Jordan v. Evans
| Decision Date | 03 December 2004 |
| Docket Number | No. 04-356.,04-356. |
| Citation | 355 F.Supp.2d 72 |
| Parties | Tanya Ward JORDAN, Plaintiff, v. Donald EVANS, Secretary, U.S. Department of Commerce, Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Columbia |
David W. Sanford, Lisa Ann Goldblatt, Sanford, Wittels & Heisler, LLP, Washington, DC, for Plaintiff.
Laurie J. Weinstein, United States Attorney's Office, Washington, DC, for Defendant.
Before the Court are the plaintiff's Motion for Preliminary Injunction1 [# 2] and the defendant's Motion to Dismiss [# 4] the Amended Complaint. In this action, the plaintiff, Tanya Ward Jordan, a seventeen-year employee of the defendant U.S. Department of Commerce ("DOC"), alleges that the agency discriminated and retaliated against her on the basis of her race and disabilities, in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000(e), et seq., Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, 42 U.S.C. §§ 12131-12165, the Civil Rights Act of 1866, 42 U.S.C. § 1981, and the District of Columbia Human Rights Act ("DCHRA"), D.C.Code § 1-2502, et seq. The focus of the plaintiff's claims is her transfer to another position within the DOC, which became effective on March 7, 2004, and the alleged failure on the part of DOC to provide "reasonable accommodations" with regard to her disabilities. For the reasons discussed below, the Court DENIES the plaintiff's Motion for Preliminary Injunction and GRANTS the defendant's Motion to Dismiss the Amended Complaint with regard to the plaintiff's Title VII claims.
The plaintiff, Tanya Ward Jordan ("Jordan" or "the plaintiff"), is an African American female who has been employed by the DOC in the Office of the Secretary since 1987. Amend. Compl. ¶¶ 3, 5. She suffers from several disabilities, including respiratory problems and occupational stress. Id. at ¶ 3. While the current action focuses on her transfer on March 7, 2004 from DOC's Office of Budget to its Office of Financial Management, as the pleadings in this case address her employment history at the agency prior to this most recent transfer, a brief summary of this history is warranted.
In June 1998, Jordan began working in the Office of Executive Budgeting and Assistance Management ("OEBAM") as a Management and Program Analyst, a GS-14 level position. Amend. Compl. ¶ 5. She also served as the Departmental Management's ("DM") Audit Liaison. According to Jordan, in this capacity, she was responsible for reporting on the functions, activities, and initiatives related to DM funds. Id.
On July 18, 2003, Jordan was transferred from OEBAM to the Office of Budget ("OB") pursuant to realignment by the Chief Financial Officer and Assistant Secretary for Administration ("CFO/ASA"). Compl. ¶ 8(a); Mot. for TRO, Ex. 1. She alleges that she was the only employee transferred to OB under this realignment. Compl. ¶ 8(a). Jordan also alleges that although the office she occupied prior to that transfer was equipped with a window and a thermostat, the office to which she was transferred in July 2003 failed to accommodate her disabilities because it was small and dusty, and lacked adequate ventilation. Id. at ¶ 8(b).
On August 8, 2003, Jordan contacted the Office of Civil Rights ("OCR") regarding discrimination and retaliation based on the failure of the Director of OB, Barbara Retzlaff, to provide reasonable accommodations to her. Mem. in Support of TRO 3-4. On September 9, 2003, Doug Allis, Jordan's acting supervisor, issued a letter requesting that Jordan submit medical information to DOC's Medical Officer regarding her alleged disabilities. Id. at 4; Mot. for TRO, Ex. 1. Jordan complied and submitted information regarding her medical conditions. On December 8, 2003, DOC's Medical Officer, Reginald Wills, issued a memorandum to DOC's Employee and Labor Relations department stating that Jordan should be given "a private office with a private entrance, thermostat, and [a] window that allows natural light..." Id. at Ex. 1.
Jordan alleges that DOC did not comply with her requests for "reasonable accommodations" and on December 16, 2003, she formally filed a discrimination complaint with OCR, the receipt of which was acknowledged on January 28, 2004. Mem. in Support of TRO 5.
Jordan alleges that on March 1, 2004, while her discrimination complaint was still pending at the administrative level, she received a letter from Janet C. Hoffheins, DOC's Director of Office of Human Resources Management, informing her that, effective March 7, 2004, she was to report to another office within DOC, the Office of Financial Management ("OFM"). Amend. Compl. ¶ 8(d); Mem. in Support of TRO 5. The February 27, 2004 memorandum from Hoffheins states that Jordan's assignment to OB during the July 2003 realignment was "an administrative error" and to correct this error, the agency would transfer her to a Staff Accountant position in OFM, at the GS-14 equivalent. Mot. for TRO, Ex. 1. The memorandum states that the primary objective of the new position is "to formulate and implement financial policies and procedures and financial report requirements." Id. The position description appended to the memorandum states that the general duties and responsibilities of the Staff Accountant include serving as "the policy and planning authority and expert advisor to top managers and outside officials on a management function or major extramural program for a bureau or major line component..." Id. Jordan alleges that in addition to being transferred to a position that denied her "Audit Liaison duties" and had fewer responsibilities, she was placed under the supervision of an employee who was at the same pay-band level. Amend. Compl. ¶ 8(d).
Jordan believes that she has been transferred, and otherwise has been discriminated and retaliated against by DOC throughout her employment, because she has spoken out against the agency's racially discriminatory practices. Amend. Compl. ¶ 7. She alleges that she has taken a leadership role in a class action lawsuit on behalf of African American employees of DOC, pending before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC"),2 and is also an active and visible member of several organizations that address discrimination in the workplace including the Ronald H. Brown Chapter of Blacks in Government ("BIG") Organization and the NAACP Federal Sector Task Force. Id. at ¶¶ 3, 7.
Based on her claim of retaliation,3 Jordan seeks injunctive relief returning her to her former capacity as DM Liaison and enjoining DOC from removing her from this capacity absent promotion or other compelling employment necessity. Amend. Compl., Prayer for Relief; Pl. Reply 1-2. She also seeks assignment to an office with reasonable accommodations to address her disabilities, pending the resolution of this action. Id.
As previously noted, Jordan filed a discrimination complaint with OCR in December 2003. With this complaint still pending at the administrative level, Jordan, proceeding pro se,4 filed the complaint in the current action on March 5, 2004, seeking a temporary restraining order enjoining DOC from effectuating her transfer to OFM on March 7, 2004. On the same day, this Court held a hearing on the motion for temporary restraining order. The Court denied the motion for temporary restraining order because Jordan had failed to demonstrate the likelihood of "irreparable harm" that would result from her transfer. Hr. T. 17:10-13. The Court indicated, however, that it would reconsider her motion as one seeking a preliminary injunction and would give DOC an opportunity to respond. Hr. T. 17:6-8.
Thereafter, DOC filed a motion to dismiss her complaint and a memorandum in opposition to the motion for preliminary injunction on March 18, 2004. Although Jordan later amended her initial complaint with the assistance of counsel, the government gave notice that its motion to dismiss addressed the Amended Complaint. Def. Response to Amend. Compl. After a hearing on the motion for preliminary injunction on May 13, 2004, the parties filed supplemental pleadings on May 17, 2004 regarding the issue of "irreparable injury." The Court heard oral argument on the motion to dismiss on May 21, 2004. For the following reasons, the Court finds that Jordan has failed to make the necessary showing for this Court to grant a preliminary injunction. Furthermore, the Court finds that absent a basis for preliminary injunctive relief, it lacks jurisdiction over Jordan's Title VII claims because she has not shown that she has exhausted her administrative remedies. Accordingly, the Court GRANTS DOC's motion to dismiss these claims.
DOC raised the issue of this Court's jurisdiction to grant the relief sought by Jordan during the March 5, 2004 hearing on the motion for temporary restraining order. Hr. T. 15:4-19. DOC has also argued in its pleadings that Jordan's complaint is not properly before the Court because the plaintiff has failed to exhaust the administrative remedies required to pursue a suit in federal court under Title VII. Opp. to Mot. for PI and Mem. in Support of Mot. to Dismiss 8-9 ("Mem. in Support of Mot. to Dismiss").
While the failure to exhaust administrative remedies would indeed deprive this Court of jurisdiction over the ultimate resolution of the plaintiff's Title VII claims, see Section II infra, the D.C. Circuit has explicitly held that "[i]f the court may eventually have jurisdiction of the substantive claim, the court's incidental equitable jurisdiction, despite the agency's primary jurisdiction, gives the court authority to preserve the status quo pending ripening of the claim for judicial review." Wagner v. Taylor, 836 F.2d 566, 571 (D.C.Cir.1987). Thus, in light of ...
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