Moore v. Philander Smith Coll.
| Decision Date | 06 June 2014 |
| Docket Number | Case No. 4:13–cv–00350 KGB. |
| Citation | 25 F.Supp.3d 1095 |
| Parties | Alda MOORE, Plaintiff v. PHILANDER SMITH COLLEGE, Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Arkansas |
Arkie Byrd, Mays, Byrd & Associates, P.A., Little Rock, AR, for Plaintiff.
Carolyn B. Witherspoon, Abtin Mehdizadegan, Cross, Gunter, Witherspoon & Galchus, P.C., Little Rock, AR, for Defendant.
Plaintiff Alda Moore brings this action under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, (“Title VII”), 42 U.S.C. § 2000e, and the Arkansas Civil Rights Act (“the ACRA”), Ark.Code Ann. § 16–123–101, alleging gender discrimination.1 Dr. Moore also alleges a breach of contract claim under Arkansas law. Defendant Philander Smith College (“College”) filed its motion for summary judgment on Dr. Moore's claims (Dkt. No. 14). Dr. Moore filed her response in opposition to the motion for summary judgment (Dkt. No. 23). The College replied to Dr. Moore's response (Dkt. No. 26). For the reasons that follow, the College's motion for summary judgment on Dr. Moore's gender discrimination claims is granted. The Court declines to exercise supplemental jurisdiction on Dr. Moore's breach of contract claim under Arkansas law.
The College hired Dr. Moore as a psychotherapist available for student consultation on March 15, 2010. On September 9, 2010, the College appointed Dr. Moore to a tenure-track assistant professor position in the College's Psychology Department for which she applied. The Psychology Department is administratively housed in the College's Division of Social Sciences.
On July 27 or August 3, 2012, an incident occurred between Dr. Moore and her neighbors, the Crolleys. The Crolleys called the police and filed a police report stating that Dr. Moore pointed a gun at them. On September 8, 2012, Dr. Moore was arrested at her home under an active felony warrant for aggravated assault. On September 9, 2012, Dr. Moore's arrest was reported in the “Police Beat” section of the Arkansas Democrat–Gazette, stating that she was charged with one count of aggravated assault.2
On September 10 or 11, 2012, the College placed Dr. Moore on administrative leave with pay. In a letter to Dr. Moore dated September 11, 2012, the College informed her that the administrative leave was pending an investigation by the College; was based on her arrest for aggravated assault; that the College was looking into the matter as a safety precaution for faculty, students, and staff; and that the College would provide further instructions within the next few days (Dkt. No. 14–10). Dr. Moore claims that she was never contacted by anyone from the College within a few days of receiving that letter as to the status of any investigation conducted and that she was never interviewed by anyone from the College or given any other input into the alleged investigation.
In a letter dated October 11, 2012, Dr. Moore's employment was terminated by the college effective October 15, 2012 (Dkt. No. 14–12). The College contends that a female psychology professor, Dr. Bettye Brown, replaced Dr. Moore. Dr. Moore states that during her tenure with the College she never exhibited any kind of violent or disruptive behavior that would suggest she was a threat to any member of the College community. Dr. Moore's court-ordered forensic evaluation occurred in September and October, 2012, and that evaluation determined that “Dr. Moore had no identification of harming self or others” (Dkt. No. 25–20).
In a letter dated January 11, 2013, the College informed Dr. Moore that, because of her assault charge, the College issued a ban on allowing her on campus (Dkt. No. 25–3).
On December 21, 2012, Dr. Moore filed a charge of discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) alleging that she was discriminated against because of her age and sex. On March 13, 2013, Dr. Moore received a notice of dismissal from the EEOC wherein the EEOC determined that it was unable to conclude that the College violated the relevant statutes (Dkt. No. 14–15).
In this action, as in the EEOC charge, Dr. Moore alleges that she was terminated as a result of her arrest while two male employees whose arrests were also reported in the newspaper were not. The first of these male employees is Professor Jimmy Cheffen. Professor Cheffen was an assistant professor of English in the Division of Humanities at the College. Professor Cheffen twice received misdemeanor charges related to the possession of marijuana, drug paraphernalia, contempt of court, and failure to appear. Professor Cheffen was charged on February 17, 2012, and April 26, 2012, while he was term faculty personnel on a nine-month faculty contract. On August 11, 2012, Professor Cheffen was placed on tenure-track as an Assistant Professor (Dkt. No. 25–15). Professor Cheffen resigned his position to accept a teaching post in a different state during the winter recess between December 2012 and January 2013. The College maintains that it did not become aware of Professor Cheffen's arrests until December 20, 2013, well after his employment with the College ended.
The second of these male employees is George Gray, former Director for Recruitment and Admissions at the College, who was charged with a felony count of sexual assault and a felony count of producing, directing, or promoting sexual performance by a child. Mr. Gray had allegedly coordinated strippers and people who would perform sexual acts for the fraternities on campus. Based on the criminal charges filed against him, on December 3, 2010, Mr. Gray called a 16–year–old female student into his office, tried to recruit her to perform sexually, and then sexually assaulted her. A police report was filed by the student on December 8, 2010. On December 9, 2010, Mr. Gray resigned from his position at the College effective December 31, 2010. Also on December 9, 2010, the College's then-President Walter Kimbrough, who accepted Mr. Gray's resignation, hired Mr. Gray to serve as a consultant to the Office of Recruitment and Admissions beginning January 2, 2011 (Dkt. No. 25–9). On January 24, 2011, President Kimbrough terminated Mr. Gray's consulting contract, effective immediately, but paid him through the month of February 2011 (Dkt. No. 25–10). Mr. Gray was arrested and charged on October 5, 2011. On October 30, 2012, Mr. Gray pled no contest to a felony charge of promoting prostitution.
Summary judgment is proper if the evidence, when viewed in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party, shows that there is no genuine issue of material fact and that the defendant is entitled to entry of judgment as a matter of law. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56 ; Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). A factual dispute is genuine if the evidence could cause a reasonable jury to return a verdict for either party. Miner v. Local 373, 513 F.3d 854, 860 (8th Cir.2008). “The mere existence of a factual dispute is insufficient alone to bar summary judgment; rather, the dispute must be outcome determinative under the prevailing law.” Holloway v. Pigman, 884 F.2d 365, 366 (8th Cir.1989). However, parties opposing a summary judgment motion may not rest merely upon the allegations in their pleadings. Buford v. Tremayne, 747 F.2d 445, 447 (8th Cir.1984). The initial burden is on the moving party to demonstrate the absence of a genuine issue of material fact. Celotex Corp., 477 U.S. at 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548. The burden then shifts to the nonmoving party to establish that there is a genuine issue to be determined at trial. Prudential Ins. Co. v. Hinkel, 121 F.3d 364, 366 (8th Cir.1997). “The evidence of the non-movant is to be believed, and all justifiable inferences are to be drawn in his favor.” Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 255, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986).
“There is no ‘discrimination case exception’ to the application of summary judgment, which is a useful pretrial tool to determine whether any case, including one alleging discrimination, merits a trial.” Torgerson v. City of Rochester, 643 F.3d 1031, 1043 (8th Cir.2011) (en banc) (citing Fercello v. Cnty. of Ramsey, 612 F.3d 1069, 1077 (8th Cir.2010) (quoting Berg v. Norand Corp., 169 F.3d 1140, 1144 (8th Cir.1999) ) (citing Wallace v. DTG Operations, Inc., 442 F.3d 1112, 1118 (8th Cir.2006) )). “Because summary judgment is not disfavored and is designed for ‘every action,’ panel statements to the contrary are unauthorized and should not be followed.” Id. Accordingly, this Court applies the same summary judgment standard to discrimination cases as it does to all others.
Claims for intentional discrimination under the ACRA are analyzed using the same framework as Title VII claims. Hudson v. United Sys. of Arkansas, Inc., 709 F.3d 700, 703 (8th Cir.2013). For this reason, the Court jointly analyzes Dr. Moore's gender discrimination claims under Title VII and the ACRA. Dr. Moore can establish a prima facie claim of gender discrimination either by providing direct evidence of discrimination or by creating an inference of unlawful discrimination under the three-step analysis set out in McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 802–05, 93 S.Ct. 1817, 36 L.Ed.2d 668 (1973). Bone v. G4S Youth Servs., LLC, 686 F.3d 948, 953 (8th Cir.2012). Direct evidence is evidence “showing a specific link between the alleged discriminatory animus and the challenged decision, sufficient to support a finding by a reasonable fact finder that an illegitimate criterion actually motivated” the adverse employment action. Torgerson, 643 F.3d at 1043–44 (quoting Griffith v. City of Des Moines, 387 F.3d 733, 736 (8th Cir.2004) ). Therefore, “direct” refers to the causal strength of the proof, not whether it is “circumstantial” evidence. Id. A plaintiff with strong direct evidence that illegal discrimination motivated the...
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Moore v. Philander Smith Coll.
...25 F.Supp.3d 1095Alda MOORE, Plaintiffv.PHILANDER SMITH COLLEGE, Defendant.Case No. 4:13–cv–00350 KGB.United States District Court, E.D. Arkansas, Western Division.Signed June 6, Motion granted. [25 F.Supp.3d 1097] Arkie Byrd, Mays, Byrd & Associates, P.A., Little Rock, AR, for Plaintiff.Ca......