Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca8-07-01422/USCOURTS-ca8-07-01422-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
John F. Barker
Appellant
Missouri Department of Corrections
Appellee

Document Text:

1

The Honorable A. Wallace Tashima, United States Circuit Judge for the Ninth

Circuit, sitting by designation.

2

The Honorable Jean C. Hamilton, United States District Judge for the Eastern

District of Missouri.

United States Court of Appeals

FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT

___________

No. 07-1422

___________

John F. Barker, * 

* 

Appellant, * 

* Appeal from the United States

v. * District Court for the 

* Eastern District of Missouri.

Missouri Department of Corrections, * 

* 

Appellee. *

___________

Submitted: November 15, 2007

Filed: January 24, 2008 

___________

Before RILEY, TASHIMA,1

 and SMITH, Circuit Judges.

___________

SMITH, Circuit Judge.

John F. Barker sued the Missouri Department of Corrections (MDOC) alleging

that it violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by retaliating against him for

aiding a co-worker to report sexual harassment. The district court2

 granted summary

judgment for the MDOC, holding that Barker did not engage in a protected activity.

We affirm.

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I. Background

The following facts are stated in the light most favorable to John Barker, the

non-moving party. Barker, a correctional officer at the Potosi Correctional Center, was

appointed shop steward in 2002. As shop steward, it was Barker's job to assist fellow

employees with filing grievances. During 2003, Barker worked as an officer in the

special needs unit (SNU), which houses inmates with mental diseases and disabilities.

On June 23, 2003, Shannon Gifford, the SNU manager, entered the control

room in the SNU and asked Officer William Bjork, who was new to the SNU, if he

was enjoying his new placement. Bjork responded that he did not like working in the

SNU because the inmates behaved poorly and were different than other inmates he

had worked with. Bjork also stated that he had no SNU training. Gifford then told

Bjork, in a "commanding voice," that he could not reenter the SNU without receiving

training. A female SNU officer, upon hearing Gifford's statement, stated that she had

worked in the SNU for a year but had not received SNU training. Gifford

responded,"you don't need the training, women are better by and large as they do a

better job than men do anyway and are more patient and nurturing than men and we

have no complaints about them." Despite Gifford's comments, Bjork remained

assigned to the SNU until mid-October 2003. 

The next day, Barker helped Bjork draft an incident memorandum describing

Gifford's comments to the appropriate supervisory authority. Three days later, on June

27, 2003, Bjork filed an employee grievance, drafted by Barker, based on Gifford's

comments alleging sexual harassment. 

On July 1, 2003, an inmate accused Barker and another officer of using excess

force. The inmate complained to the SNU officer whose shift followed Barker's, that

Barker and the other officer forced him into his cell and slammed his leg in the door.

The inmate told the officer that he had lost his shoe in the struggle, and the officer saw

the inmate's shoe outside his cell. The SNU officer also observed bruises on the

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inmate's shoulders and right thigh. Two other inmates corroborated the injured

inmate's story. Barker disputed the inmate's story and noted discrepancies in the age

of the inmate's bruises.

According to MDOC policy, "the superintendent/designee shall be immediately

notified of any use of force." MDOC policy requires that use of force reports be filled

out and submitted to a supervisor prior to leaving duty. Barker had not filed a use of

force report before leaving work, and MDOC has a nondiscretionary policy that

requires it to investigate any claim of an unreported use of force. MDOC investigated

this incident during July 2003, and the investigator determined that Barker had not

reported the use of force but made no determination whether the force used had been

excessive.

MDOC policy also requires an annual performance review for each correctional

officer. Barker received a rating of unsatisfactory on his 2003 performance review, the

lowest possible rating. Barker's review noted that he had thirteen unscheduled

absences, he had locked himself out of a major prison entrance, and he had failed to

report use of force. As a result of this rating, Barker had to participate in a special

employee appraisal. Barker was also found to have attempted to mislead investigators

and solicit false testimony. Barker received a five-day suspension for his failure to

report use of force. 

About two years later, Barker filed the current action alleging that the MDOC

violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by retaliating against him for

reporting the alleged sexual harassment of Bjork. On December 19, 2006, the district

court granted summary judgment for the MDOC, concluding that no reasonable

person would objectively believe that Gifford's comment to Bjork violated Title VII.

The court also concluded that no reasonable jury could find that MDOC's proffered

reason for suspending Barker was pretextual.

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Barker claims, for the first time on appeal, that his conduct falls within the

participation clause of Title VII as well. Barker has thus waived that argument. See

Int'l Bhd. of Elec. Workers, Local Union No. 545 v. Hope Elec. Corp., 380 F.3d 1084,

1096 (8th Cir. 2004).

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II. Discussion

On appeal, Barker argues that the district court erred in granting summary

judgment because his assistance in filing Bjork's grievance constituted a protected

activity under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000(e) et seq.

We review the grant of summary judgment de novo. Cherry v. Ritenour Sch. Dist.,

361 F.3d 474, 478 (8th Cir. 2004). We view the evidence in the light most favorable

to the nonmoving party, and summary judgment is appropriate if the evidence

demonstrates that no genuine issue of material fact exists and the moving party is

entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Id.

Title VII prohibits an employer from discriminating against an employee who

"has opposed any practice made an unlawful employment practice by this subchapter"

or who "has made a charge, testified, assisted, or participated in any manner in an

investigation, proceeding, or hearing under this subchapter." 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-3(a).

"The two clauses of this section typically are described, respectively, as the opposition

clause and the participation clause." Gilooly v. Mo. Dep't of Health & Senior Servs.,

421 F.3d 734, 741 (8th Cir. 2005) (Colloton, J., concurring). Barker claims protection

of the opposition clause, which shields an employee against discrimination because

he has opposed a practice made unlawful by Title VII. Id. at 742. We interpret this

provision to encompass actions that oppose employment actions that are not unlawful,

"as long as the employee acted in a good faith, objectively reasonable belief that the

practices were unlawful." Id.

3

Because Barker has no direct evidence of retaliation, his claim is analyzed

under McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792 (1973). Under this

framework, the plaintiff has the initial burden of establishing a prima facie case of

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retaliation. Clark v. Johanns, 460 F.3d 1064, 1067 (8th Cir. 2006). Once the plaintiff

satisfies this burden, defendant must offer a legitimate, non-discriminatory reason for

the employment action. Id. The burden of production then returns to the plaintiff to

show that the employer's reason was a pretext for discrimination. Id.

To establish a prima facie case of retaliation, Barker must present evidence that

(1) he engaged in a protected activity; (2) an adverse employment action was taken

against him; and (3) a causal connection exists between the two. Thompson v. Bi-State

Dev. Agency, 463 F.3d 821, 826 (8th Cir. 2006). "[S]exual harassment is actionable

under Title VII only if it is so severe or pervasive as to alter the conditions of [the

victim's] employment and create an abusive working environment. Clark County Sch.

Dist. v. Breeden, 532 U.S. 268, 270 (2001) (internal citations and quotations omitted).

 "[W]hether an environment is sufficiently hostile or abusive must be judged by

looking at all the circumstances" including the frequency, physicality and severity of

the conduct. Id. at 270–71. Conduct is not actionable under Title VII if no reasonable

person could have believed the incident violated Title VII's standard. Id at 271.

Barker argues that when helping Bjork to file a grievance, he was engaged in

protected activity because he reasonably believed Gifford's comments constituted

unlawful sexual harassment. He also claims that he engaged in a protected activity

when he assisted Bjork with drafting the memorandum reporting Gifford's remark. In

order for Barker's assistance to be protected, Barker must demonstrate that he had an

objectively reasonable belief that Gifford's remark to Bjork constituted sexual

harassment under Title VII. We conclude that Gifford's single, isolated statement,

implying that women are more nurturing and better suited for work in the SNU, is

insufficient as a matter of law to support an objectively reasonable belief that the

statement constituted sexual harassment. 

Gifford's isolated remark falls far short of being actionable. See LeGrand v.

Area Res. for Cmty. & Human Servs., 394 F.3d 1098, 1101–02 (8th Cir. 2005)

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Because Barker cannot make out a prima facie case, we do not reach Barker's

pretext arguments. Similarly, the MDOC filed a motion to strike portions of Barker's

brief related to use of an affidavit by Barker in his pretext analysis. Again, because we

have resolved the case at the prima facie stage, we need not address the MDOC's

motion to strike. 

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(finding that "to be actionable, conduct must be extreme and not merely rude or

unpleasant"; and stating harassment did not create a hostile work environment when

priest/board member made unwelcome sexually explicit advances on three separate

occasions); Duncan v. Gen. Motors Corp., 300 F.3d 928, 933–34 (8th Cir. 2002)

(finding five harassing incidents—including a relationship proposition, improper

touching, a request that plaintiff draw a sexually objectionable picture and posting of

offensive posters—did not meet the standard necessary to be actionable). 

We agree with the district court that no reasonable person could objectively

believe that Gifford's comments violated Title VII. Barker cannot make out a prima

facie case, therefore, we affirm the district court's grant of summary judgment.4

III. Conclusion

Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the district court.

______________________________

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