Opinion ID: 2977465
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: EEOC charges

Text: The precise content of the various charges filed by the plaintiffs with the EEOC is key to the resolution of this case. We will therefore describe below each EEOC document that appears in the record. 3 No. 08-5180 Jones v. City of Franklin Darryl Jones completed an EEOC intake form in September 2004. In it, he alleged discrimination on the basis of race, and he wrote that a City employee had “made the racial statement ‘Rug Head’ while the Fire Department was still in the process of selecting the new Fire Chief.” Jones also stated that “Blacks are purposely being overlooked when it comes to promotion positions.” He filed his first formal EEOC charge in January 2005. The charge states that, in July 2004, he received an “unfair evaluation rating that affect[ed] the percentage of raise [he was] to receive.” He also alleged that the evaluation scores he received from his supervisor, Michael Jones, had been reduced by the Deputy Chief. In March 2005, Darryl Jones filed a second EEOC charge. He complained that “[t]he City Manager gave false information to the Williamson County Review Appeal Newspaper,” and stated his belief that he was being discriminated against in retaliation for the filing of the previous EEOC charge. Michael Jones filed his first EEOC charge in February 2005, alleging that he had been denied his 2004 annual evaluation. He also described the alleged reduction by the Deputy Chief of the evaluation score that he had given to Darryl Jones. In March 2005, Michael Jones filed another EEOC charge. It contained identical allegations to those in the charge filed by Darryl Jones that same month. Michael Jones filed his third and final EEOC charge in January 2006. That charge stated that he was “being denied promotion because of [his] race, Black, and [his] age, 47.” It went on to describe the use by the City of a noncertified test for promotion purposes. “All four Black employees failed the test, but most of the White employees passed the test.” The January 2006 charge then described the transfer of “a White administrative captain” to the “shift captain position without any required testing.” 4 No. 08-5180 Jones v. City of Franklin In June 2005, Stephen Gibson filed his one EEOC charge. The charge reads as follows: I believe because of my race/Black, I have been subjected to a discriminatory selection process that has an adverse impact regarding promotional opportunities for blacks as a class. Less qualified whites are systematically promoted over qualified blacks when the Franklin Fire Department continues to change the promotional requirements/job descriptions to advance lesser qualified whites to the ranks of Captain and above. Recently, a white city official made the racial comment that as long as he had anything to do with promotions, a rug head would never be in charge of a department of the Franklin Fire Department. . . . The Franklin Fire Department discriminates against blacks as a class in promotional opportunities in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended. Anthony Pasley, the fourth and final plaintiff, completed an undated EEOC intake form. He wrote that “[o]ver the last few years we have witnessed different incident[s] in our department pertaining to blacks in our department. This complaint pertains to the hiring and promotional process in the City of Franklin Fire Department.” Next, he described the addition of a written examination as a requirement in the promotional process, and the reduction in the years of service required as a lieutenant in order to be eligible for promotion to captain. He alleged that the latter change increased the number of white firefighters who were eligible for promotion, and that the overall process was changed to benefit white firefighters. Pasley also filed a formal charge with the EEOC in June 2005. In the charge he stated that “[f]rom the past few years until now, I have observed disparate treatment of blacks in hiring and promotion.”