Savage v. City of Springfield
| Decision Date | 08 March 2021 |
| Docket Number | Civil No. 3:18-CV-30164-KAR |
| Parties | MARC SAVAGE and RANDOLPH BLAKE, Plaintiffs, v. THE CITY OF SPRINGFIELD, SPRINGFIELD FIRE DEPARTMENT, FIRE COMMISSIONER BERNARD J. CALVI, and FORMER FIRE COMMISSIONER JOSEPH CONANT, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Massachusetts |
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER ON DEFENDANTS' MOTION TO DISMISS
Plaintiffs Marc Savage ("Savage") and Randolph Blake ("Blake"), both African American firefighters, bring this putative class action on behalf of themselves and other similarly situated minority firefighters against the defendants City of Springfield ("the City" or "Springfield"), the Springfield Fire Department ("SFD"), Fire Commissioner Bernard J. Calvi ("Calvi"), and former Fire Commissioner Joseph Conant ("Conant") (collectively, "Defendants") for alleged discrete acts of discrimination on the basis of race, creation of a hostile work environment, and unlawful retaliation. In their amended complaint, Plaintiffs assert the following causes of action: in Count I, discrimination in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; in Count II, discrimination in violation of Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 151B; in Count III, violation of Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 31, § 1(e); in Count IV, unlawful retaliation; in Count V, negligent supervision; in Count VI, intentional infliction of emotional distress; in Count VII, constitutional equal protection; and in a second Count VII, breach of contract (Dkt. No. 76). Presently before the court is Defendants' motion to dismiss pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6) (Dkt. No. 77). The parties have consented to this court's jurisdiction. See 28 U.S.C. § 636(c); Fed. R. Civ. P. 73 (Dkt. No. 12). For the following reasons, the motion to dismiss is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part.
The relevant facts are drawn from Plaintiffs' amended complaint and viewed in the light most favorable to Plaintiffs. See Ruivo v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., 766 F.3d 87, 90 (1st Cir. 2014).
Savage has been an employee of the SFD for 39 years and currently holds the rank of Captain (Dkt. No. 76 at ¶ 12). Blake has been an employee of the SFD for 29 years and currently holds the rank of Lieutenant (id. at ¶ 13). Both Savage and Blake are African American (id. at ¶ 11). Savage is also a Muslim (id. at ¶ 12).
In March 2014, Savage sat for a Deputy Fire Chief exam along with only one other applicant, Glenn Guyer, who is white (id. at ¶¶ 19, 25). After the scores were posted in May 2014, Guyer, who does not live in Springfield, applied for a waiver of a residency requirement for the position, which the Springfield mayor summarily denied (id. at ¶¶ 26-27). This should have resulted in Savage becoming the next Deputy Fire Chief based on his passing score on the examination (id. at ¶¶ 28, 38). However, when then Fire Commissioner Conant learned that Guyer would not be eligible for the appointment, he protested the decision of the Commonwealth's Human Resources Department to hold the examination when there were onlytwo applicants, despite the fact that he had known of the limited number of applicants since two weeks before the exam was administered (id. at ¶¶ 19, 30). As a result of pressure applied by Conant, the Commonwealth's Human Resources Department canceled the May 2014 examination results, depriving Savage of the Deputy Fire Chief position (id. at ¶¶ 32-33). Conant's opposition to Savage's selection for Deputy Fire Chief was motivated by racial bias (id. at ¶ 34).
On July 3, 2014, Savage filed a civil service appeal, which included allegations of unlawful discrimination (id. at ¶ 45). On September 5, 2014, Savage filed a discrimination complaint with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination ("MCAD") (id. at ¶ 47).
On the same date in March 2014 that Savage and Guyer took the Deputy Fire Chief examination, six applicants took an identical examination for the position of District Chief (id. at ¶ 23). Even though the Deputy Fire Chief examination was canceled after the fact, Savage's score was sufficient to qualify him for a District Chief position (id. at ¶ 44). In October 2014, District Chief John Murphy conducted an evaluation of Savage in connection with the upcoming interviews for District Chief, scheduled for November 5, 2014 (id. at ¶ 48). Murphy rated Savage a three on a five-point scale on ten of the fourteen categories listed on the evaluation sheet, despite the fact that only one year earlier when Savage was being considered for promotion to Captain, he was rated with fours and fives in the same categories (id. at ¶ 52). Murphy also commented that Savage was not ready to act in the District Chief position because he was not fully trained in the operation of Telestaff (id. at ¶ 49). However, Savage had previously asked to be trained in Telestaff so that he would be better prepared to fill the District Chief role if he was selected for it (id. at ¶ 45). Conant had refused, saying that Savage wouldhave to wait until he was a permanent captain for six months before he could be trained (id. at ¶ 46).
Savage raised concerns about Murphy's evaluation of him with District Chief Vincent Neffinger (id. at ¶ 53). Within a few days, Murphy changed his evaluation twice, but maintained his position that Savage was not ready to assume the role of District Chief in any capacity until he had more training (id. at ¶ 53). A few days later, Captain Robert Fancy, a white District Chief candidate with only 12 years on the job (as compared to Savage's 36), was placed in the Acting District Chief position for the night (id. at ¶ 54). Fancy informed Savage that he had been trained for only a few hours before being placed in the role (id. at ¶ 54).
Guyer had the final say in filling the District Chief position (id. at ¶ 60). Two other captains - Jaime Erickson and Brian Pereira - were ultimately promoted to the position of Temporary District Chief (id. at ¶ 55). Erickson, a white candidate, had only 17 years on the job, had only five hours of training, and had never been Acting District Chief before his promotion (id. at ¶ 59). When Savage asked Murphy if he was ready to assume the role of District Chief in an acting capacity, Murphy replied that he would not approve Savage as ready for the role of District Chief in any capacity, since he had never been evaluated as an Incident Commander (id. at ¶ 56). However, Erickson had never been evaluated as Incident Commander before his promotion (id. at ¶ 59).
On April 2, 2016, Conant ordered District Chief Michael Hess to discipline Savage by giving him an unwarranted verbal warning for allegedly failing to properly train a recruit (id. at ¶ 63). No investigation was conducted and Savage was not provided any opportunity to be heard before the discipline was imposed (id. at ¶ 64). In contrast, Savage had brought charges against two subordinates - one for disrespectful behavior and the other for disobeying a directive - andConant let two months pass without taking any action with regard to one case and issued no discipline in the other, deeming it a mere misunderstanding (id. at ¶¶ 67-68). Savage requested that Springfield's Human Resources Department take immediate action to address Conant's discriminatory and retaliatory conduct, but it was never addressed (id. at ¶ 70).
Savage was the lead plaintiff and Blake was a named plaintiff in a lawsuit seeking enforcement of the SFD's residency requirement (id. at ¶ 81). In the lawsuit, the plaintiffs alleged that the defendants' failure to enforce the residency requirement had disadvantaged them and other minority firefighters in hiring and promotions (id. at ¶ 81). The court issued a finding on February 14, 2017 that the residency requirement was valid and enforceable (id. at ¶ 81). This generated additional hostility by Defendants toward Plaintiffs (id. at ¶ 81).
Savage testified at a hearing before the MCAD on June 14, 2017 regarding racial and religious harassment within the SFD (id. at ¶ 82). Two months later, without having been provided any opportunity to be heard, Savage received a letter stating that he was being suspended and transferred (id. at ¶ 83). In issuing the suspension, Defendants failed to follow their own progressive discipline policy (id. at ¶ 83).
In addition to these alleged discrete acts of discrimination, Savage and Blake allege that they have been subjected to a hostile work environment. Specifically, Savage and Blake have been subjected to offensive racist and anti-Muslim comments and images both in person and on social media platforms (id. at ¶¶ 72-77). In some instances, SFD personnel - including SFD supervisors - posted the offensive material while they were on duty (id. at ¶¶ 74, 78). Plaintiffs alerted Defendants to the seriousness of the problem, but they "failed to take prompt and effective remedial action to address the hostile work environment being fostered by the continued posting of racist and Islamophobic images by its employees" (id. at ¶ 75).
According to Plaintiffs, Defendants also selectively allowed white firefighters to illegally retain civil service positions while denying minorities opportunities for advancement, arbitrarily enforced Springfield's residency requirement in civil service promotions, and engaged in unfair and biased investigative and disciplinary practices. Plaintiffs provide examples in support of each of these claims. In August 2016, July 2017, and March 2018, white employees were selected to work as temporary Captains instead of Blake (id. at ¶¶ 86-90). In each instance, the SFD failed to follow its established procedures in favor of preselected white candidates (id. at ¶¶ 86-90). The SFD refused to enforce the residency ordinance, which has disproportionately disadvantaged minority applicants in the selection process for chief positions (id. at ¶¶ 91-92). Finally, ...
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