Stafford v. State

• Decision Date: 13 October 1993
• Docket Number: No. 89-4014-CV-C-9.,89-4014-CV-C-9.
• Citation: 835 F. Supp. 1136
• Parties: Deborah J. STAFFORD, Plaintiff, v. STATE of Missouri, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Western District of Missouri

835 F. Supp. 1136

Deborah J. STAFFORD, Plaintiff, v. STATE of Missouri, et al., Defendants.

No. 89-4014-CV-C-9.

United States District Court, W.D. Missouri, C.D.

October 13, 1993.

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Roger G. Brown, Roger G. Brown & Associates, Jefferson City, MO, Pamela Lambert, Columbia, MO, for plaintiff.

Deborah J. Neff, Mo. Atty. Gen. Office, Jefferson City, MO, for all defendants.

ORDER

BARTLETT, District Judge.

Beginning on August 10, 1992, evidence was presented to the jury on plaintiff's claims for hostile environment sexual harassment and sex discrimination pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The evidence presented to the jury was also considered by me on plaintiff's claims for hostile environment sexual harassment and sex discrimination pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 2000e, et seq. (Title VII) and Mo.Rev.Stat. § 213.055. On August 19, 1992, during trial, judgment was entered in favor of the defendants as a matter of law on plaintiff's claim under § 1983 that she was denied a promotion because of her sex. On August 20, 1992, during trial, judgment as a matter of law was entered in favor of defendants Dick D. Moore and John Carmichael on plaintiff's § 1983 hostile environment sexual harassment claim. On August 24, 1992, also during trial, I granted plaintiff's request to dismiss her § 1983 hostile environment sexual harassment claim against defendant George Adams.

On August 25, 1992, the jury returned verdicts in favor of defendants Clifford Oetting and Phillip Vance and against defendants Arthur Dearixon and Robert Williams on plaintiff's § 1983 hostile environment sexual harassment claim. The jury awarded plaintiff $43,500 on her claim against Dearixon and $101,500 on her claim against Williams. By special interrogatory, the jury found that 1) plaintiff was constructively discharged by Dearixon's conduct, 2) plaintiff was constructively discharged by Williams' conduct, 3) $94,108 was the total difference between what plaintiff would have earned at the Department of Corrections if she had not been constructively discharged and what she has earned and will earn in other employment; 4) $28,200 of the $43,500 plaintiff was awarded on her claim against Dearixon was the difference between what plaintiff would have earned at the Department of Corrections if she had not been constructively discharged and what she has earned and will earn in other employment; and 5) $65,800 of the $101,500 plaintiff was awarded on her claim against Williams was the difference between what plaintiff would have earned at the Department of Corrections if she had not been constructively discharged and what she has earned and will earn in other employment.

The jury also awarded plaintiff punitive damages of $1 on her § 1983 hostile environment sexual harassment claim against Dearixon and punitive damages of $1 on her § 1983 hostile environment sexual harassment claim against Williams.

Defendants Dearixon and Williams move for judgment as a matter of law or, in the alternative, for a new trial or, in the alternative, for remittitur on plaintiff's § 1983 hostile environment sexual harassment judgment. Plaintiff moves for pre-judgment interest and "to conform the verdict or for additur."

I. Defendant Dearixon's Motion for Judgment As a Matter of Law

A. Standard of Review

In ruling on a motion for judgment as a matter of law, the district court must 1) consider the evidence in the light most favorable to the prevailing party, 2) assume that all conflicts in the evidence were resolved in favor of the prevailing party, 3) assume as proved all facts that the prevailing party's evidence tended to prove, and 4) give the prevailing party the benefit of all favorable inferences that may reasonably be drawn from the facts proved. If, viewed in this manner, the evidence would allow reasonable jurors to differ as to the conclusions to be drawn from the evidence, the motion must be denied. City National Bank of Fort Smith v. Unique Structures, Inc., 929 F.2d 1308, 1312 (8th Cir.1991); Dace v. ACF Industries, 722 F.2d 374, 375 (8th Cir.1983). If, however, all the evidence points one way and is susceptible of no reasonable inference sustaining the position of the prevailing party, the motion must be granted. White v. Pence, 961 F.2d 776, 779 (8th Cir.1992).

I may not consider the credibility of the witnesses or the weight of the evidence. White, 961 F.2d at 779; United States E.P.A. v. City of Green Forest, Arkansas, 921 F.2d 1394, 1410 (8th Cir.1990), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 112 S.Ct. 414, 116 L.Ed.2d 435 (1991); McKnelly v. Sperry Corp., 642 F.2d 1101, 1105 (8th Cir.1981).

B. Discussion

Defendant Dearixon argues that judgment as a matter of law should be granted in his favor on plaintiff's § 1983 sexual harassment claim for the following reasons: 1) the evidence was insufficient to establish the existence of a sexually hostile atmosphere, much less a sexually hostile atmosphere so intolerable that plaintiff was constructively discharged as a result of the conduct of Dearixon; 2) plaintiff was not entitled to damages because she would have been fired when defendant Missouri Department of Corrections' (DOC) discovered that plaintiff lied on her job application to the DOC; 3) Dearixon is immune from money damages due to qualified immunity; 4) the court erroneously denied defendant Dearixon's Motion for Mistrial after plaintiff elicited testimony concerning alleged improprieties in the investigator's office; 5) the court erroneously allowed plaintiff's expert to testify about front-pay damages when plaintiff had not established constructive discharge; and 6) the court erroneously allowed plaintiff's expert to testify about front-pay damages because the numbers were misleading and unfair.

Section 1983 provides no substantive rights. Chapman v. Houston Welfare Rights Organization, 441 U.S. 600, 618, 99 S.Ct. 1905, 1916, 60 L.Ed.2d 508 (1979). Section 1983 merely provides a cause of action for deprivation of rights granted by the Constitution and laws of the United States. Id.

Sexual harassment by employees of a state agency constitutes sex discrimination in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and is actionable under § 1983. Pontarelli v. Stone, 930 F.2d 104, 113 (1st Cir.1991); Andrews v. City of Philadelphia, 895 F.2d 1469, 1478 (3rd Cir. 1990); Starrett v. Wadley, 876 F.2d 808, 814 (10th Cir.1989); Bohen, 799 F.2d at 1185.

To prevail on her § 1983 claim, plaintiff must establish that the defendant intentionally discriminated against her. Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79, 90, 106 S.Ct. 1712, 1719, 90 L.Ed.2d 69 (1986). Thus, "the ultimate inquiry is whether the sexual harassment constitutes intentional discrimination." Bohen v. City of East Chicago, Ind., 799 F.2d 1180, 1187 (7th Cir.1986); Marshall v. Kirkland, 602 F.2d 1282, 1299 (8th Cir.1979). Because plaintiff's § 1983 claim is based upon the theory that plaintiff was treated differently because of her sex, the evidence must establish that plaintiff was harassed because she is a woman. Andrews, 895 F.2d at 1478. Thus, a defense to a sexual harassment claim is a showing by defendant that the plaintiff was treated the way she was because of factors personal to her and not because she was a woman. Trautvetter v. Quick, 916 F.2d 1140, 1149 (7th Cir.1990); Bohen, 799 F.2d at 1187; Huebschen v. Department of Health & Human Resources, 716 F.2d 1167, 1171 (7th Cir.1983); see Personnel Administrator of Massachusetts v. Feeney, 442 U.S. 256, 279, 99 S.Ct. 2282, 2296, 60 L.Ed.2d 870 (1979) (conduct must be motivated "`because of,' not merely `in spite of,' its adverse effects upon an identifiable group."); Marshall, 602 F.2d at 1299 (same).

The instruction on the elements of plaintiff's claims presented plaintiff's theory that she had been subjected to intolerable working conditions because of her sex and thereby forced to resign from the DOC.

Your verdict must be for plaintiff and against defendant Arthur Dearixon on plaintiff's claim that she was treated differently from male corrections officers by defendant Dearixon because she is a woman if you believe:

FIRST, defendant Dearixon intentionally made plaintiff's working conditions intolerable;

SECOND, defendant Dearixon did so because plaintiff is a woman; and

THIRD, as a direct result of what defendant Dearixon did, and only what defendant Dearixon did, plaintiff was damaged.

In considering the claim against defendant Dearixon, you may consider ONLY acts in which defendant Dearixon personally participated.

If all of you do not believe all three elements listed above, then your verdict must be for defendant Arthur Dearixon.

On the other hand, if each of you believes the three elements listed above, your verdict must be for plaintiff Deborah Stafford.

Instruction 32.

Plaintiff relies on evidence of the following acts and statements to support the verdict against Dearixon: 1) Dearixon did not give plaintiff enough opportunities to perform investigations which were part of her job; 2) Dearixon failed to investigate Lieutenant James Moreland's harassment of plaintiff; 3) Dearixon made plaintiff leave the office plaintiff shared with investigator Coonce to allow a female CO-1 and an inmate to be alone together, which made plaintiff "feel like a piece of meat;" 4) Dearixon refused to investigate the Wilson-Butler incident; and 5) Dearixon called plaintiff a "bitch." Plaintiff's Suggestions in Opposition to Defendant Dearixon's Motions for Summary Judgment and New Trial at 5.

In November 1986, plaintiff was temporarily assigned to the investigator's office. Her duties were primarily clerical with only about 20% of her working time spent on investigations. See defendants' Exhibit JJ. Plaintiff complains that while working in the investigator's office, Dearixon did not allow her to work...