Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ared-2_18-cv-00111/USCOURTS-ared-2_18-cv-00111-0/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 442
Nature of Suit: Civil Rights Employment
Cause of Action: 42:2000e Job Discrimination (Employment)

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 

EASTERN DISTRICT OF ARKANSAS 

DELTA DIVISION 

VIRGIL GREEN, SR. PLAINTIFF 

v. No. 2:18-cv-111-DPM 

JESSE VESCON HOLLOWELL, JR., et al. DEFENDANTS 

ORDER 

Was Virgil Green Sr. fired because of his race? Green was the chief 

of police for Helena-West Helena from July 2015 to April 2017. Mayor 

Jesse Hollowell fired him, writing that "[d]espite efforts to improve 

agency performance, our community has not realized a significant 

reduction in crime nor an improvement in public confidence in the 

agency." Doc. 22-2. Green appealed the decision to the city council, as 

was his right under Arkansas law and city policy. ARK. CODE ANN. 

§ 14-42-ll0(a)(l); Doc. 28-2. The council rejected Green's appeal in 

June. Several months later, in September, he filled out and signed an 

EEOC intake questionnaire asserting that his firing was based on his 

race. Doc. 28-1. Green filed his charge approximately three months 

later, in December 2017. The mayor, the city council members, and the 

city seek summary judgment, arguing no timely exhaustion of 

administrative remedies and the merits. Green contends there are 

issues for trial. Where there is a genuine dispute about a material fact, 

Case 2:18-cv-00111-DPM Document 32 Filed 06/15/20 Page 1 of 3
the Court takes Green's view of the record. Fields v. Shelter Mutual 

Insurance Company, 520 F.3d 859, 863 (8th Cir. 2008). 

The Court is not persuaded by the defendants' argument about 

exhaustion. Patillo v. Sysco Foods of Arkansas, LLC, 2018 WL 2465770 

at *3-*5 (E.D. Ark. 1 June 2018), gathers and applies the precedent and 

regulations to similar facts. Green made his core claims in his timely 

questionnaire. The lack of verification was cured by his sworn charge, 

which he made a few months later. 

Green's case, though, fails on the merits. Assuming he's made a 

prima facie case, he has not provided sufficient evidence to support a 

verdict that the mayor's performance rationale was a pretext for race 

discrimination. Torgerson v. City of Rochester, 643 F.3d 1031, 1046 

(8th Cir. 2011) (en bane). First, the standard for a comparator who was 

treated better is strict at the pretext stage. Bone v. G4S Youth Services, 

LLC, 686 F.3d 948,956 (8th Cir. 2012). Robert Gaston, the white person 

in charge of the landfill, doesn't qualify- he had the same boss, but not 

the same job or even one that is substantially similar, and the record is 

silent about how Gaston performed his job. Ibid. Second, the city 

defendants' performance explanation for why Green lost his job has not 

changed. Bharadwaj v. Mid Dakota Clinic, 954 F.3d 1130, 1135 

(8th Cir. 2020). Third, Green disputes the correctness of the mayor's 

perception of poor job performance. Green says his administration 

solved murder cases quickly and was effective in general. What's 

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Case 2:18-cv-00111-DPM Document 32 Filed 06/15/20 Page 2 of 3
rmss1ng, however, 1s evidence that the city defendants' 

poor-performance conclusion was so unrooted in the facts that a jury 

could reasonably conclude that the firing was racially motivated. 

Torgerson, 643 F.3d at 1047; Muor v. U.S. Bank National Association, 

716 F.3d 1072, 1076-77 (8th Cir. 2013). Green also says Helena-West 

Helena, and some council members in particular, did not support his 

efforts and worked to undermine his performance. He notes that, for 

the first few months, he wasn't paid as much as he was promised, 

though his successor was, plus that his firing came out of the blue, with 

no prior notice of poor performance. The parties have chosen to make 

a thin record; and the city defendants stand silent about these 

particulars. Through them, Green has made a case of poorly 

functioning city government and unfairness, not race discrimination in 

his firing. Bharadwaj, 954 F.3d at 1135. The mayor hired another black 

man to take Green's place as police chief. 

The defendants' motion for summary judgment, Doc. 20, 1s 

granted. 

So Ordered. 

D .P. Marshall Jr. 

United States District Judge 

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