Davis v. Kansas City Housing Authority

822 F. Supp. 609, 138 A.L.R. Fed. 667, 1993 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7422, 61 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1577, 1993 WL 178702
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Missouri
DecidedMay 25, 1993
DocketNo. 91-0750-CV-W-3
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 822 F. Supp. 609 (Davis v. Kansas City Housing Authority) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Missouri primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Davis v. Kansas City Housing Authority, 822 F. Supp. 609, 138 A.L.R. Fed. 667, 1993 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7422, 61 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1577, 1993 WL 178702 (W.D. Mo. 1993).

Opinion

ORDER

ELMO B. HUNTER, Senior District Judge.

This case involves the plaintiffs claim of discriminatory treatment in the workplace on the basis of her race, white. Plaintiff made claims under both Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Missouri Human Rights Act (“MHRA”). After a jury trial on her state law claim, a verdict was rendered in plaintiffs favor for $35,474.44 in actual damages and $25,000.00 in punitive damages.

Now pending before the Court is plaintiffs Title VII claim, which was tried to the Court simultaneously with plaintiffs state law claim, and defendant’s post-trial motions seeking to dismiss the state law claim on grounds of lack of subject matter jurisdiction, lack of pendent jurisdiction,1 and Elev[613]*613enth Amendment sovereign immunity. While defendant’s motions are creative and filled with grotesquely long string-cites, the Court finds them to be unpersuasive on the instant facts.

Furthermore, the Court finds that plaintiff was illegally discriminated against on the basis of her race and that relief pursuant to Title VII is appropriate. This finding is made of the Court’s own independent view of the facts, although it is arguable that on common issues of fact, the Court is bound by the jury’s findings. See Fray v. Omaha World Herald, 960 F.2d 1370, 1378 (8th Cir. 1992); Williamson v. Handy Button Mach. Co., 817 F.2d 1290 (7th Cir.1987). The Court’s findings of fact and conclusions of law and the discussion of defendant’s other motions follow.

I. FINDINGS OF FACT

Linda Davis is a white female citizen of the United States. She was employed by the defendant Housing Authority of Kansas City (“HAKC”) as a live-in property manager from November 5, 1988, until September 2, 1990.2 Plaintiff was assigned to manage the defendant’s Heritage Manor property, which is a low-income housing project that primarily serves elderly and handicapped residents. The defendant is a statutory municipal corporation organized and existing under the laws of the State of Missouri.

Shortly after beginning her employment with the defendant, the plaintiff came under the supervision of Ms. Annie West^Gates, who is black. Ms. Davis was the only white property manager supervised by Ms. Gates. From the outset, Ms. Davis’s employment was marked by disparate treatment and deliberate attempts by Ms. Gates and others to make plaintiffs job more difficult than was necessary.

Upon arrival at Heritage House, Ms. Davis had clerical support from Mr. Robert Jones, who is black. Shortly after Ms. Davis’s arrival at Heritage House, Mr. Jones was reassigned to other duties within the HAKC. Mr. Jones was not replaced. Furthermore, Ms. Davis did not receive adequate training on how to complete the paperwork associated with her job, which later became a source of conflict between plaintiff and her supervisor.

It is undisputed that Ms. Davis was an exemplary employee in the area of tenant relations. Following her coming on to the job, rent collections and living conditions went up, while incidents of crime went down. This was exactly what hiring a live-in property manager for Heritage Manor was supposed to accomplish.3 In spite of this success at what one would presume a housing authority is trying to accomplish, Ms. Davis was repeatedly chastised and criticized for turning in her paperwork late or technically defective. Ms. Davis was not offered additional training or other assistance as a means to correct any alleged deficiencies in her paperwork.

Defendant also made it more difficult for Ms. Davis to properly prepare for a standardized property manager’s examination she was required to take and pass. Plaintiff was not provided with a substitute manager to perform her duties while she was preparing to take the exam while the other black property managers were. Furthermore, Ms. Davis was denied assistance in moving out of her apartment, forcing her to make the move herself shortly before the exam. Ms. Davis had volunteered to move out of her apartment to ensure that one of the residents would not have to move out of the building. Ms. Davis, who failed the exam, was placed on probation as a result of that failure while [614]*614other black property managers who had also failed were not. .

Ms. Davis’s attempt to move to unused space was also marred by a failure of the defendant to treat her fairly. She was forced to live in sub-standard housing, which included gaps between the wall and floor that led directly into the basement trash room, and when work was “completed,” it was shoddy and resulted in damage to her personal belongings. At one point during the months her new living quarters were being readied, Ms. Davis was forced to obtain offsite living space due to the condition of her assigned space.

Shortly before her resignation, Ms. Davis was called into Mr. Sanders’s office and informed that the maintenance man at her building, Verle Norton, had filed a written complaint that she had offered him sexual favors in return for maintenance work. Following the meeting, Mr. Sanders suggested that Ms. Davis may as well resign since she would likely be fired anyway. Shortly thereafter, Ms. Davis did in fact submit a letter of resignation “under protest.” The sexual favor incident was not mentioned by the defendant in any later correspondence and a written charge of that allegation was never produced.

In the nearly two years that Ms. Davis was employed by the defendant, her rate of pay went from $7.29 per hour to $7.54 per hour. Other property managers were normally paid at a starting rate of pay of $9.42 per hour. In fact, no other property manager was paid below $9.42 per hour and the majority of defendant’s property managers were paid over $10.00 per hour.

The defendant was aware of the race based harassment and disparate treatment suffered by Ms. Davis.

II. CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

This Court has jurisdiction over plaintiffs Title VII claim (Count 1) pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(f). This Court has jurisdiction over plaintiffs Missouri Human Rights Act claim (Count 2) pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1367. Venue is proper in this district pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1391.

Ms. Davis was an employee of defendant as that term is defined by Title VII. Defendant Housing Authority of Kansas City is an employer within the meaning of that term as provided by Title VII.

The plaintiff has satisfied all statutory prerequisites for bringing this Title VII civil action.

When the totality of the circumstances are considered, the plaintiff has established that: 1) she is a member of a protected class; 2) she was subjected to unwelcome harassment and disparate treatment; 3) that harassment and disparate treatment was based upon her race; 4) the harassment affected the terms and conditions of her employment; and 5) the defendant knew of such harassment and failed to take appropriate remedial action.

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822 F. Supp. 609, 138 A.L.R. Fed. 667, 1993 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7422, 61 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1577, 1993 WL 178702, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/davis-v-kansas-city-housing-authority-mowd-1993.