Redpath v. City of Overland Park

• Decision Date: 09 June 1994
• Docket Number: No. 92-2162-KHV,92-2163-KHV.,92-2162-KHV
• Citation: 857 F. Supp. 1448
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Kansas
• Parties: Angela J. REDPATH, Plaintiff, v. CITY OF OVERLAND PARK, Myron Scafe, Glenn Ladd, Daniel Carney, Santos R. Castillo, Donald E. Pipes & Timothy C. Lynch, Defendants. Geraldine JONES, Plaintiff, v. CITY OF OVERLAND PARK, Myron Scafe, Glenn Ladd, Daniel Carney, Santos R. Castillo, Donald E. Pipes & Timothy C. Lynch, Defendants.

857 F. Supp. 1448

Angela J. REDPATH, Plaintiff, v. CITY OF OVERLAND PARK, Myron Scafe, Glenn Ladd, Daniel Carney, Santos R. Castillo, Donald E. Pipes & Timothy C. Lynch, Defendants.

Geraldine JONES, Plaintiff, v. CITY OF OVERLAND PARK, Myron Scafe, Glenn Ladd, Daniel Carney, Santos R. Castillo, Donald E. Pipes & Timothy C. Lynch, Defendants.

Nos. 92-2162-KHV, 92-2163-KHV.

United States District Court, D. Kansas.

June 9, 1994.

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Harold S. Youngentob, Goodell, Stratton, Edmonds & Palmer, Topeka, KS, for plaintiffs.

John J. Yates and Tonya Olsen Johnston, Gage & Tucker, Kansas City, MO, for defendants.

MEMORANDUM & ORDER

VRATIL, District Judge.

This matter comes before the Court on Defendants' Restated Motion for Summary Judgment Against Geraldine Jones (Doc. # 52) filed December 30, 1993, in Case No. 92-2163, and Defendants' Restated Motion for Summary Judgment Against Angela Redpath (Doc. # 50) filed December 30, 1993, in Case No. 92-2162.

I. Background

Angela Redpath, a white female employee of the Police Department of Overland Park, Kansas ("the Department"), and Geraldine Jones, a black female employee of the City of Overland Park, Kansas ("the City") and former employee of the Department, allege that the Department and individuals working in the Department discriminated and retaliated against them. Defendants are the City, Chief of Police Myron Scafe, City Manager Donald Pipes, Major Timothy Lynch, Lt. Glenn Ladd, and Officers Daniel Carney and Santos Castillo. Lynch headed the Support Services division of the Department; Ladd is the Personnel/Training Director of Support Services. Officers Carney and Castillo worked with plaintiffs in the Drug Abuse Resistance Education ("D.A.R.E.") program. Scafe, Pipes, Lynch, Ladd, and Carney are white males. Castillo is a Hispanic male.

The Department¹ hired Jones in 1986 and Redpath in 1988, initially placing them in the Patrol division. In 1990, in response to an interdepartmental memorandum, plaintiffs applied for newly available positions as Crime Prevention/D.A.R.E. officers in the Support Services division. After conducting written and oral interviews, the Department selected plaintiffs and, on May 20, 1990, transferred them to their new positions in Support Services. Although the transfers involved no change in salary, rank, or benefits for either plaintiff, both contend that officers within the Department viewed the D.A.R.E. position as "a promotion and a favorable career step" and that the assignments were permanent.

Conflict arose in the D.A.R.E. program almost immediately. On June 4, 1990, Jones complained to her immediate supervisor, Lt. Phil Barbour,² that Castillo disliked her and refused to work with her on a background investigation. On June 5, 1990, Barbour held a meeting of all D.A.R.E. officers where he reminded everyone that D.A.R.E. was a "team effort" and that anyone who was a source of conflict would be removed. Barbour sent a written report of these events to his supervisor, Lynch, who on at least one occasion thereafter asked Jones if she was having any problems with the D.A.R.E. officers. Jones replied that she was not.

On January 28, 1991, Ladd met with Jones to discuss several complaints³, directed her to attend a consultation with the Employee Assistance Program ("EAP"), and enrolled her in a communications class. Sometime later, Ladd held an informal meeting at his home to discuss the apparent personality conflicts that appeared to continue in the D.A.R.E. Unit. Ladd again expressed his expectation that the officers would work out their differences and cooperate. On March 28, 1991, however, in response to yet another complaint⁴, the Department re-assigned Jones from the D.A.R.E. Unite to the associated Crime Prevention unit for which she had been cross-trained. Six weeks later, on May 10, 1991, the Department temporarily assigned Jones to the Investigative Division to assist with a labor-intensive wiretap investigation.

The problems in the D.A.R.E. Unit, however, appear to have extended beyond Castillo and Jones. On June 18, 1991, Redpath filed a written complaint informing Ladd that (1) Carney criticized the way the children under Redpath's supervision had performed certain skits at the Stanley Elementary graduation ceremony; (2) Castillo said that he and Carney were going to start calling Redpath and her husband (whose nickname was "Spud") "Spud and Spudless" because they had no children; and (3) Castillo and Carney laughingly said that Redpath and her husband had no children because they weren't "right with God." On June 24, 1991, Redpath filed a second written complaint—this time with Lynch—detailing other incidents in which she alleged that Carney was critical of her or her work. Redpath also complained that Castillo and Carney accused her of "taking sides" with Jones and that a generally tense atmosphere pervaded the D.A.R.E. program because of hostility and personality conflicts between Castillo and Jones and, to a lesser extent, Carney and Jones.

Ladd interviewed Carney and Castillo and required them to respond to the allegations in writing. Carney denied or attempted to explain Redpath's allegations and lodged his own complaints against Redpath, alleging that she often referred to him and Castillo as "fags" and that she had told a vulgar joke about one of the Seven Dwarfs having sex with a penguin that he had mistaken for a Catholic nun. Carney alleged that Redpath's conduct evidenced an insensitivity to the very conduct code which she claimed Carney had violated. In his written responses, Castillo admitted making the "Spudless" and "not right with God" comments but insisted that he did not intend to insult Redpath. Castillo further stated that Redpath had called him and Carney "fags" and had often threatened to "burn them."

On June 25, 1991, Redpath filed a third written complaint, accusing Castillo and Carney of asking whether she had "PMS" and why she was "so bitchy," accusing Carney of telling a racial joke, and accusing Carney of saying, "There's a difference between black people and niggers, and Jones is a nigger." Redpath also claimed that Castillo told her he hoped that Jones had complications with her pregnancy and that Carney asked her whether she and her husband had lived together before they married and told her he thought that it was ethically wrong for both parents to work.

In a response filed July 1, 1991, Redpath denied the bulk of Carney and Castillo's allegations but admitted telling the Seven Dwarfs joke and calling Carney and Castillo "fags," although she denied that her statement had any sexual connotations. On July 2, 1991, Carney denied all of Redpath's new allegations.

Although Jones was no longer a member of the D.A.R.E. Unit, the complaints and allegations between Carney, Castillo, and Redpath drew her back into the fray. On July 1, 1991, Jones became an active participant in Ladd's investigation, filing a memorandum alleging that Castillo (1) refused to extend to her normal office courtesies; (2) accused her of playing a "skin game"; (3) called a black workshop speaker racist; (4) removed his radio from the office so that Jones could not play her "nigger music"; and (5) was generally rude and sarcastic to her and suggested that she would not be in D.A.R.E. much longer. Jones also alleged that Carney suggested that she move out of the D.A.R.E. office to alleviate the tension between her and Castillo.

In response to these allegations, Castillo conceded his personal dislike for Jones, admitting that he stated in a letter to Carney that "the only hatchet I'd like to bury with Jones is one between her eyes." Castillo, however, explained that his dislike for Jones was not because of her race or gender but because she was hostile to him. Castillo alleged that Jones never spoke to him, would obtain information from him only through other people, and acted insulted anytime he offered advice or instructions to her. Castillo admitted that he called the workshop speaker racist, but attributed that comment to the speaker's views, not to any racial animus. Finally, Castillo denied threatening Jones' career or stating that she would not be with D.A.R.E. much longer.

On July 3, 1991, after interviewing all parties and witnesses and reading the written complaints and responses, Ladd drafted a twenty-four page report summarizing all of the allegations and responses. Based on the conduct admitted by the parties,⁵ Ladd concluded that (1) Castillo violated General Order 85-02 when he made references to Redpath's inability to have children; (2) Redpath violated General Order 85-02 when she told the Seven Dwarfs joke and repeatedly referred to Carney and Castillo as "fags"; but that (3) neither Carney not Jones violated the conduct code.

After reviewing Ladd's report, Lynch issued Letters of Reprimand to Carney, Castillo, and Redpath on July 10, 1991. Lynch determined that Carney and Castillo violated General Order 85-02 and Administrative Policy # 46 when they mocked the way Jones pronounced certain words. Lynch determined that Redpath violated General Order 85-02 and Administrative Policy # 46 when she referred to Carney and Castillo as fags and when she told the Seven Dwarfs joke. Jones was not reprimanded for any conduct related to the investigation. However, Jones was issued a letter of reprimand and docked six and one-half hours of pay on July 8, 1991, for violating the Department's leave policy.

Jones and Redpath contacted the Kansas Human Rights Commission ("KHRC") on July 2, 1991, and filed discrimination charges on July 23, 1991. The KHRC transmitted those charges to the EEOC. On August 11, 1991, Lynch determined that personality conflicts between Carney, Castillo, and Redpath prevented them from advancing the objectives of the D.A.R.E. program and transferred all three of them to Patrol, a much larger division. On that date, Lynch also...