about his remark. (McNeil Dep. at 32).
In February, 1994, Hill received one written counseling memorandum, which she claims was in response to her signing a petition protesting discriminatory treatment of African Americans. (Howard Aff., Ex. F; Hill Aff. ¶ 6.) In January 1995, Kennedy Hall was closed as part of deinstitutionalization, and plaintiff and McNeil were reassigned to different buildings.
In March 1997, Hill was assigned as the evening shift DA II in Wassaic's Mohawk building. The Mohawk Building was considered a difficult assignment because it housed forty-five "consumers," all of whom were multiply diagnosed with psychiatric disorders and mild retardation. All had aggressive tendencies, and they frequently hurled insults and racial slurs at staff members. In December 1997, McNeil also was transferred to Mohawk as a DA III, and again became Hill's direct supervisor.
McNeil unsuccessfully sought a different assignment because of the poor working relationship he had with plaintiff at Kennedy. According to McNeil, he and plaintiff had very different management styles. He believed that she wanted a rigid set of rules that could be applied in all situations, but did not appreciate that the methods of proceeding with volatile consumers were constantly evolving. (McNeil Aff. at ¶ 8.) Plaintiff contends their problems were due to the fact that she was African-American. (Hill Aff. ¶¶ 5-6, 9-11, 17, 20-24.)
In or about March 1998, Bainer became Team Leader, and Hill's second-level supervisor, at Mohawk. In October 1998, at his own request, McNeil made a lateral move from Mohawk to a unit devoted to Sexual Relapse and Anger Management. The permanent position of DA III at Mohawk went to Lionel "LJ" Vincent.
In September 1999, Mohawk closed and the consumers and staff moved to "new" Jacobi, another residential building on campus. Bainer remained at Jacobi until her retirement in July 2000. Defendant Sucato was Director of Taconic DDSO from July 31, 1997 until October 2000, when he retired.
Plaintiff claims that her supervisors did not support her (but supported white supervisors) when she had conflicts with consumers and subordinates; that some of her critical supervisory duties were delegated to a white supervisor; and that she was retaliated against for complaining about racial discrimination to the EEOC.
In the spring of 1998, in the presence of clients and other staff at Mohawk, one of Hill's white subordinates, Joseph Matolla, raised his voice when Hill would not let him go home until the overnight shift relieved him. To avoid disrupting the unit, Hill met with Matolla in the main office. While Hill attempted to calm him, he screamed at Hill and stormed out of the office. Overhearing the incident, the building nurse told Hill that he would be a witness if disciplinary charges were brought against Matolla. (Hill Aff. ¶ 9.)
Hill told McNeil about the incident and identified the nurse as a witness. Mattola also filed a complaint against Hill for harassment. In response, McNeil talked to Matolla and Hill, but did not take further action. (McNeil Dep. at 58-61.) According to McNeil, he decided not to refer Mattola (or Hill) for disciplinary action. He simply told Mattola, "You can't conduct yourself that way." (Id.) After the disagreement between Hill and Matolla, Bainer wrote two memoranda clarifying the overtime policy. (Bainer Aff. at ¶ 13)
After the screaming incident, Matolla allegedly told James Santoro, a consumer, that Hill had upset him and caused him to miss work because of high blood pressure. Santoro regularly referred to Hill as "nigger" and told her to "Go Back to Africa." (Hill Aff. at ¶ 10.) Hill told Matolla's day-shift supervisor that it was inappropriate for Matolla to discuss the incident with a client. (Hill Aff. ¶ 10). Mattola later was promoted to a supervisory position. (Id.)
There are two incidents when plaintiff complained about Bernadette Conahan....
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Bland v. New York
...considered this issue has held that Eleventh Amendment immunity extends to § 1981. See, e.g., Hill v. Taconic Developmental Disabilities Services Office, 181 F.Supp.2d 303, 322 (S.D.N.Y.2002)("it is well-settled that § 1981 and § 1983 do not override the Eleventh Amendment immunity afforded......
-
Little v. National Broadcasting Co., Inc.
...violation doctrine.27 See Quinn, 159 F.3d at 766 (events took place in different time periods); Hill v. Taconic Development Disabilities Svcs. Office, 181 F.Supp.2d 303 (S.D.N.Y.2002) (holding that allegations of discrimination occurring while employee worked at one work site were not tied ......
-
Dabney v. Shops
...and summary judgment may be granted only when reasonable minds could not differ on the issue.” Hill v. Taconic Developmental Disabilities Servs. Office, 181 F.Supp.2d 303, 321 (S.D.N.Y.) (citation and internal quotation marks omitted), vacated on other grounds,57 Fed.Appx. 9 (2d Cir.2002). ......
-
Evans v. Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
...at a meter repair shop was governed by the principles set out in Harris and Meritor); Hill v. Taconic Developmental Disabilities Servs. Office, 181 F.Supp.2d 303, 320-21 (S.D.N.Y. 2002). 205. The Court, however, does not doubt plaintiff's sincerity in claiming that he so perceived 206. Hora......