Rollins v. Alabama Cmty. Coll. Sys.

• Decision Date: 26 August 2011
• Docket Number: Civil Action No. 2:09cv636–WHA.
• Citation: 814 F.Supp.2d 1250,276 Ed. Law Rep. 870
• Parties: Pamalon ROLLINS, Shemedrea Johnson, Renoda Thomas, and Tamara Ward, Plaintiffs, v. ALABAMA COMMUNITY COLLEGE SYSTEM; et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Middle District of Alabama

276 Ed. Law Rep. 870

814 F.Supp.2d 1250

Pamalon ROLLINS, Shemedrea Johnson, Renoda Thomas, and Tamara Ward, Plaintiffs,

v.ALABAMA COMMUNITY COLLEGE SYSTEM; et al., Defendants.

Civil Action No. 2:09cv636–WHA.

United States District Court, M.D. Alabama, Northern Division.

Aug. 26, 2011.

Candis Annette McGowan, Wiggins, Childs, Quinn & Pantazis, Birmingham, AL, James Harold Anderson, William Franklin Patty, Taylor Patrick Fendley, Beers Anderson Jackson Patty & Fawal PC, Monica Leonette Arrington, Arrington & Associates, Theron Stokes, Nancy Elaine Perry, Alabama Education Association, Montgomery, AL, for Plaintiffs.

Christopher William Weller, Terrie Scott Biggs, Capell Howard P.C., Luther Strange, Office of the Attorney General, Lynne Riddle Thrower, Alabama Dept. of Post–Secondary Education, Montgomery, AL, Robert Turner Meadows, III, Capell Howard P.C., Opelika, AL, for Defendants.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

W. HAROLD ALBRITTON, Senior District Judge.

I. INTRODUCTION

This case is before the court on Motions for Summary Judgment (Doc. 117, 124, 130, 134, 137), filed by the Defendants on February 24, 2001.

Pamalon Rollins, Shemedrea Johnson, and Renoda Thomas originally filed a Complaint on May 29, 2009, in the Circuit Court for Montgomery County, against Alabama Community College System; H. Councill Trenholm State Technical College; Samuel Munnerlyn, individually and in his official capacity; Bradley Byrne, individually and in his official capacity; Alabama Department of Post–Secondary Education; State Board of Education; Governor Bob Riley, in his official capacity; Randy McKinney, in his official capacity; Betty Peters, in her official capacity; Stephanie W. Bell, in her official capacity; Dr. Ethel H. Hall, in her official capacity; Ella B. Bell, in her official capacity; David F. Byers, Jr., in his official capacity; Gary Warren, in his official capacity; and Dr. Mary Jane Caylor, in her official capacity. The Complaint was asserted on behalf of the individual plaintiffs and a class they sought to represent. The Complaint alleged violations of state law, but also violations of the Constitution and laws of the United States. The case was removed on the basis of federal question jurisdiction, and supplemental jurisdiction over the state law claims.

The Plaintiffs subsequently amended their Complaint on several occasions. The Fourth Amended Complaint (Doc. # 63) was filed on June 16, 2010, and brought claims on behalf of the original Plaintiffs, but also added Tamara Ward as a Plaintiff. Freida Hill, in her official capacity as Chancellor of the Alabama Department of Post–Secondary Education, was also substituted for Defendant Bradley Byrne in that capacity.

The Fourth Amended Complaint alleged a Class Action under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended (Count I); and brought claims for disparate treatment on the basis of gender in violation of Title VII (Count II); disparate impact on the basis of gender claims (Count III); class action damages (Count IV); violations of the Equal Pay Act (Count V); Equal Protection, pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (Count VI); Title VII gender discrimination and § 1983 (Count VII); Title VII retaliation (Rollins) (Count VIII); Title VII and § 1983 gender discrimination (Johnson) (Count IX); Title VII retaliation (Johnson) (Count X); Title VII gender discrimination and § 1983 (Thomas) (Count XI); Title VII retaliation (Thomas) (Count XII); Title VII gender discrimination and § 1983 (Ward) (Count XIII); Title VII and § 1983 retaliation (Ward) (Count XIV); and violation of policy and state statutes (Count XV). Count VI is the only Count which includes claims against the individual defendants, and all of those were sued in their official capacities. Only Munnerlyn and Byrne were also sued in their individual capacities.¹

The court subsequently denied a Motion for Class Certification by the Plaintiffs (Doc. # 107). The court also disposed of some aspects of the Motion for Partial Summary Judgment (Doc. # 134), dismissing money damages claims against individual Defendants in their official capacity, and substituting Governor Robert Bentley for former Governor Bob Riley. Doc. # 189. This left money damages claims outstanding only against Munnerlyn and Byrne in their individual capacities. The court also granted a Motion to Strike Evidentiary Materials in some respects, and denied that Motion in other respects. See Doc. # 185.

The Defendants have filed separate motions for summary judgment as to the claims of each Plaintiff. While the filings are voluminous, and necessitate extensive discussion by the court as to each motion, because there is overlap in some of the claims, particularly regarding legal standards to be applied, the court has addressed all of the motions in one Memorandum Opinion and Order.

For the reasons to be discussed, the Defendants' motions are due to be GRANTED in part and DENIED in part, and the court will decline to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over the state law claims.

II. SUMMARY JUDGMENT STANDARD

Summary judgment is proper “if there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and ... the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.” Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986).

The party asking for summary judgment “always bears the initial responsibility of informing the district court of the basis for its motion,” relying on submissions “which it believes demonstrate the absence of a genuine issue of material fact.” Id. at 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548. Once the moving party has met its burden, the nonmoving party must “go beyond the pleadings” and show that there is a genuine issue for trial. Id. at 324, 106 S.Ct. 2548.

Both the party “asserting that a fact cannot be,” and a party asserting that a fact is genuinely disputed, must support their assertions by “citing to particular parts of materials in the record,” or by “showing that the materials cited do not establish the absence or presence of a genuine dispute, or that an adverse party cannot produce admissible evidence to support the fact.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c)(1)(A), (B). Acceptable materials under Rule 56(c)(1)(A) include “depositions, documents, electronically stored information, affidavits or declarations, stipulations (including those made for purposes of the motion only), admissions, interrogatory answers, or other materials.”

To avoid summary judgment, the nonmoving party “must do more than show that there is some metaphysical doubt as to the material facts.” Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 586, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986). On the other hand, the evidence of the nonmovant must be believed and all justifiable inferences must be drawn in its favor. See Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, 477 U.S. 242, 255, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986).

After the nonmoving party has responded to the motion for summary judgment, the court shall grant summary judgment if the movant shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(a).

The summary judgment rule is to be applied in employment discrimination cases as in any other case. Chapman v. AI Transport, 229 F.3d 1012, 1026 (11th Cir.2000)( en banc ).

III. FACTS

The submissions of the parties establish the following facts, construed in a light most favorable to the nonmovants:

All of the Plaintiffs are employees of H. Councill Trenholm State Technical College (“Trenholm”). The Defendants in this case include, in addition to Trenholm, the Alabama Community College System (“ACCS”), the Alabama Department of Post–Secondary Education, and the State Board of Education. There are twenty-nine colleges within the ACCS, one of which is Trenholm. The State Board of Education is the governing board for all of the ACCS colleges. The Department of Post–Secondary Education is responsible to the State Board of Education for supervision of two-year community and technical colleges. Other Defendants in this case include the President of Trenholm, Samuel Munnerlyn (“Munnerlyn”) in his official and individual capacities; Bradley Byrne, in his individual capacity; and Randy McKinney, Betty Peters, Stephanie W. Bell, Dr. Ethel H. Hall, Ella B. Bell, David F. Byers, Jr., Gary Warren, and Dr. Mary Jane Caylor, in their official capacities as members of the State Board of Education. Robert Bentley has been sued in his official capacity as Governor. Freida Hill has been sued in her official capacity as Chancellor. Doc. # 189.

All of the Plaintiffs have asserted claims based on the salaries they receive as compared to male employees at Trenholm. The President determines the initial placement of employees on the salary schedules, and makes requests for salary increases, and submits the requests to the Chancellor and the Alabama Department of Post–Secondary Education. During the events in question in this case, Trenholm was served by two different Presidents: Anthony Molina (“Molina”), who passed away in April 2007, and Samuel Munnerlyn (“Munnerlyn”). Bradley Byrne was the Chancellor during the relevant period. The Chancellor has the authority to reject any salary request or request to reorganize an employee's job position.

Trenholm has the following classifications of employees: Salary Schedule A—President, Salary Schedule B—Deans and Business Officers, Salary Schedule C—professional personnel not included in other schedules, Salary Schedule D—teachers, Salary Schedule E—technical and support personnel not included in other schedules, and Salary Schedule H—support personnel working twenty or more but less than forty hours per week.

The C Salary Schedule has C–1, C–2, and C–3 classifications. The C–1 and C–2 Salary Schedules, as well as the D and E Salary Schedules, provide for step increases. At relevant points in this litigation, the C–3 classification did not provide for step increases,...