Ihekwu v. City of Durham, N.C.

• Decision Date: 27 December 2000
• Docket Number: No. 1:99CV00420.,1:99CV00420.
• Citation: 129 F.Supp.2d 870
• Court: U.S. District Court — Middle District of North Carolina
• Parties: Patrick IHEKWU, Plaintiff, v. The CITY OF DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA, Defendant.

129 F.Supp.2d 870

Patrick IHEKWU, Plaintiff, v. The CITY OF DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA, Defendant.

No. 1:99CV00420.

United States District Court, M.D. North Carolina.

December 27, 2000.

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Thomas Henry Moore, Haywood Denny & Miller, L.L.P., Durham, NC, for Plaintiff.

Thomas H. Lee, Jr., Newsom Graham Hedrick & Kennon, P.A., Patrick W. Baker, Office of City Attorney, Joel Miller Craig, Newsom Graham Hedrick & Kennon, P.A., Durham, NC, for Defendant.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

BEATY, District Judge.

This matter comes before the Court pursuant to Defendant City of Durham's Motion for Summary Judgment [Document # 17]. Plaintiff Patrick Ihekwu ("Plaintiff" or "Ihekwu") filed suit in this case against Defendant City of Durham ("Defendant" or "City"), alleging discrimination and hostile work environment based upon disability in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA"), 42 U.S.C. § 12112, et seq.; discrimination based upon race and national origin in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e, and the Civil Rights Act of 1866, 42 U.S.C. § 1981; property deprivation in violation of the Due Process Clause of the United States Constitution; and other state law claims in violation of the North Carolina Equal Employment Practices Act ("NCEEPA"), N.C.Gen.Stat. § 143-422.1 et seq., the North Carolina Constitution, Article I, §§ 19, 35, 36, the Durham City Code of Ordinances, and the Municipal Personnel Records Privacy Act, N.C.Gen. Stat. § 160A-168.

For the reasons that follow, Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment as to Plaintiff's claims under 42 U.S.C. § 12112, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e, 42 U.S.C. § 1983, and the Due Process Clause is GRANTED. Because Defendant's Motion as to all of Plaintiff's federal law claims has been granted, this Court dismisses Plaintiff's state law claims without prejudice.

I. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

Plaintiff Patrick Ihekwu, a black male, was born and raised in Nigeria. He later immigrated to the United States in the 1980s to attend college at Shaw University, in Raleigh, North Carolina. Ihekwu began work as a parking garage attendant for the City in 1990, and in 1994, he was promoted to a Records Keeper Specialist position with the City's Records Management Department ("RMD"). Ihekwu had no written contract of employment.

In January 1995, after visiting with his physician, Ihekwu learned that he had contracted the HIV virus. Although officials in the City's Human Resources Department were aware of his condition, Ihekwu opted not to share his condition with his co-workers. Despite Ihekwu's efforts to conceal his illness, his co-workers learned about it, nonetheless. Ihekwu suspects that unknown City employees obtained records of his prescription medications and conveyed this information to his co-workers. However, Ihekwu has no documentation or other evidence to support this belief and admits that he does not know how his co-workers learned of his malady. The City has presented evidence that Ihekwu's co-workers did not have access to his personnel file or his medical records. [Bell Aff. ¶ 4].

Ihekwu alleges that during the latter part of 1996, several of his African-American co-workers frequently taunted and teased him, talked negatively about him, and made gestures at him because of his malady and because of the fact that he was from Nigeria. Ihekwu has alleged that on several occasions, he verbally reported the taunts and comments to his immediate supervisor, John Parker. Eventually, Parker recommended that Ihekwu reduce his complaints to a written memorandum.

Based on Parker's suggestion, Ihekwu wrote two letters detailing the events of which he complained. In the first letter, dated January 29, 1997, Ihekwu alleged that the following things had taken place: (1) his co-workers spread rumors about him and commented that he was sick and dying; (2) his co-workers questioned him regarding his immigration status; (3) his co-workers failed to return his greetings; (4) his co-workers intentionally placed him in a computer room away from other employees to maintain his virus; (5) his co-workers talked amongst themselves in his presence; and (6) his co-workers made "gestures and gesticulations" to keep him depressed. [Ihekwu Dep.Ex. 19]. More generally in this letter, Ihekwu alleged that his co-workers violated his civil rights. See id.

In the second letter, dated February 4, 1997, Ihekwu noted that he had been mistreated during a pizza lunch held in honor of a departing employee. According to Ihekwu, he took three pizza slices from a pizza box on a table, left the pizza table temporarily, and returned to find the pizza box from which he had taken his slices lying on the floor. Ihekwu explained in the letter that his co-workers had asked from which box he had taken his pizza before selecting their own and had talked amongst themselves about AIDS and how Ihekwu pretended like nothing was wrong with him. From these facts, Ihekwu deduced that his co-workers had placed his pizza box on the floor to prevent others from eating from that box. However, he admits that he did not actually see anyone move the box. [Ihekwu's Letter to Parker, Ihekwu Dep., Vol. II, Ex. 20].

Ihekwu also discussed in the second letter a similar occurrence at a Thanksgiving Day office celebration in 1996. In the letter, Ihekwu noted that his co-workers had talked amongst themselves during the celebration and had plotted not to eat from those dishes from which Ihekwu had eaten. He also noted other incidents in which his co-workers refused to eat his popcorn or candy and made negative remarks relating to his illness. See id. Although Ihekwu's letters did not contain any other complaints of discriminatory conduct, Ihekwu now alleges that other incidents of harassment also occurred.

For example, in one instance, Ihekwu claims that as he got choked on some water at the water fountain, Ann, an Assistant Director, ran away from the fountain exclaiming to others that they were going to get Aids if they stayed around while Ihekwu was coughing. In another instance, Ann sprayed disinfectant in her office after complaining about his use of her computer. [Ihekwu Dep., Vol. II, pp. 11-16]. According to Ihekwu, Ann claimed that he had contaminated her computer by touching it. Moreover, he claims that she and another co-worker expressed a fear of contracting HIV from a mosquito bite while riding on the elevator with him. Ihekwu also claims that Ann used a tissue to open the microwave and turn on the water faucet every time she used the kitchen facilities for fear of contracting HIV. In addition, he has alleged that Ann and other co-workers would make jokes about him and his imminent mortality. Lastly, Ihekwu claims that Tonette Amos and Eddie Williams, two of his co-workers, made jokes about getting infected with the virus. [Ihekwu Dep., Vol. II, pp. 22-23]. Other than these instances and those cited in his letters to Parker, Plaintiff cannot recall any additional incidents of harassment.

In response to Ihekwu's letters, Parker and Margaret Bowers, the RMD Department Head, met with Ihekwu's alleged tormentors and investigated Ihekwu's complaints. In addition, Parker, Bowers, and Ihekwu met with a director of the Personnel Office¹ to discuss Ihekwu's complaints. [Ihekwu Dep., Vol. II, pp. 37-38]. After this consultation, the City referred Ihekwu to its Employees Assistance Program for psychological counseling and placed Ihekwu on paid leave for one month. Although Ihekwu accepted the leave of absence, he opted not to undergo counseling because he felt that it would have no effect on his co-workers' behavior. Moreover, Ihekwu refused counseling because he did not want to submit his medical information as a condition of receiving the counseling. See id. at 40. Ihekwu returned to work in March, 1997. [Ihekwu Aff. ¶ 14].

Ihekwu presents conflicting testimony as to whether he underwent any additional harassment after he returned from leave. In his deposition on June 1, 2000, Ihekwu states that immediately upon return from leave, his alleged tormentors were fired and that he faced no additional harassment. [Ihekwu Dep., Vol. II, pp. 48-49]. However, in his affidavit of August 11, 2000, Ihekwu states that the harassment continued after he returned from leave and that no actions were taken to curtail it. [Ihekwu Aff. ¶ 14].

Although Ihekwu claims to have been upset by the harassment, he does not claim that the harassment interfered with his work performance. In fact, he stated that he liked his job, despite the events about which he complained. [Ihekwu Dep., Vol. II, p. 42]. In addition, Ihekwu received favorable performance evaluations at all times and claims that he consistently performed his job at an outstanding level. [Ihekwu Dep. pp. 99-103]. Despite Ihekwu's satisfactory job performance, he did note in one of his letters to Parker that the conduct of his co-workers would have caused him to quit had he not needed the income to support his family. [Ihekwu's Letter to Parker, Ihekwu Dep., Vol. II, Ex. 19].

At some point during spring 1997, Ihekwu and the other employees in his department were notified that the RMD was being decentralized and that they would lose their jobs as part of a reduction in force. [Ihekwu Aff. ¶ 15]. During a meeting with his superiors about the decentralization, Ihekwu was told that the RMD clerks would be given priority status with the City and, thus, would be considered first for all transfer positions for which they applied and qualified. See id. Despite the City's assurances otherwise, it was Ihekwu's view that his written letters triggered a conspiracy by the City, whereby he believes that the City eliminated the jobs of his alleged tormentors, decentralized his department, and offered him either undesirable job reassignments or reassignments requiring medical history disclosure, in hopes of effecting his termination. [Ihekwu Dep. ...