Pilon v. Saginaw Valley State University
| Decision Date | 22 December 2003 |
| Docket Number | No. 03-100006-BC.,03-100006-BC. |
| Citation | 298 F.Supp.2d 619 |
| Parties | Cindy A. PILON, Plaintiff, v. SAGINAW VALLEY STATE UNIVERSITY and Richard P. Thompson, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Michigan |
Glen N. Lenhoff, Law Office of Glen N. Lenhoff, Flint, MI, Julie A. Gafkay, Frankenmuth, MI, for plaintiff.
Emil L. Ognisanti, Jamie H. Nisidis, Braun, Kendrick, Saginaw, MI, Timothy S. Arnold, Miller, Canfield, Detroit, MI, for defendant.
Plaintiff, Cindy Pilon, a Caucasian female, applied for a job as the coordinator of campus recreation for defendant Saginaw Valley State University (SVSU). She did not get the position, which instead was filled by an African-American male. The plaintiff, apparently believing that she was not hired on account of her race, filed the present action alleging "reverse discrimination" under various theories of federal and state law. The defendants have moved for summary judgment, contending that the plaintiff's race was not a factor in their decision not to hire her, and that the plaintiff has not come forward with any evidence suggesting otherwise. The Court heard the parties' arguments through their counsel in open court on December 17, 2003. The Court finds that the record as presented contains no direct evidence of discrimination against the plaintiff, and the plaintiff has not brought forth any other evidence from which it could be inferred that an illegal discriminatory motive was a significant factor in the defendants' decision not to hire the plaintiff. The Court, therefore, will grant the defendants' motion for summary judgment and dismiss the case.
Saginaw Valley State University is a mid-sized liberal arts college with an enrollment of approximately 9,300 students, located in mid-Michigan. Many of its students commute to campus, and a significant aspect of campus social life involves recreational activity, including intramural sports participation. The University sponsors recreational programs and coordinates these activities as part of campus life. The Coordinator of Campus Recreation position, the job for which the plaintiff applied in this case, falls under the supervision of the Campus Life Department at SVSU. The defendants describe the position as follows:
Coordinate all aspects of the SVSU Athletic Summer Camps: scheduling, marketing, accounting, registration, communication and final reconciliation.
Select, train, and assist student supervisors, assistants and referees, including all student employee time cards, monitoring hours worked and/or games officiated.
Supervise the Ryder Center Help Desk: including employees, scheduling, office space, building security, general inquiries and bookkeeping.
Organize and coordinate publicity, schedules, and flyers for the department and programming, including a handbook for participant information.
Set up and meet regularly with a campus wide advisory committee.
Assist with administration of the recreation budget.
Maintain inventories of all properties and equipment assigned to Campus Recreation.
Coordinate facilities with master schedule.
Prepare annual statistics for Campus Recreation.
RELATED DUTIES:
Other duties as assigned.
SUPERVISION RECEIVED:
Administrative supervision is received from the director of Campus Life.
SUPERVISION EXERCISED:
Student employees, referees, Help Desk employees and assistants.
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:
Bachelor's degree in Sports Administration, Recreation, Physical Education, or related field with experience in university intramurals and marketing preferred.
Past management experience.
Excellent organizational and time management skills.
Computer and accounting skills necessary.
Ability to mentally and physically perform the essential duties of the position with or without accommodation.
WORKING CONDITIONS:
Duties are generally performed inside and not exposed to adverse conditions.
Def.'s Mot. S.J. Ex. E. The Coordinator of Campus Recreation is an entry level position that pays between $22,000 and $26,000 per year. Because the person holding the position oversees campus intramural programs, that person may be required to work non-traditional hours including having to work on some occasions from 10:00 p.m. until 2:00 a.m.
The plaintiff, Cindy S. Pilon, born on September 9, 1969, is a 34-year old Caucasian female. The plaintiff graduated cum laude from Central Michigan University in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan in 1992 with a Bachelor of Applied Arts degree in parks and recreation management. She then attended graduate school at Central Michigan University from 1992 to 1993 where she received a Master's degree in parks and recreation administration, graduating summa cum laude.
In the summers of 1985 through 1989 and 1992, the plaintiff was employed by Midland County Parks in Sanford, Michigan as a general maintenance worker. Her job responsibilities included "mowing, trimming, painting, concession operations, gatekeeping, various budgeting activities, beach patrol and various public service duties." From December 1991 to July 1992, the plaintiff completed a 30-week internship at the Huron-Manistee National Forest office in Cadillac, Michigan, where she gave presentations to the public about the forest service and recreation activities in the national forest. She also used a computer to perform accounting and budgeting work. While attending graduate school, the plaintiff worked as a graduate assistant from August 1992 to May 1993. She co-advised the Student Recreation Association at Central Michigan University and generally provided assistance to undergraduate students in the parks and recreation department.
After graduation, the plaintiff took a job with Thomas Township Parks and Recreation near Saginaw, Michigan. In that position, the plaintiff supervised approximately 30 summer staff members, coordinated and oversaw all recreational activities and programming in the various Thomas Township parks, organized and conducted Parks and Recreation Commission meetings, did general maintenance work, and performed budgeting and other miscellaneous administrative tasks. Her salary was approximately $16,500 per year and she worked for the township from January 1994 to August 1994. She left that position because she was dissatisfied with the work environment.
The plaintiff then found a job with Kelly Temporary Services doing clerical work before landing her present job as a 911 dispatcher for Midland County in February 1995. As a dispatcher, the plaintiff's job responsibilities include handling calls for police, fire and medical emergencies, performing various clerical, public relations, and education duties, and performing various supervisory functions; the plaintiff is now the acting supervisor at the dispatch center. She earns approximately $15.33 per hour, or about $32,000 per year. The plaintiff has not worked in the parks and recreation field since 1994.
In 2001, the Coordinator of Campus Recreation position at SVSU became vacant after Robert Sonnenburg, a Caucasian male, left the position to pursue other opportunities. SVSU placed an advertisement in the local newspapers announcing the open position. The advertisement contained a brief description of the position similar to the description listed above and stated the requirements as: Def.'s Mot. S.J. Ex. F.
The plaintiff applied for the position on May 27, 2001 by mailing a cover letter, résumé, and a list of references to the address listed in the job announcement. On June 1, 2001, the plaintiff received a letter from James B. Wood, Director of Human Resources at SVSU, acknowledging SVSU's receipt of her application for the position. Mr. Wood asked the plaintiff if she would "voluntarily" provide "confidential data" to the "Affirmative Action Office" and enclosed a form for the plaintiff to complete. See Pl.'s Br. in Opposition to Def.'s Mot. S.J. Ex. 10. The plaintiff returned the form, which indicated her race and gender.
Defendant Richard Thompson, a Caucasian male, was the Dean of Student Affairs at SVSU in 2001 and was the SVSU official in charge of hiring a person to fill the Coordinator of Campus Recreation position. Thompson established a search committee to evaluate the candidates for the position and to narrow the field. He chose Eric Buschlen, a Caucasian male, to be the chair of the committee. Buschlen is the director of the campus life and recreation department at SVSU and is the direct supervisor over the Coordinator of Campus Recreation position. The other members of the hiring committee were Joe Vogl, a Caucasian male who was the director of the Ryder Center, the health and physical education building on the SVSU campus; Theresa George, a Caucasian female who was a student leader and involved in campus life activities; Matt Johnson, a Caucasian male who was the elected student government president at SVSU; and Shawn Wilson, an African American male who was the assistant director of residential life programs at SVSU.
All applications for the position were submitted to Mr. Wood, whose office collected the applications and then forwarded them to the search committee for evaluation. The search committee received over 40 applications from various candidates. Buschlen testified at his deposition...
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