Westbrook v. City University of New York
| Decision Date | 19 December 2008 |
| Docket Number | No. 03 CV 5833(NG)(SMG).,03 CV 5833(NG)(SMG). |
| Citation | 591 F.Supp.2d 207 |
| Parties | Caroline N. WESTBROOK, Plaintiff, v. CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK, Matthew Goldstein, Emma Espino Macari, and Lia Gartner, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of New York |
Frederick K. Brewington, Ira F. Fogelgaren, Wendy C. Pelle-Beer, Law Offices of Frederick K. Brewington, Hempstead, NY, for Plaintiff.
Michael R. Klekman, State of New York Office of the Attorney General, New York, NY, for Defendants.
Plaintiff Caroline N. Westbrook, an African-American woman formerly employed by defendant City University of New York ("CUNY") brings this action against CUNY and three of its employees who are individually named: Matthew Goldstein, Emma Espino Macari, and Lia Gartner (the "individual defendants"). Plaintiff alleges discrimination, retaliation, and creation of a hostile work environment on the basis of her race, in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000e et seq. ("Title VII"); 42 U.S.C. §§ 1981 and 1983; and the New York State Human Rights Law, N.Y. Exec. Law §§ 296 et seq. ("NYSHRL"). Defendants move for summary judgment pursuant to Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure on all of plaintiff's claims against them.
Unless otherwise indicated, the following facts are undisputed.
CUNY is a university system comprised of 11 senior colleges, six community colleges, and four graduate and professional schools. See N.Y. Educ. Law § 6203. Within CUNY, the Office of Facilities Planning, Construction, and Management ("OFPCM") supervises the planning, construction, and management of the university's construction projects and rehabilitation of current capital facilities. OFPCM consists of three units: (1) the Department of Space Planning and Capital Budget ("SPCB"), which oversees the long-range planning and programming of CUNY's capital building program and coordinates space management and reporting of facilities utilization on all campuses; (2) the Department of Design, Construction and Management ("DDCM"), which plans and implements CUNY's building programs and coordinates facilities maintenance; and (3) the City University Construction Fund ("CUCF"), a public benefit corporation that provides facilities for the university and supports its educational purposes.
Defendant Matthew Goldstein, a white male, has served as Chancellor of CUNY since September 1, 1999. As Chancellor, Mr. Goldstein is the chief executive, educational, and administrative officer of CUNY as well as the chief educational and administrative officer of the other educational units of CUNY. See Goldstein Exh. A (CUNY Bylaws). Both defendants Emma Espino Macari and Lia Gartner are employees of OFPCM, which, as of November 2005, was comprised of 38 Caucasian employees and 39 employees belonging to various protected classes.1 From September 1993 until her retirement in June 2006, Ms. Macari, an Hispanic female, served as the Vice-Chancellor of OFPCM, working as the senior administrator responsible for all physical plant maintenance and operations, facilities planning, and capital programs for CUNY's various campuses. Ms. Gartner, a white female, served as the Director of DDCM from 1995 to January 2001 and then as the Director of SPCB from approximately September 2002 until February 2004.2
In April 1999, CUNY issued a Personnel Vacancy Notice regarding an open employment position as "Office Manager/Executive Assistant to Director" in the SPCB unit of OFPCM. A search committee consisting of representatives from OFPCM's three units—Ms. Gartner, the then Director of DDCM, Robert Zimring, the former Director of SPCB, and Russell Nobles, the former Deputy Executive Director and General Counsel of CUCF—interviewed a number of highly qualified candidates for the open position. The search was thorough and complied with CUNY's affirmative action guidelines.
On May 18, 1999, plaintiff interviewed with the search committee, and by letter dated May 21, 1999, plaintiff thanked each of its members for meeting with her and stated that "[it] was such a pleasure to meet all of you" and that "[t]he interview was a pleasant experience." Gartner Exh. A. Plaintiff later testified during her deposition that the contents of her letter were untrue as related to her experience with Ms. Gartner because Ms. Gartner was "combative, hostile, and negative" toward her during the interview. Westbrook Dep. at 58-59; Pl.s' Decl. ¶¶ 17-18. Specifically, plaintiff testified that Ms. Gartner spent "a lot" of time criticizing the choice of words used on her resume and commenting that her tone "wouldn't work with the union staff." Westbrook Dep. at 40-46.
At some point subsequent to the committee interview, plaintiff was invited to a second, one-on-one interview with Ms. Macari. Plaintiff testified that, in addition to explaining what was expected of the new hire, Ms. Macari made unsolicited comments about Ms. Gartner, describing her as a "perfectionist" and "making excuses" for Ms. Gartner's behavior and attitude toward plaintiff during the first interview. Westbrook Dep. at 50-52; see also Pl.'s Decl. ¶ 17. Plaintiff characterized these comments as "strange" because she had not brought up Ms. Gartner during their conversation and Ms. Macari did not mention the other two members of the committee. Id.
On June 1, 1999, upon the recommendation of the search committee, Ms. Macari offered the job to plaintiff. According to defendants, the search committee's recommendation was unanimous as to its preference for plaintiff, who, at the time, possessed approximately fifteen years of experience in office management and administration in legal and other service-oriented firms and was also enrolled in a Masters in Public Administration program at one of the CUNY colleges. Although Ms. Macari preferred the other finalist, Glenda Brooks, also an African-American female candidate, she ultimately followed the committee's recommendation as to this position and offered Ms. Brooks a different position as Special Assistant to CUCF. Plaintiff disputes that the committee's recommendation was unanimous and claims that Ms. Gartner did not approve of plaintiff's appointment to the position, given Ms. Gartner's negative attitude toward her during the committee interview as well as Ms. Macari's unsolicited "excuses" for Ms. Gartner. Plaintiff also testified that, between September 2002 and February 2003, she was expressly told by Eileen Hawkins, the former executive assistant to Ms. Macari, that Ms. Gartner had been opposed to her hiring.
Plaintiff subsequently accepted the offer and was hired in the functional title of "Office Manager/Executive Assistant" and in the payroll title of "Higher Education Assistant." As a Higher Education Assistant, plaintiff occupied a non-teaching, administrative position within CUNY's Higher Education Office ("HEO"). Whereas most of the other staff members in the SPCB and the DDCM units of OFPCM were comprised of project managers, architects, planners, and engineers, who were responsible for supervising and developing capital budget requests for multimillion dollar construction projects and renovations of existing facilities, plaintiff's primary responsibilities included serving as an executive assistant to the Director of SPCB, supervising all support staff who did not report to a director of one of the OFPCM units, overseeing administration of personnel issues, and interacting with building management as the sole office manager at 555 West 57th Street in Manhattan (the "57th Street Office"), where plaintiff, the OFPCM offices, and outsider service providers were based.
The conditions of plaintiff's employment as a Higher Education Assistant were governed by the Collective Bargaining Agreement ("CBA") between CUNY and the Professional Staff Congress/CUNY ("PSC"), the union representing CUNY's instructional staff employees. The CBA provides that the HEO series of titles, such as plaintiff's, are subject to a series of annual or biannual reappointments that are offered at the discretion of CUNY. Article 13.3.b of the CBA further provides that, upon the recommendation and approval of the appropriate official and Board of Trustees, an employee may become exempt from the discretionary annual reappointment process if he secures a Certificate of Continual Administrative Service ("CCA"). The CCA is granted to employees who receive a sixth reappointment upon completing eight consecutive years of service and permits termination only under a narrow set of circumstances, such as the receipt of three consecutive unsatisfactory annual evaluations in three successive fiscal years.
Prior to the 2002-2003 fiscal year, the salaries of "tax levy" employees were paid directly out of the CUNY operating budget. However, pursuant to a resolution adopted by CUCF in 2002, CUNY established a "reimbursement" procedure for the payment of these salaries, under which the operating budget would advance the salary amount and then the capital budget would reimburse that amount back into the operating budget. The capital budget, which is financed from the proceeds of bonds sold by the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York ("DASNY"), are funds allocated to CUNY for its capital construction and rehabilitation programs.3 The change was implemented to reflect the fact that these employees were a part of the overall costs for the university's capital construction and rehabilitation programs.
Plaintiff, initially hired for a July 1, 1999 to June 30, 2000 term, was reappointed annually to her position three times. Each reappointment letter, sent by Ms. Macari at the end of the preceding term, stated that "[t]his offer is subject to financial ability" and that "[t]here is no presumption of employment beyond...
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