Carter v. Town of Benton

827 F. Supp. 2d 700, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 55437, 2010 WL 2301294
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Louisiana
DecidedJune 7, 2010
DocketCivil Action No. 08-1343
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 827 F. Supp. 2d 700 (Carter v. Town of Benton) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Louisiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Carter v. Town of Benton, 827 F. Supp. 2d 700, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 55437, 2010 WL 2301294 (W.D. La. 2010).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM RULING

S. MAURICE HICKS, JR., District Judge.

Before the Court is a Motion for Summary Judgment (Record Document 17) filed by Defendants Town of Benton, May- or Albert Doughty, Chief of Police Charles Pilkinton, and Officer Jason Clinton. Plaintiff Mary P. Carter (“Carter”) opposed the motion. See Record Document 19. For the reasons which follow, the Motion for Summary Judgment is GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED IN PART.

BACKGROUND

The Town of Benton, at the recommendation of Chief of Police Charles Pilkinton (“Chief Pilkinton”), hired Carter as a police officer on January 13, 2007. See Record Document 1 at ¶ 4; Record Document 17-2 at l.1 Prior to her employment with the Benton Police Department, Carter was a police officer in Oil City, Louisiana, [703]*703where she initially worked patrol. See Record Document 17-2 at 1. She attended the Police Academy while she was a police officer in Oil City, but was unable to complete the academy. See id. As a result, she became a reserve officer and was not permitted to return as a full time police officer until she graduated from the academy. See id.

After being hired by the Benton Police Department, Carter worked patrol and was assigned to a unit with Officer Jason Clinton (“Officer Clinton”) for approximately two weeks. See Record Document 17-2 at 2. According to Carter, Officer Clinton sexually harassed her during this time period. See Record Document 1 at ¶ 5. She also alleged that the sexual harassment continued after this initial ride along period and continued until the end of April 2007. See id. at ¶¶ 5, 7. After the alleged sexual harassment ended, Carter alleged that Officer Clinton and other male officers maintained a sexually hostile work environment. See id. at ¶ 8.

After learning of the alleged sexual harassment from third party sources, Chief Pilkinton questioned both Carter and Officer Clinton about the allegations of sexual harassment. See Record Document 17-2; Record Document 17, Exhibit B at 18. Chief Pilkinton’s investigation occurred around September 4, 2007. See Record Document 19-3 at ¶¶ 18-19; Record Document 17-5 at 58. Carter informed Chief Pilkinton of Officer Clinton’s sexual harassment. See Record Document 17-4 at 18. Officer Clinton denied the sexual harassment. See id. Carter alleges that she asked Chief Pilkinton to do something about Officer Clinton’s behavior, but that Chief Pilkinton took no action. See Record Document 1 at ¶¶ 17-18.

In late April 2007, Carter underwent surgery to remove an ovary. See Record Document 1 at ¶ 7; Record Document 19-3 at ¶ 9. As a result, she was absent from work for approximately two weeks. See Record Document 19-3 at ¶ 9. Carter later underwent a partial hysterectomy and was absent from work from about June 15, 2007 to mid-to-late July 2007. See id.; Record Document 1 at ¶¶ 9-10. Carter was under the care of a physician during these absences and after she returned to work. See Record Document 17, Exhibit B at 29-31. Once she returned to work, her activities were restricted and she was placed on light duty. See id. at 31. She was instructed to do no running, no situps, no combative issues, and no squats. See id. at 31, 53. Carter was not able to return to full duty until September 7, 2007. See id. at 64, 68-69.

Louisiana Revised Statute 40:2405(A) provides in pertinent part:

(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, any person who begins employment as a peace officer in Louisiana subsequent to January 1, 1986, must successfully complete a certified training program approved by the council and successfully pass a council-approved comprehensive examination within one calendar year from the date of initial employment. Any person who fails to comply with this requirement shall be prohibited from exercising the authority of a peace officer; however, such persons shall not be prohibited from performing administrative duties.
(2) In addition, any person employed or commissioned as a peace officer, reserve peace officer, or part-time peace officer prior to July 1, 1998, including those persons employed as such prior to January 1, 1986, who has not satisfactorily completed a basic firearms training program, shall do so no later than August 1, 1999. All other such persons who [704]*704begin employment subsequent to July 1, 1998 shall satisfactorily complete a basic firearms training program prescribed by the council within one calendar year from the date of initial employment. Any person who does not comply with the provisions of this Paragraph shall be prohibited from exercising the authority of a peace officer, reserve peace officer, or part-time peace officer; however, such persons shall not be prohibited from performing administrative duties.

La. R.S. 40:2405(A). In accordance with Section 2405, the Benton Police Department requires each new police officer to become Police Officer Standard Training (“POST”) certified within one year. See Record Document 1 at ¶ 14; Record Document 19-2. Due to the aforementioned surgeries, the resulting absences from work, and recovery time, Carter was not able to attend POST certification training at the academy on two separate occasions. See Record Document 17, Exhibit B at 22-29. The date of the first “missed” academy is unclear from the summary judgment record. The date of the second “missed” academy was early September 2007. See id. at 28. Specifically, this academy started on September 4, 2007. See id. Carter contends that she was issued a voucher by Captain Kenny Sanders to attend POST certification training at the Caddo Parish Sheriffs Office Regional Training Academy beginning on January 7, 2008. See Record Document 1 at ¶ 16; Record Document 19-4. The graduation date for this academy was set for April 4, 2008. See Record Document 19-4. Conversely, Defendants maintain that Carter was not scheduled to attend the January 2008 academy and that the voucher issued by Captain Kenny Sanders “was to the Benton Police Department, Town on Benton. It was not to an individual person.” Record Document 17, Exhibit B at 62.

The Benton Police Department also required “a pre-academy firearms qualification during the interim time of ... being hired and obtaining ... POST certification.” Record Document 19-2; Record Document 17, Exhibit B at 32.2 This rule is based on Act 108, which was discussed by Bruce Marvin Teutsch (“Teutsch”), a firearms instructor with the Bossier Sheriffs Department and the North Louisiana Criminal Justice Academy, in his deposition:

Act 108 is basically a pre-academy firearms course that has been mandated by the Louisiana Peace Officers’ Standards and Training counsel, what a person needs to do to become certified with their firearm before they go to a POST basic academy class.

Record Document 20, Exhibit E at 9. Carter was unable to qualify with a firearm after three attempts. See id. at 26. She tried to qualify with her firearm on August 22, 2007, September 4, 2007, and September 5, 2007. See id. at 10-12,15-18.

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827 F. Supp. 2d 700, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 55437, 2010 WL 2301294, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/carter-v-town-of-benton-lawd-2010.