Arthur v. Bloomfield School District

157 F. Supp. 3d 1055, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 175637, 2015 WL 9943434
CourtDistrict Court, D. New Mexico
DecidedJune 17, 2015
DocketNo. 13-CV-1173-MV-WPL
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 157 F. Supp. 3d 1055 (Arthur v. Bloomfield School District) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. New Mexico primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Arthur v. Bloomfield School District, 157 F. Supp. 3d 1055, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 175637, 2015 WL 9943434 (D.N.M. 2015).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

MARTHA VÁZQUEZ, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

THIS MATTER comes before the Court on Defendant Bloomfield School District and- Defendant Bloomfield School District Board of Education’s (collectively, the “Governmental Defendants”) Motion and Memorandum for Summary Judgment [Doc. 101] and Defendant Rob Ford’s Motion and Memorandum in Support of Summary Judgment [Doc. 102]. The Court, having considered the Motions, briefs, attached materials, relevant law, and being otherwise fully informed, finds that the Defendants’ Motions are well-taken and will be GRANTED.

BACKGROUND

I. Racial Discrimination

For reasons that will become apparent below, the facts as described here are drawn from the briefs submitted on the Governmental Defendants’ Motion. This case centers on allegations of racial discrimination against Plaintiff, a “female of Navajo descent” who, during the relevant period, was employed by the Bloomfield School District “as a Social Worker.” Governmental Defendants’ Statement of Undisputed Material Facts (“GDSUMF”) ¶ 1. Evidently, staff members at the school where Arthur worked engaged in convivial, if inappropriate, socializing among themselves, including an episode in which the Plaintiff placed “peanut butter on Mr. Ford’s car door handle as a practical joke” and another in which she used “a jack to lift a teacher’s car off the ground where it would not be drivable.” Id. ¶ 2. Plaintiff admitted in her deposition that the relevant parties viewed this as part of “a casual working relationship ... because we got along. We all got along.” Id. ¶ 4 (internal quotation marks and modifications omitted). That is, irrespective of how this behavior may appear to an outsider, Arthur believed that she “had a light-hearted relationship with others at the school, including school resource officer Tina Adair and Principal Rob Ford, as the office had a joking atmosphere.” Id. ¶ 2.

However, on at least one occasion, Defendant Ford exceeded the boundaries even of this relatively permissive environment. Ford “encouraged a school resource officer, Tina Adair, who was employed by the Bloomfield Police Department to send Plaintiff a text message” in which she referred to Plaintiff as a “squaw.” Id. ¶5. See also Doe. 110 at 3. Plaintiff discussed this incident with both Adair and Ford, conveying that she found the use of the racist and sexist epithet unacceptable; “Ford took responsibility for the message and he told [Arthur] that - he did not mean to offend” her, that he' respected her, and that he would refrain from similar conduct in the future. GDSUMF ¶¶ 6-7. Arthur accepted Ford’s apology and indicated that if his apology was sincere, she' considered the matter resolved. Id. ¶8. While it is unclear whether Ford again applied the term “squaw” or some derivative thereof to Arthur, there is no suggestion whatsoever that Ford “used the term to Plaintiff directly” at any point after the first incident. Id.

The only other accusation regarding Ford’s use of the word “squaw” or any other pejorative language referring to Na[1058]*1058tive Americans centers on a conversation between Arthur and a co-worker in July 2011. Id. ¶ 10. This co-worker merely stated to Arthur that “Ford had referred to Plaintiff as a ‘squaw1 in the coworker’s presence,” without any indication as to when or in what context Ford made this comment. Id. See also Doc. 110 at 3 (adding that the coworker stated that Ford called Arthur a “fat squaw”). Even ignoring the obvious hearsay issue with Arthur’s proffered testimony, it is unclear, even construed in Plaintiffs favor, whether the co-worker’s anecdote describes events that transpired before or after Ford apologized for the text message, or, indeed, if it refers to an instance in which Ford related that incident to a mutual coworker and thus used the term in a quotative fashion, rather than as a separate disparaging remark. See GDSMUF ¶ 11; Doc. 110 at 3. In any case, at most this amounts to a total of two racially-hostile remarks directed toward Arthur or any ethnic group to which she belongs.

■ Plaintiff seeks to add a third episode. She states that when Ford announced the results of the students’ mock presidential, election over the school public address system, he declared that “Obama Bin Laden” had won the contest. Plaintiffs Additional Statement of Undisputed Material Facts (“PASUMF”) ¶ a. No investigation or official response resulted from this remark. Id. ¶¶ a-c. While the Court is incredulous that this conflation of President Obama’s name with that of Osama Bin Laden was an expression of racial, rather than political, animus, it will assume for the purposes of resolving this Motion that this constitutes Ford’s third-racially charged statement over the course of Arthur’s decade-long tenure with the District. See GDSMUF ¶ 1.

II. Retaliation

Eventually, in August of 2011, Plaintiff complained to “HR Director Debbie Serrano” about Ford’s derogatory language. GDSUMF ¶ 12. “An investigation was conducted after Plaintiff complained” which overlapped with another, concurrent investigation into allegations that Ford had sexually harassed a different co-worker. Id. ¶¶ 13-14 (internal quotation marks omitted). Shortly thereafter, “[a]s a result of the complaints, but prior to the conclusion of the investigation, Mr. Ford resigned” from his position. Id. ¶ 16. In July 2011, Arthur also filed a Charge of Discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) regarding Ford’s conduct; Plaintiff amended this Charge of Discrimination On October 3, 2011 to include allegations of constructive discharge and retaliation. Id. ¶¶ 19, 33.

Plaintiff alleges that as a consequence of filing this complaint with the EEOC, she suffered “retaliation, which caused a significant change in her job duties, to include [sic] being excluded from a Crisis Response Team Briefing” that she would have otherwise attended. PASUMF ¶ i. Similarly, Plaintiff states that her office was moved without notice, though there is some suggestion that this was either the result of an oversight or that Plaintiff had, in fact, been advised of the relocation in advance. Id. Hj. See also GDSUMF ¶26 (“Plaintiff claims that, later in the school year, her office was moved without her consent, though she admits that her principal had previously told her that it was being moved; that the offices of other employees were moved; and, after Plaintiff objected, that her office was moved back.”); Doc. 110 at 4 (not contesting this fact).

To this list, Arthur seeks to add two additional sets of instances, although it is unclear to this Court how they are retaliatory. First, she states that that “another BSD employee spread[ ] rumors about her [1059]*1059around town” and agitated for her termination, but that “then-Alta Mesa [sic] Principal Bill Noland” believed the matter was not being taken seriously by the Governmental Defendants. PASUMF Second, Arthur asserts that the “BSD administration [made] a point of stating she was not to be off the school site while at work, in spite of the fact that she had Noland’s permission and was actually engaging in her role as a social working during times of extreme stress and grief for the students involved.” Id. ¶ m. The Governmental Defendants “dispute[ ] that anyone from the main office inquired about Plaintiffs daily activities as the undisputed evidence shows that neither Ms.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
157 F. Supp. 3d 1055, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 175637, 2015 WL 9943434, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/arthur-v-bloomfield-school-district-nmd-2015.