Mems v. City of St. Paul, Dept. of Fire

• Decision Date: 30 April 2003
• Docket Number: No. 02-1834.,02-1834.
• Citation: 327 F.3d 771
• Parties: Robert MEMS; Nathanial Khaliq; Phillip Webb; Thurman Smith; Byron Brown, Appellants, v. CITY OF ST. PAUL, DEPARTMENT OF FIRE AND SAFETY SERVICES, Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

327 F.3d 771

Robert MEMS; Nathanial Khaliq; Phillip Webb; Thurman Smith; Byron Brown, Appellants, v. CITY OF ST. PAUL, DEPARTMENT OF FIRE AND SAFETY SERVICES, Appellee.

No. 02-1834.

United States Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit.

Submitted: December 13, 2002.

Filed: April 30, 2003.

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Jeffrey R. Anderson, argued, St. Paul, MN (Frances E. Baillon and Patrick W. Noaker, on the brief), for appellants.

Peter G. Mikhail, argued, Assistant City Attorney, St. Paul, MN, for appellee.

Before WOLLMAN, HEANEY, and MAGILL, Circuit Judges.

MAGILL, Circuit Judge.

African-American firefighters Robert Mems, Nathanial Khaliq, Phillip Webb, Thurman Smith, and Byron Brown (collectively "Appellants") sued their employer, the City of St. Paul, Department of Fire and Safety Services ("City" or "SPFD"), under the Minnesota Human Rights Act ("MHRA"), Minn.Stat. § 363.03 (2000), and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ("Title VII"), 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000e — 2000e-17 (2000), alleging that they had been subjected to illegal race harassment and had experienced a hostile work environment. Appellants Mems, Khaliq, Smith, and Brown appeal from the final judgment entered on the jury verdict in favor of the City. Appellant Webb appeals from the final judgment entered on the jury verdict awarding him $1 in damages. Appellants also appeal the district court's¹ subsequent denial of their new trial motion. For the following reasons, we affirm.

I.

A. Background

SPFD is organized into three shifts at each fire station, known as the A, B, and C shifts. Each shift is on duty for twenty-four hours at a time, and the firefighters live, eat, and work at their station while on duty. The shifts rotate so that the B shift relieves the A shift half of the time and relieves the C shift the other half of the time. The firefighters bid for the shift and station they work at through a seniority-based system.

In 1992, eleven African-American firefighters brought a lawsuit against the City, alleging discrimination and harassment between 1975 and 1991. Appellants Mems, Khaliq, Smith, and Brown were parties to the suit. The case settled in June 1994. As part of the settlement, the first minority to sit on the administration, Anthony Carter, an African American, was chosen to serve in the newly created Assistant Chief position. In addition, the settlement released the City from all claims that these Appellants might have had against the City arising before June 17, 1994.

When the settlement was announced, Appellants Mems, Brown, Webb, and Khaliq worked at St. Paul Fire Station 20 on the B shift. At this time, six African-American men and two Caucasian men made up the B shift. The A shift consisted of all Caucasian men. Appellant Smith worked the C shift at station 20, but occasionally filled in for other firefighters on the B shift.

B. Alleged Racial Harassment

1. Appellant Smith

In August 1994, Smith was filling in for an A-shift firefighter, when a Caucasian A-shift firefighter reported the smell of alcohol on Smith's breath. Captain Rodney Bergstrom and District Chief Dick Wiesner asked Smith about the allegation. Smith offered to let them smell his breath and satisfied their concerns.

In the fall of 1996, an African-American B-shift firefighter told B-shift Captain Ross that he saw what appeared to be crack cocaine fall from Smith's locker. Ross reported the information to Assistant Chief Carter. Carter called the St. Paul Police Department, and the police came to the station, where they confronted and questioned Smith. Smith consented to a search of his person and locker, which yielded no drugs.

2. A shift versus B shift in station 20

Appellants testified that, shortly after the 1994 settlement, the A shift started harassing the B shift.

Appellants testified that the A shift sabotaged the fire station several times by hiding cooking utensils, leaving the windows open in the winter time, and turning the heat up excessively before the B shift came on duty. In addition, A-shift Captain Rodney Bergstrom would often conduct a white-glove inspection of the fire department when the B shift was coming off duty and the A shift was coming on duty. B-shift Captain John Dubois testified that these housekeeping issues were common disputes among shifts. These housekeeping complaints were never contemporaneously reported to Captain Dubois, and he never saw the windows open or the thermostat up.

In January 1995, members of the A shift complained that members of the B shift were staying at the station after the B shift ended. In response, the B shift was directed to be out of the station by 8:00 a.m., the time of the shift change. This was the first order of this kind at station 20. Mems and Khaliq subsequently filed a race discrimination claim concerning this order. Assistant Chief Carter rescinded the order and investigated the matter.

In February 1995, an email was sent by a Caucasian A-shift firefighter, Mark Montanari, regarding the 1994 settlement: "I feel that I can fully acept [sic] the healing process much easier for [redaction]. That would help me greatly to be able to work together in a more relaxed mode."² Trial Ex. No. 112. Appellants complained about the email, but Montanari was never disciplined.

Also in February 1995, a meeting was held between the A- and B-shift members. During this meeting, at least one firefighter admitted that there were racial tensions in the station.

In May of 1995, offensive photographs were posted at station 20 on the bulletin board. Captain Ness was given an oral reprimand for this posting.

In the months following Captain Ness's reprimand, Mems' fire gear, fire rig, and equipment were damaged. Captain Ross and Assistant Chief Carter concluded that the problems with the equipment were likely accidental, and the City investigation concluded that Mems' gear experienced normal wear and tear.

Until May 1995, for a period of at least seven years, Pat McCardle, a Caucasian A-shift firefighter, relieved Webb immediately upon McCardle's arrival at station 20, even if it was before the 8:00 a.m. shift change. On May 16, 1995, without any word to Webb, McCardle did not take a run for Webb that came in before 8:00 a.m. Again, on July 1, 1995, McCardle did not relieve Webb when an alarm came in at 7:48 a.m. When Webb came back from the July run, he confronted McCardle regarding these instances, and an argument ensued. After this confrontation, McCardle complained that he felt threatened by Webb. On November 14, 1995, following an investigation, Webb received a verbal reprimand for violation of the SPFD's policy of respect. On July 3, 1995, McCardle took a run for Webb before 8:00 a.m., and McCardle continued to take runs for Webb until McCardle retired in December 1998.

On December 4, 1995, Webb filed a race harassment claim with the St. Paul City Department of Human Rights ("DHR"), alleging that McCardle's failure to take the above-mentioned runs was motivated by racial hostility. B-shift Captain Dubois, a Caucasian, helped Webb to file the complaint.

In February 1996, Captain Dubois filed his own complaint against Harold Strassner, a Caucasian A-shift firefighter, claiming racial hostility. After Strassner learned that he was mentioned in Webb's complaint, Strassner threatened to sue Dubois. At trial and in his complaint, Dubois explained that he was treated poorly by A-shift personnel because he stood up for his B-shift personnel.

In the spring of 1996, B-shift firefighters coming on duty after the A shift found cartoons and articles from the Conservative Chronicle, which Appellants testified they considered racist. Appellants complained to their supervisors about the cartoons. No offensive cartoons appeared in the station again after the complaint.

In early May 1996, DHR finished its investigation of Webb's claim regarding McCardle and forwarded its finding to Chief Fuller. The DHR suggested, in its cover letter, that the City should ensure compliance with anti-discrimination laws because some of the interviewees expressed concerns about a "hostile work environment." Trial Ex. No. 317. DHR found that there was probable cause to believe that McCardle's actions toward Webb were retaliatory for the 1994 settlement and for Captain Ness's reprimand for posting the offensive pictures. In addition, DHR found probable cause to believe that McCardle violated workplace conduct policy by not informing Webb that he no longer would be taking the runs.

On May 20, 1996, Webb called Assistant Chief Carter, asked if the DHR report was complete, and requested a copy. Carter told Webb that in a few days Carter would have something in writing for Webb regarding the report.

On May 21, 1996, Assistant Chief Carter drafted a letter of reprimand for McCardle, but did not send it. Instead, Carter decided to investigate the claim further because he could not find a standard operating procedure that McCardle had violated.

On May 22, 1996, Assistant Chief Carter had two conversations with Webb. First, Carter called Webb to inform Webb that he was still working on putting something in writing regarding the investigation results. At the time of the call, Webb was on duty at station 20. The conversation became hostile. Assistant Chief Carter then ordered Webb to come down to headquarters where their second conversation took place. This conversation was heated as well. Webb returned to station 20 and took the rest of the day off sick. A few days later, Webb was sent for a fitness-for-duty exam.

Shortly thereafter, Carter forwarded the DHR report to the Affirmative Action Director and the City Attorneys' Office. Neither found supporting evidence for the DHR's conclusions that McCardle's actions were retaliatory or that he violated any workplace policy. On June 10, 1996, Carter sent a letter to McCardle indicating that McCardle's actions were not racially motivated and there was not...