Williams v. Galveston Independent School Dist.

• Decision Date: 24 March 2003
• Docket Number: No. CIV.A. G-02-236.,CIV.A. G-02-236.
• Parties: Patricia WILLIAMS, Plaintiff, v. GALVESTON INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of Texas

256 F.Supp.2d 668

Patricia WILLIAMS, Plaintiff, v. GALVESTON INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT, Defendant.

No. CIV.A. G-02-236.

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

March 24, 2003.

Anthony P Griffin, Attorney at Law, Galveston, TX, for Patricia Williams, plaintiff.

Carla Jean Cotropia, Mills Shirley LLP, Houston, TX, for Galveston Independent School District, defendant.

ORDER GRANTING GALVESTON IDEPENDENT SCHOOL DITRICT'S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

KENT, District Judge.

Plaintiffs Patricia Williams ("Williams") and Terri Watkins (Watkins) (collectively as "Plaintiffs") bring this action against their employer Galveston Independent School District ("GISD"). Plaintiffs, who are African-American, allege that GISD is unlawfully discriminating against them because GISD pays two white coworkers higher salaries, despite that Plaintiffs and their white colleagues allegedly have similar jobs with substantially similar responsibilities. Plaintiffs seek damages for GISD's alleged discriminatory conduct under 42 U.S.C. § 1981. Now before the Court is Galveston Independent School District's Motion for Summary Judgment, and Plaintiffs' timely response thereto. After careful thought and considerable deliberation, the Court concludes that GISD's Motion must be GRANTED for the reasons articulated below.

I. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

The following are the undisputed facts of this case. Williams and Watkins are both GISD employees. Williams has been employed by GISD for over thirty-one years and is currently the Executive Director of Employee and Community Relations. Watkins began her employment with GISD in 1990. In 2001, Watkins was promoted to her current position, Executive Director of Human Resources. Within GISD, there are sixty-two administrators, excluding the Superintendent, whose positions are included in GISD's "Exempt and Administrative Pay Schedule." GISD's Exempt and Administrative Pay Schedule has various pay grades that regulate minimum and maximum daily ranges of pay for administrators in each grade. Within GISD, there are eight pay grades; pay grade eight represents the highest range of salaries while pay grade one represents the lowest. There are only four administrative positions in pay grade eight: (1) Executive Director of Employee and Community Relations Williams (black female); (2) Executive Director of Human Resources Watkins (black female); (3) Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction E.J. Garcia ("Garcia") (white female); and (4) GISD Chief Financial Officer Paul McLarty ("McLarty") (white male).¹ Garcia and Williams entered pay grade eight in the 1995-1996 school year, while Watkins and McLarty entered pay grade eight in the 1999-2000 school year. Currently, pay grade eight has a minimum daily rate of $292.44 and a maximum daily rate of $387.66. Over the past three years, the four administrators in pay grade eight were paid as follows:

                Garcia Williams McLarty Watkins
                            99-00      $72,630     $72,630   $73,000    $   -
                            00-01      $83,440     $75,129   $82,686    $71,648
                            01-02      $94,249     $77,630   $92,499    $76,673
                

After Williams learned of the widening gap between her salary and her white counterparts, she complained to then Superintendent Henry Boening. After several discussions with Boening about the disparity in compensation, Williams filed a grievance, which was later denied by Boening. Williams then brought her grievance to the School Board, which denied it on March 28, 2002. Following the School Board's denial, Williams filed this lawsuit on April 5, 2002. Subsequently, Watkins joined this lawsuit on August 14, 2002.

II. SUMMARY JUDGMENT STANDARD

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; rather, 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. 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 & Cos. 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. ANALYSIS

Plaintiffs allege race discrimination under 42 U.S.C. § 1981 primarily because GISD's two white pay grade eight employees have received substantially larger raises over the last three years than GISD's two black pay grade eight employees. Additionally, it appears from Plaintiffs' First Amended Complaint that Watkins alleges GISD wrongfully retaliated against and harassed her after Williams filed this lawsuit. GISD moves for summary judgment on both claims arguing that Plaintiffs cannot establish a prima facie case on either claim. Alternatively, GISD contends that even if Plaintiffs make out a prima facie case, Plaintiffs cannot meet their ultimate burden to prove that GISD's legitimate, nondiscriminatory reasons for the discrepancy in salaries is mere pretext for unlawful racial discrimination, as required under McDonnell Douglas.

A. McDonnell Douglas Burden-Shifting Analytical Framework

"The Court's inquiry into intentional race discrimination is essentially the same for individual actions brought under [sections] 1981 and 1983, Title VI and Title VII." Baldwin v. Univ. of Texas, 945 F.Supp. 1022, 1031 (S.D.Tex.1996). To determine whether intentional discrimination exists, the Fifth Circuit applies the burden-shifting analytical framework established in McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 93 S.Ct. 1817, 36 L.Ed.2d 668 (1973). See, e.g., Long v. Eastfield Coll., 88 F.3d 300, 304 (5th Cir. 1996) (applying the McDonnell Douglas framework to unlawful retaliation cases); Johnson v. Chapel Hill Indep. Sch. Dist., 853 F.2d 375, 381 (5th Cir.1988) (applying the McDonnell Douglas analysis to a differential treatment case). Under the McDonnell Douglas framework, the Court employs a three-part test designed to ascertain a defendant's motivation in taking the challenged action. See McDonnell Douglas, 411 U.S. at 803-04, 93 S.Ct. at 1824-25; Quintanilla v. K-Bin, Inc., 8 F.Supp.2d 928, 933 (S.D.Tex.1998). First, a plaintiff must establish a prima facie case by proving the elements of a discrimination claim. See Russell v. McKinney Hosp. Venture, 235 F.3d 219, 222 (5th Cir. 2000). If the plaintiff proves his prima facie case, a presumption of discrimination arises. See Bodenheimer v. PPG Indus., Inc., 5 F.3d 955, 957 (5th Cir.1993). The burden of production then shifts to the defendant to rebut this presumption by articulating a legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for the alleged discriminatory conduct. See Russell 235 F.3d at 222; Olitsky v. Spencer Gifts, Inc., 964 F.2d 1471, 1478 n. 19 (5th Cir.1992). A defendant meets this burden by proffering admissible evidence of an explanation that would be legally sufficient to justify a judgment for the defendant. See Guthrie v. Tifco Indus., 941 F.2d 374, 376 (5th Cir.1991). This does not require the defendant to persuade the trier of fact that there was no intentional discrimination; rather, the defendant needs only to produce evidence on that point. See St. Mary's Honor Ctr. v. Hicks, 509 U.S. 502, 507-08, 113 S.Ct. 2742, 2747-48, 125 L.Ed.2d 407 (1993).

The presumption of discrimination established by a plaintiffs prima facie case dissolves if the defendant successfully articulates a legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for its conduct. See Texas Dept. of Cmty. Affairs v. Burdine, 450 U.S. 248, 255, 101 S.Ct. 1089, 1095 n. 10, 67 L.Ed.2d 207 n.10 (1981). In order to carry plaintiffs ultimate burden at this point, a plaintiff must then produce evidence that the defendant's proffered reason is mere pretext for unlawful discrimination. See Porter v. Exxon Mobil Corp., 246 F.Supp.2d 615, 619 (S.D.Tex.2003). A plaintiff need not always provide additional evidence of discrimination beyond its prima facie case because "a plaintiffs prima facie case, combined with sufficient evidence to find that the employer's asserted justification is false, may permit the trier of fact to conclude that the employer unlawfully discriminated." Reeves v. Sanderson Plumbing Prod., Inc., 530 U.S. 133, 148, 120 S.Ct. 2097, 2109, 147 L.Ed.2d 105 (2000).

B. Plaintiffs Fail to Present a Prima Facie Case of Discriminatory Compensation

To state a prima facie case of compensation discrimination under 42 U.S.C. § 1981, Plaintiffs must show that (1) they are members of a protected class, and (2) they were paid less than members outside of the protected class despite having substantially similar responsibilities. See Uviedo v. Steves Sash & Door Co., 738 F.2d 1425, 1431 (5th Cir.1984). GISD concedes that Plaintiffs are members of a protected class (African-American). Instead, GISD vigorously argues that Plaintiffs cannot produce a genuine issue of material fact indicating...