Williams v. Staples, Inc.

• Decision Date: 23 June 2004
• Docket Number: No. 03-1550.,03-1550.
• Citation: 372 F.3d 662
• Parties: Jesse J. WILLIAMS, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. STAPLES, INCORPORATED, d/b/a The Office Superstore Staples, Incorporated, Defendant-Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fourth Circuit

372 F.3d 662

Jesse J. WILLIAMS, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. STAPLES, INCORPORATED, d/b/a The Office Superstore Staples, Incorporated, Defendant-Appellee.

No. 03-1550.

United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit.

Argued: December 5, 2003.

Decided: June 23, 2004.

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ARGUED: Reed Neill Colfax, Washington Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights & Urban Affairs, Washington, D.C., for Appellant. Jessica Regan Hughes, Seyfarth Shaw, Washington, D.C., for Appellee. ON BRIEF: Eliza T. Platts-Mills, Washington Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights & Urban Affairs, Washington, D.C.; Stephen F. Hanlon, Jennifer M. Mason, Holland & Knight, L.L.P., Washington, D.C., for Appellant. Abbey G. Hairston, Seyfarth Shaw, Washington, D.C., for Appellee.

Before WIDENER, MICHAEL, and SHEDD, Circuit Judges.

Reversed and remanded by published opinion. Judge SHEDD wrote the majority opinion, in which Judge MICHAEL joined. Judge WIDENER wrote a concurring opinion.

OPINION

SHEDD, Circuit Judge:

In his civil rights complaint, Jesse Williams, an African-American, claims that Staples, Inc. discriminated against him on account of his race when it refused to accept his personal check to make a purchase. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of Staples. Williams appeals. We reverse the judgment of the district court and remand.

I.

On the afternoon of June 26, 2001, Williams attempted to purchase a printer cartridge at the Staples office supply and photocopying store in Winchester, Virginia.¹ After finding the cartridge, Williams presented his personal check, which included his pre-printed Maryland address, to a female sales clerk. At the time, Staples had a nationwide policy of accepting all checks (as long as they met certain criteria not material to this case). Clerks were supposed to insert all checks into a device on the cash register, which would electronically verify the checks through a neutral, third-party check guarantee system. Contrary to Staples' policy, the clerk informed Williams that Staples "did not accept out-of-state checks." J.A. 141. Williams offered to show the clerk his Maryland drivers license and his identification card from the nearby university he was attending, but the clerk repeated that Staples could not accept out-of-state checks. Williams left the store without making the purchase.

About three weeks after this incident, Williams had breakfast with several of his university classmates. One of the classmates complained that the Winchester Staples had mishandled his photocopying order. Williams added that he also was dissatisfied with Staples because it refused his out-of-state check. Another classmate, Heather Hutchinson, who is white, replied that she had recently used her out-of-state check — also from Maryland — at Staples. She later showed Williams the receipt from her transaction. It was dated June 26, 2001, the same day Staples refused to take Williams's out-of-state check.

Williams promptly telephoned Staples and spoke with a manager. Williams explained how he was treated differently than Hutchinson. The manager informed Williams that the decision to accept a particular check is a "judgment call" decided on a "case-by-case basis." J.A. 155.

Believing that he had been discriminated against because of his race, Williams reported the incident to a civil rights advocacy agency. This agency sent two male "testers," one African-American and the other white, to the Winchester Staples to make purchases to see how they would be treated.

The first tester, Herman Hill, is African-American. He presented his personal out-of-state check — also from Maryland — to Mary Cook, an African-American sales clerk.² She looked at the check and said that Staples could not accept an out-of-state check. Hill asked if she was certain about the policy. Cook insisted that Staples did not accept out-of-state checks. Hill then offered to pay with his Visa debit card, which Cook accepted, and the transaction was completed.

The second tester, Daniel Sullivan, is white. He entered the store shortly after Hill finished his transaction. He presented his personal out-of-state check — also from Maryland — to Cook, the same clerk who handled Hill's transaction. Cook told Sullivan that Staples did not "usually" accept out-of-state checks. J.A. 120. Cook asked Sullivan if he had a credit card, and Cook replied that he did not. Cook then called the manager, who examined the check and told Cook to accept Sullivan's check for processing. The clerk processed the check through the cash register, but it was declined by the automated check verifying system. Sullivan paid for his purchase with cash.

Williams deposed several of the female employees who worked the day of his alleged attempted transaction.³ Williams has not been able to identify the female clerk who refused his check. None of the employees who were deposed remembers waiting on Williams. All of these employees except one testified that Staples' policy required them to accept all checks — including out-of-state checks — for processing through the check verifying system. The sole exception was Debbie Johnson, who testified she was told in training that Staples did not accept out-of-state checks and that sales clerks were required to summon a store manager whenever an out-of-state check was presented. As for Cook, the clerk who waited on the two testers, she testified that she knew that Staples' policy was to accept all checks for processing. Although she did not remember waiting on the two testers, she denied she would have told any customer that Staples could not accept an out-of-state check.

II.

Williams filed this 42 U.S.C. § 1981 action, alleging that Staples deprived him of his right to make and enforce contracts based on his race. Staples moved for summary judgment, and the district court granted the motion. The court ruled that Williams failed to establish a prima facie case because he had not offered evidence that Staples applied a different check-cashing policy to African-American customers than it applied to white customers. The district court decided that the evidence showed, at best, that the employees of Staples refused to accept the checks of Williams and the testers because the employees "did not have a clear understanding of Staples' check cashing policy." J.A. 191.⁴ The court also concluded that Williams's allegation that Staples refused his check because of his race was simply speculative.

III.

We review the grant of summary judgment de novo. JKC Holding Co. v. Washington Sports Ventures, Inc., 264 F.3d 459, 465 (4th Cir.2001). Summary judgment is appropriate when the admissible evidence demonstrates that no genuine issue of material fact exists and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed. R. Civ. Proc. 56(c). In reviewing the evidence, the court must draw all reasonable inferences in favor of the nonmoving party and may not make credibility determinations or weigh the evidence. Thompson v. Aluminum Co. of Am., 276 F.3d 651, 656 (4th Cir.2002).

IV.

Section 1981 grants all persons within the jurisdiction of the United States "the same right ... to make and enforce contracts ... as is enjoyed by white citizens." 42 U.S.C. § 1981(a). Because Williams has not presented any direct evidence of intentional discrimination by Staples, he must proffer sufficient circumstantial evidence to satisfy the familiar McDonnell Douglas analytical framework. See Murrell v. The Ocean Mecca Motel, Inc., 262 F.3d 253, 257 (4th Cir.2001). Under this framework, the plaintiff must first establish a prima facie case of discrimination, the defendant may respond by producing evidence that it acted with a legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason, and then the plaintiff may adduce evidence showing that the defendant's proffered reason was mere pretext and that race was the real reason for the defendant's less favorable treatment of the plaintiff. Hawkins v. PepsiCo, Inc., 203 F.3d 274, 278 (4th Cir.2000). Although the respective evidentiary burdens shift back and forth under the framework, "the ultimate burden of persuading the trier of fact that the defendant intentionally discriminated against the plaintiff remains at all times with the plaintiff." Texas Dept. of Cmty. Affairs v. Burdine, 450 U.S. 248, 253, 101 S.Ct. 1089, 67 L.Ed.2d 207 (1981).

To establish a prima facie case of discrimination in a § 1981 cause of action relating to the purchase of goods or services, Williams must establish that: (1) he is a member of a protected class; (2) he sought to enter into a contractual relationship with the defendant; (3) he met the defendant's ordinary requirements to pay for and to receive goods or services ordinarily provided by the defendant to other similarly situated customers; and (4) he was denied the opportunity to contract for goods or services that was otherwise afforded to white customers. See Murrell, 262 F.3d at 257 (establishing elements of a § 1981 cause of action in a hotel accommodations case).⁵

We conclude that Williams has adduced sufficient evidence to establish a prima facie case. First, Williams, as an African-American, is a member of a protected class. Second, Williams sought to enter into a contractual relationship with Staples when he attempted to purchase the printer cartridge. Third, Williams met the ordinary requirements to pay for and receive the printer cartridge by offering payment by out-of-state check because, at the time of the attempted transaction, Staples alleges that it maintained a policy of accepting all checks from all customers for processing through its neutral check verification system. Fourth, Williams was denied the opportunity to enter into a contract with Staples even though Staples afforded such an opportunity to a white customer. It is undisputed for purposes of this motion that Staples accepted the out-of-state check of Williams's white classmate on the...