Uzzell v. Johnson
| Decision Date | 20 September 2021 |
| Docket Number | 5:20-CV-167-FL |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of North Carolina |
| Parties | PATRICIA UZZELL, TERESA WHITEHEAD, GENE TAYLOR, and MELISSA HAYMAN, on behalf of themselves and others similarly situated, Plaintiffs, v. MAYOR JEFF JOHNSON, COMMISSIONER JUDY MASON, COMMISSIONER PEGGY LAMM, COMMISSIONER DAVID JOHNSON, and COMMISSIONER MICHAEL BEST, in their individual and official capacities, the TOWN OF LUCAMA, and the CROSSROADS VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT, Defendants. |
Plaintiffs maintain this action on behalf of themselves and others similarly situated.[1] In the operative, amended complaint filed October 8, 2020, plaintiffs assert claims against all defendants for violations of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, together with violations of 42 U.S.C. §§ 1981, 1982, and 1985, and the North Carolina Constitution. They also assert claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 against the Town of Lucama and the Crossroads Volunteer Fire Department (“Fire Department”). Plaintiffs seek compensatory damages, punitive damages attorneys' fees and costs, as well as injunctive relief.
The action comes now before the court upon defendants' motions to dismiss all claims for lack of subject matter jurisdiction and for failure to state a claim, pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1) and (6). Defendants Jeff Johnson, Judy Mason (“Mason”), Peggy Lamm (“Lamm”), Michael Best (“Best”), and the Town of Lucama (collectively “the Lucama Defendants”) are aligned in one motion (DE 72). Defendants David Johnson and the Fire Department each filed their own, separate motion to dismiss (DE 66, 70).
For the following reasons, all claims against defendants Jeff Johnson, Mason, Lamm, and Best are dismissed, together with all claims against defendant Fire Department. While defendant David Johnson and the Town of Lucama are successful in many parts of their respective motions, as set forth below, the case will, however, proceed against defendant David Johnson on plaintiff Gene Taylor's (“Taylor”) claims for failure to promote and on all plaintiffs' claims for hostile work environment under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Plaintiffs' § 1983 claim for racially hostile work environment against the Town of Lucama also will proceed.
The facts alleged in plaintiffs' amended complaint may be summarized as follows. Plaintiff Patricia Uzzell (“Uzzell”) is a member of the Board of Commissioners of the Town of Lucama (“the Board”). Plaintiffs Teresa Whitehead (“Whitehead”), Taylor, and Melissa Hayman (“Hayman”) are employees of defendant Town of Lucama. Defendant Jeff Johnson is the mayor of defendant Town of Lucama, a member of the Board, and the assistant fire chief for defendant Fire Department. He is the son of defendant David Johnson, who is the chief of defendant Fire Department and a member of the Board. Defendant David Johnson is specifically alleged to have “engaged in direct supervisory responsibility over Town employees including those engaged in performing duties in the public works section, including electrical, water and sewer services, and the employees of the fire department.” (Compl. ¶ 53).[2] The remaining individual defendants are all members of the Board. Defendant Town of Lucama is a chartered and incorporated town with 11 full-time employees. Defendant Fire Department is a non-profit corporation that provides emergency services to the Town of Lucama and employs seven part-time firefighter employees.
Plaintiff Uzzell “was the first African-American elected to the [Board], ” in November 2017, at which time defendant Town of Lucama had no black employees. (Id. ¶ 33). Plaintiff Taylor was the first black employee of defendant Town of Lucama and was hired as a public works department employee sometime after plaintiff Uzzell was elected. Plaintiff Whitehead was hired in April 2019 as defendant Town of Lucama's first black town administrator, which required her to supervise all of defendant Town of Lucama's employees and make decisions that were final, except where the Board intervened. Plaintiff Hayman is also a black employee hired sometime after plaintiff Whitehead.
In April 2019, around the time plaintiff Whitehead was hired, it came to plaintiff Uzzell's attention that defendant David Johnson had been using racial epithets and making threatening remarks about the town's black employees. Defendant David Johnson allegedly had been heard multiple times by town employees referring to black town employees as “niggers, ” despite employees complaining about his use of the racial slur. (Id. ¶ 55). Defendant David Johnson is also alleged to have made threatening comments in the presence of town employees stating that “he would blow someone's brains out with a gun because he ‘didn't get people back,' instead he ‘got even.'” (Id. ¶ 69). Finally, on August 26, 2019, when asked to do a fire inspection for a citizen of the town, defendant David Johnson allegedly inquired, “if the citizen for whom they were doing the inspection was Black.” (Id. ¶ 55).
Later in September 2019, plaintiff Taylor, who was responsible for the town's electrical equipment and lines, “learned that another employee who was White but who has less seniority . . . had received a raise, ” despite defendant David Johnson remarking previously that no employees would be receiving a raise. (Id. ¶¶ 71-72). Plaintiff Taylor had been hired after a previous employee who worked as a lineman quit employment. The employee who later received a raise had been instructed to teach plaintiff Taylor how to perform lineman duties, but defendant David Johnson directed the employee not to teach plaintiff Taylor. That employee received his raise because he was able to perform lineman duties.
On October 15, 2019, town employees witnessed more uses of racial epithets by defendant David Johnson. According to the complaint, he described plaintiff Hayman, who had just been hired, “as a ‘monkey nigger, '” plaintiff Whitehead as “a ‘stupid nigger, ” and plaintiff Uzzell “as a ‘nigger.'” (Id. ¶ 75). He allegedly stated to another employee around the same time that “he had to get rid of all the ‘niggers.'” (Id. ¶ 76). According to the complaint, defendant David Johnson referred to other “Black town employees as ‘black little niggers.'” (Id. ¶ 77). He is alleged to have also used the term “lazy nigger” and further commented that “we have to get those niggers out of town hall.” (Id. ¶ 81).
The incidents in October resulted in a flurry of official and unofficial actions. “[T]he increasing tension over [defendant David Johnson's] remarks and use of racist epithets” allegedly caused the town's mayor presumably the predecessor to defendant Jeff Johnson, to resign in October 2019. (Id. ¶ 79). And defendant David Johnson's conduct resulted in the town's attorney having an extended conversation with him directing him “to stop making racist remarks about African Americans.” (Id. ¶ 80). Plaintiff Whitehead raised the issue to the Board at a December 2 2019, meeting. She informed the Board that defendant David Johnson's remarks had “negatively impacted employee morale” and left employees feeling threatened. (Id. ¶ 82). She asked the Board to take action to rectify the situation.
However, plaintiffs allege that the situation was not rectified or addressed and that the situation remained tense. Defendant Mason visited plaintiff Whitehead's office on December 30, 2019, and asked when she would be able to sign checks on behalf of the town. Defendant Mason complained that “it has been long enough, and I am not saying this because of the color of your skin.” (Id. ¶ 84). Similarly, in January 2020, defendant Lamm visited town hall and had a conversation with plaintiff Whitehead during which defendant Lamm allegedly commented that plaintiff Whitehead's name should, instead, be “Blackhead.” (Id. ¶¶ 85-86).
At a January 6, 2020, meeting of the Board, multiple residents called for defendant David Johnson to “step down because of his racist remarks and his threatening behavior.” (Id. ¶ 87). One resident “recounted an incident when [defendant David Johnson] threatened her at the post office.” (Id. ¶ 87). At this meeting, a member of the Board “resigned her position . . . stating that she could not with a clear conscience sit on the Board . . . ‘knowing what they are doing or saying.'” (Id. ¶ 88). The resigning member further stated her belief that “the use of the ‘N-word' had surfaced as an ongoing issue” in 2017 when plaintiff Uzzell was first elected and that “the Board had taken no action to discipline [defendant David Johnson], remove[] him from his Commissioner position, or to reassure either citizens or Town employees that they or their property were not in any danger due to their race.” (Id. ¶ 89).
At a February 3, 2020, meeting of the Board, a citizen raised concerns about the use of racial epithets once again and asked, “how they planned to address the allegations.” (Id. ¶ 90). At this meeting, defendant David Johnson denied ever having used racial epithets. The citizen also recounted an incident during which defendant Fire Department under the supervision of defendants David Johnson and Jeff Johnson “refuse[d] to provide assistance . . . and to touch [a black citizen] even though she was bleeding from her nose and her mouth.” (Id. ¶ 91).
As he had previously, defendant David Johnson, during a subsequent inspection of a different property, allegedly asked a town employee “if the person they were going to see was black or white.” (Compl. ¶ 92). In the same conversation, according to the complaint, defendant David Johnson informed the employee ...
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