Parker v. Metropolitan Transp. Authority
| Citation | 97 F.Supp.2d 437 |
| Decision Date | 05 May 2000 |
| Docket Number | No. 99 Civ. 3032 (CM) (LMS).,99 Civ. 3032 (CM) (LMS). |
| Parties | Donald PARKER, Plaintiff, v. METROPOLITAN TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY, Metro-North Commuter Railroad Company, Metropolitan Transportation Authority Police Benevolent Association, Metro-North Police Benevolent Association, Railroad Police Benevolent Association and Robert Novy, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Southern District of New York |
Richard B. Wolf, Poughkeepsie, NY, for plaintiff.
Carol S. Barnett, Wendy Rothstein Bocian, Metro-North Commuter Railroad, New York City, for MTA defendants.
Allen M. Kranz, Kranz Davis & Hersh, Hauppauge, NY, for Union defendants.
Plaintiff Donald Parker, a police officer with the Metro-North Commuter Railroad ("Metro-North"), brings claims for age and disability discrimination against: (1) the Metropolitan Transportation Authority ("the MTA"), Metro-North Commuter Railroad Company ("Metro-North") (collectively "the MTA Defendants") and (2) the Metropolitan Transportation Authority Police Benevolent Association, the Metro-North Police Benevolent Association, the Railroad Police Benevolent Association, and Metro-North PBA President Robert Novy (collectively "the Union Defendants"). Plaintiff was denied promotion to the rank of sergeant after Metro-North removed his name from an internal sergeant promotion list pursuant to the collective bargaining agreement ("CBA") in effect between Metro-North and Plaintiff's union, Defendant Metropolitan Transportation Authority Police Benevolent Association ("the Union"). Plaintiff brings claims under (1) the Age Discrimination in Employment Act ("ADEA"), 29 U.S.C. § 621, et seq.; (2) the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA"), 42 U.S.C. § 12101, et seq.; (3) 42 U.S.C. §§ 1981 and 1981a; and (4) New York State Executive Law § 296 ("the New York Human Rights Law").
The MTA Defendants have moved for dismissal pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(1), or, in the alternative, summary judgment. The Union Defendants have also moved for summary judgment. Defendants' motions are disposed of as follows: summary judgment is (1) granted as to the MTA Defendants; (2) granted as to Plaintiff's ADA and ADEA claims against Defendant Novy; (3) denied with respect to Plaintiff's remaining claims against the Union Defendants. The proof at trial, however, shall be limited in accordance with this ruling.
(1) Plaintiff's Employment
Plaintiff Donald Parker was hired by the MTA in 1963 as a railroad police officer on a predecessor company to the Metro-North Railroad, a position he continues to hold at the present time. Plaintiff was 68 years of age at the time Defendants filed their motions, and is the most senior police officer in the Metro-North Division of the MTA Police Department. Plaintiff is currently represented by Defendant Metro-North Police Benevolent Association (i.e., "the Union"), and was represented by its predecessor unions throughout his employment.
During the first quarter of 1989, when Plaintiff was 58 years of age, Plaintiff took and passed the MTA's written examination for the position of sergeant. At the time, Plaintiff reported for duty in Poughkeepsie, New York. Plaintiff and the 28 other officers who passed the exam were placed on a sergeants promotion list as of May 22, 1989. Pursuant to the collective bargaining agreement ("CBA") in force between Metro-North and the Union, applicants on the promotion list were ranked according to their composite test scores, and were selected for promotion as vacancies became available, starting from the top of the list. Plaintiff's composite test score was 75, which ranked 26th out of the 29 applicants on the list. The CBA also provides that applicants who pass the exam may receive up to 10 points toward seniority. Plaintiff received the maximum 10 points.
At the time Plaintiff was placed on the list, he was the oldest police officer in the Metro-North Division. Between 1989 and early 1998, all of the officers on the promotion list, except for Plaintiff and one other applicant, were promoted to sergeant.
On November 24, 1990, the Union's Vice President, Defendant Robert Novy, filed a written grievance with the MTA contending that the seniority list violated the terms of the CBA. In particular, the grievance challenged the seniority date for those officers who had passed the 1989 sergeants examination. Plaintiff was named as one of the officers participating in the grievance. The MTA rejected this grievance, on the ground that, pursuant to the CBA, the proper vehicle for challenging a seniority list is a "roster protest," which is distinguishable from a grievance under the CBA.
On January 16, 1991, Novy filed a roster protest, in which Plaintiff was named among the grieving officers, contending that the officers listed on the May 22, 1989 sergeants promotion list should be granted seniority as of the date those officers passed the examination. The MTA rejected the roster protest by letter dated May 29, 1992.
On October 31, 1991, Plaintiff underwent by-pass surgery, requiring him to miss work from the month of September 1991, or thereabouts, until December 13, 1991. When Plaintiff returned to his job, he was temporarily reassigned to "light duty" in Yonkers. This light duty included reporting to the Poughkeepsie station from his home nearby, picking up the railroad mail, bringing it to Yonkers, where Plaintiff did telephone and desk work, and returning to Poughkeepsie with the mail at the end of the day. In mid-January 1992, Metro-North's medical department cleared Plaintiff for regular duty, and Plaintiff returned to his Poughkeepsie work site. Plaintiff contends, however, that Defendants regarded him as disabled, due to his by-pass surgery, after his return to regular duty.
In December 1991, while Plaintiff was performing his "light duty" assignment, an MTA representative telephoned Plaintiff and orally offered him a sergeant's position in Grand Central Terminal, some 80 miles from Plaintiff's work site in Poughkeepsie. The CBA permits an officer to decline a promotion, without losing his seniority or standing on the promotion list, if the "reporting point" for the new position is located more than 30 miles from the officer's present reporting point. Accordingly, Plaintiff, who had previously reported to Poughkeepsie, declined the position at Grand Central, which is located more than 30 miles from Poughkeepsie.
When Plaintiff rejected the offered sergeant position, the assignment clerk who had called Plaintiff told him that his name would be taken off the sergeant promotion list. Plaintiff testified at his deposition that he understood from this conversation that Metro-North did not view the offered position as falling within the 30-mile rule. Specifically, Metro-North maintains that Plaintiff's reporting point, at the time he was offered the sergeant's position, was Yonkers, which is located within 30 miles of Grand Central Terminal. Plaintiff was not offered another sergeant position.
Plaintiff immediately contacted his Union representative, John Sisia, claiming that his name should not have been removed from the promotion list under the CBA's 30-mile rule. Plaintiff also complained to his commanding officer, Captain Joseph Greco. Plaintiff contends that these complaints amounted to oral grievances under the CBA, and that Metro-North failed to respond to those oral grievances. Metro-North, however, claims that Plaintiff filed no grievance concerning his removal from the promotion list at any time. The Union did not file a grievance on Plaintiff's behalf.
On August 12, 1994, Plaintiff made a roster protest to Metro-North over his exclusion from the 1994 sergeant seniority roster. Andrew J. Paul, Assistant Director of Labor Relations, informed Plaintiff by letter dated November 16, 1994, that Plaintiff was entitled to seniority only on the police officer roster. Paul testified that he did not recall signing the letter, and that he had no files or other documentation to support the determination that Plaintiff was not entitled to seniority on the sergeant roster. Plaintiff testified that he was aware he would not be placed on the sergeant seniority roster after receiving Paul's letter.
Plaintiff also testified that he presented an oral grievance to his union representative, Robert Hilkin, after receiving Paul's letter, but that Metro-North failed to respond to his grievance. Again, Metro-North contends to the contrary that Parker did not file a grievance after receiving this letter.
Police Officer James Lennon took the sergeant's examination at the same time as Plaintiff. Lennon ranked 12th on the promotion roster, and received 9 points toward seniority. Lennon was offered a sergeant's position on June 9, 1992, but declined it, and was informed that his name would be taken off the promotion list because the offered position was located within 30 miles of Lennon's reporting location.
On June 24, 1992, Lennon filed a written grievance over the removal of his name from the promotion list. Lennon argued that Metro-North had violated a number of CBA provisions governing seniority and promotion in offering him a sergeant's position before offering it to others who already held seniority as sergeants.
Metro-North denied Lennon's grievance and appeal. In its letter denying the appeal, the Labor Relations Department relied upon an October 1998 Letter of Understanding, which amended the CBA by providing that seniority in a particular promotion grade was not effective until the date of actual promotion. Lennon's grievance eventually settled, on condition that Lennon be promoted to sergeant without back pay. Lennon was promoted to sergeant in May 1998.
Plaintiff complained about Lennon's...
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