Johnson v. Connecticut Dept. of Corrections
| Decision Date | 28 September 2005 |
| Docket Number | No. CIV.A.303-CV-1129JCH.,CIV.A.303-CV-1129JCH. |
| Citation | 392 F.Supp.2d 326 |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Connecticut |
| Parties | Bruce JOHNSON, Plaintiff, v. STATE of CONNECTICUT, DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS, Defendant. |
George C. Springer, Jr., Butler, Norris & Gold, Hartford, CT, for Plaintiff.
Tammy D. Geathers, Attorney General's Office, Hartford, CT, for Defendant.
RULING RE: DEFENDANT'S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT [DKT. NO. 18]
Plaintiff Bruce Johnson brings this employment discrimination action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 2000(e), et seq. ("Title VII"), and § 42 U.S.C. § 1981(a), against his former employer, the Department of Corrections of the State of Connecticut ("DOC"). The defendant moves for summary judgment, claiming that there is no issue of material fact concerning the circumstances of Johnson's termination and that it is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. For the reasons stated below, the defendant's motion is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part.
Johnson is an African American Christian pastor. Johnson's claims arise out of several instances over his long employment with the Department of Corrections. He claims that he was not promoted due to his race and religion, and that he was subjected to retaliation and a hostile work environment.
Johnson has been employed by the Department of Corrections since 1987 and has served as a Correctional Counselor since 1990. Between 1987 and 1997, Johnson worked at the Cheshire Correctional Institution in Cheshire, CT. According to Johnson, at some point during his tenure at Cheshire, he applied for a promotion that went to a white male instead. In 1997, Johnson transferred to the Manson Youth Institution ("MYI") in Cheshire, CT. Johnson also claims that, upon his transfer to MYI, Karen Affricano, a white female who had been a provisional Correctional Counselor Supervisor, was given the position of permanent Correctional Counselor Supervisor despite Johnson being more qualified for the position. Johnson Affidavit, ¶¶ 24-28 [Dkt. No. 27-1].
The 1999 Open Position. In August 1999, the Department of Correction posted a opening for a Correctional Counselor Supervisor position open only to DOC employees for which Johnson was eligible. Johnson, along with 20 other DOC employees, applied for the position. The DOC hired Linda Prince, a white female, for the position based on her "education, experience, and excellent work record." Summary Judgment Motion, Ex. 7 [Dkt. No. 18-3]. In a memorandum concerning the hiring of Prince, a Personnel Director also described Prince as a "goal candidate," meaning she fulfilled their affirmative action goals, which were, at the time, to hire a white female, Hispanic female, or a black male. Id. In a "affirmative action flowchart" for the promotion, the reason listed for the decision not to hire Johnson was that he "did not respond as well as selected candidate." Summary Judgment Motion, Ex. 6. This is the reason listed for 12 of the 21 candidates that were not hired; of these 12, six were white males, three were white females, two were black males (including Johnson), and one was a Hispanic female. Id.
Aside from the reference to Prince's education, experience, and excellent work record in the hiring memo, the DOC has not produced evidence of Prince's qualifications. Johnson contends that he was better qualified than Prince for the position as he had 14 years of experience working for the DOC while Prince had only four years of experience at the time. Johnson Affidavit, ¶¶ 33 and 34.
The May 2000 Open Position. In May 2000, the DOC posted a open position for a supervisor position in the Addiction Services Unit. Twenty people interviewed for the position. Johnson did not apply for the this supervisor position.
According to Johnson, in staff meetings on May 5, 2000 and June 2, 2000, Brett Rayford, the Director of Mental Health and Addiction Services, was critical of Johnson (and perhaps others) for running Christian-based 12-step programs at DOS. Id. at ¶ 36. Johnson recounted that Rayford, "plainly directing his animosity toward the plaintiff, stated that `some of you need to leave your religion at home"' and threatened the staff with termination. Id.
In his affidavit, Johnson explains that he did not apply for this position due to "the hostile comments directed at my religious faith, the Rayford tirade, and my previous adverse experience in the promotional process." Id. at ¶ 40. The position was given to Kim Sharpe, a white woman.
The July 2000 Open Position. Two open supervisor positions were posted in July 2000.2 Thirty one candidates, including Johnson, were considered for the position, and interviews were conducted by Deputy Warden Mary Morgan Wolff, Deputy Warden James Murdoch, and Personnel Officer Patricia Silva. The affirmative action goal at the time was black male. Six candidates were given a second interview; Johnson was not one of them. Augustus Pope, a black male, and Antonio Lopes, a white male, were selected for the open positions.
In her affidavit, Silva explained that the selection of the candidates was "based on their responses to the questionnaires and how they performed in the interviews with both the two deputy wardens and myself." Summary Judgment Motion, Ex. 2, Silva Affidavit, ¶ 14. Wolff explained in her affidavit that, in comparison to Johnson, Lopes "had a better attendance record and better performance evaluations and also had a higher degree (AS in Criminal Justice and BA in Sociology with a minor in Corrections) in a related field." Summary Judgment Motion, Ex. 4. Wolff Affidavit, ¶ 24. She also explained that Pope "also had a better attendance record and a higher degree (B.A. in criminology) in a related field." In a "Comparison Chart" related to the hiring, it is noted that Antonio Lopes had zero sick "occasions" from 8/03/99 to 8/3/00 and had received "excellents" overall in his 1999 and 1998 performance evaluations. Summary Judgment Motion, Ex. 18. The comments section for Lopes reads: "[h]as classification, custody, security and programming". Experience working in several different positions and facilities within DOC. Id. For Johnson, it notes that he had four sick occasions and had received "fully successful" in his 1999 and 1998 evaluations. His comments read: Id. No information is provided on the chart for Augustus Pope.
Johnson contends that he was better qualified for the supervisor position than Lopes and Pope because he had more experience working with the MYI inmate population than either of them, and because Lopes had no experience in addiction services. Memorandum in Opposition, pp. 7-8 [Dkt. No. 27-1].
September 2000 Open Position. In September 2000 another supervisor position was posted. Johnson was scheduled to interview for the position on September 27, 2000, but requested that the interview be rescheduled because he was sick. The interview was rescheduled for October 2, 2000. Johnson was "unable to attend" the second interview because of a reaction to the medication that he was taking. Johnson Affidavit, ¶ 8. It is unclear from the evidence and Johnson's testimony at his deposition whether he had notified DOC ahead of time that he would not be able to attend the second interview. Johnson Deposition, pp. 32-33.
Upon returning to work, Johnson requested another opportunity to interview. According to Johnson, Patricia Silva told him that she would get back to him but then failed to do so. Johnson Affidavit, ¶ 56. Amonda Hannah, a black female, was recommended for the position.
Evidence of Retaliation and Hostile Work Environment. According to Johnson, on October 24, 2000, he had an informal "counseling session" with his supervisor, Kim Sharpe, for failing to complete group counseling sessions on time on several occasions. Johnson claims that MYI generally did not operate on schedule and that it was not a standard practice to have counseling in these circumstances. Id. at ¶ 60. Johnson received two letters in November 2000 charging him with taking an unauthorized leave between September 27, 2000 and October 2, 2000. Id. at ¶ 61.
On December, 27, 2000, Johnson filed a complaint alleging discrimination by the DOC with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities (CHRO). Johnson claims that, after filing his complaint, he was subject to retaliation and a hostile working environment.
According to Johnson, after he filed his complaint, he was "routinely ridiculed by senior DOC staff, namely Kim Sharpe." Id. at ¶ 63. In April 2001, he received "no positive comments" in an audit of his treatment files. Id. at 67. In July 2001, Johnson received a written reprimand for an incident that occurred six months prior, in January 2001, in which Johnson escorted an inmate to an unassigned cell. Johnson claims that he had received the necessary permission for his actions and that the reprimand was issued in retaliation for his CHRO complaint. According to Johnson, this was the only formal reprimand that he received in his long tenure at DOC, and the reprimand served to preclude him from receiving promotions as long as it was in his file. Id. at ¶ 69. Johnson also claims that his conduct was common at MYI and not usually a basis for discipline. In August 2001, Johnson amended his CHRO complaint to include a charge of retaliation based on the reprimand.
In October 2001, after complaining that a new treatment program in which he was working was "inappropriate," Johnson was removed from the program and transferred to a new office with "inadequate equipment" and a different counseling program which required a "greater amount of work." Id. at ¶ 73-75.
On November 20, 2001, Johnson was "counseled" for late reporting of an absence. Johnson explains that he...
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