Veasy v. Teach for Am., Inc.

• Decision Date: 17 April 2012
• Docket Number: Case No. 3:11–cv–01179.
• Citation: 868 F.Supp.2d 688
• Parties: John A. VEASY, Plaintiff, v. TEACH FOR AMERICA, INC., Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Middle District of Tennessee

868 F.Supp.2d 688

John A. VEASY, Plaintiff,

v.TEACH FOR AMERICA, INC., Defendant.

Case No. 3:11–cv–01179.

United States District Court,

M.D. Tennessee,

Nashville Division.

April 17, 2012.

James L. Harris, Robert J. Shockey, Law Office of Robert J. Shockey, Nashville, TN, for Plaintiff.

Martha L. Boyd, Jeffrey L. Allen, Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP, Nashville, TN, for Defendant.

MEMORANDUM

ALETA A. TRAUGER, District Judge.

The defendant has filed a Motion to Dismiss (Docket No. 21), to which the plaintiff filed a Response in opposition (Docket No. 23), and the defendant filed a Reply (Docket No. 26). For the reasons stated herein, the motion will be granted.

BACKGROUND

Plaintiff John A. Veasy is a 64–year old African–American. This lawsuit concerns his unsuccessful application to secure a local teaching position through Teach for America, Inc. (“TFA”). Veasy believes that TFA denied his application because of his race and his age, in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq. (“Title VII”), and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, 29 U.S.C. § 621 et seq. (“ADEA”).

I. Procedural HistoryA. First Motion to Dismiss/Motion for Summary Judgment

Veasy filed his initial Complaint on December 14, 2011. (Docket No. 1.) TFA moved to dismiss the Complaint for failure to state a claim under Fed. R. Civ. 12(b)(6), (Docket No. 6), arguing that (1) the allegations did not facially establish violations of Title VII and the ADEA; and/or (2) regardless of the facial plausibility of the ADEA claim, TFA is not subject to the ADEA. In support of this second argument—but not the first argument—TFA filed and relied upon the Declaration of Bradley Leon, its Senior Vice–President of Regional Operations. (Docket No. 6, Ex. 1.) Veasy filed a Response in opposition to the Motion to Dismiss (Docket No. 9), in which he argued that (1) the Complaint allegations satisfied the Rule 12(b)(6) standard for Title VII and ADEA claims; and (2) TFA constitutes an “employment agency” as defined by the ADEA, 29 U.S.C. § 630(c). In support of this second argument, relating to the ADEA's applicability to TFA, Veasy filed and relied upon a printout excerpt from TFA's website. (Docket No. 9, Ex. 1.)

Because TFA and Veasy had relied on materials outside of the pleadings in their briefing, the court notified the parties that it would treat the Motion to Dismiss as one for summary judgment under Fed.R.Civ.P. 56 and gave them until March 22, 2012 to provide any additional materials for the court's consideration. (Docket No. 14.)

In response to the court's order, Veasy, on March 9, 2012 (13 days before the court-ordered deadline), filed an Affidavit of John A. Veasy (Docket No. 18) and a Motion for Leave to Amend the Complaint (Docket No. 15), which purported to seek the court's leave to file a Proposed Amended Complaint (Docket No. 17). Because the Motion for Leave to Amend was filed within 21 days of service of the Motion to Dismiss, the court treated the amendment as having been made as a matter of right under Rule 15(a)(1) and denied TFA's pending motion as moot. (Docket No. 19.) Pursuant to the court's order, Veasy filed his Amended Complaint on March 13, 2012, 2012 WL 859597. (Docket No. 20. (“Am. Compl.”).) The Amended Complaint contains five paragraphs of additional allegations, chiefly relating to the issue of age discrimination. ( See Am. Compl. ¶¶ 12–16.) ¹

B. Second Motion to Dismiss/Motion for Summary Judgment

TFA has filed a Motion to Dismiss the Amended Complaint. (Docket No. 21.) In support of the motion, TFA has essentially restated the same arguments that it asserted with respect to its first Motion to Dismiss/Motion for Summary Judgment, supported by the exact same materials. TFA again argues that (1) the race and age discrimination allegations do not establish violations of Title VII or the ADEA; and (2) regardless of the facial plausibility of the ADEA claim, TFA is not subject to the ADEA. As before, TFA relies on the Leon Declaration in support of this second argument, but not the first.²In response, Veasy argues, as before, that (1) the Amended Complaint allegations establish facially plausible Title VII and ADEA claims, and (2) with respect to Veasy's application, TFA constituted an “employment agency” subject to the ADEA.³ As before, with respect to the his second argument, Veasy relies on the TFA webpage printout that he previously filed at Docket No. 18.⁴

In briefing the instant motion, both parties have again relied on materials outside the pleadings with respect to the ADEA coverage issue. Accordingly, the court will consider that issue under the Rule 56 standard. Although the court typically provides the parties additional time to submit materials after converting the motion, that procedural step is not necessary here. Veasy previously responded to the Leon Declaration with materials outside the pleadings, both of his own volition ( see Docket No. 9, Ex. 1 (TFA webpage excerpt)) and in response to the court's previous Rule 56 conversion order (Docket No. 18, Veasy Affidavit). With regard to the instant motion, both parties have chosen to rely on the same supporting materials they previously submitted with respect to the original motion, which involved essentially the same legal and factual issues. In particular, not only has Veasy not objected to TFA's reliance upon materials outside the pleadings in support of the instant motion, he himself also relies (again) on materials outside the pleadings. Therefore, there is no reason to delay consideration of the parties' renewed arguments concerning disposition of this case any further.

Under these circumstances, the court will analyze the facial plausibility of the Amended Complaint under the Rule 12(b)(6) standard and will separately analyze the ADEA coverage issue under the Rule 56 summary judgment standard.

II. Amended Complaint Allegations

Veasy is a 64–year old African–American man with superlative academic and employment credentials, including multiple Associate's degrees, a Bachelor's Degree, and a Master of Science. Veasy worked for the United States Air Force for 20 years and, following that, for 17 years as the Vice President of the Human Resource Department for a private company.

Following retirement, Veasy sought to give back to the community. In October 2008, Veasy learned that the Mayor of Nashville had committed to fund 50 positions in Nashville's highest risk schools, positions that would be filled through TFA. Veasy applied to TFA for one of these positions in November 2008.

To qualify for a teaching position through TFA,⁵ an applicant must meet certain minimum eligibility criteria, including having earned a bachelor's degree from an accredited institution and having achieved an undergraduate GPA of at least 2.50 on a 4.00 scale. Veasy earned a 3.53 GPA from his undergraduate institution, from which he graduated in 1982.

It appears that TFA's typical applicants are recent college graduates. Nevertheless, following his retirement, Veasy applied for a TFA position to give back to the Nashville community and in the hope that the position “would allow him to tone [sic] his teaching skills and may lead to a permanent position as a teacher or guidance counselor.” (Am. Compl. ¶ 15.) ⁶ Furthermore, Veasy saw on TFA's website that it was seeking to recruit members of any background, especially minority candidates. Veasy also alleges that TFA's website stated that “[a]lmost one-third of incoming corps members are people of color, 350 are African–Americans, and 105 are individuals who completed their undergraduate education ten years ago or longer.” ( Id. ¶ 16.)

TFA utilizes a multi-step process for screening applicants. Veasy completed these steps and was ultimately selected for a final interview. He alleges that, at an unspecified point in this process, he “was asked if he was in the wrong place because ‘they have never had an older person here.’ ” ( Id. ¶ 12.) From the Amended Complaint, it is not clear who made this statement, at what point in the interview process the speaker made the statement, where it was made, whether that speaker was a TFA employee or representative, and/or whether the speaker was an interviewer ( i.e., whether the individual may have influenced the disposition of Veasy's application).⁷

Veasy also alleges that, “[d]uring this process[,] the only other applicants were ranging in age from 19 to 21 years,” (Am. Compl. ¶ 8), although the basis for this statement is dubious.⁸ At an unspecified point in the interview process, Veasy asked his interviewers if there was an age restriction for applicants. The interviewers allegedly laughed and said that there was not an age restriction. According to Veasy, “they appeared to be surprised that someone like the plaintiff would apply.” ( Id. ¶ 8.)

At an unspecified point, Veasy appeared for a final interview at an unspecified “final interview site.” Veasy was the first to arrive at this site, at which TFA had apparently scheduled final interviews with multiple candidates. When Veasy entered “the room,” “a female (approximately 23 years old), asked plaintiff if he was in the right room,” told him “that the room was for TFA interviews” and that “[w]e've never had an older person here before.” ( Id. at ¶ 12.) The Amended Complaint does not allege that this individual was a TFA representative and, if so, whether that individual appeared to have any influence on the disposition of Veasy's application.

The Amended Complaint also states that “plaintiff was told that ‘TFA’ was for only young people mostly seniors planning to graduate in the spring.” ( Id. (lack of end quotation marks in original).) The Amended Complaint also states that Veasy “was told that TGA [sic] was not developed for people like him.” ( Id.) Again, the allegations do not identify who made these statements, when they were made, and in what capacity they were made.

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