Thompson v. Potomac Electric Power Co.

• Decision Date: 12 December 2002
• Docket Number: No. 01-2097.,01-2097.
• Citation: 312 F.3d 645
• Parties: George F. THOMPSON, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. POTOMAC ELECTRIC POWER COMPANY, Defendant-Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fourth Circuit

312 F.3d 645

George F. THOMPSON, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. POTOMAC ELECTRIC POWER COMPANY, Defendant-Appellee.

No. 01-2097.

United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit.

Argued September 24, 2002.

Decided December 12, 2002.

ARGUED: Joe Carl Ashworth, Leonardtown, Maryland, for Appellant. William Patrick Flanagan, Hogan & Hartson, L.L.P., McLean, Virginia, for Appellee. ON BRIEF: Dean A. Romhilt, Hogan & Hartson, L.L.P., Washington, DC, for Appellee.

Before LUTTIG and TRAXLER, Circuit Judges, and MOON, United States District Judge for the Western District of Virginia, sitting by designation.

Affirmed by published opinion. Judge TRAXLER wrote the opinion, in which Judge LUTTIG and Judge MOON joined.

OPINION

TRAXLER, Circuit Judge.

George F. Thompson appeals a grant of summary judgment in favor of his former employer, Potomac Electric Power Company ("PEPCO"), on his employment discrimination claims under Title VII and Section 1981. See 42 U.S.C.A. §§ 2000e-2(a), 2000e-3(a) (West 1994); 42 U.S.C.A. § 1981 (West 1994). Thompson alleges that PEPCO unlawfully denied him certain training opportunities because of his race and retaliated against him for complaining about PEPCO's allegedly discriminatory conduct. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm.

I.

Thompson, who is African-American, joined PEPCO in 1977 and worked for twenty-three years at the Morgantown Generating Station ("Morgantown") in Newburg, Maryland. During his career at PEPCO, Thompson successfully completed more than eighty training courses, thirty-two of them between 1996 and 1998. He started at the lowest position in his job classification, Power Plant Operator ("PPO") Helper, but steadily advanced through the ranks and was promoted to the highest PPO classification, "A" Operator, in 1994. As an "A" Operator, Thompson worked chiefly in Morgantown's nerve center, the Control Room, operating equipment. During the relevant period, Thompson's immediate supervisor was Robert Chase, a Senior Power Plant Operator ("SPPO") who is also African-American. Chase, in turn, reported to Shift Supervisor Clifford Fluharty, and Fluharty reported to William Hutchins, the General Supervisor of Plant Operations. Both Fluharty and Hutchins are white.

In 1996 and 1997, PEPCO had an unwritten practice of allowing PPOs, like Thompson, to upgrade to SPPO positions on a temporary basis in order to provide cover in the Control Room. Individuals who were temporarily upgraded to SPPO performed chiefly technical duties, but they also directed the work of Control Room operators and thus acquired a modest degree of supervisory experience. They did not, however, perform such supervisory functions as conducting performance appraisals, recommending discipline, or reviewing leave requests. The duration of upgrades varied and lasted up to one year. Thompson was temporarily upgraded to the SPPO position on one occasion for approximately forty minutes. Two white employees, John Norris and Lester Combs, were upgraded to SPPO positions for lengthier intervals. Norris was also an "A" Operator, but had fewer years of company service than Thompson, and Combs held the lower rated position of "B" Operator. Two other white employees, William Pilkerton and Kim Morris, both "A" Operators senior to Thompson, were never upgraded at all.

Although he never sought additional opportunities for the temporary upgrades, Thompson "thought someone would look at [his] achievements and say, well, let's give [him] a chance." J.A. 44. When specifically approached by Fluharty and asked whether he would like to be upgraded, Thompson responded that he would "try it" so long as he was provided training and the support of a supervisor. J.A. 44. Thompson was encouraged to work alongside Chase in the Control Room, but according to Chase, Thompson did not take advantage of the opportunity.

Thompson applied for a permanent SPPO position in 1997 and 1998. As part of the application process, PEPCO required applicants to complete a First Line Supervisory Assessment Center (the "Assessment Center"), a test comprising six simulation exercises designed to measure the applicant's abilities in various supervisory areas, including communication, problem-solving, judgment, leadership, and inter-personal relations. The simulation exercises were not, however, based on power plant operations. When Thompson participated in the Assessment Center, he was presented with scenarios out of a retail setting. Applicants participating in the Assessment Center received scores ranging from "Best" to "Needs Improvement," with those applicants scoring higher than "Needs Improvement" proceeding to the interview stage. Both times Thompson participated in the Assessment Center he received an overall score of "Needs Improvement." Consequently, Thompson was not selected for either SPPO position. Five other applicants, who had never held supervisory positions or temporary upgrades, scored in the "Acceptable" or "Good" range and proceeded to the next stage.

In 1998, PEPCO underwent a restructuring that included the reclassification of certain positions. As a result, only five of the eight "A" Operators at Morgantown, selected by seniority, were permitted to continue working primarily in the Control Room and were reclassified as "Control Room Operators." Thompson, who was seventh in seniority, was one of three remaining "A" Operations reclassified as a "Plant Technician" and thereafter worked primarily outside the Control Room. The SPPO position was also reclassified as the "Control Room Supervisor." After the restructuring, Senior Plant Technicians were still permitted to upgrade temporarily to the Control Room Supervisor position. Thompson was again not selected for temporary upgrade; however, two less senior Power Plant Technicians, Ann Shade and Mary Joseph, both African-American, were selected. In June 2000, Thompson was promoted from Plant Technician to "Senior Plant Technician."

According to Thompson, he was not selected for temporary upgrade in retaliation for discrimination complaints he had filed. Thompson first filed an internal complaint of discrimination in December 1996 because he believed that Fluharty had denied him overtime and promotional opportunities because of his race. Thompson also complained after Fluharty called for a disciplinary discussion in June 1997, because Thompson had allegedly raised his voice and pointed his finger at Fluharty in the presence of other employees. Thompson filed another internal discrimination complaint after he was placed on a day of decision-making leave in November 1997 for leaving his watch without authorization. In both instances, Thompson felt that he was treated more harshly than white employees who had committed similar infractions. However, as a result of these disciplinary measures, Thompson lost no pay and maintained the same position. Both incidents were later expunged from his record.

Thompson filed another internal discrimination complaint after receiving his performance evaluation for the period July 1, 1996 to June 30, 1997 (the "1997 evaluation"). For this period, Thompson received a score of one, which corresponded to "Needs Improvement," for the categories "Communicate with Others" and "Work as a Team Member." According to Thompson, his 1997 evaluation marks were lower than those that he had received in the past and were attributable to Fluharty, who oversaw his review and was looking to retaliate for Thompson's complaints. Thompson's overall score for the 1997 evaluation, however, remained "Fully Acceptable" under PEPCO's performance evaluation standards. In the subsequent two evaluation cycles, when Fluharty was no longer in charge of his review, Thompson's scores improved.

Thompson also complained that he had received threats from co-workers subsequent to filing his first internal discrimination complaint. Specifically, in November 1997, Thompson reported that his name, a box, and the letter "D" had been carved into a workbench near his locker. Thompson asserted that the box represented a coffin and the letter "D" stood for death. PEPCO and local authorities investigated the allegation, but found no evidence to substantiate his claim. Later, in the summer of 2000, a co-worker, Steve Dowart, said, "you've got to go, we're going to get rid of you, we're going to try to do everything we can to get you fired." J.A. 67-68. Thompson told his supervisor and an EEO coordinator about the incident, but did not file a complaint or otherwise pursue the matter.

On June 25, 1999, Thompson filed a charge of discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC"). After receiving a right to sue letter from the EEOC, Thompson filed a complaint in the district court. He asserted that PEPCO denied him training opportunities and retaliated against him in violation of Title VII and Section 1981. The court granted summary judgment to PEPCO, finding that there were no factual issues warranting a trial. Thompson then filed this appeal.

II.

This court reviews de novo a district court's award of summary judgment, viewing the facts and inferences drawn therefrom in the light most favorable to the party opposing the motion. See Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 255, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986); Lone Star Steakhouse & Saloon, Inc. v. Alpha of Va., Inc., 43 F.3d 922, 928 (4th Cir.1995). As the non-moving party below, Thompson had the ultimate burden of demonstrating a genuine issue of material fact for trial. See Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322-23, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). Conclusory or speculative allegations do not suffice, nor does a "mere scintilla of evidence" in support of his case. Phillips v. CSX Transp., Inc., 190 F.3d 285, 287 (4th Cir.1999) (per curiam) (internal quotation marks omitted).

A. Denial-of-Training Claim

We address first Thompson's contention that the district court should not have granted PEPCO...