Morales v. City of N.Y.
| Decision Date | 15 March 2021 |
| Docket Number | 18-cv-1573 (JGK) |
| Parties | Ricardo MORALES, Plaintiff, v. The CITY OF NEW YORK, Bill de Blasio, and Lisette Camilo, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Southern District of New York |
Robert David Kraus, Kraus & Zuchlewski LLP, New York, NY, for Plaintiff.
Donna Anne Canfield, New York City Law Dept., New York, NY, for Defendants City of New York, Mayor Bill De Blasio, Commissioner Lisette Camilo.
The plaintiff, Ricardo Morales, has brought this action, pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and New York Civil Service Law § 75-b, against the City of New York (the "City"), as well as Bill de Blasio and Lisette Camilo, in their individual and official capacities, as the Mayor of the City and Commissioner of the Department of Citywide Administrative Services ("DCAS"), respectively. The plaintiff alleges that he was fired and publicly humiliated, in retaliation for First Amendment protected speech and for reporting alleged improper government conduct, while the plaintiff served as the Deputy Commissioner for Asset Management at DCAS. The defendants have moved for summary judgment. Because the plaintiff has failed to demonstrate any adverse employment decisions were the result of speech protected by the First Amendment or reporting improper government conduct, the defendants’ motion is granted .
The following facts are taken from the Complaint, declarations and exhibits filed in connection with the motions, and the parties’ Local Rule 56.1 statements, and are undisputed unless otherwise noted.
The plaintiff has served in several senior level positions in the City government, including being appointed as the Deputy Commissioner of DCAS in charge of the Asset Management in June 2014. Compl. ¶¶ 23-24; Declaration of Donna A. Canfield, ECF No. 64 ("Canfield Decl."), Ex. B, at 29; Declaration of Robert Kraus, ECF No. 82 ("Kraus Decl."), Ex. A, at 14, 29-32. During the relevant period, Asset Management was a division within DCAS that managed City-owned office buildings, court buildings, and commercial real estate and was responsible for the City's leased property portfolio. Defs.’ 56.1 Stmt. ¶¶ 5-6; Pl.’s 56.1 Stmt. ¶¶ 5-6; Canfield Decl. Ex. D, at 2. Asset Management was the largest division of DCAS with significant responsibility for capital plans and expense funding. Canfield Decl. Ex. F, at 59. In this role, the plaintiff reported directly to the Commissioner of DCAS. See Canfield Decl. Ex. B, at 29. From June 2014 to December 2015, the plaintiff reported to former Commissioner Stacy Cumberbatch, who was then succeeded by defendant Commissioner Lisette Camilo. Defs.’ 56.1 Stmt. ¶¶ 8, 25; Pl.’s 56.1 Stmt. ¶¶ 8, 25.
Prior to Camilo's being appointed as DCAS Commissioner in January 2016, she previously served in the Mayor's Office of Contract Services ("MOCS"), since 2011. Kraus Decl. Ex. D, at 6, 13-14. Camilo has testified that she was first approached by Anthony Shorris, First Deputy Mayor at the time, in December 2015 with the opportunity to replace Cumberbatch as Commissioner of DCAS. Canfield Decl. Ex. F, at 9-12. Shorris said that there were concerns about DCAS and that, should Camilo accept the position, a goal should be to "improve" DCAS. Id. at 12. As First Deputy Mayor, Shorris had oversight responsibilities for a set of City agencies under his purview, including DCAS. Defs.’ 56.1 Stmt. ¶¶ 10-11; Pl.’s 56.1 Stmt. ¶¶ 10-11; Canfield Ex. E, at 11-14. Dominic Williams, who served as the First Deputy Mayor's Chief of Staff, and assisted Shorris with oversight of the agencies under Shorris’ purview, testified that he, Shorris, and the Mayor discussed DCAS as having deficiencies and being in need of a change in leadership and structure in late 2015. Defs.’ 56.1 Stmt. ¶¶ 10-11, 13-15; Pl.’s 56.1 Stmt. ¶¶ 10-11, 13-15; Canfield Decl. Ex. E, at 11-14, 38-40, 81-82, 190-92. Williams testified that his concerns about DCAS included specific concerns about the plaintiff, and the plaintiff's tone and responsiveness. Canfield Ex. E, at 28-31, 103. The plaintiff contests the foundation of Williams’ belief, by submitting declarations from former DCAS co-workers who state that the plaintiff acted professionally and performed his job adequately. Pl.’s 56.1 Stmt. ¶ 17; Declaration of David Morris, ECF No. 79 ("Morris Decl."), ¶¶ 3-8, 15-16; Declaration of Shireen Brasse, ECF No. 77 ("Brasse Decl."), ¶¶ 3-10. Williams testified that his initial concerns with Cumberbatch and the plaintiff began in 2014, when Cumberbatch and the plaintiff refused to supply the Deputy Mayor's Office a list of sites for potential affordable housing or pre-K centers—two important priorities for the Mayor. Defs.’ 56.1 Stmt. ¶ 18; Pl.’s 56.1 Stmt. ¶ 18; Canfield Decl. Ex. E, at 28-29, 103, 196-97.
Following the announcement of Camilo as Cumberbatch's replacement for Commissioner of DCAS, she reported that she began meeting with various City agencies that interact with DCAS, and she met internally with DCAS's teams. After these meetings, Camilo reported that she determined the majority of complaints concerning DCAS related to its Human Capital, Asset Management, and Fleet Services divisions. See Defs.’ Stmt. ¶ 29; Pl.’s 56.1 Stmt. ¶ 29. Camilo further testified that from the beginning of her interactions with the plaintiff, Camilo found it challenging to get information from the plaintiff about DCAS, that the plaintiff would only give "limited answer[s]" and that she would "stumble upon information." Defs.’ 56.1 Stmt. ¶¶ 33-34; Pl.’s 56.1 Stmt. ¶¶ 33-34; Canfield Decl. Ex. F, at 60-61. As a result, Camilo believed that Asset Management was a "black box" for her and that she had difficulty developing trust in the plaintiff. Canfield Decl. Ex. F, at 21, 60. The plaintiff has contested the foundation for Camilo's belief, with declarations from subordinates who believe that the plaintiff and Asset Management were responsive to Camilo's requests for information. See Pl.’s 56.1 Stmt. ¶¶ 33-35; Morris Decl. ¶¶ 3-9; Brasse Decl. ¶¶ 3-10.
Sometime between February and early March 2016, Camilo determined that she was interested in replacing the plaintiff, among a series of structural and leadership changes she contemplated for DCAS. See Canfield Decl. Ex. F, at 57-58, 64-65. On March 7, 2016, Camilo sent an e-mail to Williams with names of DCAS senior officials that she wanted to replace, including the plaintiff (Deputy Commissioner for Asset Management), Geneith Turnbull (Deputy Commissioner for Citywide Procurement), Sally Renfro (Chief of Staff), and Suzanne Lynn (General Counsel). Canfield Decl. Ex. J. At the direction of Shorris, the names were then vetted with the City Law Department and Mayor's Office. See Defs.’ 56.1 Stmt. ¶¶ 40-46; Canfield Decl. Ex. E, at 125-135. Camilo and Emily Newman, Camilo's First Deputy, testified that they began to discuss replacing the plaintiff during monthly meetings with Shorris, because of performance issues and reports from Shorris about complaints from DCAS's "client" agencies. Canfield Decl. Ex. F, at 88-89; Kraus Decl. Ex. T, at 15-19, 26-27.
During his tenure as Deputy Commissioner in charge of Asset Management and prior to Camilo's appointment as Commissioner, the plaintiff participated in two transactions, that became the subject of inquiries and investigations by the New York City Council ("City Council"), Office of the New York City Comptroller ("City Comptroller"), City Department of Investigation ("DOI"), United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York ("U.S. Attorney's Office"), and the Federal Bureau of Investigation ("FBI"): (1) negotiations for the renewal of a leasehold to Water's Edge, a restaurant in Long Island City ("Water's Edge Transaction"), and (2) the sale, lifting of deed restrictions, and subsequent re-sale of a property known as "Rivington House" ("Rivington House Transactions").
Water's Edge is a restaurant located on City-owned property in Long Island City, for which Harendra Singh acquired a leasehold from the City in March 2009. See Defs.’ 56.1 Stmt. ¶ 76; Pl.’s 56.1 Stmt. ¶ 76; Canfield Decl. Ex. R, at 1. The plaintiff has alleged that Singh was politically-connected and had donated to the Mayor's campaign. See Defs.’ 56.1 Stmt. ¶ 79; Pl.’s 56.1 Stmt. ¶ 79. In or around July 2014, the plaintiff became the lead for DCAS in its negotiations with Singh concerning the renewal of the lease, rent arrears, and certain needs and improvements under consideration. Defs.’ 56.1 Stmt. ¶¶ 77-78, 80; Pl.’s 56.1 Stmt. ¶¶ 77-78, 80; Canfield Decl. Ex. C, at 26-28; Ex. R, at 3. Williams, the First Deputy Mayor's Chief of Staff, testified that at some point after the plaintiff assumed the role of lead negotiator, Williams became concerned about the tenor, decorum, and productiveness of the negotiations, a "lack of responsiveness" and follow-up by DCAS, and reports that the plaintiff had made threatening or aggressive statements. Kraus Decl. Ex. Y, at 53, 75-78. Williams contacted Cumberbatch to gather more information and express his concerns. Id. at 76-78. David Morris, a DCAS official who was present at the negotiations, has provided a declaration stating that he personally never observed the plaintiff make threatening comments or act in an aggressive manner to Singh. See Morris Decl. ¶¶ 10-11.
In February 2015, Emma Wolfe, Director of Intergovernmental Affairs for the Mayor, e-mailed Shorris and Williams to say that Singh was a "[l]ongtime friend of the Mayor's" and that Wolfe was "begging ... that someone senior in DCAS talk to [Singh] rather than the problematic lawyer." Canfield Decl. Ex. S. In the e-mail thread, Williams noted that "Ricardo is in fact senior" and that they "[d]on't want any sense of interference here." Id. Williams testified that he and Cumberbatch discussed that there was "relatively narrow latitude" for negotiations, that "the other parties were also [being] particularly aggressive," and that...
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