Iyoha v. Architect of the Capitol

• Decision Date: 25 October 2017
• Docket Number: Civil Action No. 15–324 (RBW)
• Citation: 282 F.Supp.3d 308
• Parties: Sunday IYOHA, Plaintiff, v. ARCHITECT OF the CAPITOL, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Columbia

282 F.Supp.3d 308

Sunday IYOHA, Plaintiff,

v.ARCHITECT OF the CAPITOL, Defendant.

Civil Action No. 15–324 (RBW)

United States District Court, District of Columbia.

Signed October 25, 2017

Leslie David Alderman, III, Alderman, Devorsetz & Hora PLLC, Washington, DC, for Plaintiff.

Johnny Hillary Walker, III, Peter C. Pfaffenroth, U.S. Attorney's Office, Washington, DC, for Defendant.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

REGGIE B. WALTON, United States District Judge

The plaintiff, Sunday Iyoha, brings this civil action against the defendant, the Architect of the Capitol (the "Architect"), asserting claims of discrimination, retaliation, and hostile work environment in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000e–2 to – 7 (2012) ("Title VII"), as applied to Congressional agencies like the Architect through the Congressional Accountability Act, 2 U.S.C. § 1408 (2012). See Complaint ("Compl.") ¶¶ 1, 52–58. Specifically, the plaintiff alleges that the Architect unlawfully discriminated against him on the basis of his race and national origin and retaliated against him for engaging in prior protected activity by not selecting him for a supervisor position on two separate occasions. See id. ¶¶ 42–50; see also Supplemental Complaint Pursuant to Rule 15(d) ("Suppl. Compl.") ¶¶ 10–20. Currently before the Court are the Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment ("Def.'s Mot.") and the Plaintiff's Motion for Oral Argument on Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment or for Leave to File a Sur[-]reply ("Pl.'s Mot."). Upon careful consideration of the parties' submissions,¹ the Court concludes for the reasons set forth below that it must deny the plaintiff's motion for oral argument and grant the defendant's motion for summary judgment.

I. BACKGROUND

The plaintiff, who "is black and of Nigerian descent," Compl. at 1, is a current employee of the Architect in the Project Management Branch of the Information Technology Department (the "Department"), see id. ¶¶ 4, 8, 22, which, during the relevant time frame, "was led by Chief Information Officer Jay Wiegmann," Def.'s Mem. at 2, and Angela Clark, the Deputy Chief Information Officer, see id. Between 2008 and October 4, 2012, the plaintiff worked as an Information Technology Help Desk Manager, see Compl. ¶ 8; see also Pl.'s Facts ¶ 1, and on October 5, 2012, Wiegmann and Clark reassigned the plaintiff "to a Project Management [p]osition under the Project Management Branch," Pl.'s Facts ¶¶ 12, 14, as part of a "reorganiz[ation of] the Help Desk and other IT support functions," Compl. ¶ 19. As a result of this reassignment, and because of various discriminatory remarks purportedly made by Wiegmann and Clark, see Pl.'s Facts ¶¶ 12–18, 25–48 (discussing negative remarks about individuals who speak with accents such as the plaintiff), the plaintiff, in February 2013, filed a complaint with the Office of Compliance, primarily challenging his reassignment, see Compl. ¶ 27; see also Pl.'s Facts ¶ 15.

On June 7, 2013, a hearing officer "conclude[d] that [the] plaintiff [was] entitled to judgment on [his] claim of discrimination based on national origin resulting" from the Help Desk Manager position. Pl.'s Opp'n, Exhibit ("Ex.") 8 (Office of Compliance Final Order ("OOC Final Order")) at 2. Specifically, the hearing officer concluded that the record indicated that the reorganization "was [not] an established plan at all, other than to move those with foreign accents to less customer-facing positions." Id., Ex. 8 (OOC Final Order) at 30 (footnote omitted); see also id., Ex. 8 (OOC Final Order) at 26 (noting that several witnesses "testified that they heard Wiegmann repeatedly make disparaging comments aloud in meetings criticizing employees with foreign accents"). Based on this finding, the hearing officer awarded the plaintiff $30,000 in compensatory damages. See id., Ex. 8 (OOC Final Order) at 37. On July 30, 2014, upon the Architect's petition for a review of the hearing officer's decision, the Board of Directors of the Office of Compliance "affirm[ed] the [h]earing [o]fficer's finding of national origin discrimination." Id., Ex. 21 (Office of Compliance Decision of the Board of Directors ("BOD Decision")) at 1.

Subsequently, in 2014, the plaintiff applied and interviewed for the Branch Chief position in the Department's Production Management Branch. See Def.'s Facts ¶ 2; see also Pl.'s Resp. ¶ 2 (not disputing this fact). This Branch Chief was "responsible for [Architect]-wide support of server and network infrastructure as well as desktop and mobile endpoints, including evaluating and introducing new hardware, software, and technologies." Pl.'s Opp'n, Ex. 46 (Vacancy Announcement) at 3 (listing primary duties). Clark was the selecting official for the position, and she designated herself, Wiegmann, Peggy Hernandez, and Luis Rosario as panelists who would participate in the interview process. See Pl.'s Facts ¶¶ 105–08. The plaintiff was not selected for this position, see Def.'s Facts ¶ 3; see also Pl.'s Resp. ¶ 3 (not disputing this fact); rather, Clark selected Teddy Tseng, who "is Taiwanese and speaks with an accent," Def.'s Facts ¶ 4; see also Pl.'s Resp. ¶ 4 (noting that Tseng "comes from [ ] Taiwan" and not disputing that he speaks with an accent). In 2015, the plaintiff applied and interviewed again for the same position. See Def.'s Facts ¶ 8; see also Pl.'s Resp. ¶ 8 (not disputing this fact). For this selection, Clark remained the selecting official, but she divided the interview process into two rounds. See Def.'s Facts ¶ 9; see also Pl.'s Resp. ¶ 9(h) (not disputing this fact). Clark designated herself, Hernandez, Billy Louis, Lynn Marino, and Gus Kotting as the panelists for the first round of interviews. See Def.'s Facts ¶ 9; Pl.'s Resp. ¶¶ 8–9 (not disputing these facts). The plaintiff was not selected to proceed to the second round of interviews because each of the panelists scored him lower than the top three candidates, one of whom spoke with an accent. See Def.'s Facts ¶¶ 9–10; see also Pl.'s Resp. ¶¶ 9–10 (not disputing these facts).

On March 5, 2015, the plaintiff filed this civil action, asserting that the Architect denied him the Branch Chief position in 2014 "because of his race, national origin[,] and/or prior protected activity," Compl. ¶ 53, and that Wiegmann's and Clark's alleged discriminatory conduct constituted a hostile work environment, id. ¶ 57. Thereafter, the plaintiff filed a Supplemental Complaint, alleging the same claims based on his second non-selection by the Architect in 2015. See generally Suppl. Compl. At a post-discovery status conference held on November 2, 2016, the plaintiff orally requested to voluntarily dismiss without prejudice his claims of discrimination on the basis of his race and hostile work environment as alleged in his Complaint, which the Court granted. See Min. Order (Nov. 3, 2016). The Architect then moved for summary judgment on the grounds that the plaintiff "does not have sufficient countervailing evidence of [national origin] discrimination or retaliation to require a trial," and therefore, "summary judgment in its favor" is warranted. Def.'s Mem. at 1. The plaintiff opposes the Architect's motion, and after briefing on the Architect's motion was complete, the plaintiff filed a Motion for Oral Argument on Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment or for Leave to File a Sur[-]reply. See generally Pl.'s Mot. This opinion resolves these motions.

II. STANDARDS OF REVIEW

A. Motion for Oral Argument/Leave to File a Sur-reply

It is within the "sole discretion of the [C]ourt" whether to allow an oral argument on a motion for summary judgment. Spark v. Catholic Univ. of Am., 510 F.2d 1277, 1280 (D.C. Cir. 1975) ; see LCvR7(f). Generally, a court will grant a motion for oral argument only if it requires further evidence or extrapolation to reach a decision on the issue before it. See Spark, 510 F.2d at 1280 (finding that granting the plaintiff's motion for oral argument would not have "produced any further evidence to enable the District Court to find federal jurisdiction").

Furthermore, a court will grant a motion for leave to file a sur-reply if "the party making the motion would be unable to contest matters presented to the court for the first time in the opposing party's reply." Lewis v. Rumsfeld, 154 F.Supp.2d 56, 61 (D.D.C. 2001) ; see also Ben–Kotel v. Howard Univ., 319 F.3d 532, 536 (D.C. Cir. 2003). In any event, although "sur[-]replies are generally disfavored," Kifafi v. Hilton Hotels Ret. Plan, 736 F.Supp.2d 64, 69 (D.D.C. 2010), aff'd, 701 F.3d 718 (D.C. Cir. 2012), "[t]he decision to grant or deny leave to file a sur-reply is committed to the sound discretion of the Court," Lu v. Lezell, 45 F.Supp.3d 86, 91 (D.D.C. 2014). If new arguments appear for the first time in a movant's reply, granting leave to file a sur-reply is appropriate. See Flynn v. Veazey Constr. Corp., 310 F.Supp.2d 186, 189 (D.D.C. 2004). But, such arguments "must be truly new."

United States ex rel. Pogue v. Diabetes Treatment Ctrs. of Am., Inc., 238 F.Supp.2d 270, 277 (D.D.C. 2002). "Simply put, a sur[-]reply is not a vehicle for rehashing arguments that have already been raised and briefed by the parties. Were that not true, briefing would become an endless pursuit." Crummey v. Soc. Sec. Admin., 794 F.Supp.2d 46, 63 (D.D.C. 2011), aff'd, No. 11-5231, 2012 WL 556317 (D.C. Cir. Feb. 6, 2012).

B. Motion for Summary Judgment

Before granting a motion for summary judgment pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Produce 56, a court must find that "there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a). "A fact is material if it ‘might affect the outcome of the suit under the governing law,’ and a dispute about a material fact is genuine ‘if the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party.’ " Steele v. Schafer, 535 F.3d 689, 692 (D.C. Cir. 2...