David Harrell v. Gerald Robinson

703 F. App'x 440
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
DecidedAugust 21, 2017
Docket16-2845
StatusUnpublished

This text of 703 F. App'x 440 (David Harrell v. Gerald Robinson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
David Harrell v. Gerald Robinson, 703 F. App'x 440 (8th Cir. 2017).

Opinion

PER CURIAM.

Plaintiff David Harrell was terminated by the Jefferson County Sheriffs Office (JCSO) in 2009. Harrell alleges that he was terminated in retaliation for his complaint that JCSO employees had discriminated against him on the basis of race. He further alleges that JCSO employees later retaliated against him by providing negative references to other prospective employers. The district court 1 dismissed Harrell’s retaliation claims at summary judgment. Harrell appeals, and we affirm.

I.

David Harrell was hired as a detention deputy by the JCSO on March 15, 2007. He was promoted to full time patrol deputy on June 1, 2007. In the span of one month between December 23, 2008 and January 24, 2009, Harrell was involved in three separate auto accidents while on duty. The JCSO determined that the first two accidents were not Harrell’s fault. Although he claims that he was not at fault in the third accident, it resulted in his being suspended without pay for thirty days and moved to the JCSO’s warrant division.

*442 Harrell, ‘who is Caucasian, stated in an affidavit that at some point before October 2009 he told JCSO Sergeant Randy Dolphin and Lieutenant Thaddeus Handley that he believed the investigation into his third auto accident was one sided and racially discriminatory. The affidavit further states that Dolphin and Handley told Harrell “to leave it alone” and that as long as he “stayed good, a complaint about discrimination would not go in” his file. Harrell interpreted these statements to be a threat.

On October 6, 2009, Harrell received a call from a friend who said that she had driven into a ditch close to Harrell’s home and needed help. Harrell was off duty but went to help the friend. Corporal Mark Harper also responded to the site, and he later alleged that he had been able to smell intoxicants on Harrell’s breath. It appeared to him that Harrell was attempting to help his intoxicated friend evade the law, which Harrell denies. The JCSO began an internal investigation with Sergeant Lafayette Woods in charge. During the course of the investigation, Sergeant Woods discovered that Harrell had worked as an off duty security officer at Bad Bob’s Night Club on October 3, 2009 while wearing his battle dress uniform without prior authorization. This was a violation of JCSO policy.

The JSCO scheduled a polygraph for Harrell as part of its investigation. On the day of the scheduled exam, Harrell’s pregnant fiancée was admitted to a hospital after losing a significant amount of blood. Harrell subsequently learned that her baby needed to be delivered that day and that her life and that of the baby were at risk. Harrell appeared for the polygraph appointment and was told that it would take several hours and that the results would likely be invalid because of his stress and lack of sleep. Harrell contacted Woods to explain the situation and his concerns. Woods told him to make the right choice and take the polygraph, but Harrell responded that he was willing to take the exam another time. Harrell then returned to the hospital.

On the same day, Woods concluded his investigation of Harrell which found him to have been uncooperative and deceptive and to have violated a number of JCSO policies. Woods recommended that Sheriff Gerald Robinson discharge Harrell, attempt to decertify him as a police officer, and place a letter in his personnel file to prevent his rehiring. Robinson agreed with Woods’ recommendation, and Harrell was fired on November 3, 2009. Robinson then sought to have Harrell decertified by the Arkansas Commission on Law Enforcement Standards and Training, a standard process. In Harrell’s case, however, the Commission ultimately voted not to decer-tify him. On- February 2, 2010, Harrell filed an EEOC charge claiming that he had been disciplined and discharged by the JCSO because of his race “and in retaliation for opposing unlawful disciplinary actions in the past in violation of Title VII.”

After Harrell was fired, he found it difficult to obtain employment in the law enforcement field. He first applied to the Pine Bluff Police Department. JCSO Chief Deputy Stanley James subsequently wrote to the chief of the Pine Bluff Police Department on January 11, 2010. James reported in the letter about Harrell’s termination and the JCSO’s request that he be decertified. Harrell did not receive an offer of employment from Pine Bluff at that time, but that department did hire him years later.

Harrell also applied to the Hot Springs Police Department which notified him on November 22, 2011 that he had been ranked number one among twenty three applicants.- Some time after that, a Hot *443 Springs employee did a background check on him which included contact with the JCSO. Harrell had given broad written permission for his previous employers to disclose his past employment records, including “personnel information however personal or confidential it may appear to be.” The Hot Springs request also asked for “any information contained in investigatory files, ... complaints or grievances ... and any internal affairs investigations and discipline, including any files which are deemed to be confidential, and/or sealed.” In response to the Hot Springs request, the JCSO submitted documents from Harrell’s employment file. These included Harrell’s EEOC complaint against the JCSO and a transcript from the preliminary decertification hearing where Sergeant Woods and Sheriff Robinson had described misconduct by Harrell. The record does not indicate whether the JCSO possessed or disclosed any additional documents, but the Hot Springs Police Department notified Harrell on March 1, 2012 that he had not received the position he sought.

Harrell sued JCSO employees Robinson, Woods, and James in the Western District of Arkansas, alleging they had unlawfully discriminated against him on the basis of race and military service, retaliated against him for reporting such discrimination, and violated the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). He also sued the City of Hot Springs for failing to hire him. All defendants moved for summary judgment. The district court granted the motion of Hot Springs and transferred the case to the Eastern District of Arkansas.

After the case was transferred, the JCSO defendants renewed their summary judgment motion. The court granted their motion on all of Harrell’s claims except his claims under the FMLA and for racial discrimination. Harrell later voluntarily dismissed his racial discrimination claims, and a trial was held on his FMLA claim. The jury found in favor of the defendants. Harrell now appeals the district court’s summary judgment order, arguing that the court had erred by dismissing his retaliation claims.

II.

We review de novo the grant of summary judgment and view the facts in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party, making every reasonable inference in its favor. Bradford v. Palmer, 855 F.3d 890, 892 (8th Cir. 2017). Summary judgment is appropriate “if the record shows there is no genuine issue of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law,” Id. (quoting McPherson v. O’Reilly Auto., Inc., 491 F.3d 726, 730 (8th Cir. 2007)).

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703 F. App'x 440, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/david-harrell-v-gerald-robinson-ca8-2017.