Opinion ID: 3003137
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Three Fleet Department Positions

Text: Stephens applied for three managerial positions within Fleet, each of which involved overseeing the maintenance of City vehicles. On August 27, September 10, and September 22, 2004, the City3 interviewed Stephens and several other applicants for each open position. At that time, none of the interviewers knew about Stephens’s prior lawsuit or his discrimination complaints; one interviewer did not know Stephens at all prior to the inter- 3 Defendant Kevin Murray conducted the August 27 interview; defendant Charles Erickson conducted the September 10 interview; and defendant Glen Tatara conducted the September 22 interview. For purposes of this discussion, we refer to them jointly as the “interviewers.” 6 No. 08-1416 view. None of the interviewers discussed any applicant with Commissioner Picardi. All three interviewers asked each candidate the same questions, and each interviewer ultimately awarded the highest rating to a candidate other than Stephens. In each case, the interviewer cited the winning applicant’s prior experience, recent job performance, or specific positive attributes relevant to the position. For example, the first successful applicant was serving as an acting manager and had helped convert Fleet to a new computer database; the second was serving in a supervisory role and previously oversaw a ten-month analysis of Fleet’s inventory; and the third had prior relevant experience at a car dealership and had performed well on certain assigned tasks. Each of the successful candidates also indicated a willingness to work any shift.4 The interviewers did not consider Stephens to be an equally attractive candidate. They acknowledged that Stephens possessed some prior supervisory experience, but they believed it not to be as broad or pertinent as that of the other candidates. Further, at least one interviewer noted that he could not tell from 4 In each application, Stephens indicated on a “Willingness and Ability Statement” that he would have difficulty working the first shift (11:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m.) and the third shift (3:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m.). The second shift, which apparently Stephens preferred, ran from 7:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. No. 08-1416 7 Stephens’s resume when he served in his prior positions.5 The interviewers were also underwhelmed by Stephens’s demeanor during the interviews. In response to one question about what he would do “to move the department forward,” Stephens responded, “Don’t know yet.” Another interviewer noted that Stephens came across as “a bit arrogant” and that he “didn’t think that was going to be good for grouping people together for one common cause.” As a result, each interviewer awarded Stephens with a rating that placed him at or near the bottom of the applicant pool. In each case, the interviewer recommended that the City hire the highest-rated applicant.