Reynolds v. Barrett

• Decision Date: 11 July 2012
• Docket Number: Docket Nos. 10–4208–pr, 10–4235–pr.
• Citation: 115 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. (BNA) 738,685 F.3d 193
• Parties: Jerry REYNOLDS, Plaintiff–Appellant, v. Dave BARRETT, Industrial Superintendent of Elmira Correctional Facility, Larry Pocobello, Assistant Industrial Superintendent of Elmira, Jack Rathbun, General Foreman of Elmira Print Industry, Terry Chamberlain, Industrial Training Supervisor of Elmira Print Industry, Floyd Bennett, Superintendent of Elmira Correctional and Reception Center, George Sarno, Industrial Training Supervisor of Elmira Print Industry, Janice Kent, Industrial Training Supervisor of Elmira Print Industry, Dana M. Smith, Deputy Superintendent of Elmira, James P. Thompson, Senior Correction Counselor of Elmira, John Conroy, Director of Correctional Industry, Individually and in their official capacities, Defendants–Appellees. Khalib Gould, Plaintiff–Appellant, v. Terry Chamberlain, Industry Training Supervisor, Larry Pocobello, Industry Assistant Superintendent, Dave Barrett, Industry Superintendent, Jack Rathbun, Industry Foreman, Janice Kent, Industry Training Supervisor, Floyd Bennett, Elmira Correctional Facility's Superintendent, Defendants–Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit

685 F.3d 193

115 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. (BNA) 738

Jerry REYNOLDS, Plaintiff–Appellant,

v.Dave BARRETT, Industrial Superintendent of Elmira Correctional Facility, Larry Pocobello, Assistant Industrial Superintendent of Elmira, Jack Rathbun, General Foreman of Elmira Print Industry, Terry Chamberlain, Industrial Training Supervisor of Elmira Print Industry, Floyd Bennett, Superintendent of Elmira Correctional and Reception Center, George Sarno, Industrial Training Supervisor of Elmira Print Industry, Janice Kent, Industrial Training Supervisor of Elmira Print Industry, Dana M. Smith, Deputy Superintendent of Elmira, James P. Thompson, Senior Correction Counselor of Elmira, John Conroy, Director of Correctional Industry, Individually and in their official capacities, Defendants–Appellees.

Khalib Gould, Plaintiff–Appellant,

v.Terry Chamberlain, Industry Training Supervisor, Larry Pocobello, Industry Assistant Superintendent, Dave Barrett, Industry Superintendent, Jack Rathbun, Industry Foreman, Janice Kent, Industry Training Supervisor, Floyd Bennett, Elmira Correctional Facility's Superintendent, Defendants–Appellees.^*

Docket Nos. 10–4208–pr, 10–4235–pr.

United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit.

Argued: Dec. 6, 2011.

Decided: July 11, 2012.

Guy A. Talia, Thomas & Solomon LLP, Rochester, NY (J. Nelson Thomas, on the brief), for Plaintiffs–Appellants.

Andrew B. Ayers, Assistant Solicitor General (Barbara D. Underwood, Solicitor General, Andrea Oser, Deputy Solicitor General, on the brief), for Eric T. Schneiderman, Attorney General of the State of New York, Albany, NY, for Defendants–Appellees.

Before: McLAUGHLIN, CABRANES, and WESLEY, Circuit Judges.

WESLEY, Circuit Judge:

Plaintiffs primary argument on appeal presents a question of first impression in our circuit: whether recourse to the pattern-or-practice evidentiary framework is appropriate in a suit against individual state officials brought pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for intentional discrimination.

I. BACKGROUND

This case has as a backdrop prior litigation involving claims of racial discrimination at Elmira Correctional Facility (“Elmira”), a state maximum-security prison in Elmira, New York. See Santiago v. Miles, 774 F.Supp. 775, 782–88 (W.D.N.Y.1991). In 1986, black and Hispanic (jointly, “minority”) inmates at Elmira commenced a class action for injunctive relief, alleging widespread racial discrimination at the facility in housing, job assignment, and the imposition of discipline. Id. at 777. After a bench trial, Judge Larimer found that the plaintiffs had proven a “pattern of racism” at Elmira. Id. On April 13, 1993, Judge Larimer issued a decision requiring, among other things, that the percentage of black and Hispanic inmates in certain “preferred” jobs, including jobs in the Elmira print shop, correspond to the percentage of black and Hispanic inmates in the general prison population.

At the time the suits here were filed, inmates employed in the Elmira print shop were paid an hourly wage, which ranged from sixteen cents to sixty-five cents per hour depending on the inmate's experience and expertise. In addition, inmates were eligible to receive an “incentive bonus” as a reward for good work. Civilian supervisors determined, in their discretion, whether a particular inmate merited promotion and higher pay. Similarly, these supervisors could recommend to the Elmira Program Committee—the entity tasked with assigning and removing inmates from various prison programs—that inmates be terminated from employment in the print shop. As a general matter, an inmate would be removed upon two requests.

In the print shop, inmates were directly supervised by civilian “Industrial Training Supervisors.” The Industrial Training Supervisors reported to a general foreman, who in turn reported to an Assistant Industrial Superintendent and the Industrial Superintendent. The Industrial Superintendent answered to Elmira's Superintendent, among other officials.

In 1999, plaintiffs-appellants Jerry Reynolds and Khalib Gould (jointly, “plaintiffs”), inmates formerly employed in the Elmira print shop, filed pro se complaints alleging racial discrimination by civilian supervisors and prison administrators. Two other Elmira inmates, Anthony Mack and Joseph Ponder, commenced similar pro se actions in 2000.

Reynolds's pro se complaint asserted claims pursuant to 42 U.S.C. §§ 1981, 1983, 1985, and 1986 against Floyd Bennett, Elmira's Superintendent; David Barrett, Elmira's Industrial Superintendent; Dana Smith, Elmira's First Deputy Superintendent; Larry Pocobello, the Assistant Industrial Superintendent; Jack Rathbun, the print shop's general foreman; Terry Chamberlain, George Sarno, and Janice Kent, at the time all Industrial Training Supervisors; James Thompson, the chair of Elmira's Program Committee; and John Conroy, Director of Correctional Industry (jointly, “defendants”).

Reynolds alleged that Barrett, Pocobello, Rathbun, Chamberlain, Sarno, and Kent demoted minority inmates more often than white inmates, confined minority inmates to low-paying positions, and unfairly docked the pay of minority inmates. Reynolds specifically complained about an incident in which Rathbun docked fifty-seven dollars from Reynolds's pay to reimburse the print shop for a poorly-run print job. Reynolds further alleged that minority inmates employed in the print shop had their pay docked at a much higher rate than white inmate-employees.

Gould's pro se complaint stated, among other things, claims pursuant to 42 U.S.C. §§ 1981, 1983, 1985, and 1986 against Pocobello, Barrett, Rathbun, Chamberlain, Kent, and Bennett. He alleged that they took adverse employment actions against him because of his race and retaliated against him for filing grievances.

In November 2000, the district court appointed counsel for the plaintiffs in all four actions. Counsel moved to consolidate the actions and file an amended complaint. Finding the proposed amended complaint deficient because it lacked detail as to the nature of each plaintiff's claims against each defendant, a magistrate judge directed plaintiffs to file a more detailed amended complaint by December 17, 2001. Instead, the parties agreed to consolidate the actions for the purpose of conducting discovery. They further agreed that no party would suffer prejudice if plaintiffs filed an amended complaint after discovery was completed. The magistrate judge approved the arrangement.

After conducting four years of discovery, plaintiffs sought leave to file an amended class action complaint on October 3, 2005. The proposed complaint defined the class as “all non-Caucasian inmates at [Elmira Correctional Facility] who were employed in the Print Shop from 1994 to the present, as well as all non-Caucasian inmates at [Elmira Correctional Facility] who were deterred from working within the Print Shop because of the discriminatory policies and/or practices set forth in this complaint.” JA 64. In addition to claims pursuant to 42 U.S.C. §§ 1981, 1983, 1985, and 1986, the complaint claimed violations of Judge Larimer's order in Santiago v. Miles, 774 F.Supp. 775 (W.D.N.Y.1991), the New York State Human Rights Law, the New York State Constitution, and New York Civil Practice Law and Rule § 8601.

The proposed amended class action complaint asserted that racial discrimination was the “standard operating procedure in the Print Shop,” that “incredible statistical disparities” existed between minority and non-minority inmates, and that minority inmates were evaluated more harshly, fired and demoted more often, and paid less than non-minority inmates. The complaint also claimed that the facially neutral subjective evaluation process used by the defendants, which gave them unfettered discretion when making employment decisions, had a disparate impact on minority inmates.

The proposed complaint provided several examples of purportedly discriminatory acts taken against plaintiffs. It stated that Reynolds had his bonus docked while white inmates did not, and that he “was issued several reprimands by defendants Chamberlain, Kent and Sarno in accordance with the discriminatory policies and practices in effect.” JA 95. Similarly, the complaint stated that Gould was denied a promotion, demoted, and ultimately removed from the print shop on account of his race. The plaintiffs sought both injunctive relief and monetary damages.

In support of their motion to amend, plaintiffs appended the expert report of statistician Michael J. Guilfoyle, which purported to show, for the period between April 1994 and December 1999, that white inmates had longer average periods of employment in the print shop, were paid more than minority inmates, and were demotedless frequently than minority inmates. In Guilfoyle's view, the results of his study suggested that “there [was] a strong bias against non-white inmates working [in] the Elmira prison print shop when tenure, rate of pay[,] and demotions are examined.” JA 157.

On July 1, 2008, with the motion to amend still pending, Judge Larimer ordered the parties to file summary judgment motions no later than August 25, 2008. After an extension of time was granted, defendants filed a summary judgment motion directed at plaintiffs' original pro se complaints on October 29, 2008. Plaintiffs opposed the motion and moved to certify the class action.

Plaintiffs argued that in the event leave to file an amended class action complaint was granted and a class certified, the motion for summary judgment against their individual complaints would be “irrelevant.” They contended that the pattern-or-practice method of proof used in Title VII class actions could be employed in this § 1983 suit against individual defendants. Despite the fact that this Court has never applied the pattern-or-practice framework to hold individual state actors liable for intentional discrimination, plaintiffs did not give the district court the benefit of their reasoning as...