Mills-Sanchez v. Research Found. for State Univ. of N.Y.

• Decision Date: 20 June 2019
• Docket Number: 1:18-cv-723 (GLS/DJS)
• Parties: SHAWNTELL MILLS-SANCHEZ, Plaintiff, v. THE RESEARCH FOUNDATION FOR THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of New York

SHAWNTELL MILLS-SANCHEZ, Plaintiff, v. THE RESEARCH FOUNDATIONFOR THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK et al., Defendants.

1:18-cv-723 (GLS/DJS)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK

June 20, 2019

APPEARANCES:

FOR THE PLAINTIFF:

Office of Vincent U. Uba

750 Broadway

Albany, NY 12207

FOR THE DEFENDANTS:

The Research Foundation for the

State University of New York, John

Thompson, Pamela Potter-Reger,

Deborah McGuire, and Eugene Monaco

Research Foundation of SUNY

35 State Street

5th Floor

Albany, NY 12207

Research Foundation for Mental

Hygiene Inc. and Joanne Trinkle

Bond, Schoeneck & King, PLLC

268 Broadway, Suite 104

Saratoga Springs, NY 12866

Welfare Research, Inc., Lee

Lounsbury, and New York State

Office of Children and Family

Services

OF COUNSEL:

VINCENT U. UBA, ESQ.

ALLISON ZULLO GOTTLIEB,

ESQ.

MICHAEL D. BILLOK, ESQ.

NO APPEARANCES

Gary L. Sharpe Senior District Judge

MEMORANDUM-DECISION AND ORDER

I. Introduction

Plaintiff Shawntell Mills-Sanchez brings this action against the Research Foundation for the State University of New York (RF SUNY), John Thompson, Pamela Potter-Reger, Deborah McGuire, Eugene Monaco (collectively "RF SUNY employees"), the Research Foundation for Mental Hygiene Inc. (RFMH), Joanne Trinkle, Welfare Research, Inc. (WRI), Lee Lounsbury, and the New York State Office of Children and Family Services (NYSOCFS). She alleges racial discrimination, retaliation, hostile work environment, conspiracy, and a violation of her rights under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. (See generally Am. Compl., Dkt. No. 13.) Pending is a motion to dismiss filed by RFMH and Trinkle, (Dkt. No. 18), as well as a motion to dismiss filed by RF SUNY and RF SUNY employees, (Dkt. No. 22). For thefollowing reasons, both motions are granted.

II. Background

A. Facts¹

Plaintiff, a black female, began working for RF SUNY² in or around 2005. (Am. Compl. ¶¶ 1, 89.) She complains of unfair treatment from 2007 until her employment ended in 2015, which allegedly continued in the form of "blacklisting." (See generally id.)

In 2007, plaintiff's supervisor, Diane DiGiorgio, who is white, "was granted an accommodation so she could work from home two days a week." (Id. ¶¶ 91-92.) Potter-Reger, DiGiorgio's supervisor, required plaintiff to work around DiGiorgio's schedule, despite plaintiff's expressed concern that she was getting inadequate supervision and training.(Id. ¶¶ 92-95.)

In late 2008, Robert Salisbury³ "repeatedly made it known in the office that he held strong opinions regarding . . . race relations"; "would repeatedly try to bait the few African American employees, including plaintiff, into racially charged conversations that reflect negatively on African Americans"; "claimed to have been robbed in New York City and made a point to state 'it certainly wasn't by a white or Chinese guy'"; and "frequently mocked plaintiff that [RF SUNY] would rather hire an unqualified [w]hite/Caucasian individual than a qualified [b]lack/African American individual."⁴ (Id. ¶¶ 97-98, 101-03.) "In or around August 2012, Salisbury called a pregnant female African American []employee . . . 'a lazy piece of shit'" in the presence of other employees.⁵ (Id. ¶ 128.)

"In or around 2010, [Potter-]Reger determined that despite the fact that plaintiff[] had . . . performed exceptionally well at her work by increasing her deliverable⁶ from the year before from 96 to 122, plaintiff would not be receiving [an] 'Exceeds Expectations' job evaluation rating." (Id. ¶ 116.) After plaintiff refused to sign her 2010 evaluation because of this, "[Potter-]Reger labeled [her] a 'problem employee.'" (Id. ¶¶ 119-20.)

"In or around August 2012, plaintiff made a complaint to Human Resources (HR) and the Director of Child Welfare . . . about how African American female employees in the child welfare unit⁷ were being unfairly treated." (Id. ¶ 123.) "On or about August 29, 2012, plaintiff . . . contacted [HR] regarding her concerns about her job performance evaluations." (Id. ¶ 126.)

"On or about September 21, 2012, [David] Fortune⁸ . . . took [and shared] inappropriate pictures of plaintiff in an effort to accuse [her] of being 'lazy.'" (Id. ¶¶ 97, 132-33.) In or around 2013, after plaintiffcomplained to Potter-Reger and Thompson that a particular project's incompleteness "could be seen as a waste of taxpayer money," Thompson "called plaintiff lazy and oppositional." (Id. ¶¶ 135-38.)

"In or around December 2014, plaintiff made requests for accommodation as to scheduling of classes and training," which were "denied by . . . McGuire," despite plaintiff's "belief" that "other similarly situated [w]hite-Caucasian employees had been provided these types of accommodations." (Id. ¶¶ 178-80.) Plaintiff also "filed a complaint with [HR] . . . regarding the unreasonably denied accommodation and the absence of her [annual] performance appraisal," which had not yet been completed. (Id. ¶¶ 182-83.) Plaintiff was then "compelled to meet with [a supervisor] to review an improperly back-dated evaluation" and "falsely accused of talking poorly of her co-workers." (Id. ¶¶ 184-85.) Plaintiff refused to sign the evaluation. (Id. ¶ 185.) On or about February 1, 2015, plaintiff resigned from RF SUNY. (Id. ¶ 186.)

During her tenure at RF SUNY, plaintiff alleges that black employees were not selected for several job openings as follows:

• In or around 2009, Thompson was promoted to become plaintiff's supervisor. (Id. ¶¶ 104, 106.) This position "was neither advertised nor opened up for plaintiff [or] other qualifiedemployees," despite the fact that she "continued to demonstrate her great value as an employee, bringing in the highest deliverables (96), and received an 'Exceeds Expectations' on her performance appraisal by . . . [a]cting supervisor, Diane Tesiny." (Id. ¶¶ 105, 108.)

• In or around 2009, Damon Barrymon, a white male, was hired to a position that required a bachelor's degree, even though he lacked such a degree. (Id. ¶¶ 110-12, 114.) Plaintiff does not indicate whether this position was opened up for others to apply or if any black employees applied for this position.

• On an unidentified date, Michelle McKenzie, a black RF SUNY employee, was not offered a promotion despite being recommended by a search committee, which included plaintiff. (Id. ¶¶ 142-47.) Additionally, after McKenzie's contract ended, she was not offered a job on another team as similarly-situated white employees were. (Id. ¶ 150.)

• On or about September 25, 2013, plaintiff interviewed with Trinkle for a job at Parsons Child and Family Center. (Id. ¶ 160.) Despite her qualifications, she did not receive the job. (Id. ¶¶ 161, 166.) Plaintiff alleges, "upon information and belief," that "Trinkle contacted [Potter-]Reger regarding plaintiff because [Potter-]Reger and Trinkle used to work together" and "[Potter-]Reger falsely relayed to Trinkle that plaintiff was 'a problem employee and failed to attend meetings.'" (Id. ¶¶ 162, 164.)

• On or about July 22, 2014, plaintiff applied for a position at NYSOCFS but received no response despite her qualifications. (Id. ¶¶ 167-69.) Plaintiff continued to apply for unspecified positions at NYSOCFS but was rejected for every position despite her qualifications. (Id. ¶¶ 176-77.)

• In or around October 2014, plaintiff and Jessica Bashaw, a white female, interviewed for an open position with RF SUNY; Bashaw was offered the position, despite plaintiff's qualifications.

(Id. ¶¶ 170-73.) After Bashaw turned down the offer, Molly McHale, whose race is unspecified, received the position. (Id. ¶ 174.)

• In or around December 2014, Bashaw was given a supervisory position, even though she allegedly had less experience than two black female employees. (Id. ¶¶ 152-55.) It is unclear whether the position was opened up for others to apply or these two employees applied for the position.

• In or around January 2015, Michael Cozzens, a white male, received a supervisory position, which "was never posted nor opened up for plaintiff and other qualified employees to apply." (Id. ¶¶ 156-57.)

Following plaintiff's resignation at RF SUNY, she began working for WRI. (Id. ¶ 189.) In April 2015, someone from RF SUNY sent an email to plaintiff's work email address informing her that "Thompson wanted plaintiff to know that . . . 'Thompson . . . had now been promoted to a position at NYSOCFS.'" (Id. ¶ 191.) In or around September 2015, Lounsbury, plaintiff's supervisor and WRI's Executive Director who had previously worked at RF SUNY, "sarcastic[ally]" told plaintiff that he ran into Trinkle and she informed him "'what a great employee plaintiff was.'" (Id. ¶¶ 190, 196.) In or around October 2015, Lounsbury "suddenly and inexplicably terminated plaintiff's employment without any cause or justification." (Id. ¶ 199.)

After plaintiff's termination and until November 26, 2017, plaintiff applied for numerous job openings at RF SUNY, RFMH, and NYSOCFS; however, despite her qualifications, she was not hired. (Id. ¶¶ 201-38.) The circumstances surrounding these occurrences were as follows:

• On or about September 18, 2015, plaintiff applied for a position with RF SUNY but never received a response. (Id. ¶¶ 203-06.)

• On or about October 15, 2015, plaintiff applied for a position at RFMH but, after an interview, never received a response. (Id. ¶¶ 207-10.)

• On or about June 10, 2016 and June 22, 2016, plaintiff applied for positions at NYSOCFS but never received a response. (Id. ¶¶ 211-13, 214-16.)

• On or about July 13, 2016, plaintiff interviewed for a position at NYSOCFS, but "the interviewers . . . were not interested in hiring [her]." (Id. ¶¶ 217-18.)

• Trinkle began working for RFMH in August 2017. (Id. ¶ 220.) On or about August 27 and September 5, 2017, plaintiff interviewed for positions at RFMH, but did not receive a response after either interview, (id. ¶¶ 221-24, 226-29), and, on or about October 2, 2017, RFMH refused to give her information regarding its hiring manager or the status of her

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