Source: https://casetext.com/case/hamilton-v-rodgers-2
Timestamp: 2019-12-15 04:03:34
Document Index: 359205067

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 1981', '§ 1983', '§ 1981', '§ 1983', '§ 1981', '§ 2000', '§ 2000', '§ 1983', '§ 1983', '§ 1983', '§ 1983', '§ 1983', '§ 1983', '§ 1983']

Hamilton v. Rodgers, 791 F.2d 439 | Casetext
Hamilton v. Rodgers
791 F.2d 439 (5th Cir. 1986)
Hamiltonv.Rodgers
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Summary of this case from Ball v. Renner
holding that proof of liability for a racially hostile work environment is the same under Title VII and 42 U.S.C. § 1981
Summary of this case from Turner v. National Railroad Passenger Corporation
holding that a dozen incidents of racial discrimination within a two-and-a-half-year period did not constitute a continual pattern of conduct sufficient to warrant the imputation of constructive knowledge to high ranking officers of the Houston Fire Department for purposes of imposing § 1983 liability
Summary of this case from Pineda v. City of Houston
Before GEE and JOHNSON, Circuit Judges, and PARKER, District Judge.
ON PETITION FOR REHEARING AND SUGGESTIONS FOR REHEARING EN BANC (Opinion March 7, 1986, 5th Cir. 1986, 783 F.2d 1306)
This appeal comprises claims under 42 U.S.C. §§ 1981, 1983, and 2000e et seq. (Title VII) against the Houston Fire Department and various individual defendants for the alleged racial harassment of, and retaliation against, an employee now deceased. The district court found the existence of such racially motivated behavior and therefore assessed backpay and compensatory damages against the Fire Department and the employee's immediate supervisors. Because we conclude that the Fire Department was improperly held liable under § 1983 and that the evidence of the discrimination's detrimental effects on the employee's physical health was insufficient to warrant compensatory damages, we affirm in part, reverse in part and remand for further proceedings consistent with our rulings.
Dickerson v. Dade County, 659 F.2d 574, 580 (5th Cir. 1981). If no legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for the defendant's actions exists, or if the plaintiff can show any excuse offered to be merely a pretext for discrimination, then Title VII liability results. See McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 802-04, 93 S.Ct. 1817, 1824-25, 36 L.Ed.2d 668 (1973). One may also establish a Title VII violation by showing "a discriminatory and offensive work environment so heavily polluted with discrimination as to destroy completely the emotional and psychological stability of minority group workers . . ." Vaughn v. Pool Offshore Co., 683 F.2d 922, 924 (5th Cir. 1982), quoting Rogers v. EEOC, 454 F.2d 234, 238 (5th Cir. 1971), cert. denied 406 U.S. 957, 92 S.Ct. 2058, 32 L.Ed.2d 343 (1972). Successfully meeting these requirements would also establish a successful case under 42 U.S.C. §§ 1981 and 1983; when these statutes are used as parallel causes of action with Title VII, they require the same proof to show liability. See Whiting v. Jackson State University, 616 F.2d 116, 121 (5th Cir. 1980). Hamilton was found to have successfully carried his burden; we review this determination by first distinguishing consideration of the Fire Department's liability from that of the supervisors.
The only individuals found liable were C.L. Wilford and C.P. Nelson, Hamilton's immediate superiors. Their liability resulted from the district court's determination that they not only ignored the racist antics of Hamilton's co-workers but themselves intentionally discriminated against him. The determination is considered a finding of fact, reversible only if it is clearly erroneous. Anderson v. Bessemer City, 470 U.S. 564, ___, 105 S.Ct. 1504, 1511-12, 84 L.Ed.2d 518, 528 (1985). The "clearly erroneous" standard, moreover, forbids us to second-guess the district court:
Id. We must therefore extend great deference to the district court's findings, especially since they stem from assessments of the witnesses' credibility. Id. ___, 105 S.Ct. at 1512, 84 L.Ed.2d at 529.
Liability under Title VII does not automatically follow, however; we must instead proceed cautiously, recognizing that it is only employers who are subject to statutory liability. The definition of "employer" is, however, broad, including agents of the actual employer. 42 U.S.C. § 2000e(b). In ascertaining the scope of agency, we have recognized that Title VII "should be accorded a liberal interpretation in order to effectuate the purpose of Congress to eliminate the inconvenience, unfairness, and humiliation of ethnic discrimination." Rogers, 454 F.2d at 238. So viewed, Wilford and Nelson were agents of the Fire Department, despite their intermediate standing within the Department's hierarchy. They had authority over matters such as car assignments and the staffing of shifts, and they wielded this authority to Hamilton's detriment. Even more important, they filed the critical reports that led to Hamilton's 1982 suspension. We agree with the view that "[a] person is an agent under § 2000e(b) if he participated in the decision-making process that forms the basis of the discrimination." Jones v. Metropolitan Denver Sewage Disposal District, 537 F. Supp. 966, 970 (D.Colo. 1982). To hold otherwise would encourage supervisory personnel to believe that they may violate Title VII with impunity. Defendants Wilford and Nelson were correctly held liable.
Under § 1983, the Fire Department cannot be held vicariously liable for the actions of its employees; ". . . the doctrine [of respondeat superior] has no application in an action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983." Dean v. Gladney, 621 F.2d 1331, 1336 (5th Cir. 1980), cert. denied sub nom Dean v. County of Brazoria, 450 U.S. 983, 101 S.Ct. 1521, 67 L.Ed.2d 819 (1981), quoting Jones v. City of Memphis, 586 F.2d 622, 625 (6th Cir. 1978). Instead, liability under § 1983 can arise only "for a deprivation of rights protected by the Constitution of federal laws that is inflicted pursuant to official policy." Webster v. City of Houston, 735 F.2d 838, 841 (5th Cir. 1984) (en banc). No officially promulgated policy encouraged racial discrimination; to the contrary, a Fire Department rule explicitly prohibits racial slurs or jokes. We have recognized, however, that official policy need not be formally announced in a statement or regulation. Webster provides a second definition:
A persistent widespread practice of city officials or employees, which, although not authorized by officially adopted and promulgated policy, is so common and well settled as to constitute a custom that fairly represents municipal policy. Actual or constructive knowledge of such custom must be attributable to the governing body of the municipality or to an official to whom the body had delegated policymaking authority. Actions of officers or employees of a municipality do not render the municipality liable under § 1983 unless they execute official policy as above described.
The district court concluded, as a matter of law, that the offensive conditions existed to such a persistent, widespread degree that they could properly be deemed to represent official policy of the Fire Department. We disagree with this conclusion. Hamilton's co-workers unquestionably tainted the work atmosphere with their racist bigotry, and the supervisors contributed to the harassment. The number of racial incidents recounted, however, were too few to constitute "a persistent, widespread practice . . . so common and well-settled as to constitute a custom. . . ." Perhaps a dozen incidents arose within the two and a half years preceding Hamilton's suspension; no continual pattern therefore arose that would warrant the imputation of constructive knowledge to high ranking officers of the Fire Department. While evidence suggests that these officers heard of occasional incidents, there was no showing that they knew, or had reason to know, of a persistent, nagging problem of racism.
Appellee suggests that municipal liability need not be based on a widespread practice, citing Pembaur v. City of Cincinnati, ___ U.S. ___, 106 S.Ct. 1292, 89 L.Ed.2d 452 (1986). Reliance on Pembaur is misplaced, however. True, the Supreme Court held that "municipal liability may be imposed for a single decision by municipal policymakers under appropriate circumstances," but the appropriate circumstances exist only when the decision constitutes "an act of official government policy." Id. at ___, 106 S.Ct. at 1298. No decision by high-ranking officials responsible for setting final government policy is the basis of Hamilton's claims. Pembaur is therefore irrelevant to our discussion.
The district court declared that "[t]he inability of these senior policy-making officials to take affirmative corrective or other supervisory actions leads to the inference of an implicit official policy on the part of the local government." Yet the evidence showed that when officers such as Assistant Chief Dennis Holder learned of racial incidents, they promptly acted to discourage them, reprimanding those responsible and noting the incidents in the offenders' files. To hold that this was an insufficient response, that something more should have been done, would require us to meddle in the Department's policy making to an intolerable degree. While a municipal department should strive to end racial discrimination within its ranks, it cannot be held accountable for every bigoted act of its employees. As an employer, it simply lacks the power to guarantee an environment free from all bigotry. Nor can judicially-imposed rules and enforcement mechanisms change the beliefs of the employees. Beyond the imposition of some minimal standard of responsibility upon the Fire Department and its senior officers, dictating prolix regulatory schemes to combat the narrow-minded intolerance of municipal employees falls beyond the province of the federal judiciary. For this reason, we hold that the Fire Department may not be held liable under § 1983.
Hamilton's estate may recover compensatory damages under the § 1983 claim. See Carey v. Piphus, 435 U.S. 247, 253-57, 98 S.Ct. 1042, 1046-49, 55 L.Ed.2d 252 (1978). The district court held the estate entitled to $50,000 compensatory damages for injuries to Hamilton's emotional and physical health, concluding that "Hamilton suffered from October 1979 until his death from humiliation, mental anguish, and a decline in his physical and mental health." The record clearly shows Hamilton's physical health failing in the two years preceding his death. We are unsatisfied, however, that the work-related stress caused his long physical decline and eventual death. Because insufficient certainty as to causation exists, we must regard the award of compensatory damages as clearly erroneous.
The medical records from late 1979 to 1982 reveal that Hamilton suffered from extremely high blood pressure. This condition could well have caused his November 1982 stroke and his death three months later. The evidence also indicates that Hamilton encountered great stress from the racial jokes, the harassment, and the retaliation of his supervisors. Stress can undoubtedly be a cause of high blood pressure, yet the record suggests that Hamilton contributed to his own physical decline. In the twenty years before 1981, he smoked one and a half to two packs of cigarettes daily. A November 1982 medical report stated that he also drank six to twelve cups of coffee daily. Salt was liberally used in his diet. Finally, hypertension may have run in his family, as one uncle also suffered from high blood pressure. These factors considered, the most any witness, expert or lay, could properly say is that the racial incidents could have been a factor in the development of Hamilton's physical problems. Our law recognizes no "could have been a factor" standard of causation, however, and such speculation is an insufficient basis for an award of compensatory damages.
A psychologist, for example, testified to his view that there was "a strong correlation between the incidents and the hypertension which eventually created heart problems. . . ." Whatever this may mean, it falls far short of expert medical testimony that the incidents were a probable cause of Mr. Hamilton's death.
It was plaintiff's burden to prove that the harassment proximately caused the ultimate condition leading to Mr. Hamilton's death. Theriot v. Bay Drilling Corp., 783 F.2d 527 (5th Cir. 1986).
On the other hand, the evidence shows that Hamilton endured embarrassment, humiliation, and mental distress from his work environment. His suffering is not without redress, as § 1983 allows for the recovery of compensatory damages for such injury: