Wilborn v. Southern Union State Cmty. Coll.

• Citation: 720 F.Supp.2d 1274
• Decision Date: 30 March 2010
• Docket Number: Civil Action No. 3:08cv928-MHT.
• Parties: Selenia WILBORN, Plaintiff, v. SOUTHERN UNION STATE COMMUNITY COLLEGE; et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Middle District of Alabama

720 F.Supp.2d 1274

Selenia WILBORN, Plaintiff,

v.SOUTHERN UNION STATE COMMUNITY COLLEGE; et al., Defendants.

Civil Action No. 3:08cv928-MHT.

United States District Court, M.D. Alabama,Eastern Division.

March 30, 2010.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED.

Ann Carroll Robertson, Temple Deanna Trueblood, Candis Annette McGowan, Wiggins Childs Quinn & Pantanzis, PC, Birmingham, AL, for Plaintiff.

John Stephen Johnson, Mark Waggoner, Stephen Noble Fitts, III, Hand Arendall, LLC, Birmingham, AL, for Defendants.

OPINION AND ORDER

MYRON H. THOMPSON, District Judge.

Plaintiff Selenia Wilborn filed this lawsuit against defendants Southern Union State Community College, Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs (ADECA), and Alabama Department of Postsecondary Education (ADPE), charging sexual harassment, sex discrimination and retaliation in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, 42 U.S.C. §§ 1981a, 2000e to 2000e-17, and Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, as amended, 20 U.S.C. § 1681(a). Wilborn also names John Lee and Doug Conaway as defendants in their individual capacities, alleging violations of the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution, as enforced by 42 U.S.C. § 1983. She further alleges that various groups of these defendants are liable for state-law torts committed against her. Jurisdiction over Wilborn's federal claims is proper under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331 (federal question), 1343 (civil rights) and 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5 (f)(3) (Title VII). Jurisdiction over her state-law claims is appropriately invoked pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1367 (supplemental).

This lawsuit is before the court on the defendants' motion for summary judgment. For the reasons that follow, that motion will be granted in part and denied in part.

I. SUMMARY-JUDGMENT STANDARD

Summary judgment is appropriate “if the pleadings, the discovery and disclosure materials on file, and any affidavits show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c)(2). In deciding whether summary judgment should be granted, the court must view the evidence in the light most favorable to the non-moving party and draw all reasonable inferences in favor of that party. Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 587, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986).

II. BACKGROUND

A. The Defendants

This lawsuit arises out of Wilborn's experience as the lone female participant in the summer 2007 session of the Central Alabama Skills Training Consortium (CASTC) Tractor-Trailer Truck Driver Program (Truck Program), a vocational program physically located in Selma, Alabama.

Wilborn names two individual defendants: Truck Program instructors Lee and Conaway. Lee, the “lead instructor,” supervised Conaway. The program involved a combination of classroom instruction and driver training with tractor-trailers. The instructors, each an experienced truck driver, shared responsibility for teaching classroom and driving sessions. They also cooperatively and separately administered a series of written and driving tests that participants were required to pass to complete the program. Lee graded all written examinations, but each instructor scored the driving tests he administered. Neither man is currently employed by the Truck Program, which has been discontinued, or by any other defendant in this lawsuit.

Wilborn also names three institutional defendants: Southern Union, ADECA, and ADPE. Wilborn initially named CASTC as a defendant in this lawsuit, but the parties have subsequently stipulated that CASTC “is a subdivision of Southern Union Community College.” J. Stip. and Mot. to Dismiss at 1 (Doc. No. 35). It is thus undisputed that the CASTC Truck Program is operated by Southern Union and that Lee and Conaway are Southern Union employees. It is also undisputed, however, that the Truck Program was not administered on a Southern Union campus.

Unfortunately, the parties have provided only a sketchy, and often confusing, account of ADPE and ADECA's respective relationships with the Truck Program, Lee, and Conaway. Indeed, deposition testimony suggests that even program administrators were confused about these relationships. The evidence before the court, however, supports at least the following conclusions:

CASTC, and two other regional consortiums, were initially approved and created by ADPE to “provide ... a variety of employment and training services to certain populations” in Alabama. Pl.'s Ex. F at 19:19-20 (Doc. No. 43-9). The consortiums provided these services through so-called “Careerlink Centers.” One level of service provided by the centers is directed at helping eligible participants acquire “a new marketable skill in order to become employed.” Id. at 23:6-7. The CASTC Truck Program was this type of service.

Participants in consortium programs, including the Truck Program, were not required to pay for their training. Rather, they received federal grants under the Work Force Investment Act (WIA) through ADECA, a self-described “partner” in the Careerlink Centers. See Pl.'s Ex. G at Dep. Ex. 24 (Doc. No. 43-10). The day-to-day operations of the Truck Program were also completely funded by WIA funds, provided through ADECA to Southern Union. Thus, for example, Lee, Conaway and other program employees received paychecks from Southern Union, but the money was distributed to the college by ADECA.

ADECA also provided guidelines for the operation of the Careerlink Centers and the training programs. Bud Edwards, the Training Coordinator for CASTC, stated that “as a consortia, you're under [ADECA] guidelines all the time.” Pl.'s Ex. B at 20:21-22 (Doc. No. 43-4). ¹ ADECA provided all program application and enrollment forms; dictated the rules and regulations for participant eligibility; and set minimum requirements for program enrollment and post-program employment. Apparently, even the substance of the Truck Program curriculum was, in part, dictated by ADECA guidelines. ²

B. The Truck Program

Wilborn, seeking new employment opportunities, applied for participation in the Truck Program through the Selma Careerlink Center. When she expressed an interest in truck driving, she was referred to Ron Brown, the program's case manager. Brown's job was to recruit participants for the program, determine their eligibility under ADECA guidelines, complete ADECA paperwork, and enroll them in the program. Brown explained that his job was also to “maintain those participants in the program until they complete the program.” Pl.'s Ex. G at 12:8-9. To this end, Brown monitored each participant's progress and helped them to resolve any difficulties they might face.

Although Brown determined whether Wilborn and other applicants were eligible for the program, he did not have the power to select the students who were ultimately enrolled. Rather, he created a list of eligible applicants, who were then interviewed by Lee. Following these interviews, Lee selected six to eight people to participate in the program.

According to orientation materials distributed to Wilborn and other program participants, “The CASTC Tractor-Trailer Truck Program is a six week, highly intensive occupational training program with the end result being employment in the field.” Pl.'s Ex. B at Dep. Ex. 1. Lee testified that this description was apt, “It was a job orientated school.” Pl.'s Ex. C at 49:23-50:1 (Doc. No. 43-6). In fact, Lee was required to place 70 percent of program participants into a job.

In order to achieve this goal, the program did much more than simply train participants to drive trucks. For example, program participants were provided with application materials for various trucking companies. They were also required, over the course of the program, to file five employment applications with five different companies. Lee and Conaway assisted participants with their applications and helped them to fax the completed materials to potential employers. In fact, a fax machine was dedicated to this purpose. In some cases, the instructors would also call local employers to inquire about available positions.

The instructors regularly invited six to twelve trucking company employment recruiters to visit the program. Recruiting visits were scheduled over the duration of the program, with some companies visiting as early as the first week. According to Conaway, the purpose of these visits was “[t]o help the students get employment.” Pl.'s Ex. D at 17:15-16 (Doc. No. 43-7). But the visits also helped trucking companies procure employees. As Lee explained it, “when a recruiter comes in, he ... tells them all the benefits the company has [and] why they should come to work for this company as opposed to another company.” Pl.'s Ex. C at 45:6-10. Indeed, program orientation materials informed participants that “there will be several truck driver company recruiters coming to the class to ‘sell’ you on their respective companies. List[en] to each and make a decision based upon your particular need and goal in finding employment.” Pl.'s Ex. B at Dep. Ex. 1.

Lee testified that participants “were mostly required to fill out an application [prior to a recruiter's visit]. Some of the recruiters would stand there and wait for them to fill out their applications while they were there.” Pl's Ex. C. at 47:5-9. Some of the recruiters would also conduct interviews and conditionally hire participants, pending successful completion of the course.

Lee selected program participants with employment in mind: “If they came in with a bad [Motor Vehicle Record], no work history or [a] criminal record, they were not going to get selected into a job. So I was not doing my job if I actually let them in the class.” Pl.'s ...