U.S. v. Matagorda County, Texas

• Decision Date: 10 January 2002
• Docket Number: No. Civ.A.G-01-010.,Civ.A.G-01-010.
• Citation: 181 F.Supp.2d 673
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff, v. MATAGORDA COUNTY, TEXAS and James Mitchell, in his official capacity as Matagorda County Sheriff, Defendants. Christopher Jordan, Intervenor.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of Texas

181 F.Supp.2d 673

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff, v. MATAGORDA COUNTY, TEXAS and James Mitchell, in his official capacity as Matagorda County Sheriff, Defendants Christopher Jordan, Intervenor.

No. Civ.A.G-01-010.

United States District Court, S.D. Texas, Galveston Division.

January 10, 2002.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

William B. Fenton, Assistant U.S. Attorney, U.S. Dept. of Justice, Washington, DC, Mervyn Milton Mosbacker, Jr., Office of U.S. Attorney, Houston, TX, Allen W. Levy, Alicia Dyoni Johnson, U.S. Dept. of Justice, Employee Litigation Sec./Civil Rights Division, Washington, DC, for United States.

Lionel Mills, Everett McClain, Houston, TX, for Christopher Jordan.

William Scott Helfand, Magenheim Bateman, et al., Houston, TX, for Defendants.

ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART DEFENDANTS' MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

KENT, District Judge.

Plaintiff United States of America and Plaintiff-Intervenor Christopher Jordan (collectively, "Plaintiffs") bring this Title VII lawsuit against Defendants Matagorda County, Texas ("Matagorda County") and James Mitchell ("Mitchell"), in his official capacity as the Matagorda County Sheriff. Now before the Court is Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment, filed December 14, 2001. For the reasons articulated below, Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment is hereby GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART.

I.

Christopher Jordan ("Jordan"), an African-American, began working as a sheriff's deputy-jailer for the Matagorda County Sheriff's Department ("the Department") on October 7, 1995.¹ In June 1996, Jordan's direct supervisor, Sgt. Wayne O'Brien ("O'Brien") was having trouble understanding several African-American inmates and said aloud, in front of Jordan, "I don't understand nigger lip." Upset by O'Brien's comment, Jordan complained to O'Brien's direct supervisor, Capt. Robert Dearing and consequently, Capt. Dearing orally reprimanded O'Brien. Although O'Brien stopped making such comments in the presence of Jordan, Gwen Galloway, one of Jordan's co-workers at the jail avers that she "often heard Sgt. O'Brien call Mr. Jordan, behind Mr. Jordan's back so that Mr. Jordan could not hear, things such as `lazy nigger' and `stupid nigger.'" In October 1996, Jordan requested and was granted a transfer to another shift, where he was no longer supervised by O'Brien.

Although O'Brien did not supervise Jordan directly over the course of the next two years, the two men encountered each other frequently due to the small size of the Department. During this time, O'Brien routinely berated Jordan and publicly stated that Jordan was "not smart enough" to work at the Department.² Troi Johnson, who worked in the jail with Jordan, avers that "Sgt. O'Brien's antipathy toward Mr. Jordan was so intense that it became almost a dark joke between jail employees" and that O'Brien routinely called Jordan, but not anyone else in the Department, a "picket bitch." In February 1999, O'Brien was promoted to Captain. As part of his new duties, Capt. O'Brien once again supervised Jordan. In the five weeks following O'Brien's promotion, Jordan was reprimanded on two occasions, one of which included a three-day suspension.³

In March 1999, Jordan filed a charge with the EEOC complaining of racism in the Department. On March 29, 1999, the EEOC sent a letter to Mitchell, notifying him of Jordan's charges. During the following two weeks, Jordan was reprimanded on two occasions and docked one day of holiday leave. Also within the two weeks after Jordan's filing of the EEOC charge, two inmates (Pete Martinez and John Silva) claimed that Jordan had illegally provided them with alcohol. After an internal investigation, which included undercover tape recording and the collection of physical evidence, Mitchell fired Jordan on April 21, 1999.⁴ Jordan subsequently amended his EEOC complaint to add a claim of retaliation. Soon after, the Department referred the charges against Jordan to the local District Attorney's office for prosecution. A grand jury issued an indictment against Jordan and Jordan remains under criminal indictment today.

Four weeks later, John Silva also accused a white Department deputy, Glen Davis, of illegally providing him with alcohol and marijuana. The Department's subsequent investigation of Davis differed from the Jordan investigation in several ways: (1) Davis was promptly informed that he was under investigation, but Jordan was not; (2) Davis was polygraphed (and scheduled for a follow-up polygraph after the polygraph examiner concluded that he was not telling the truth), while Jordan was never polygraphed at all; and (3) the Department made an undercover audiotape of Davis after telling Davis that he was under investigation, but made an undercover video of Jordan before telling Jordan of the charges against him. Davis was not fired as a result of the investigation into his conduct and the charges against Davis were not referred for prosecution to the District Attorney. The investigation into Davis was closed in June 2000.

In January 2001, two EEOC investigators visited Mitchell and questioned him about the allegations that had been made against Davis. Mitchell subsequently ordered Davis to take the second polygraph. Shortly before his follow-up polygraph was to begin, Davis quit. The Department filed a form with the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Standards and Education indicating that Davis had resigned. The form made no mention that Davis had resigned while under suspicion of illegal conduct. The same form that was filed regarding Jordan indicated that Jordan had been terminated for illegal conduct, including the acceptance of bribes.

Based upon this factual scenario, the United States of America ("United States") filed this lawsuit alleging two independent violations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e, et seq .. First, the United States alleges that Defendants discriminated against Jordan by subjecting him to disparate discipline. Secondly, the United States alleges that Defendants violated Title VII by retaliating against Jordan because he complained to Department officials about what he perceived to be discrimination and because he complained about similar problems to the EEOC. Jordan subsequently intervened, adding claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, 42 U.S.C. § 1981 and the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Street Act of 1978.

II.

Summary judgment is appropriate if no genuine issue of material fact exists and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c); see also Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 2552-53, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). When one party moves for summary judgment, the nonmoving party must set forth specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial. See Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 250, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 2510, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). Issues of material fact are "genuine" only if they require resolution by a trier of fact. See id. at 248, 106 S.Ct. at 2510. The mere existence of some alleged factual dispute between the parties will not defeat an otherwise properly supported motion for summary judgment. Only disputes over facts that might affect the outcome of the lawsuit under governing law will preclude the entry of summary judgment. See id. at 247-48, 106 S.Ct. at 2510. Nevertheless, if the evidence is such that a reasonable fact-finder could find in favor of the nonmoving party, summary judgment should not be granted. See id.; see also Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co., Ltd. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 587, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 1356, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986); Dixon v. State Farm Fire & Cas. Co., 799 F.Supp. 691 (S.D.Tex. 1992) (noting that summary judgment is inappropriate if the evidence could lead to different factual findings and conclusions). Determining credibility, weighing evidence, and drawing reasonable inferences are left to the trier of fact. See Anderson, 477 U.S. at 255, 106 S.Ct. at 2513.

III.

Title VII allows employees to sue their employers for discriminatory employment decisions. See 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000e-2(a), 2000e-5. Title VII defines "employer" as a "person in industry affecting commerce who has fifteen or more employees ...." 42 U.S.C. § 2000e(b). A person "includes one or more individuals, governments, governmental agencies, [or] political subdivisions ...." 42 U.S.C. § 2000e(a). While the Parties agree that Mitchell, in his official capacity, is a Title VII "employer" for purposes of this lawsuit, there is obvious disagreement as to whether Matagorda County qualifies as a Title VII "employer" as well. Thus, before proceeding with an analysis of the United States and Jordan's Title VII claim, the Court must first determine whether Matagorda County is an eligible Title VII employer.

In Oden v. Oktibbeha County, Mississippi, 246 F.3d 458 (5th Cir.2001), the Fifth Circuit addressed the precise issue presented here — whether a county was a deputy's "employer" for Title VII purposes. First, the Fifth Circuit explained that "federal law controls whether a person is an employer under Title VII, but courts can look to state law to understand the nature of the employment relationship." Id. at 465 (citing Calderon v. Martin County, 639 F.2d 271, 273 (5th Cir. 1981)). Subsequently, the Fifth Circuit examined the relevant state law and found that "Mississippi law allow[ed] a sheriff to appoint, remove, and fix the compensation of his deputies" and that "[t]he county's only responsibility was to approve the Sheriff's budget and allocate the necessary funds." 246 F.3d at 465. Therefore, because the Sheriff "was the elected official who made all decisions concerning promotions within the Sheriff's department, [the Sheriff] was Deputy Oden's employer for purposes of Title VII." Id.

In its Motion for Summary Judgment, Defendants argue that Oden controls in the present case because "Texas law, which allows a Sheriff...