Raggs v. Mississippi Power & Light Co.

• Decision Date: 03 January 2002
• Docket Number: No. 00-60874.,00-60874.
• Citation: 278 F.3d 463
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit
• Parties: Herman RAGGS, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. MISSISSIPPI POWER & LIGHT COMPANY, Defendant-Appellee.

278 F.3d 463

Herman RAGGS, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. MISSISSIPPI POWER & LIGHT COMPANY, Defendant-Appellee.

No. 00-60874.

United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit.

January 3, 2002.

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John Fredrick Hawkins (argued), John L. Maxey, II, Maxey, Wann, Fyke & Hawkins, Jackson, MS, for Plaintiff-Appellant.

Paul O. Miller, III (argued), Mark D. Fijman, Phelps Dunbar, Jackson, MS, for Defendant-Appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi.

Before JONES and DeMOSS, Circuit Judges, and FELDMAN, District Judge.¹

DeMOSS, Circuit Judge:

Plaintiff-Appellant, Herman Raggs (Raggs), filed suit against Defendant-Appellee, Mississippi Power & Light Company (MP&L), alleging race discrimination and retaliation in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and 42 U.S.C. § 1981, which arose from his 1996 layoff by MP&L and its subsequent failure to rehire him in 1999. The magistrate judge presiding over the trial granted MP&L's Motion for Judgment as a Matter of Law pursuant to Rule 50 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, and dismissed the case with prejudice. We AFFIRM.

I. BACKGROUND

Raggs started working for MP&L in 1979 as a groundsman in the Greenville Service Department. Groundmen assist linemen working on electric utility poles by sending equipment up to them. Raggs was promoted in 1983 to lineman, and again in 1987 to troubleman. Linemen work fixed hours as part of a crew. Troublemen work alone and are called in at any hour to assess utility problems. Notably, in 1987, when Raggs became a troubleman, he was the first African-American to be hired in the Greenville Service Department.

In 1989, Raggs filed a race discrimination claim with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The claim was eventually dismissed. In 1990, Jimmy McDaniel (McDaniel) became the area supervisor over Raggs' department. McDaniel gave Raggs a favorable performance evaluation for the 1990 to 1991 time period, rating him fully adequate, above average, or superior for all categories.

In 1993, however, MP&L suspended and then terminated Raggs for allegedly installing an MP&L security light at his residence and for stealing electricity. Raggs contested his termination through his union. At the arbitration hearing, the arbitrator found that MP&L did not demonstrate that Raggs was fired for just cause because it had not produced sufficient evidence that he had installed the light. Raggs, therefore, was reinstated in February 1994.

During the ten-month period Raggs was not working as a result of his termination, his position as troubleman was filled by an African-American lineman. When Raggs returned to work, he was assigned to work the northern territory. As a result, Raggs was required to travel greater distances than his co-workers to make service calls, which made it difficult for him to make the same quantity of service calls as his co-workers.

In 1996, MP&L decided to reduce its number of journeyman employees in response to increased competition and deregulation. Included in this category of employees were groundmen, linemen, and troublemen. MP&L developed a formula based on seniority and performance for determining who to layoff. This system, known as the "Employee Profile Process" (EPP), complied with the existing union contract and involved multiple evaluations and reviews. Under the EPP, supervisors evaluated employees on a 1-to-5 scale for (1) present job performance, (2) job-related personal characteristics, (3) special skills, (4) potential, and (5) other job-related factors. McDaniel evaluated Raggs as below average or unsatisfactory in all categories except for special skills, where he marked Raggs as average. Based on company records, written customer complaints, and intra-company complaints, McDaniel claimed that Raggs (1) completed fewer assignments than other employees, (2) performed his work poorly, and (3) had a high rate of absenteeism. Raggs' EPP score was the lowest of the five employees in the service department and of the 14 employees evaluated by McDaniel. Of the employees McDaniel evaluated, the top scorer was African-American, followed by four white employees, then three African-American employees, then five more white employees, and Raggs.

Overall, MP&L laid off 17 African-Americans and 49 whites in 1996. Raggs was the only employee laid off from the service department. MP&L offered Raggs several compensation options. Raggs chose to take two weeks severance pay, which allowed him to file a grievance regarding the layoff and left him subject to being recalled.

In September 1996, Raggs filed a second EEOC complaint claiming that he was laid off because of race discrimination and retaliation for his 1989 EEOC complaint. The EEOC issued a no-cause determination and dismissed Raggs' claim in September 1997, but issued him a right to sue letter. Raggs never filed a lawsuit. Raggs did, however, file a grievance with his union protesting his layoff. A grievance arbitration hearing was held in which the arbitrator upheld the layoff decision. The arbitrator noted that Raggs' relative lack of competence as evidenced by documented incident reports, customer complaints, and his low number of work orders, outweighed any seniority he might have had over competent but junior employees. Raggs did not testify at the hearing to refute or explain the evidence of his relative lack of competence.

In June 1998, Raggs filed a third EEOC complaint, re-alleging the same claims he had made in his second EEOC complaint as well as asserting that McDaniel's testimony at the 1997 arbitration hearing indicated that his low EPP rating was a pretext for his layoff, which was actually motivated by race discrimination and retaliation for his 1989 EEOC claim. The EEOC issued Raggs a right to sue letter in July 1998. Raggs sued MP&L in October 1998, alleging race discrimination and retaliation in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and 42 U.S.C. § 1981.

MP&L was required by its collective bargaining agreement to notify laid-off employees of positions available with the company. A union representative informed MP&L that it had violated this requirement by failing to send notices to Raggs and one other employee. Thereafter, MP&L sent Raggs five letters in 1997 and 1998 notifying him of open positions with the company. Raggs did not respond to three of the letters, and the other two were returned as not received.

In 1999, Raggs responded to a letter from MP&L, and indicated that he was interested in a lineman position in Greenville. MP&L, however, replied in a letter that it considered Raggs "not qualified" for the position. Michael Vaughn (Vaughn), who participated in the decision not to rehire Raggs, stated that MP&L based this decision entirely on a review of the previous arbitrator's report, which included Raggs' EPP evaluation, his incident report file, and all the complaints lodged against him. Notably, Vaughn did not know Raggs. And McDaniel, who retired in November 1997, had no part in the decision not to rehire Raggs. Nevertheless, Raggs filed a fourth EEOC complaint alleging that MP&L's decision not to rehire him was motivated by race discrimination and retaliation. The EEOC issued Raggs a right to sue notice and, in October 1999, he amended his lawsuit to incorporate the allegations from his fourth EEOC complaint.

A jury trial was held before a magistrate judge on October 30 and 31, 2000. After the close of Raggs' evidence, MP&L moved for judgment as a matter of law under Rule 50 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The judge denied the motion but carried it with the case, stating that Raggs "may have established a prima facie case" as to MP&L's failure to rehire him in 1999. However, the judge noted that he wanted to develop the record before ruling on the motion.

At the close of all the evidence, MP&L renewed its motion for judgment as a matter of law. The magistrate judge granted the motion, stating that no rational jury could conclude that racial discrimination played a role in Raggs' termination and failure to be rehired. In explaining his decision, which was announced orally from the bench, the magistrate judge discussed only Raggs' claims of race discrimination. The magistrate judge, however, made no mention of Raggs' claims of retaliation. Raggs now appeals that decision.

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW

This Court reviews de novo a grant of a Motion for Judgment as a Matter of Law pursuant to Rule 50 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Russell v. McKinney Hosp. Venture, 235 F.3d 219, 222 (5th Cir.2000). Judgment as a matter of law is proper where there is no legally sufficient evidentiary basis for a reasonable jury to find for the non-moving party. This Court must draw all reasonable inferences in favor of the non-moving party, but may not assess the credibility of witnesses or weigh the evidence. Lytle v. Household Mfg., Inc., 494 U.S. 545, 554-55, 110 S.Ct. 1331, 108 L.Ed.2d 504 (1990). More specifically, this Court should give credence to the evidence favoring the non-moving party and any uncontradicted or unimpeached evidence supporting the moving party where such evidence comes from disinterested witnesses. Reeves v. Sanderson Plumbing Prods., Inc., 530 U.S. 133, 151, 120 S.Ct. 2097, 147 L.Ed.2d 105 (2000).

III. DISCUSSION

The issue before this Court is whether the magistrate judge erred in granting judgment as a matter of law in favor of MP&L with respect to Raggs' claims of racial discrimination and retaliation under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and 42 U.S.C. § 1981. We agree with the magistrate judge in this case. Based on the evidence presented at trial, there is no legally sufficient evidentiary basis for a reasonable jury to find in favor of Raggs.

A. The Burden-Shifting Framework for Discrimination Cases.

This Court considers claims of intentional discrimination, which...