Jackson v. City of Albuquerque

• Decision Date: 21 November 1989
• Docket Number: 87-2497,Nos. 87-2403,s. 87-2403
• Citation: 890 F.2d 225
• Parties: 51 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. 669, 52 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 39,489 Carl JACKSON, Plaintiff-Appellee, Cross Appellant, v. CITY OF ALBUQUERQUE, Orlando Sedillo, and Kiki Saavedra, Defendants-Appellants, Cross Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Tenth Circuit

Page 225

890 F.2d 225

51 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. 669,

52 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 39,489

Carl JACKSON, Plaintiff-Appellee, Cross Appellant, v. CITY OF ALBUQUERQUE, Orlando Sedillo, and Kiki Saavedra Defendants-Appellants, Cross Appellees.

Nos. 87-2403, 87-2497.

United States Court of Appeals Tenth Circuit.

Nov. 21, 1989.

Carl J. Hartmann, III, Hartmann & Ruskin, Cedar Crest, N.M., for plaintiff-appellant.

Paula Forney, Asst. City Atty., (Kim Kaufman Michel, Asst. City Atty., and James H. Foley, City Atty. with her on the brief), Albuquerque, N.M., for defendants-appellees.

Before MOORE and ANDERSON, Circuit Judges, and BROWN, ^* Senior District Judge.

WESLEY E. BROWN, Senior District Judge.

This is an employment civil rights action in which the plaintiff-appellant, Carl Jackson, a black employee of the city of Albuquerque, New Mexico, complained of racial discrimination and retaliation in violation of 42 U.S.C. Section 1981, a violation of due process of law in connection with the termination of his employment, in violation of 42 U.S.C. Section 1983, and an unlawful conspiracy which violated 42 U.S.C. Section 1985. In addition to the city, the defendants-appellees are Orlando Sedillo, Director of the Parks and Recreation Department of the city of Albuquerque, and Henry "Kiki" Saavedra, Superintendent of Adult Sports for the city's Recreation Department, and the immediate supervisor of plaintiff Carl Jackson. ¹

A jury returned a verdict in favor of plaintiff against the three defendants, the city, Sedillo, and Saavedra, finding that they had deprived Jackson of due process of law in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution; that defendants had retaliated against plaintiff because he filed a complaint with the EEOC that defendants had caused Jackson's termination because of his race, and/or because he had filed a discrimination complaint; and that Jackson had been subjected to discriminatory treatment in employment because of his race, or because he had filed a discrimination complaint. ² The jury assessed damages against all defendants in the sum of $70,000 and, in addition, awarded punitive damages of $40,000 against defendant Sedillo and $30,000 against defendant Saavedra.

Following trial, the district court considered plaintiff's motion for attorney fees and for reinstatement to his employment with the city and defendants' motions for judgments notwithstanding the verdict, for new trial, and for remittitur. 715 F.Supp. 1048. The trial court found that there was substantial evidence in the case to support the jury's verdict and the amount of damages awarded and overruled defendants' motions.

The trial court further awarded plaintiff "front pay" for two years at the rate of $50,000 per year but denied plaintiff relief in the form of reinstatement to his former position because of "hostility far too high to make reinstatement a feasible remedy in the case." Plaintiff was awarded total attorney fees against the city in the sum of $45,311.50.

All parties have appealed from various aspects of the trial court's orders and judgments. The defendants contend that the evidence was insufficient for the jury to find that plaintiff had been retaliated against or terminated because of his race, or that plaintiff was subjected to disparate treatment because of his race, or that plaintiff was deprived of due process of law. It is defendants' position that plaintiff's case "consisted solely of (his) own subjective, self-serving statements," and that defendants established "through overwhelming evidence" that plaintiff's discharge was based upon legitimate reasons. Defendants also contend that the trial court erred in awarding plaintiff two years of front pay because there was no evidence that plaintiff would require such an award in order to find comparable employment.

The sole issue raised by plaintiff in this appeal is the refusal of the trial court to order reinstatement of plaintiff to his employment with the city of Albuquerque.

Since defendants have questioned the sufficiency of the evidence to support the verdict, we have reviewed that evidence, as we must, in the light most favorable to plaintiff and the jury verdicts. Following such review, we find that there was sufficient evidence to support those verdicts in all respects.

Under the testimony and other evidence, the jury was entitled to find these following facts:

Plaintiff Jackson obtained his undergraduate degree in Recreation from the University of New Mexico in 1968 and his M.S. degree in Counseling Psychology from that university in 1971. In 1974, he began part-time work for the city of Albuquerque, starting off in the Parks and Recreation Department as a softball umpire and also supervising some of the softball complexes and basketball facilities during the fall and winter. He also worked with the summer food program sponsored by the city. Meanwhile, plaintiff was also employed full time at night at the Juvenile Detention Home. In July, 1977, plaintiff was put on full-time employment with the city as an Assistant Athletic Director of Adult Sports and began to reorganize the program which was then described as being in a "chaotic condition." As a result of plaintiff's efforts, by 1981 the sports program was nationally recognized as a superior program, and plaintiff received numerous letters of commendation and appreciation from civic groups and the mayor, including a memo from defendant Sedillo which recognized his superior performance. There were no negative evaluations to be found in plaintiff's official personnel file and, in evaluations by plaintiff's immediate supervisor, Toby Espinosa, plaintiff was recognized for the quality of his work, his integrity and willingness to put in long hours.

The evidence established that plaintiff was a rigid and very strict supervisor. He instituted written procedures for the treatment of clients, use of leave time, accounting for funds, and he established a dress code for people within his department, requiring them to present themselves in a professional manner. His habit of strict and close supervision of employees resulted in some resentment by those working under him for it appears that plaintiff was quick to terminate or transfer employees when he believed they were not competent to handle their assigned duties.

Several of plaintiff's associates testified as to his superior performance as a supervisor. Rudy Trujillo, a section head in the Sports Services Division who worked under plaintiff, testified that he rated plaintiff at a "9" out of a possible "10" as a supervisor. (Vol. V, Trans. p. 445). The nutritionist who handled the summer lunch program under plaintiff's supervision testified that he was professional and very strict, but that she had worked for him without any discipline problems and, that over a period of 5 to 6 years, she had never seen plaintiff engaged in "anything that (she) would consider to have any sexual connotation or be sexually harassing in any way to any women." (Vol. 5, Trans. pp. 478-479). Another witness--a member of the public--who had considerable contact with the Sports Department, testified that plaintiff "was very professional ... He wanted things done in the proper way, and at the proper time when they should be. He was a very good administrator, that I could see." (Vol. 5, Trans. p. 488).

Another witness, a clerk-typist who had worked under plaintiff's supervision for four or five years, testified that plaintiff treated her in a professional manner and that she had never observed plaintiff sexually harassing anyone. (Vol. 5, Trans. pp. 496-497).

A former personal secretary for plaintiff, who was also his clerical supervisor for the Sports Division, testified that plaintiff "absolutely (did) not" sexually harass her in any manner. (Vol. 5, Trans. p. 536).

The defendant Kiki Saavedra, plaintiff's immediate supervisor, testified that in June, 1983, he personally rated plaintiff at "49" on a total scale of "50," giving plaintiff the highest credit in the area of "effective interpersonal relationships." In July, 1984, he rated plaintiff at a "46" out of "50"--still a good to excellent rating, giving plaintiff the highest points in 7 out of 10 classifications. In this evaluation, plaintiff received his lowest score--a "3" out of a possible "5"--in the area of "personal relationships." This was one month after plaintiff had sent a memorandum of complaint to defendant Sedillo. Plaintiff was not rated in 1985 because he had been placed on leave of absence. (Vol. 4, Trans. pp. 391-397).

At the time of plaintiff's termination, he supervised 120 to 150 full and part-time employees, he had developed a strong amateur boxing program in addition to the softball and basketball programs, and the department operated a lunch program with a one million dollar budget, serving lunches at 100 sites. Up until 1980-1982, plaintiff worked with the city administrators without problems. In 1980, plaintiff drafted a proposal to develop the Adult Sports Program into its own division, together with the summer food program, and he presented it to defendant Sedillo, Director of the City Parks and Recreation Department. At that time, he was told that "political circumstances" made it "infeasible" for plaintiff to become superintendent of a department because he was black and that "politically and socially, it wasn't feasible for (plaintiff) to become a superintendent." Sedillo did promise at that time to put additional activities within plaintiff's department and paperwork was started to augment the status of the Adult Sports Program, and plaintiff was promoted to Assistant Superintendent of Adult Sports.

In 1982, plaintiff's situation began to deteriorate. Plaintiff's department was subjected to what could be found to be "unusual" audits, "anonymous" complaints were received from unnamed and unidentified "concerned citizens," non-merit promotions were given to non-blacks,...