Darris V. Missouri Department of Social Services, Division of Youth Services

580 F. Supp. 1234, 1984 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19449
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Missouri
DecidedFebruary 15, 1984
DocketNo. 82-238C(5)
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 580 F. Supp. 1234 (Darris V. Missouri Department of Social Services, Division of Youth Services) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Missouri primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Darris V. Missouri Department of Social Services, Division of Youth Services, 580 F. Supp. 1234, 1984 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19449 (E.D. Mo. 1984).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

LIMBAUGH, District Judge.

This matter is before the Court on a Title VII and constructive discharge complaint. Plaintiff alleges that he was not transferred and promoted to the position of group leader at Group Home 12 (a female juvenile facility in St. Louis City) because he is a black male. He further alleges that he was threatened with a demotion when he [1236]*1236voiced his grievance to his superiors. Plaintiff seeks the following relief: 1) an order requiring the Missouri Department of Social Services, Division of Youth Services (hereinafter referred to as DYS) to assign plaintiff to Group Home 12 as a Youth Specialist III or a Group Leader; 2) back-pay for compensation of lost employment opportunities; 3) award of damages for mental anguish and emotional distress suffered by plaintiff; 4) reasonable attorney’s fees and costs of litigation; and 5) any other relief this Court deems appropriate.

The Court has jurisdiction over this controversy pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq. and 28 U.S.C. § 1343. Plaintiff has alleged that he was constructively discharged from his employment with DYS, that he was not transferred and promoted to positions for which he was qualified, and the sole reason plaintiff has not been transferred and promoted is due to the discriminatory employment practice of defendant with respect to race and sex.

After hearing the testimony in this bench tried case, the Court finds that plaintiff, Tyrone Darris, is a black male citizen of the United States, and a resident of St. Louis City, State of Missouri. Defendant, Missouri Department of Social Services, Division of Youth Services, is a State agency existing and operating pursuant to Chapter 219 R.S.Mo. At all relevant times herein, plaintiff was employed by DYS being first hired on or about August 1, 1978, as a Youth Specialist I (YSI) with assignment to the Hogan Street Regional Youth Center, St. Louis, Mo. The Hogan Street juvenile facility was a boys’ institution.

On or about August 1,1979, plaintiff was promoted to the position of Youth Specialist II (YSII), and on June 1, 1980, was transferred from the Hogan Street juvenile facility to Group Home 12, located on Waterman Street in St. Louis City. Group Home 12, while located on Waterman Street, was a boys’ home.

Plaintiff was promoted to Youth Specialist III (YSIII) on or about August 1, 1980. YSIII is a temporary position, i.e., a training period for a position as a Group Leader. During the months of October-November, 1980, Group Home 12 was relocated to St. Louis Avenue in St. Louis City. At that time, Group Home 12 changed to a girls’ home.

On or about November 1, 1980, plaintiff consented to be transferred and was so transferred to the Babler Lodge residential facility, in Chesterfield, Missouri, and remained there until May 18, 1981. Plaintiff’s transfer was approved by Clarence Roland and Lawson Calhoun, black male administrators at DYS.

Jerri Turner, a black female, was assigned the Group Leader position at Group Home 12. Turner was a YSII before her promotion.

Plaintiff, on or about May 17, 1981, was asked by Mario Garza, facility manager at Babler Lodge, to lead the boys’ group as a Group Leader. He was told by Garza that if he did not accept the position offered at Babler Lodge, the other alternative was a YSII job at Group Home 12. Plaintiff rejected the Garza offers and resigned his position with DYS on May 18, 1981, and has not since been employed by DYS.

Plaintiff filed an employment discrimination charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and a similar charge with the Missouri Commission on Human Rights. On December 3, 1981, EEOC dismissed plaintiff’s charge and shortly thereafter the Missouri Commission on Human Rights rendered a decision of no cause with respect to plaintiff’s complaint. On December 3, 1981, plaintiff received a “Notice of Right to Sue” in federal court.

This suit was filed by plaintiff on February 22, 1982, within the requisite ninety (90) days of receipt of the “Notice of Right to Sue” issued by the EEOC.

All knowledgeable parties testified that plaintiff was qualified for the Group Leader position except that he had not fulfilled, at the time in question, the merit exam requirement. It also appeared no one ever stated to plaintiff that there was a policy of staffing girls’ homes with female personnel and boys’ homes with male personnel.

[1237]*1237Having determined the foregoing facts, the first issue to be addressed by the Court is whether plaintiff has submitted a proper case under Title VII. In order for plaintiff to prevail upon his claim of discrimination in employment under Title VII, he must first establish, by a preponderance of evidence, a prima facie case of discrimination. Albemarle Paper Co. v. Moody, 422 U.S. 405, 95 S.Ct. 2362, 45 L.Ed.2d 280 (1975); McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 93 S.Ct. 1817, 36 L.Ed.2d 668 (1973). Plaintiff must show that he is a member of a protected class, that he was qualified for an available position with the employer, that he was rejected by the employer and that the position was awarded to an individual with similar or less qualifications. Once plaintiff establishes his prima facie case of discrimination, the burden shifts to defendant to rebut the allegation by articulating “some legitimate nondiscriminatory reason for the employee's rejection”. Texas Dept. of Community Affairs v. Burdine, 450 U.S. 248, 252-56, 101 S.Ct. 1089, 1093-95, 67 L.Ed.2d 207 (1981); McDonnell Douglas Corp., 411 U.S. at 802, 93 S.Ct. at 1824. If the employer meets this burden, the plaintiff then must prove by a preponderance of evidence that the employer’s stated reasons were merely a pretext. Burdine, 450 U.S. at 252-56, 101 S.Ct. at 1093-95.

Plaintiff is a black male who sought a position as a group leader. This position was instead filled by a black female, Jerri Turner. Although Ms. Turner was originally at a lower rank than plaintiff, she possessed all the needed qualifications and, unlike plaintiff, had taken the required merit exam for group leader. Plaintiff’s superiors were all members of a minority class and the evidence shows that plaintiff was asked to succeed a black male, Jimmy Taylor, as group leader at the Babler Lodge residential facility. The Court finds that plaintiff has failed to establish a prima facie case that defendant discriminated against plaintiff because he is black.

Plaintiff’s parallel discrimination claim is that he was denied the group leader position at Group Home 12 because he is a male. Plaintiff further avers that defendant has failed to prove that a “bona fide occupational qualification (BFOQ)” existed, i.e., a justification for sex discrimination, which requires the position to be filled by a female. 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2(e).

As stated before, plaintiff is a black male who sought a position as group leader.

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Related

Darris v. Missouri Div. Of Youth Services
745 F.2d 62 (Eighth Circuit, 1984)

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Bluebook (online)
580 F. Supp. 1234, 1984 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19449, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/darris-v-missouri-department-of-social-services-division-of-youth-moed-1984.