Zeigler v. Ala. Dep't of Human Res.

• Decision Date: 29 April 2010
• Docket Number: Case No. 2:09cv284-WHA
• Citation: 710 F.Supp.2d 1229
• Parties: Elbert ZEIGLER, Plaintiff, v. ALABAMA DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN RESOURCES, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Middle District of Alabama

710 F.Supp.2d 1229

Elbert ZEIGLER, Plaintiff,

v.ALABAMA DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN RESOURCES, et al., Defendants.

Case No. 2:09cv284-WHA.

United States District Court,

M.D. Alabama,

Northern Division.

April 29, 2010.

Jimmy Douglas Jacobs, Jimmy Jacobs, LLC, Montgomery, AL, for Plaintiff.

Joel Christopher Marsh, Alabama Department of Human Resources, Montgomery, AL, for Defendants.

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

W. HAROLD ALBRITTON, Senior District Judge.

I. INTRODUCTION

This case is before the court on a Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. # 23) filed by Defendants the Alabama Department of Human Resources ("ADHR"), Lester Thomas ("Thomas"), and Paul McLendon ("McClendon") (collectively "Defendants") on October 30, 2009.

Plaintiff Elbert Zeigler ("Zeigler") filed the Complaint in this case on April 3, 2009. In his Complaint, Zeigler brings claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1981, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq., as amended by the Civil Rights Act of 1991, and 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The Defendants have moved this court, pursuant to Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, to enter summary judgment in their favor as to all of Zeigler's claims against them. Zeigler has filed a brief and evidence in response to that Motion (Doc. # 26), to which the Defendants' have replied with evidence (Doc. # 27).¹

For the reasons to be discussed, the Motion for Summary Judgment is due to be GRANTED in part and DENIED in part.

II. SUMMARY JUDGMENT STANDARD

Under Rule 56(c) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, summary judgment is proper "if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law." Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986).

The party asking for summary judgment "always bears the initial responsibility of informing the district court of the basis for its motion, and identifying those portions of the 'pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any,' which it believes demonstrate the absence of a genuine issue of material fact." Id. at 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548. The movant can meet this burden by presenting evidence showing there is no dispute of material fact, or by showing, or pointing out to, the district court that the nonmoving party has failed to present evidence in support of some element of its case on which it bears the ultimate burden of proof. Id. at 322-324, 106 S.Ct. 2548.

Once the moving party has met its burden, Rule 56(e) "requires the nonmoving party to go beyond the pleadings and by [its] own affidavits, or by the 'depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file,' designate 'specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial.' " Id. at 324, 106 S.Ct. 2548. To avoid summary judgment, the nonmoving party"must do more than show that there is some metaphysical doubt as to the material facts." Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 586, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986). On the other hand, the evidence of the nonmovant must be believed and all justifiable inferences must be drawn in its favor. See Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, 477 U.S. 242, 255, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986).

After the nonmoving party has responded to the motion for summary judgment, the court must grant summary judgment if there is no genuine issue of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c).

III. FACTS

The submissions of the parties establish the following facts, viewed in a light most favorable to the non-movant:

Elbert Zeigler, a black male, began working for ADHR in January of 2006 as a laborer in the warehouse. Within the first several months of his employment, Zeigler asked his supervisors, McClendon and Thomas, about opportunities for promotion to a more advanced position with ADHR. McClendon and Thomas informed Zeigler that no opportunities for advancement existed in the ADHR warehouse, and he would have to transfer in order to advance in his employment.

In November of 2006, ADHR filled a vacancy in its warehouse with a white male, Joey Riley, in a classification and at a pay level that would have been a promotion for Zeigler. Thomas and McClendon did not post any announcement of the vacancy or otherwise allow Zeigler or any other interested person to know that it was available. Thomas made the decision to hire Riley and the ADHR commissioner approved that decision. After his hire, Riley informed Zeigler that he was earning more money and was in a higher-level job classification than he was, even though Zeigler trained Riley in his job at ADHR and performed the same daily job duties.

After learning this information from Riley, Zeigler complained to McClendon and Thomas that he should have been given the opportunity to be promoted to the position Riley filled, and that Zeigler believed he was being discriminated against because of his race. Thomas and McClendon told Zeigler to take his problem to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") or the ADHR's Office of Civil Rights / Equal Employment ("CR/EE"), which is the department's internal equal employment office. Thomas added that he had "been through this before, and that's why the state keeps attorneys on standby." Zeigler notified the CR/EE office in August of 2007 that he believed he had been discriminated against on account of his race because he was not given an opportunity to move into the vacancy that Riley filled. On February 6, 2008, the CR/EE office found that ADHR discriminated against Zeigler on the basis of his race when it denied him promotional opportunities, and directed that he should be promoted as soon as possible.

Roughly two weeks later, on February 21, 2008, Zeigler, after completing his assigned work, was watching a DVD at his desk in the warehouse when Thomas, along with two white investigators assigned to assist with ADHR complaints, swiftly approached Zeigler's cubicle and shouted "What are you doing?" Startled by the comment, Zeigler responded that he was watching a DVD on his break just like he had done many times before. Zeigler claims that McClendon granted him permission to bring his own personal DVD player to the warehouse so that he could watch movies during his breaks. After confronting Zeigler about the movie watching, Thomas directed Zeigler to come tohis office immediately. When Zeigler questioned why he was being confronted about watching a DVD on his break, one of the investigators stated that Zeigler had been under surveillance.

On the way to Thomas's office, Zeigler protested that he had done nothing wrong, he knew his rights, and he was being set up by Thomas as retribution for the CR/EE's finding in his favor. Although the parties disagree about the precise details of the confrontation in Thomas's office, Zeigler agrees that everyone in the office was yelling at each other; he was upset; and he left the office without Thomas's permission, to call his attorney for advice about the situation. Zeigler later returned to the office, but Thomas dismissed him because he needed to talk to ADHR's personnel office. Zeigler took leave for the remainder of the day with the approval of Thomas, and was on sick leave until returning to work on February 26, 2008. When he returned, Zeigler received a letter stating he had been terminated by the ADHR director for argumentative and disruptive behavior.

In addition to the failure to promote and the termination, Zeigler claims that the department retaliated against him for participating as a witness in a sexual harassment investigation. In September of 2007, Zeigler allegedly witnessed Leann Addison ("Addison"), a white female co-worker, attempt to hug a black male co-worker and grab his genitals in the warehouse mail room. Thomas interviewed Zeigler about the incident, and Zeigler made statements against Addison. After the incident, Thomas removed the male victim from his position in the mail room, and moved Zeigler to fill the vacancy and work in the mail room with Addison. Zeigler reported to Thomas that he felt uncomfortable working with Addison because of his participation as an adverse witness in the sexual harassment investigation and the derogatory statements Addison made towards Zeigler. Thomas responded that he needed his mail and, if Zeigler did not process the mail, he "would have a problem." The CR/EE office eventually found that Addison sexually harassed the black male victim, and, as a result, the victim was placed back in his position in the mail room, and Addison was terminated. The report notes that Thomas told an investigator that he asked the black male victim to "back down on this" and not file a formal report. The report also notes that Thomas treated the black victim in a disparate manner, as evidenced by Thomas's statement that had the black male sexually harassed Addison, a white female, then Thomas would have had the black male handcuffed and sent to jail.

IV. DISCUSSION

A. Title VII Claims

1. Individual Capacity Claims

Zeigler has specifically stated that he has not sued Thomas and McLendon in their individual capacity under Title VII. Accordingly, to the extent that the Complaint may assert individual capacity claims against Thomas and McClendon under Title VII, summary judgment as to those claims is due to be GRANTED.

2. Plaintiff's Receipt of Second Right-To-Sue Letter

Defendants initially argued, in both their opening brief as well as their reply brief, that Zeigler failed to exhaust his administrative remedies concerning his Title VII wrongful termination claim because he did not obtain a right-to-sue letter from the EEOC concerning his second EEOC charge. The Defendants, however, now concede that Zeigler does, in fact, have a right-to-sue...