Jamil v. White

• Decision Date: 28 March 2002
• Docket Number: No. CIV. H-01-3255.,CIV. H-01-3255.
• Citation: 192 F.Supp.2d 413
• Parties: Nasir A. JAMIL Plaintiff v. Thomas E. WHITE, Secretary of the Army Defendant
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Maryland

192 F.Supp.2d 413

Nasir A. JAMIL Plaintiff v. Thomas E. WHITE, Secretary of the Army Defendant

No. CIV. H-01-3255.

United States District Court, D. Maryland.

March 28, 2002.

Anser Ahmad, Ahmad and Mirin, Harrisburg, PA, for plaintiff.

Thomas M. DiBiagio, Virginia B. Evans, Office of U.S. Atty., Baltimore, MD, for defendant.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

ALEXANDER HARVEY, III, Senior District Judge.

In this civil action, an employee of the United States Department of the Army is seeking damages and other relief for alleged employment discrimination. Proceeding pro se, plaintiff Nasir A. Jamil ("Jamil") paid the filing fee and filed a complaint in this Court naming as defendant Thomas E. White, Secretary of the Army. A Pakistani, Jamil claims that he was denied a promotion by defendant based on his race and national origin.

Jamil's pro se complaint sought relief under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e, et seq. ("Title VII"), under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and for violations by defendant of his Fifth, Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendment rights. A claim for emotional distress under state law is also included in plaintiff's complaint. Anser Ahmad, Esq. has now entered his appearance for plaintiff and has agreed that the only viable claim presented by plaintiff's complaint is one for employment discrimination asserted under Title VII.

Pending before the Court is defendant's motion to dismiss or for summary judgment. In support of that motion, defendant has filed a memorandum of law and numerous exhibits. An opposition to defendant's pending motion has been filed by counsel for plaintiff, and defendant has recently replied to that opposition.

Following a review of the pleadings, memoranda and exhibits submitted in support of and in opposition to defendant's pending motion for summary judgment, the Court has determined that no hearing is necessary for a decision. See Local Rule 105.6. For the reasons stated herein, defendant's motion for summary judgment will be granted.

I Background Facts

Plaintiff Jamil, a United States citizen, is employed by defendant as a computer scientist, GS-12, in the Corporate Information Office ("CIO") of the Soldier Biological and Chemical Command¹ ("SBCCOM"), located at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland. Jamil is a Pakistani and an Asian-Pacific Islander. Plaintiff began his employment with the Chemical, Biological and Chemical Defense Command in 1987 as a GS-11, and he was subsequently promoted to GS-12, the rank he currently holds. Plaintiff received a Master of Science Degree from Johns Hopkins University in software engineering and computer science in 1990, and a Master of Business Administration Degree from Loyola College in 1999.

On April 1, 1998, the Northeast Civilian Personnel Operations Center ("CPOC") at Aberdeen Proving Ground announced the creation of three new computer science or mathematician interdisciplinary positions in SBCCOM at a GS-13 level. In 1997, plaintiff had been informed of the impending openings by Frank Batelka ("Batelka"), plaintiff's first-level supervisor. On July 24, 1997, plaintiff submitted his resume to the so-called Resumix system.²

Frank Belcastro ("Belcastro"), plaintiff's second-level supervisor and Director of the CIO, was the Selection Official for the announced positions. Belcastro drafted a position description that detailed the major duties required for the positions and also a list of specific job search criteria to be used by the Resumix system to determine qualified applicants. A list of 20 applicants, deemed "best qualified" by the Resumix system, was compiled. Plaintiff was listed as one of these twenty.

A panel of three individuals was then established to interview the twenty applicants. The panel included Belcastro, Batelka, and Ralph Falcone ("Falcone"), who is Chief of the Data Imaging Team, and a senior member of the CIO staff. Falcone is not in plaintiff's direct supervisory chain. Each candidate was asked the same series of ten questions, with appropriate follow-up questions. The questions had been compiled by Belcastro with input from Batelka and Falcone and were designed to elicit from the candidates desired information demonstrating how each candidate satisfied the job criteria characteristics. Belcastro had given guidance to the other two panel members as to what they should be looking for in a candidate's response. Each panel member scored the candidates' responses on a scale of 1 to 10. The scores where then totaled, and an average was calculated.³

As the Selection Official, Belcastro then independently scored each resume.⁴ After he presented the scores to the other panel members to see if they agreed, the resume score was combined with the interview score, and averaged.⁵ The candidates were then ranked based on their total average score. Plaintiff was ranked seventh out of the twenty candidates. Before final selections were made, there had been approval for the creation of two more GS-13 positions, and offers were therefore made to the top five candidates on the list. Since plaintiff's average scores had placed him in seventh place on the list, he did not receive any of the promotions.

After contacting an EEO counselor pursuant to 29 C.F.R. § 1614.105, Jamil filed a formal complaint of discrimination on September 23, 1998. Following investigation by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, an evidentiary hearing was held before Administrative Judge Laurence Gallagher over a period of two days in March of 2000. At that administrative hearing, plaintiff was represented by Mr. Ahmad, the attorney who is now representing him in this civil action. Plaintiff and other witnesses, including, Belcastro, Batelka and Falcone testified at the two-day⁶ hearing.

In his Decision of September 21, 2001, Administrative Judge Gallagher concluded that plaintiff had not established by a preponderance of the evidence that he was unlawfully discriminated against on the basis of his race and/or his national origin when he was not selected for the positions at issue. In an Order dated September 27, 2001, judgment was entered in favor of the agency. On November 1, 2001, plaintiff filed in this Court his complaint for employment discrimination.

II Summary Judgment Principles

It is well established that a defendant moving for summary judgment bears the burden of showing the absence of any genuine issue of material fact and that it is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Barwick v. Celotex Corp., 736 F.2d 946, 958 (4th Cir.1984). Where, as here, the nonmoving party will bear the ultimate burden of persuasion at trial, "the burden on the moving party [at the summary judgment stage] may be discharged by `showing'—that is, pointing out to the district court—that there is an absence of evidence to support the nonmoving party's case." Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 325, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986).

One of the purposes of Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure is to require a plaintiff, in advance of trial and after a motion for summary judgment has been filed and properly supported, to come forward with some minimal facts to show that the defendant may be liable under the claims alleged. See F.R.Civ.P. 56(e). If the nonmoving party "fail[s] to make a sufficient showing on an essential element of his case with respect to which he has the burden of proof," then "the plain language of Rule 56(c) mandates the entry of summary judgment." Catrett, 477 U.S. at 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548.

While the facts and all reasonable inferences drawn therefrom must be viewed in the light most favorable to the party opposing the motion, Ross v. Communications Satellite Corp., 759 F.2d 355, 364 (4th Cir.1985), "when the moving party has carried its burden under Rule 56(c), its opponent must do more than simply show that there is some metaphysical doubt as to the material facts." Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 586, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986). "`A mere scintilla of evidence is not enough to create a fact issue; there must be evidence on which a jury might rely.'" Barwick, 736 F.2d at 958-59 (quoting Seago v. North Carolina Theatres, Inc., 42 F.R.D. 627, 640 (E.D.N.C. 1966), aff'd, 388 F.2d 987 (4th Cir.1967), cert. denied, 390 U.S. 959, 88 S.Ct. 1039, 19 L.Ed.2d 1153 (1968)). Moreover, only disputed issues of material fact, determined by reference to the applicable substantive law, will preclude the entry of summary judgment. "Factual disputes that are irrelevant or unnecessary will not be counted." Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986).

In the absence of the necessary minimal showing by the plaintiff that the defendant may be liable under the claims alleged, the defendant should not be required to undergo the considerable expense of preparing for and participating in a trial. See Catrett, 477 U.S. at 323-24, 106 S.Ct. 2548; Anderson, 477 U.S. at 256-57, 106 S.Ct. 2505. Indeed, the Fourth Circuit has stated that, with regard to motions for summary judgment, the district courts have "an affirmative obligation ... to prevent `factually unsupported claims and defenses' from proceeding to trial." Felty v. Graves-Humphreys Co., 818 F.2d 1126, 1128 (4th Cir.1987) (quoting Catrett, 477 U.S. at 323-24, 106 S.Ct. 2548).

Applying these principles to the facts of record here, this Court has concluded that defendant's motion for summary judgment must be granted.

III Applicable Law

Title VII makes it unlawful for an employer "to ... discriminate against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions or privileges of employment because of such individual's race... or national origin, . . ." 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2(a)(1). Two claims are asserted under Title VII by plaintiff in this case: (1) that defendant denied him a promotion because of his race; and (2) that defendant denied him a promotion because of...