Pardo-Kronemann v. Jackson

• Decision Date: 31 March 2008
• Docket Number: Civil Action No. 05-626 (JDB).
• Citation: 541 F.Supp.2d 210
• Parties: Jose PARDO-KRONEMANN, Plaintiff, v. Alphonso JACKSON, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Columbia

541 F.Supp.2d 210

Jose PARDO-KRONEMANN, Plaintiff, v. Alphonso JACKSON, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Defendant.

Civil Action No. 05-626 (JDB).

United States District Court, District of Columbia.

March 31, 2008.

John F. Karl, Jr., Karl & Tarone, John More, Rogers & More, P.L.L.P., Sheila

Beth Owsley, Mintz Levin Cohn Ferris Glovsky & Popeo, Washington, DC, for Plaintiff.

Mercedeh Momeni, U.S. Attorney's Office, Washington, DC, for Defendant.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

JOHN D. BATES, District Judge.

Plaintiff Jose Pardo-Kronemann, an employee in the Office of International Affairs at the Department of Housing and Urban Development ("HUD" or "the Department"), brings this action against defendant Alphonso Jackson in his official capacity as the Secretary of HUD. Pardo-Kronemann alleges that the Department retaliated against him in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq., based upon his prior Equal Employment Opportunity activity. He alleges that the retaliation was manifested when he was reassigned from the Office of General Counsel to the Office of International Affairs and when he was placed on Absent Without Leave status for January 7 and 8, 2002. Currently before the Court is the Department's motion for summary judgment. Upon careful consideration of the motion and the parties' memoranda, the applicable law, and the entire record, the Court will grant the Department's motion.

BACKGROUND

I. Factual History

Pardo-Kronemann is a Hispanic-American, who was born in Cuba. Pl.'s Statement of Material Facts Omitted by Defendant (Pl.'s Statement) ¶ 18. He first worked at HUD in the Office of International Affairs as a paid intern in 1977. Def.'s Statement of Material Facts as to Which There is No Genuine Dispute ("Def.'s Statement") ¶ 1. Fourteen years later, the Department hired Pardo-Kronemann as a grade 11 Law Clerk (entry level attorney) assigned to the Office of General Counsel in the Public Housing Division/Office of Assisted Housing. Id. ¶ 2. The parties agree that Pardo-Kronemann was unhappy working in this division, and he was therefore reassigned in 1994 to the Finance Division, Government National Mortgage Association, still within the Office of General Counsel. Id. ¶¶ 2-3; Pl.'s Responses to Def.'s Statement of Material Facts ("Pl.'s Responses") ¶¶ 2-3. Due to an alleged shortage of work in the Finance Division, Pardo-Kronemann was reassigned to the Program Compliance Division within the Office of General Counsel in 1998 or 1999, and he was again unhappy with his new assignment. Def.'s Statement ¶ 4; Pl.'s Responses ¶ 4.

The parties agree that Pardo-Kronemann "filed several complaints of discrimination and retaliation prior to this litigation and that he filed the latest of these in April 1999." Pl.'s Responses ¶ 16. In his informal complaint filed in 1999, Pardo-Kronemann alleged that he had been retaliated against due to his prior Equal Employment Opportunity activity. Def.'s Statement ¶ 16. Three months later, he spoke with the Counselor to the Secretary, Howard B. Glasser, about his dissatisfaction with his work situation. Id. ¶ 5. During their discussion, Pardo-Kronemann requested a "one year detail to the U.S. Agency for International Development (`USAID'), with a commitment to renew," "[t]wo within-grade step increases," and "[r]einstatement to HUD at the end of the detail period, preferably to the HUD Office of International Affairs or the GNMA Finance Division." Id. ¶ 6; Def.'s Ex. 2 at 1. After the Counselor worked out the USAID detail, Pardo-Kronemann indicated that he was instead interested in a detail to the Inter-American Development Bank. Def.'s Ex. 2 at 1. The Counselor then worked to make arrangements for a detail to that agency. Although Pardo-Kronemann alleges that his resulting detail was part of an agreement to settle his pending claims of discrimination and retaliation, the Counselor made it very clear that their discussion and the resulting detail were "not a settlement or negotiation of any formal complaints," but were instead an "attempt to help out an employee who is looking for a more challenging and satisfying work assignment." Id. at 2. That same month Pardo-Kronemann withdrew his informal complaint.

Effective on November 29, 1999, Pardo-Kronemann was granted a six-month detail to the Inter-American Development Bank. Def.'s Statement ¶ 7. The Department also later granted his request to extend the detail until November 30, 2000. Id. After this time, Pardo-Kronemann did not seek another extension of his detail at the Inter-American Development Bank, but instead sought a detail to the Inter-American Investment Corporation. Id. ¶ 8. Pardo-Kronemann contends that "he was somewhat depressed because the agency refused to respond to the request" for this next detail, and he therefore requested leave without pay, which was granted from December 2000 through February 2001. Pl.'s Responses ¶ 9.

In March 2001, Pardo-Kronemann returned to the Office of General Counsel and informed "Matthew F. Hunter, former Assistant to the Secretary and White House Liaison, that he was seeking either a political appointment or another detail." Def.'s Statement ¶ 10. Hunter "saw no reason to spend additional HUD money on detailing" him to another office, and accordingly his request was denied. Def.'s Ex. 3 ¶ 7. According to Hunter, "[a]t or about the same time period that Mr. Pardo-Kronemann requested to go on detail again, [the Department] did not permit other HUD employees to go on details they sought, while budget and operational assessments were taking place." Def.'s Ex. 15 ¶ 6.

From March 2001 through December 2001, although Pardo-Kronemann was technically placed within the Office of General Counsel, he "had no job description and it is unclear to whom exactly he was to have been reporting substantively." Def.'s Mot. at 7. Based upon Pardo-Kronemann's previous experience in the Office of International Affairs, Hunter gave him an assignment and asked him to prepare a background paper on the office. Id. ¶ 11. According to Hunter, Pardo-Kronemann took a very long time to complete the project, and when the final version was submitted, Hunter was disappointed with the results. Def.'s Ex. 3 ¶ 6. The parties agree that Pardo-Kronemann's "transition back to [the Office of General Counsel] `was not working out satisfactorily.'" Pl.'s Responses ¶ 11; Def.'s Statement ¶ 6.

Thereafter, General Counsel Richard Hauser asked Hunter to talk with Shannon Sorzano, Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Affairs, Office of Policy Development and Research, about a possible position for Pardo-Kronemann in her office based upon Pardo-Kronemann's "previous statements regarding his desire to work in the International arena." Def.'s Ex. 11 ¶ 9; Def.'s Statement ¶ 13. In the fall of 2001, Sorzano scheduled an interview for Pardo-Kronemann. On the day of the interview, however, she was running late for the appointment, and Pardo-Kronemann left before she arrived. Def.'s Ex. 3 ¶ 18. Although the interview was never conducted, Deputy General Counsel George Weidenfeller contacted Hunter again about an appropriate placement for Pardo-Kronemann. Id. After Hauser, Weidenfeller, Hunter, and Dan Murphy, former Chief of Staff to the Secretary of HUD, discussed the matter further, Pardo-Kronemann was issued a directed reassignment from an Attorney Advisor position in the Office of General Counsel to an Attorney Advisor position in the Office of International Affairs, effective on December 16, 2001. Def.'s Statement ¶ 14. Pardo-Kronemann retained his same title, grade, pay, and benefits after the reassignment. Id. ¶ 15.

Carole A. Jefferson, General Deputy Assistant Secretary for Administration, and Lawrence L. Thompson, General Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and Research, instructed Pardo-Kronemann to report to the Office of International Affairs and his new office on January 7, 2002. Def.'s Ex. 5 at 1. When Pardo-Kronemann learned of the reassignment, he instead attempted to file a request for leave and failed to report to the office on the designated date. Def.'s Statement ¶ 16; Pl.'s Responses ¶ 16. The Department asserts that Pardo-Kronemann did not comply with established procedures for requesting approved leave from the Office of International Affairs. Def.'s Statement ¶ 16. Thus, the Department sent a letter by courier explaining that he was being placed on Absent Without Leave ("AWOL") status until he reported to work. Def.'s Ex. 14 at 1; Def.'s Statement ¶ 16. Pardo-Kronemann thereafter reported to his new position on January 9, 2002.

II. Procedural History

Pardo-Kronemann filed the current action on March 25, 2005, alleging that his reassignment to the Office of International Affairs and his AWOL placement were retaliatory based upon his prior Equal Employment Opportunity ("EEO") activity. The Department has now moved for summary judgment on Pardo-Kronemann's claims. The Department contends that Pardo-Kronemann's reassignment was not an adverse action, that Pardo-Kronemann cannot establish a causal connection between the reassignment and his protected activity, and that,' in any event, he has failed to rebut the Department's legitimate, non-retaliatory reason for the reassignment. As for Pardo-Kronemann's claim regarding his AWOL status, the Department argues that Pardo-Kronemann cannot establish a causal connection between the AWOL placement and his protected activity and that, again, he has failed to rebut the Department's legitimate, non-retaliatory reason for the placement.

LEGAL STANDARDS

I. Summary Judgment Pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c)

Summary judgment is appropriate when the pleadings and the evidence demonstrate that "there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). The party seeking summary judgment bears the initial responsibility of...