Edmond v. Plainfield Board of Education

171 F. Supp. 3d 293, 128 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1773, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 36010
CourtDistrict Court, D. New Jersey
DecidedMarch 18, 2016
DocketNo. 11-cv-2805 (KM)(JBC)
StatusPublished
Cited by16 cases

This text of 171 F. Supp. 3d 293 (Edmond v. Plainfield Board of Education) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. New Jersey primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Edmond v. Plainfield Board of Education, 171 F. Supp. 3d 293, 128 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1773, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 36010 (D.N.J. 2016).

Opinion

[301]*301OPINION

KEVIN McNULTY, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE.

The plaintiff, Tyeast M. Edmond, is a social worker for the defendant Plainfield Board of Education (“the Board”)- Over the course of her tenure, plaintiff contends,' she was subjected to hostile, discriminatory and retaliatory behavior by her supervisors and coworkers. Ms. Edmond alleges that the Board should be liable under Title VII for racial discrimination, a hostile workplace environment, retaliation, and constructive termination. She also alleges' tort claims, including invasion of privacy and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Now before the Court is the Board’s motion for summary judgment as to all counts. For the reasons stated herein, it will be granted in part and denied in part.

I. BACKGROUND

A. Relevant Facts

1. Evergreen School

The Board hired Ms. Edmond to be a social worker at the Evergreen School in 2004. (Board Facts ¶ 2; Edmond Facts 23)1 In the fall of 2008, the Board made Wilson Aponte principal of Evergreen. (Board Facts ¶ 5; Edmond Facts 23). Mr. Aponte and Ms. Edmond quickly clashed. On December 10, 2008, Ms. Edmond wrote a letter to her union representative detailing three instances in which Mr. Aponte was very abrasive. (Ex. 20) On March 31, 2009, Ms. Edmond picked up a complaint form from the Board’s Office of administrative Services, and on April 3, 2009, Ms. Edmond filed a complaint with the Board’s Office of Affirmative Action. (Board Facts ¶¶ 19-21; Ex. 19) That form, which she filed with Dr. Garnell V. Bailey, was entitled “Discrimination/Harassment Complaint Form.” (Ex. 19 at 1) In it, Ms. Edmond details that Mr. Aponte was “verbally abusive toward [her]” and “very lenient with other staff members.” (Ex. 19 at 3MJ On June 15, 2009, Ms. Edmond filed a charge of discrimination with the EEOC, in which she alleged that Mr. Aponte “harassed her], show[ed] favoritism toward staff persons not of [her] race,” and that she was replaced by a “Hispanic Social Worker.” (Ex. 27 1-2; Board Facts ¶ 22)2

[302]*302One of the incidents complained of in the December 2008 letter involved Ms. Edmond and Milagros Mhenriquez. (Board Facts ¶ 18) Mr. Aponte yelled at both for getting in the way of a parent, even though they did not realize the parent was behind them. (Board Facts ¶ 18; Edmond Response ¶ 18; Ex. 20 at 2-3)

When Ms. Edmond filed her complaint with Dr. Bailey in April. 2009, Bailey told Edmond “if you are telling me that he is harassing you, I am going to have to transfer you ... If I do not move you then the courts will ask me why I let you stay in an environment where you (sic) feeling harassed.” (Board Facts ¶ 21 (citing Ex. 23); Edmond Response ¶ 21)

An investigation by the affirmative action office found that Mr. Aponte would speak in Spanish to Spanish-speaking employees, even though they also understood and spoke English. (Bailey Dep. 41:18-3, 53:4-6, 56:12-21) Dr. Bailey found this practice to be insensitive because non-Spanish speaking employees, like Ms. Edmond, could have perceived that Aponte was saying something derogatory even if he was not. (Bailey Dep. 41:18-42:3; 56:16-21) Bailey recommended that Aponte attend sensitivity training. (Bailey Dep. 52:15-18) In Bailey’s professional opinion, however, Aponte’s speaking Spanish to some employees was not discriminatory. (Bailey Dep. 52:11-14) On June 22, 2009, Dr. Bailey sent Ms. Edmond a memorandum reporting that the investigation of her claims resulted in a determination that her allegations of discrimination were unsubstantiated. (Board Facts ¶ 23; Ex. 28)3

The morning that Ms. Edmond filed her complaint with the affirmative action office, Mr. Aponte sent an email specifically asking Ms. Edmond to attend the third grade level meeting from 9:00 to 10:25 a.m. the following Thursday. (Ex. 40 at 261) Edmond responded with a request to be excused from the meeting at 9:30 a.m. because she had a lot of paperwork, calls, and planning for school events to take care of that day. Aponte denied her request. (Ex. 40 at 262) After the weekend, Edmond sent an email to Aponte recommending that Ms. Eagles be invited to the meeting, but added that Ms. Eagles was only available until 9:30 a.m. (Ex. 40 263) Mr. Aponte responded: “No problem and Ms. Eagles can provide additional input — keeping in mind that her time maybe (sic) limited.” (Ex. 40 at 263)

In the spring of 2009, Ms. Edmond received three successive notices informing her that she would be transferred to three different schools. The third and last transferred her to Cedarbrook, effective September 1,- 2009. (Edmond Response ¶ 21; Exs. G, 24-26)

2. Cedarbrook School

Upon arrival at Cedarbrook, Ms. Edmond was forced to share a small office with Tracey Easley-Card. (Board Facts ¶ 26; Edmond Facts 26-27) They clashed. (Board Facts ¶¶ 27-30; Edmond Response ¶¶ 27-28; Edmond Facts 27-30) Edmond also clashed with her new principal, Frank Asante, who, at a luncheon near the end of the 2009-10 school year said to the crowd: “This is Cedarbrook. If you mess with any members of this family, you’re out. It’s not your choice to go, it’s mine.” (Edmond Facts 30-31 (citing Ex. M at 2)) [303]*303Edmond felt that this statement was directed towards her, although her name was not used and she was not pointed at. (Edmond Facts 31; Ex. M)

Ms. Edmond again filed a complaint with the affirmative action office (Edmond Facts 31), and on May 13, 2010, she filed an EEOC complaint against Principal As-ante and others (Board Facts ¶ 32; Edmond Response ¶ 32; ECF No. 26 at Ex. A). In this EEOC complaint, Edmond alleged that her roles and responsibilities were reduced after she complained to human resources that she was being bullied and harassed by her colleagues. (ECF No. 26 at Ex. A)

On December 10, 2010, Mr. Asante wrote a letter to the superintendent asking for Ms. Edmond’s removal from Cedar-brook saying: “I don’t understand why she was allowed to come back to Cedarbrook after filing those charges especially since the same behavior had manifested itself in her previous school, prompting her transfer to Cedarbrook in the first place.” (Exs. M, 2)

On February 8, 2011, Ms. Edmond’s coworker Sandra Dabney filed a discrimination/harassment complaint against Edmond alleging that Edmond often threatened other participants at meetings if they did not agree with her assessment of a situation; that Ms. Edmond’s behavior was “disruptive, unpredictable, and intense”; and Dabney she felt “anxious” and “feared for her safety” when working with Edmond. (Board Facts ¶¶ 33-34; Edmond Response ¶¶ 33-34) At a meeting on March 8, 2011, the Board suspended Ms. Edmond indefinitely with pay and mandated that she undergo a psychiatric examination. (Edmond Facts 33; Board Facts ¶¶ 35, 42) The Board’s minutes state that they had sufficient evidence based on coworker complaints to find a “genuine and documented concern regarding Edmond’s mental health.” (Ex. K)

Maria Pellum, an advocate for school board transparency, made her regular request for the minutes from the March 8, 2011 meeting of the Board through New Jersey’s Open Public Records Act. (Board Facts ¶ 44; Edmond Response ¶ 43; Edmond Facts 35) The Board’s order that Ms. Edmond submit to a psychiatric evaluation was posted on the internet for a number of hours before Ms.

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Bluebook (online)
171 F. Supp. 3d 293, 128 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1773, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 36010, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/edmond-v-plainfield-board-of-education-njd-2016.