Seale v. Madison Cnty.
| Decision Date | 07 March 2013 |
| Docket Number | 5:11-CV-0278 |
| Parties | KELLY SEALE and DAVID SEALE, Plaintiffs, v. MADISON CNTY.; ALLEN RILEY, Individually and in his Official Capacity as Madison Cnty. Sheriff; MATTHEW EPISCOPO, Individually and in his Official Capacity as Captain of the Madison Cnty. Sheriff's Ofc.; DOUG BAILEY, Individually and in his Official Capacity as Former Undersheriff for Madison Cnty.; RONALD CARY, Individually and in his Official Capacity as Former Sheriff for Madison Cnty.; and RYAN AYLWARD, Individually and in his Official Capacity as Coordinator of Labor Relations for Madison Cnty., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Northern District of New York |
(GTS/ATB)
APPEARANCES:
O'HARA, O'CONNELL & CIOTOLI
Attorneys for Plaintiffs
THE LAW FIRM OF FRANK W. MILLER
Attorneys for Defendants
OF COUNSEL:
STEPHEN CIOTOLI, ESQ.
FRANK W. MILLER, ESQ.
BRYAN N. GEORGIADY, ESQ.
MEMORANDUM-DECISION and ORDER
Currently before the Court, in this employment discrimination action filed by Kelly Seale and David Seale ("Plaintiffs") against the above-captioned government entity1 and five namedindividuals ("Defendants"), is Defendants' motion for judgment on the pleadings pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(c) and/or to dismiss Plaintiffs' Complaint for lack of subject matter jurisdiction pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(1). (Dkt. No. 11.) For the reasons set forth below, Defendants' motion for judgment on the pleadings is granted in part and denied in part, and Defendants' motion to dismiss the Complaint for lack of subject matter jurisdiction is granted in part and denied in part.
Plaintiffs' Complaint asserts the following twelve claims against all Defendants: (1) sex discrimination pursuant to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq. ("Title VII"), (2) hostile work environment under Title VII, (3) disparate treatment under Title VII, (4) retaliation under Title VII, (5) violation of the right to equal protection of the laws under the Fourteenth Amendment pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, (6) hostile work environment under the Fourteenth Amendment pursuant to § 1983, (7) disparate treatment under the Fourteenth Amendment pursuant to § 1983, (8) retaliation under the Fourteenth Amendment pursuant to § 1983, (9) gender discrimination, disparate treatment, hostile work environment and retaliation by all Defendants, as well as aiding and abetting same by the individually named Defendants, under the New York Human Rights Law, N.Y. EXEC. LAW § 296 ("NYHRL"), (10) retaliation under the First Amendment pursuant to § 1983, (11) violation of the right to vote under the Fourteenth and Nineteenth Amendments pursuant to § 1983, and (12) conspiracy to deprive the right to equal protection of the laws under 42 U.S.C. § 1985. All causes of action areasserted on behalf of both Plaintiffs, except for the Title VII disparate treatment claim, which is asserted solely on behalf of Plaintiff, Kelly Seale.
Generally, in support of their claims, Plaintiffs set forth the following factual allegations in their Complaint, which are accepted by the Court as true for purposes of deciding the current motion. Plaintiff, Kelly Seale ("Ms. Seale"), was employed by the Madison County Sheriff's Office ("Sheriff's Office") as a Community Services Aide from January 2008 through May 2010. Plaintiff, David Seale ("Mr. Seale"), is Kelly's husband. Mr. Seale has been employed at the Sheriff's Office as a Deputy Sheriff, Criminal Investigator and Polygraphist since 1992. In 2005, Mr. Seale injured his shoulder in the line of duty, resulting in multiple surgeries between 2005 and 2009, as well as intense physical therapy and rehabilitation. During all of his periods of surgeries, rehabilitation and physical therapy, Mr. Seale was covered by the Defendant, Madison County's ("the County") worker's compensation plan.
From January 2008 until sometime in January 2010, Ms. Seale's workspace was located in a small office area connected to a hallway that was just outside the office of Defendant, Matthew Episcopo ("Episcopo"). Episcopo was employed by the Sheriff's Office as a Captain, and was Mr. Seale's supervisor.
According to the Complaint, Ms. Seale "was subjected to repeated instances of sexual harassment, intimidation, humiliation, and discrimination by [] Episcopo," from January 2008 through January 2010. (See Dkt. No. 1, at ¶ 27 [Plaintiffs' Complaint].) In late 2009, Ms. Seale informed Defendants "about Episcopo's numerous instances of inappropriate behavior towards her, including but not limited to" the following eight events: (1) In May 2008, Episcopo placed a radio in Ms. Seale's work space with the volume set at a high level so that she could not hear him talk in his office. After Ms. Seale complained to Defendant, then Sheriff Ronald Cary("Cary"), Episcopo removed the radio, stating to Ms. Seale that "your radio privileges have been revoked." (2) In September 2008, after Mr. Seale was taken out of work again by his doctor, Episcopo intentionally failed to turn in Ms. Seale's pay sheet record on time. As a result, Ms. Seale did not receive a paycheck on time. (3) On October 20, 2008, Episcopo was in his office with his door shut speaking to a deputy, who had apparently returned to work after having been out on worker's compensation, while still using crutches. In a loud tone of voice, so that Ms. Seale could hear, Episcopo stated, Episcopo knew that Mr. Seale was the only deputy out on worker's compensation for an arm injury. (4) On December 10, 2008, Ms. Seale discovered a pornographic snowman cartoon on her desk, and later learned that Episcopo had sent the identical cartoon to numerous deputy sheriffs over the previous few years. (5) On July 13, 2009, the day after Ms. Seale returned from a week's vacation, Episcopo entered his office with a deputy after first seeing Ms. Seale, and began singing in a loud voice, "The bitch is back, the bitch is back, spread her legs and eat her for a snack." Episcopo and the deputy then began talking loudly about an episode of South Park titled "Red Rocket," in which a character in the cartoon masturbates a dog in an attempt to "milk it." (6) On November 2, 2009, Episcopo went out of his way to talk to other employees and inform them that they should help themselves to snacks in the break room, but did not extend the same invitation to Ms. Seale. (7) On November 4, 2009, Episcopo was in his office speaking loudly to a lieutenant about Jim Zophy, who was the losing candidate for Madison County Sheriff, and whom Episcopo knew Plaintiffs supported. Episcopo stated that he was so happy "that fucking cock sucker Zophy didn't getelected." Episcopo further stated, "I know that I am saying this loud enough so that anyone sitting outside of my office can hear me and know that changes are coming and they won't like it." Finally, Episcopo stated that he was going to get rid of all of the deputies and Sheriff's Office personnel who supported Zophy during the election. (8) The next day, November 5, 2009, as Episcopo was entering his office, he looked over at Ms. Seale and stated in a loud voice, "It's a glorious day - it's such a nice day, you can't wipe the smile off my face . . . I love it." Shortly thereafter, Kathy Chaires, secretary to the Sheriff, told Ms. Seale that she heard Episcopo's comments from the previous day, and reported them to Defendant Doug Bailey ("Bailey"), then Undersheriff for the Sheriff's Office.
Later in the day on November 5, 2009, Ms. Seale spoke to Bailey and recounted Episcopo's statements from that morning. Bailey expressed his disbelief because he just told Episcopo that morning to stop harassing Ms. Seale. Ms. Seale then recounted all of the details of the previously alleged eight instances of Episcopo's conduct, at which time Bailey was "visibly shocked and embarrassed." Bailey requested that Ms. Seale immediately file a harassment complaint with the County's Personnel Department. Shortly thereafter, Ms. Seale filed a complaint.
The County conducted an investigation of Ms. Seale's complaint. On January 6, 2010, Defendant, Ryan Aylward, ("Aylward"), Coordinator of Labor Relations for the County, informed Ms. Seale that she had no right to know any of the details of the investigation, but that her complaint of sexual harassment, discrimination, hostile work environment and retaliation was deemed to be unsupported and unfounded. Defendants then informed Ms. Seale that her office was being moved to a location outside of the Sheriff's Office because "Episcopo is a captain . . . we can't move him." (Dkt. No. 1, at ¶ 37.) On January 11, 2010, Defendant AllenRiley ("Riley"), the newly elected Sheriff, showed Ms. Seale her new office space in the windowless basement of the Department of Motor Vehicles ("DMV") building across the street from the Sheriff's Office. Riley told Ms. Seale that even he, as Sheriff, was denied access by the County to any details of the investigation of her complaint and that "he was truly sorry for the difficulty this was causing her but that he valued her as an employee and would do his best to make the situation work." (Id. at ¶ 42.)
When Ms. Seale was hired, "part of the incentives and compensation for [her] employment was that she was allowed to make her own schedule and come in on days and at times that were convenient to her, whether it be days, nights, weekdays, or holidays, as long as she did not exceed 37 hours every two weeks and completed her assigned work." (Id., at ¶ 23.) Also, Ms. Seale was given a County-owned S.U.V. to use as her job required, including trips to various...
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