Jones v. City of College Park, Ga, Civil No. 1:05-CV-1797-JTC.

• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of Georgia
• Writing for the Court: Jack T. Camp
• Citation: Jones v. City of College Park, Ga, 540 F.Supp.2d 1300 (N.D. Ga. 2007)
• Decision Date: 28 September 2007
• Docket Number: Civil No. 1:05-CV-1797-JTC.
• Parties: Christopher M. JONES, Plaintiff, v. The CITY OF COLLEGE PARK, GEORGIA, a municipal corporation, et al., Defendants.

540 F.Supp.2d 1300

Christopher M. JONES, Plaintiff, v. The CITY OF COLLEGE PARK, GEORGIA, a municipal corporation, et al., Defendants.

Civil No. 1:05-CV-1797-JTC.

United States District Court, N.D. Georgia, Atlanta Division.

September 28, 2007.

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Arch Y. Stokes, John R. Hunt, Shea Stokes Carter, College Park, GA, for Plaintiff.

Clay Colvin Mingus, Elarbee Thompson Sapp & Wilson, Atlanta, GA, Kelly Michael Hundley, Henderson & Hundley, PC, Decatur, GA, for Defendants.

ORDER

JACK T. CAMP, District Judge.

Pending before the Court are the Magistrate Judge's Report and Recommendation [# 130] and Defendants' Objections [# 131]. This action involves allegations that Defendants discriminated against Plaintiff on the basis of his race in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ("Title VII") and 42 U.S.C. § 1981; violated Plaintiffs civil rights under 42 U.S.C. § 1983; and conspired to violate his rights under 42 U.S.C. § 1985(3). The Magistrate Judge recommends that the Court grant Defendants' motion for summary judgment [# 77] as to the § 1985(3) claim and deny the motion as to the remaining claims.

I. Standard of Review

Under 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1) and Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 72, the Court has conducted a careful, de novo review of the portions of the Magistrate Judge's Report and Recommendation to which Defendants objected. The Court has reviewed the remainder of the Magistrate Judge's Report and Recommendation for clear error.

II. Analysis¹

A. Direct Evidence

Defendants argue that Defendant Wyatt's and Jones's comments do not constitute direct evidence of discrimination. "Direct evidence" of discrimination is "evidence, that, if believed, proves [the] existence of [a] fact without inference or presumption." Wilson v. B/E Aerospace, Inc., 376 F.3d 1079, 1086 (11th Cir.2004) (quotation marks omitted). "[O]nly the most blatant remarks, whose intent could mean nothing other than to discriminate on the basis of some impermissible factor constitute direct evidence of discrimination." Id. (quotation marks omitted). "If the alleged statement suggests, but does not prove, a discriminatory motive, then it is circumstantial evidence." Id. A classic example of direct evidence is "a management memorandum saying, `Fire [plaintiff]-he is too old.'" Earley v. Champion Int'l Corp., 907 F.2d 1077, 1081 (11th Cir. 1990).

Despite this seemingly clear definition of direct evidence, the Eleventh Circuit has held that a number of statements which do not appear to fit neatly into that definition Were direct evidence of discrimination. See, e.g., Caban-Wheeler v. Elsea, 904 F.2d 1549, 1555 (11th Cir.1990) (plaintiffs testimony that the employer said he "needed a black director" was direct evidence); E.E.O.C. v. Alton Packaging Corp., 901 F.2d 920, 923 (11th Cir.1990) (managers' statements that "if it was his company, he wouldn't hire any black people" and "you people can't do a — thing right" were direct evidence); E.E.O.C. v. Beverage Canners, Inc., 897 F.2d 1067, 1068 n. 3 & 1072 (11th Cir.1990) ("racially hostile remarks by managers and supervisors" were direct evidence); Walters v. City of Atlanta, 803 F.2d 1135, 1141 (11th Cir.1986) (memorandum requesting new list of candidates because the current list "does not include any minority group representation" was direct evidence); Miles v. M.N.C. Corp., 750 F.2d 867, 874-75 (11th Cir.1985) (manager's statement that he did not hire blacks because "[h]alf of them weren't worth a shit'" was direct evidence); Lee v. Russell County Bd. of Ed., 684 F.2d 769, 772, 774-75 (11th Cir.1982) (school board member's statements that he "was concerned about getting a greater `white presence'" and "was pleased" that a newly hired teacher was white were direct evidence).

While discussing the above-cited cases, among others, the Eleventh Circuit stated that it "has found direct evidence where actions or statements of an employer reflect a discriminatory or retaliatory attitude correlating to the discrimination or retaliation complained of by the employee." Merritt v. Dillard Paper Co., 120 F.3d 1181, 1189 (11th Cir.1997) (quotation marks and alteration omitted). As the Magistrate Judge pointed out, the Eleventh Circuit has held that "a statement that members of a racial minority in general or women in general are simply not competent enough to do a particular job would seem to be a classic example of direct evidence." Haynes v. W.C. Caye & Co., 52 F.3d 928, 931 (11th Cir.1995). In contrast, where an employer's statement involving race does not relate to the plaintiffs job, employment, or the hiring process or is made by someone other than the decision-maker, the Eleventh Circuit has typically held that the statement does not constitute direct evidence. See Wright v. Southland Corp., 187 F.3d 1287, 1298-1300 (11th Cir.1999) (discussing cases).

Defendants argue that because Defendant Wyatt's and Jones's comments did not explicitly relate to "the decisional process or an explanation of the decision not to renew Plaintiffs employment," (Defs.' Objs. at 5), they do not amount to direct evidence. However, as the plethora of cases cited above demonstrate, direct evidence is not as narrow as Defendants suggest. Wyatt's statement that Plaintiff was not the right person to represent College Park's development because he was white and his asking how Plaintiff as a white development director could relate to a predominately African-American city and Jones's statement that she thought it would be difficult or impossible for Plaintiff to relate to the needs of her black constituents are akin to the statements made in Caban-Wheeler and Lee, where employers expressed preferences for employees of a specific race. See Caban-Wheeler, 904 F.2d at 1555; Lee, 684 F.2d at 772, 774-75. The statements were not as crass or uncouth as those in Alton Packaging, Beverage Canners, or Miles, but seem to evoke a similar sentiment, that Plaintiff was unfit for his position because he was white. Cf. Haynes, 52 F.3d at 931. The cases cited by Defendants are inapposite, as they involve statements unrelated to employment or made by non-decisionmakers. See Johnson v. Nicholson, No. 05-13259, 2005 WL 3199278, at *3 (11th Cir. Nov.30, 2005) (comment unrelated to employment); Scott v. Suncoast Beverage Sales, Ltd., 295 F.3d 1223, 1227-28 (11th Cir.2002) (comment made two years earlier and unrelated to employment decision).

Accordingly, the Court OVERRULES Defendants' objection.²

B. Pretext

Defendants state that Plaintiff was terminated for disrespectful or unprofessional behavior. Defendants argue that Plaintiff has failed to show that their legitimate nondiscriminatory reason is a pretext for discrimination. To survive summary judgment, a plaintiff must show that the defendant's proffered reason is a pretext for discrimination, "either directly, by persuading the court that a discriminatory reason more than likely motivated the employer, or indirectly, by persuading the court that the proffered reason for the employment decision is not worthy of belief." Hall v. Ala. Ass'n of Sch. Bds., 326 F.3d 1157, 1166 (11th Cir.2003). A plaintiffs "evidence must reveal such weaknesses, implausibilities, inconsistencies incoherencies or contradictions in the employer's proffered legitimate reasons for its actions that a reasonable factfinder could find them unworthy of credence." Vessels v. Atlanta Indep. Sch. Sys., 408 F.3d 763, 771 (11th Cir.2005) (quotation marks omitted).

As the Magistrate Judge noted, Plaintiff has presented sufficient evidence to create a genuine issue of material fact that Defendants' nondiscriminatory reason is a pretext for discrimination. Defendants Wyatt, Jones, and Phillips all made statements, detailed above, generally expressing Plaintiff's unfitness for his position due to his race or a desire to replace Plaintiff with an employee of another race. Those statements are evidence of pretext. See Vessels, 408 F.3d at 771. Plaintiff also produced evidence suggesting that Phillips's actions at the November 2003 council meeting were not motivated by Plaintiff's behavior, but to assuage the appearance that a white development director was "running the show" at a council meeting. (Pl.'s Dep. at 26.) This evidence, coupled with the evidence Plaintiff presented indicating that employees recommended for termination were given a probationary period before actually being terminated, whereas Plaintiff was not, would allow a jury to find that Defendants' stated nondiscriminatory reason was unworthy of credence. See Vessels, 408 F.3d at 771.

Accordingly, the Court OVERRULES Defendants' objection.

C. Qualified Immunity

As set out in the Report and Recommendation and briefly discussed above, a genuine issue of material fact exists as to whether Defendants violated Plaintiffs constitutional rights. While the Magistrate Judge correctly found the right to be free of racial discrimination in the workplace to be clearly established, the inquiry is more fact-specific: in 2004, would a reasonable city council member have known that terminating an employee under the facts of this case violated clearly established law. See Stanley v. City of Dalton, 219 F.3d 1280, 1294 (11th Cir.2000). "This objective formulation shields [Defendants] from suit, even though [they] in fact committed constitutional violations, provided that a [city council member] reasonably, albeit mistakenly, could have believed that" his [or her] conduct was lawful. In other words, a [government official] can guess wrong about the constitutionality of his conduct, provided the mistake is a reasonable one." Id.

"[T]he presence of a jury issue about a defendant's improper intent does not necessarily preclude qualified immunity." Id. at 1295. "A defendant is entitled to qualified immunity under [this] rationale only where, among other things, the record...