Green v. Evangeline Parish Police Jury

123 So. 3d 1272, 13 La.App. 3 Cir. 274, 2013 WL 5539295, 2013 La. App. LEXIS 2064
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedOctober 9, 2013
DocketNo. 13-274
StatusPublished

This text of 123 So. 3d 1272 (Green v. Evangeline Parish Police Jury) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Green v. Evangeline Parish Police Jury, 123 So. 3d 1272, 13 La.App. 3 Cir. 274, 2013 WL 5539295, 2013 La. App. LEXIS 2064 (La. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

GENOVESE, Judge.

|, Plaintiff, Phyllis J. Green, appeals an adverse judgment following a bench trial on her age, gender, and racial discrimination claims against Defendant, Evangeline Parish Police Jury (the Police Jury). The trial court ruled that Ms. Green failed to satisfy her evidentiary burden of proving that the Police Jury discriminated against her on the basis of age, gender, or race. For the following reasons, we affirm.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

On April 2, 2007, the Evangeline Parish Registrar of Voters, Ted Soileau, announced his resignation at a meeting of the [1274]*1274Police Jury.1 The Police Jury held a meeting to appoint a new Registrar of Voters on April 9, 2007,2 and four individuals were nominated for the position: Ms. Green, Doug Deville, Darrel McGee, and Lucas Buller. After two rounds of voting were held, Lucas Buller was appointed as the Registrar of Voters for Evangeline Parish.

Ms. Green filed suit on April 9, 2008, against the Police Jury alleging age, gender, and racial discrimination pursuant to the Louisiana Employment Discrimination Law (LEDL).3 According to Ms. Green’s petition, she “applied with [the Police Jury] to fill the job of Registrar of Voters, [but her] application was denied by [the Police Jury] at its regularly scheduled meeting on April 9, |⅞2007[,] for no reason.” Ms. Green further asserted that “she is an African-American female over the age of forty (40)[,]” and she has been “employed in the Registrar of Voters[’] office ... over thirty (30) years since July 15, 1976.” Ms. Green alleged that the Police Jury “appointed Lucas Buller, a white male under the age of forty (40) with no prior experience in the Registrar of Voters[’] officef,]” and, thus, “the denial of her application for appointment of Registrar of Voters and the appointment of Lucas Buller by [the Police Jury were] based on race, gender, and age discrimination by [the Police Jury] against [her].”

The Police Jury denied all allegations. A bench trial was held on November 19, 2012. On November 28, 2012, the trial court issued written Reasons for Judgment, recounting the evidence before it and explaining its decision, in pertinent part, as follows:

[T]he Police Jury met in an open meeting to appoint a successor to Mr. Soi-leau. At this meeting four (4) candidates were nominated for the position of Registrar. The four (4) candidates for the position of Registrar were Doug De-ville, who was the Secretary Treasurer for [the] Police Jury, Plaintiff, Phyllis J. Green, who was the Deputy Registrar of Voters, Darrel McGee, who was a self-employed businessman, and Lucas Bul-ler, who was a former Bank Vice President, who was then employed by Ronald J. Landreneau and Associates, a local engineering firm.
On the first ballot taken by the Jury, Darrel McGee received one vote, Phyllis J. Green received two votes, and both Doug Deville and Lucas Buller received three votes. A second ballot was taken wherein Lucas Buller received five (5) votes to Doug Deville’s four (4) votes. [Lucas] Buller was appointed as Registrar of Voters for Evangeline Parish.
Plaintiff, Phyllis J. Green filed this action against the Evangeline Parish Police Jury, contending that the Jury discriminated against her when it selected Lucas Buller to fill the job of Registrar of Voters for the Parish of Evangeline. [Phyllis] Green is [a woman] of African American descent who is above the age [1275]*1275of forty (40) who has been employed in the Registrar of Voters Office for a period exceeding thirty (30) years. [Lucas] Buller, on the other hand, is a |swhite male who was under the age of forty (40) at the time of his appointment.
[[Image here]]
At trial[,] the Court heard from former Registrar Ted Soileau, plaintiff Phyllis Green, former President of the Jury[,] Bill Guidry (now deceased) by deposition, current Police Juror Richard Thomas, former Juror Ronald Doucet, current Juror Eric Soileau, former Juror Sidney Fontenot, former Juror Davis Manual (by deposition), former Juror Bob Manual (by deposition), and former Juror Hill Johnson (by deposition).
In their live testimony, both African American Jurors who voted for Ms. Green’s appointment (Richard Thomas and Ronald Doucet) testified that they had no personal knowledge that race, gender, or age had anything to do with the votes east by the Jury.
In the testimony of the other Jurors, some of whom voted for Doug Deville or Lucas Buller, all testified that race, age, or gender had nothing to do with their decisions in casting their votes on the appointment.
Ms. Green in her testimony specifically told the Court that no Juror ever told her that she would not get the job because of her race, gender, or age. Ms. Green further testified that she had no personal knowledge or document which would show that her race, age or gender had any bearing on the way the Jurors voted.
The evidence indicates that the Jurors who voted for Mr. Deville did so for reasons arising out of his service to them in his capacity as Secretary Treasurer of the Evangeline Parish Police Jury. The evidence further indicates that those who voted for Mr. Buller did so for reasons of political alliance with Mr. Buller’s father who was a former colleague of theirs. Such evidence shows that the members of the Jury were not discriminating against Ms. Green for reasons of her race, gender, or age.

A judgment was signed on January 18, 2013. Ms. Green has appealed, asserting that the trial court erred in ruling that she failed to prove discrimination and, thereafter, dismissing her claims with prejudice.

LAW AND DISCUSSION
On review, an appellate court may not set aside a trial court’s finding of fact in the absence of manifest error or unless it is clearly wrong. Rosell v. ESCO, 549 So.2d 840 (La.1989). “[T]he issue to be |4resolved by the reviewing court is not whether the factfinder was right or wrong, but whether the factfin-der’s conclusion was a reasonable one.” Hanks v. Entergy Corp., 06-477, p. 23 (La.12/18/06), 944 So.2d 564, 580. If the findings are reasonable in light of the record reviewed in its entirety, a reviewing court may not reverse even though convinced that, had it been sitting as the trier of fact, it would have weighed the evidence differently. Id.

Montgomery v. C & C Self Enters., Inc., 10-705, p. 4 (La.App. 3 Cir. 3/30/11), 62 So.3d 279, 282, writ denied, 11-873 (La.6/3/11), 63 So.3d 1016 (alteration in original).

Louisiana Revised Statutes 23:312 governs discrimination in employment based on age and provides in part:

A. It is unlawful for an employer to engage in any of the following practices:
(1) Fail or refuse to hire, or to discharge, any individual or otherwise discriminate against any individual with re[1276]*1276spect to his compensation, or his terms, conditions, or privileges of employment because of the individual’s age.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green
411 U.S. 792 (Supreme Court, 1973)
Texas Department of Community Affairs v. Burdine
450 U.S. 248 (Supreme Court, 1981)
St. Mary's Honor Center v. Hicks
509 U.S. 502 (Supreme Court, 1993)
Reeves v. Sanderson Plumbing Products, Inc.
530 U.S. 133 (Supreme Court, 2000)
Hanks v. Entergy Corp.
944 So. 2d 564 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 2006)
Gradney v. LOUISIANA COMMERCIAL LAUNDRY
38 So. 3d 1115 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2010)
Rosell v. Esco
549 So. 2d 840 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1989)
Montgomery v. C & C SELF ENTERPRISES, INC.
62 So. 3d 279 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2011)
Derouen v. Malahmeh
61 So. 3d 693 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2011)
Taylor v. Oakbourne Country Club
846 So. 2d 959 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2003)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
123 So. 3d 1272, 13 La.App. 3 Cir. 274, 2013 WL 5539295, 2013 La. App. LEXIS 2064, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/green-v-evangeline-parish-police-jury-lactapp-2013.