St. Hilaire v. The Pep Boys-Manny, Moe and Jack

• Decision Date: 02 September 1999
• Docket Number: No. 97-6910-CIV-GOLD/SIM.,97-6910-CIV-GOLD/SIM.
• Citation: 73 F.Supp.2d 1350
• Parties: Hirame ST. HILAIRE and Jenise Selby, Plaintiffs, v. THE PEP BOYS—MANNY, MOE AND JACK, a Pennsylvania corporation, Val Santos, Chris Hubacher, Ken Racik and Frank Romano, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of Florida

73 F.Supp.2d 1350

Hirame ST. HILAIRE and Jenise Selby, Plaintiffs, v. THE PEP BOYS—MANNY, MOE AND JACK, a Pennsylvania corporation, Val Santos, Chris Hubacher, Ken Racik and Frank Romano, Defendants.

No. 97-6910-CIV-GOLD/SIM.

United States District Court, S.D. Florida, Miami Division.

September 2, 1999.

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Saul Smolar, Fort Lauderdale, FL, for plaintiffs.

Mark E. Zelek, Devand A. Sukhdeo, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, Miami, FL, for defendants.

ORDER GRANTING MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

GOLD, District Judge.

THIS CAUSE is before the Court upon Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment Against Plaintiff Hirame St. Hilaire [D.E. # 46], and Defendants' Motion to Sever the Claims of Plaintiffs Hirame St. Hilaire and Jenise Selby, and to Proceed With Separate Actions, or in the Alternative, for Separate Trials [D.E. # 51]. Plaintiff, Hirame St. Hilaire, ("St.Hilaire"), filed this lawsuit against his former employer, the Pep Boys—Manny, Moe and Jack, alleging that they violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq.) (hereafter Title VII); 42 U.S.C. § 1981 (hereafter § 1981); The Florida Civil Rights Act of 1992, (Fla.Stat. § 760.01 et seq.) (hereafter FCRA); and the Florida Whistle Blower Act (Fla.Stat. § 448.101 et seq.) (hereafter Whistle Blower Act), by 1) failing to promote him due to racial discrimination; 2) treating him differently than other employees based on his race; 3) retaliating against him due to his participation in protected activities; and 4) subjecting him to a racially hostile work environment. St. Hilaire's § 1981 claims are also apparently directed against individual Defendants Val Santos and Chris Hubacher.¹ Defendants contend that they are entitled to summary judgment on all claims because St. Hilaire has not presented evidence to meet his burden to present a prima facie case on any of the issues he has raised, and because St. Hilaire has not properly invoked the Whistle Blower Act.

Jurisdiction of the Court is invoked pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1331 for claims arising under federal law, and pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1367 for claims under state law. After careful consideration of the parties' arguments, the relevant case law, and the record as a whole, this Court concludes that Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment against St. Hilaire should be granted as to the Title VII, § 1981, and FCRA claims, and that St. Hilaire's cause of action pursuant to the Whistle Blower Act should be remanded to state court. This Court further concludes that Defendants' Motion to Sever the Claims of Plaintiffs Hirame St. Hilaire and Jenise Selby, And To Proceed With Separate Actions, Or In The Alternative For Separate Trials, should be denied as moot due to the granting of Defendants' Summary Judgment Motion against St. Hilaire and the remand of his Whistle Blower Act claim to state court.

I. Factual and Procedural Background

St. Hilaire's claims arise out of his employment with Defendant Pep Boys as a sales person at the Lauderdale Lakes store. The present action was initiated by filing a four-count Complaint on July 28, 1997. An amended, four-count Complaint was filed on November 12, 1997.² Count I alleges failure to promote, disparate treatment, racially hostile environment, and retaliation for filing a Charge of Discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (the "EEOC"), in violation of Title VII. Counts II and III set forth the same claims, in violation of the FCRA and § 1981.³ Count IV alleges retaliation for filing charges with the EEOC, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (the "NAACP"), and the Florida Commission on Human Rights (the "FCHR"), in violation of the Whistle Blower Act. In support of his claims, St. Hilaire alleges that: 1) Pep Boys refused to investigate a purportedly fraudulent evaluation of him, drafted in part by two white supervisors, Defendants Santos and Hubacher, with St. Hilaire's forged signature on it; 2) Pep Boys refused to promote him to positions for which he was qualified because of this negative evaluation in his file; 3) three months after he filed an EEOC complaint, an assistant manager denigrated him and sent him home without pay for a day for coming to work forty minutes late when no other employee was treated similarly for like conduct; and 4) thirteen months after he filed an EEOC complaint, and about one month after his complaint was dismissed, he was told that he would have to become a part-time worker if he wanted to have Sundays off, unlike other full-time employees who were permitted to have Sundays off.

On November 22, 1994, Pep Boys hired St. Hilaire as a part-time sales person in Store 165 in Pompano Beach (St. Hilaire deposition at 65-66, 106-07, hereafter referred to as Depo.). In February 1995, St. Hilaire transferred to Store 189 in Lauderdale Lakes, where he continued as a part-time sales person (Depo. at 67).

In 1995, assistant store manager Patrick Lafaille, an African-American male, told St. Hilaire that there was a tire specialist position available and suggested he apply for it (Depo. at 29, 144, 168). St. Hilaire prepared a resume and submitted it to then-store manager, Defendant Val Santos (Depo. at 28-29). The job was given to Conrad Jarrett, an African-American male (Depo. at 29-31, 169, 170). St. Hilaire did not know Jarrett's qualifications for the position (Depo. at 30).

St. Hilaire failed to be promoted to the jobs of assistant parts manager and parts manager at the Lauderdale Lakes store, and as parts manager at the Pompano Beach location (Depo. at 170-71). St. Hilaire never applied for these promotions (Depo. at 129). Although these positions were not posted, he learned about them through word of mouth (Depo. at 129, 171-72, 177). St. Hilaire told Lafaille and Santos that he was interested in a promotion (Depo. at 129).

St. Hilaire believed he was qualified for the above positions, as he felt he had management skills, but admitted that he did not know what the qualifications were for the positions (Depo. at 171-72). St. Hilaire did not remember who got the parts manager job in Pompano Beach. Nor did he know the person's qualifications (Depo. at 173). He did not remember when the assistant parts manager position was open in Lauderdale Lakes, who got the job, or the qualifications of the person who got the job (Depo. at 173-74). St. Hilaire also could not remember when the parts manager job was open in Lauderdale Lakes, and could not remember who got the job, but knew the person had been working there only a short time and thought he had been a manager at another auto parts store (Depo. at 176-77). Charles Allen, the South Florida District Manager for Pep Boys, stated that the individuals who filled the positions of Tire Specialist, Assistant Parts Manager and Parts Manager in the Lauderdale Lakes store, and Parts Manager in the Pompano Beach Store were more qualified for those positions than St. Hilaire (Declaration of Allen, attached to Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment).

In January 1996, St. Hilaire asked store manager Michael Dorfman for a full-time sales position. The request was granted (Depo. at 68).

St. Hilaire testified that in March 1996, St. John Mumford, another Pep Boys employee working in the Pompano Beach store told him that the position of Parts Manager was open at the Pompano Beach store. Mumford also said he had spoken to the store manager about St. Hilaire getting the job and that the manager told Mumford that there was something in St. Hilaire's file which was keeping St. Hilaire from getting the position (Depo. at 14-16, 171-72).

Soon thereafter, St. Hilaire was permitted to see his personnel file upon request (Depo. at 86-88). St. Hilaire testified that it was then that he first saw what was purported to be his March 1995 performance evaluation (Depo at 83, 86). However, St. Hilaire claims that he was not evaluated in 1995 (Depo at 83-84). Moreover, St. Hilaire contends he told Dorfman that his signature on the performance evaluation was a forgery (Depo. at 84, 112-13, 210). St. Hilaire claimed to recognize the handwriting of two of his supervisors, Defendants Hubacher and Santos, on the document (Depo. at 84-85).

Although never told, St. Hilaire believed that the 1995 evaluation foreclosed his promotional opportunities and raises (Depo. at 115-16, 169, 212-13). He believed that the managers went to his personnel file to see if he was competent, but admitted that he did not know how the company decided personnel promotions and did not know if the store manager had looked at his personnel file before making the decision (Depo. at 116, 169). He had never heard of another employee with a forged signature on their evaluation, but he did not review other employees' evaluations (Depo. at 177-78, 182).

St. Hilaire then asked Dorfman for a copy of his personnel file. Dorfman initially agreed. Two hours later, Dorfman told him that, pursuant to company policy, he would have to request his file in writing (Depo. at 87, 112). Dorfman assisted St. Hilaire in writing the letter, which was dated March 26, 1996 (Depo. at 87). St. Hilaire then went to the Fort Lauderdale chapter of the NAACP and spoke to the Chapter President about the release of his file and its allegedly disturbing contents (Depo. at 89). On March 28, 1996, St. Hilaire, assisted by the NAACP, wrote a letter to the President of Pep Boys requesting his personnel file (Depo. at 89-91). St. Hilaire received his file by mail in early April 1996 (Depo. at 88, 91). St. Hilaire said he did not know if he would have received his personnel file if the NAACP had not helped him (Depo. at 92-93).

Ursula Ballard from Pep Boys' Human Resources subsequently called St. Hilaire at the store. St. Hilaire told her that the 1995 evaluation in his file was fraudulent, that his signature was forged, and that he had not...