Karam v. Cnty. of Rensselaer, 1:13-cv-01018 (MAD/DJS)
| Decision Date | 04 January 2016 |
| Docket Number | 1:13-cv-01018 (MAD/DJS) |
| Parties | JAMES KARAM and LISA KARAM, Plaintiffs, v. COUNTY OF RENSSELAER, NEW YORK; JACK MAHAR, in his individual and official capacity as Sheriff of Rensselaer County; PATRICK RUSSO, in his individual and official capacity as the Undersheriff of Rensselaer County; KATHLEEN JIMINO, in her individual and official capacity as the County Executive of Rensselaer County; RUTH VIBERT, in her individual and official capacity as Chief of Corrections of the Rensselaer County Sheriff's Department; HAROLD SMITH, in his individual and official capacity as Captain of the Rensselaer County Sheriff's Department; TOM HENDRY, in his individual and official capacity as Director of Human Resources of Rensselaer County; LINDA BALDWIN, in her individual and official capacity as the Payroll Clerk of Rensselaer County; JOHN DOE(S), in their individual and official capacities as officials, officers, agents, employees and/or representatives of Rensselaer County; and JANE DOE(S), in their individual and official capacities as officials, officers, agents, employees and/or representatives of Rensselaer County, Defendants. RUTH VIBERT, in her individual and official capacity as Chief of Corrections of the Rensselaer County Sheriff's Department, Cross Claimant, v. COUNTY OF RENSSELAER, NEW YORK, Cross Defendant. RUTH VIBERT, in her individual and official capacity as Chief of Corrections of the Rensselaer County Sheriff's Department, Counter Claimant v. JAMES KARAM and LISA KARAM, Counter Defendants. |
| Court | United States District Courts. 2nd Circuit. United States District Court of Northern District of New York |
APPEARANCES:
BOSMAN LAW OFFICE
and Doe(s)
LAW OFFICES OF ELMER ROBERT
KEACH, III, P.C.
AJ BOSMAN, ESQ.
DANIEL W. FLYNN, ESQ.
CRYSTAL R. PECK, ESQ.
JOHN W. BAILEY, ESQ.
ELMER R. KEACH, III, ESQ.
MARIA K. DYSON, ESQ.
MEMORANDUM-DECISION AND ORDER
Plaintiffs James and Lisa Karam commenced this action on August 20, 2013 asserting twenty-nine causes of action against eight named Defendants pursuant to New York Executive Law § 296 (the New York Human Rights Law ("NYHRL")), 42 U.S.C. §§ 1981, 1983, 1985, and 1986, the New York State Constitution, New York Civil Rights Law §§ 40-c and 79-n, the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA"), the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, common law claims of prima facie tort, loss of consortium, and negligence, and for a writ of mandamus. See Dkt. No. 1. The named Defendants, sued in their individual and official capacities, are Rensselaer County, Sheriff Jack Mahar, Undersheriff Patrick Russo, County Executive Kathleen Jimino, Captain Harold Smith, director of human resources Tom Hendry, payroll clerk Linda Baldwin (collectively the "County Defendants"), and former Chief of Corrections Ruth Vibert ("Defendant Vibert"), as well as unnamed Jane and John Doe(s). See id. Currently before the Court are motions for summary judgment submitted independently by the County Defendants and Defendant Vibert. See Dkt. Nos. 99, 101. Plaintiffs have opposed each of the pending motions. See Dkt. Nos. 125, 128.
Plaintiff1 was appointed as a corrections officer at the Rensselaer County Sheriff's Department ("Sheriff's Department") in September of 1988. Dkt. No. 141 at ¶ 42. Between 1990 and 2003, Plaintiff was promoted five times and received seven salary increases. Id. at ¶¶ 43-48. Following Defendant Mahar's election as sheriff in 2003, Plaintiff was appointed as the internal affairs officer for the Sheriff's Department. Id. at ¶ 53. In addition to the duties of this position, Plaintiff performed training sessions for corrections officers. Id. at ¶¶ 54, 55.
Over the course of his employment, Plaintiff alleges that he was the target of numerous discriminatory actions concerning his Arab ancestry. In 2003, Plaintiff was a recipient of a mass e-mail depicting an Arab headdress and joking about two Arab people on a plane. Dkt. No. 111-1. In 2005, Defendants Smith and Russo placed a sign on a burned car that read "Lt. Karam's Undercover Unit." Dkt. No. 111-2. On March 5, 2010, Plaintiff received an e-mail fromDefendant Russo titled "What the Taliban do when they aren't killing people...," which contained a night vision video depicting a person having sex with an animal. Id.; Dkt. No. 130. At some indeterminate time, Plaintiff received a time sheet that indicated his department was the "rat squad." Dkt. No. 111-3. Some of the County Defendants made a statement to Defendant Vibert that Plaintiff could not work with her because "Lebanese men do not like to answer to women." Dkt. No. 125 at ¶ 8. At some indeterminate time a comment was made that Plaintiff was "out feeding [his] camels." Id.
Starting on or around August 26, 2012, Plaintiff was unable to return to his employment at the Sheriff's Department because he was suffering from temporomandibular joint ("TMJ") pain. Dkt. No. 141 at ¶¶ 56, 57. At that time, the Sheriff's Office and Rensselaer County had a sick leave donation program incorporated into various union agreements, which allowed employees with excess sick time accruals to donate that time to another employee who was at risk of depleting their own leave time due to serious illness or injury. Id. at ¶¶ 59-61. To use this program, an employee's initial sick leave donation slips were provided to Defendant Baldwin to check the donating employee's file to ensure they had adequate sick leave. Id. at ¶ 64. The donation slips were then passed on to a committee for review, which consisted of Defendants Hendry, Russo, and a union representative. Id. at ¶¶ 64-66. After Plaintiff had depleted his accumulated sick leave in the fall of 2012, he was informed that he would not be able to receive any sick time donations. Id. at ¶¶ 58, 76. Defendant Mahar permanently discontinued the Sheriff's Department's sick leave donation program around this same time. Id. at ¶ 74.
On or about November 5, 2012, Plaintiff applied for benefits under New York General Municipal Law § 207-c ("207-c benefits"), which are afforded to law enforcement officials who are injured in the line of duty. Id. at ¶¶ 80-81; Dkt. No. 111-10 at 2-5. The 207-c benefitsprovide for full pay to officers during any time that they are unable to work due to a work related injury. Dkt. No. 141 at ¶ 82. The Sheriff's Department has a policy of requiring an independent medical examination for 207-c benefits from injuries that are not easily verified as work-related. Id. at ¶ 89. The basis for Plaintiff's 207-c benefit application was that he was suffering from post traumatic stress disorder ("PTSD") and depression due to work-related stress. Id. at ¶ 86. Plaintiff submitted his initial 207-c application with a report from clinical psychologist Dr. Richard Ovens stating that Plaintiff's conditions of PTSD and major depressive disorder arose from work related stress. Dkt. No. 111-10 at 14-15. Thereafter, the Sheriff's Department contacted Dr. Russell Denea to perform an independent psychiatric examination on Plaintiff. See Dkt. No. 116-1 at 157-162. On May 1, 2013, Dr. Denea confirmed the findings of Dr. Ovens. Id. at 161-162. Plaintiff's 207-c application was approved on September 23, 2013, and he was issued a check for $53,276.33 for retroactive benefits and back pay. Dkt. No. 141 at ¶¶ 95, 96; Dkt. No. 111-20. Plaintiff was issued two additional checks in the amount of $2,017.93 and $1,735.10, which accounted for his remaining holiday, sick, personal, and vacation hours. Dkt. No. 141 at ¶¶ 97-99.
Defendant Vibert was the Chief of Corrections at the Rensselaer County Jail from March 19, 2012 until March 18, 2013. Dkt. No. 140 at ¶¶ 1, 2. During her employment, Defendant Vibert was the highest ranking member of the Rensselaer County corrections staff, apart from undersheriff Russo and Sheriff Mahar. Id. at ¶ 3. Plaintiff and Defendant Vibert worked together for approximately five months before Plaintiff stopped reporting to work in August of 2012. Id. at ¶ 8. However, Plaintiff stated that he "rarely interacted with [Defendant Vibert] from March 2012 until August 2012 when [he] left work . . . ." Dkt. No. 144-2 at ¶ 2. After learning that Plaintiff had not reported to work on several occasions, Defendant Vibert instructed DefendantSmith to draft a "concern letter" regarding Plaintiff's use of sick time. Id. at ¶¶ 41-43, 47. This letter was never served upon Plaintiff because he never returned to work after it was drafted. Id. at ¶ 51. Defendant Vibert played no role in Plaintiff's 207-c benefit application. Id. at ¶ 75.
On or about July 23, 2013, Plaintiff filed a charge of discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC"). Dkt. No. 141 at ¶ 100; Dkt. No. 99-16. The EEOC charge alleged that Plaintiff was discriminated against on the basis of his perceived disability under the ADA and his Arab ancestry, and that he was retaliated against throughout his employment with the Sheriff's Department. Dkt. No. 141 at ¶ 101; Dkt. No. 125 at ¶ 6. Plaintiff received a "right-to-sue" letter from the EEOC on February 6, 2014. Dkt. No. 141 at ¶ 102.
A court may grant a motion for summary judgment only if it determines that there is no genuine issue of material fact to be tried and that the facts as to which there is no such issue warrant judgment for the movant as a matter of law. See Chambers v. TRM Copy Ctrs. Corp., 43 F.3d 29, 36 (2d Cir. 1994) (citations omitted). When analyzing a summary judgment motion, the court "cannot try issues of fact; it can only determine whether...
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