Quinn v. West

• Citation: 140 F.Supp.2d 725
• Decision Date: 19 March 2001
• Docket Number: No. CIV. A. W-99-CA-294.,CIV. A. W-99-CA-294.
• Parties: William L. QUINN, Plaintiff, v. Togo WEST, Jr., Secretary, Department of Veterans Affairs, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Western District of Texas

Page 725

140 F.Supp.2d 725

William L. QUINN, Plaintiff, v. Togo WEST, Jr., Secretary, Department of Veterans Affairs, Defendant.

No. CIV. A. W-99-CA-294.

United States District Court, W.D. Texas, Waco Division.

March 19, 2001.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Lanelle L. McNamara, McNamara & McNamara, Waco, TX, for plaintiff.

Erich W. Schwartz, III, Waco, TX, R. Barry Robinson, Assistant U.S. Attorney, Austin, TX, for defendant.

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

WALTER S. SMITH, Jr., District Judge.

This is an employment retaliation case brought pursuant to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ("Title VII"), 42 U.S.C. § 2000e, and the Whistleblower Protection Act, 5 U.S.C. § 2302(b)(8)(A) ("WPA"). Defendant contends that he is entitled to summary judgment because Plaintiff cannot meet his initial burden to establish a prima facie case of retaliation under Title VII. Defendant also contends that Plaintiff has failed to exhaust his administrative remedies with regard to his whistleblower claim. Plaintiff responds by arguing that there is sufficient summary judgment evidence to establish that Plaintiff's complained of adverse employment actions were, more likely than not, motivated by retaliation for Plaintiff's Title VII protected activity and whistleblowing activity. Having reviewed the summary judgment evidence presented by the parties and the arguments presented in the motions, the Court finds that the Plaintiff has established a prima facie case of retaliation, and has presented sufficient evidence to create a genuine issue of material fact concerning whether Plaintiff would not have been subject to the adverse employment action in the absence of his having engaged in protected conduct. The Court also finds that Plaintiff's whistleblower claim has been administratively exhausted. Therefore, the Court finds that the Defendant's Motion to Dismiss, or Alternative Motion for Summary Judgment should be DENIED.

I. Background Facts

Having conducted a review of all the unobjected to summary judgment evidence presented by the parties, and viewing that evidence in the light most favorable to the Plaintiff, the Court notes the following background facts.

Plaintiff was employed by the Veterans Affairs ("VA") Medical Center in Waco, Texas from June 1992 until June 1995 as the Associate Chief of Staff of Geriatrics and Extended Care. On October 12, 1992, Plaintiff received permanent medical staff privileges. The Waco VA facility was featured in the VA's publication, Veterans Affairs Practitioner, in November 1992. The article featured coverage of Plaintiff's geriatric program and was previewed by the VA Waco Medical Director, Mr. Wallace Hopkins. On November 4, 1992, Plaintiff reviewed a patient's medical chart and voiced concerns in a written report about the quality of care the patient received. The next day, Hopkins called Plaintiff into his office for a meeting regarding the previous day's report. During the meeting, according to Plaintiff, Hopkins shouted at him, and threatened to "ruin his career." Up until this meeting, Plaintiff had a good working relationship with Hopkins. On November 19, 1992, Plaintiff wrote a letter to the VA Regional Director seeking advice about the November 5, 1992 meeting with Hopkins, but never sent the letter. On November 24, 1992, Plaintiff wrote a letter to the Associate Chief Medical Director of Geriatrics and Extended Care at the Central Office of the VA in Washington, D.C. The letter summarized a conversation Plaintiff had with the Associate Chief Medical Director concerning Hopkins' behavior on November 5, 1992.

At the end of December 1992, Hopkins appointed Dr. John Bryan as Temporary Chief of Staff at the Waco VA to replace the previous Chief of Staff, Dr. Wagner. Plaintiff's performance evaluation was conducted by Dr. Bryan. Plaintiff alleges that Mr. Hopkins told him that Hopkins was dissatisfied with Dr. Wagner's performance evaluation of Plaintiff, and ordered Dr. Bryan to complete another evaluation, even though Dr. Wagner had been Plaintiff's supervisor during the previous year. In June of 1993, Dr. Bryan delivered Plaintiff's performance evaluation for the time period of January 1992 until January 1993. The evaluation rated Plaintiff as "satisfactory" in four categories, and "low satisfactory" in the area of "personal qualities." When questioned about the evaluation by Plaintiff, Dr. Bryan stated that Mr. Hopkins prepared the evaluation.

In June of 1993, Plaintiff met with an Equal Employment Opportunity ("EEO") counselor to complain about his performance evaluation. The EEO counselor set up a meeting between Plaintiff and Dr. Bryan. At the meeting, Dr. Bryan agreed to change two ratings to "highly satisfactory," but refused to change the overall rating and the rating in personal qualities. On July 12, 1993, the EEO counselor told Plaintiff that his complaint did not come within EEO guidelines. Mr. Hopkins was the EEO Officer for the Waco VA Center, and was aware of Plaintiff's EEO complaint. According to Plaintiff, Mr. Hopkins told him that he had seen Plaintiff's EEO complaint, and that it was not a good complaint.

From this point forward, Plaintiff continued to receive poor performance evaluations in "personal qualities" from Dr. Bryan. In October of 1993, Mr. Hopkins notified Plaintiff that he was being appointed as the Chair of the Search Committee that was going to interview candidates for the Chief of Staff position. During the time that Dr. Bryan was Acting Chief of Staff, Plaintiff had continued to express concerns regarding the quality of patient care at the Waco VA. In March of 1994, Plaintiff prepared a memorandum addressing his concerns at the request of Dr. Bryan. No action was taken. After conducting its search, the Search Committee was prepared to recommend its choice, but Mr. Hopkins told Plaintiff that he wanted Dr. Bryan as Chief of Staff. The committee agreed to recommend Dr. Bryan upon the instruction of Mr. Hopkins. In August of 1994, Dr. Bryan became Chief of Staff of the Waco VA. In September 1994, an External Peer Review Committee report raised the same patient care issues that Plaintiff had raised in March of 1994. The report included recommendations for addressing issues raised in the report. Dr. Bryan refused to permit discussion of any of the concerns raised in the report.

Plaintiff wrote a letter to the Secretary of the Veterans Affairs in January of 1995 discussing the quality of care issues Plaintiff had been raising with Dr. Bryan, and discussing how Plaintiff felt his efforts at improving patient care were being thwarted by Mr. Hopkins. On February 22, 1995, Plaintiff learned that his letter to the Secretary of the VA had been forwarded to the Regional Director, Mr. John Higgins, for investigation. A four person investigation team came to the Waco VA in February 1995 to evaluate the quality of care at the Waco VA facility. The investigation was completed in two working days. Plaintiff was not asked about his concerns for patient care during the investigation, rather he was asked about his performance reviews. On March 27, 1995, Plaintiff wrote to the Regional Director expressing concerns about the thoroughness of the investigation. On April 13, 1995, the Regional Director wrote to Plaintiff and assured him that the investigation fully reviewed the concerns raised in the complaint. On April 17, 1995, Plaintiff discovered that he had been locked out of his office, and on April 25, 1995 wrote to the Regional Director requesting to file an EEO complaint of reprisal against Mr. Hopkins. Plaintiff alleged that Mr. Hopkins was systematically dismantling Plaintiff's service area — geriatrics. In April of 1995, the VA began the process of integration in an effort to cut costs and to provide more efficient health care to veterans in central Texas. The process effected four facilities in central Texas. Mr. Richard Harwell was appointed Director of the Central Texas VA Health Care System. Mr. Harwell also served as the Director of the Temple, Texas VA facility.

On May 30, 1995, Plaintiff met with Mr. Harwell in Temple. Plaintiff expressed concern that his position in the Waco VA facility was uncertain because of the investigation. Mr. Harwell told Plaintiff that he was aware of all of Plaintiff's complaints regarding the Waco VA facility, including the EEO complaint Plaintiff sent to the Regional Director. Plaintiff told Mr. Harwell that he wanted out of central Texas because Plaintiff felt his career was being ruined. Plaintiff requested a transfer to the Austin, Texas VA center. Plaintiff contacted the Director of the Austin VA facility, but she was unable to bear the expense of Plaintiff's salary requirements. On June 16, 1995, Plaintiff met with Dr. Sammer, the Director of the Temple VA facility. Dr. Sammer told Plaintiff that there would be no relocation pay for a voluntary transfer to Temple, and that he knew Plaintiff would be involuntarily transferred to Temple by Mr. Harwell anyway. On June 15, 1995, Plaintiff was informed by the EEO of Department of Veterans Affairs that his EEO complaint sent to Regional Director Higgins was being forwarded to the EEOC. On June 7, 1995, Plaintiff was notified that the investigation of his complaint to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs was complete, and that a final report was being forwarded to Mr. Harwell. The notice stated that Mr. Harwell would meet with Plaintiff to discuss the outcome of the investigation. This meeting never took place, and Plaintiff never received a copy of the report. On June 21, 1995, Plaintiff was contacted by members of the press regarding the investigation. On June 21, 1995, Plaintiff was informed that he would begin work at the Temple VA facility on July 9, 1995. On June 22, 1995, a local newspaper printed a story regarding the investigation.

On July 9, 1995, Plaintiff reported for work at the Temple VA facility and was assigned to the "Gold Team." This team was...