Griffin v. Administrator

690 F. Supp. 52, 1988 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7076, 47 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 38,379, 47 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1771, 1988 WL 73542
CourtDistrict Court, District of Columbia
DecidedJuly 13, 1988
DocketCiv. A. No. 87-1956
StatusPublished

This text of 690 F. Supp. 52 (Griffin v. Administrator) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, District of Columbia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Griffin v. Administrator, 690 F. Supp. 52, 1988 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7076, 47 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 38,379, 47 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1771, 1988 WL 73542 (D.D.C. 1988).

Opinion

CHARLES R. RICHEY, District Judge.

Introduction

Plaintiff was employed as the Chief of the Agency for International Development’s (AID) Travel Support Branch. In August, 1978, she filed a formal complaint charging AID with sex, race, and color discrimination. Plaintiff revised this complaint in July, 1980.

On January 22, 1982, the parties entered into a agreement settling plaintiff’s complaint. The agreement stated that it was the “full and final settlement” of both plaintiff’s revised complaint and an unspecified complaint then in the counseling stage. Administrative Record 2.1 Plaintiff agreed to abandon her complaints in exchange for the Agency’s agreement “to arrange for a classification audit of the duties and responsibilities of the positions occupied by the complainant in SER/MO2 since February 9, 1975.” The agreement further stated that “[t]he audit will be carried out by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) as soon as possible.” Id.

The agreement also stated that both parties “mutually agree to abide by the findings of the audit.” Id. The Agency [54]*54agreed to promote plaintiff retroactively if the audit determined that her position had been improperly classified; plaintiff agreed to “accept the findings of the audit in full and complete satisfaction of the complaints” she had filed, regardless of her satisfaction with the audit itself. Id.

On September 22, 1982, the Office of Personnel Management issued its “advisory classification opinions” concerning the classification of plaintiffs positions from 1975 through September 1982. Administrative Record, at 3. OPM found that, although the job descriptions for positions plaintiff occupied were inadequate, the positions had been properly classified. Id. at 24. Plaintiff apparently did not ask OPM to reconsider its opinion but returned to AID, where she charged that the OPM investigation was flawed and asked AID to reopen her complaint. Id. at 48-49. AID refused to do so, and instead issued a final agency decision finding that the agency had fully complied with the terms of the settlement agreement. Id. at 49.

On February 23, 1983, plaintiff filed suit in this Court and challenged the position classification. On May 23, 1983, plaintiff dismissed the case, without prejudice, in order to ask the OPM Classification Appeals Office to review the classification of her job position. Id. at 31. In a decision that explicitly stated it was based on plaintiffs then-current duties, and not on duties plaintiff had performed in the past, id., the Classifications Appeals Office found that plaintiffs current duties were improperly classified and upgraded her position from the GS-8 level to the GS-9 level. Id.

Plaintiff then asked AID to reopen the discrimination complaints that had been the subject of the settlement agreement. Plaintiff argued that the decision of the Classification Appeals Office was not based on new duties and assignments but represented a review and rejection of OPM’s prior “advisory classification opinions” that had approved the classification of plaintiffs position. Id. On May 17, 1985, AID rejected plaintiffs request. Plaintiff appealed to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s Office of Hearings and Appeals.

On July 31, 1985, plaintiff filed another discrimination complaint. The defendant rejected this complaint on September 5, 1985, as it found that the complaint raised matters identical to those raised in the 1978 complaint. Plaintiff appealed this decision to the EEOC’s Office of Review and Appeals, which consolidated this action with plaintiff’s earlier-filed appeal. On June 17, 1987, the Office of Review and Appeals issued a final decision finding that the agency had fully complied with the settlement agreement, had acted properly in refusing to reopen plaintiff’s 1978 complaint, and had properly rejected plaintiff’s 1985 discrimination complaint as raising matters identical to those raised in the 1978 action. Id. at 47-53.

Plaintiff thereupon brought this suit asking for reinstatement of her discrimination and reprisal complaints. Now before the Court are cross-motions for summary judgment. The Court has considered the motions, the legal memoranda submitted by both parties, the administrative record, the arguments presented in open court, and the underlying law. The Court finds that the material facts are undisputed and that summary judgment is appropriate in this case. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 56; see also, e.g., Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, 477 U.S. 242, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). The Court further finds that it must grant defendant’s motion for summary judgment in part and deny that motion in part; it must also grant plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment in part and deny plaintiff’s motion in part.

DEFENDANTS ARE ENTITLED TO SUMMARY JUDGMENT WITH RESPECT TO ALL CLAIMS THAT WERE SUBJECT TO THE 1982 SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT.

The terms of the Settlement Agreement are clear. Under that Agreement, the agency:

agrees to arrange for a classification audit of the duties and responsibilities of the positions occupied by the complainant [55]*55in SER/MO since February 9, 1975. The audit will be carried out'by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) as soon as possible. The Agency will take all measures possible to expedite the audit.
The Agency and the complainant mutually agree to abide by the findings of the audit.

Administrative Record at 2. At oral argument, the parties agreed that defendant did not undertake any obligations toward plaintiff other than those spelled out in this agreement.

Like any settlement agreement, this agreement was an enforceable contract; absent a breach by defendant, plaintiff is bound by her consent to the settlement. See, e.g., New Mexico ex rel Energy and Minerals Department v. Department of the Interior, 820 F.2d 441, 445 (D.C.Cir. 1987); Antera v. Robinson, 419 F.2d 1197, 1201 n. 17 (D.C.Cir.1969). From the facts of this case, it is clear that defendant did not breach the agreement.

The Settlement Agreement was signed on January 22, 1982. Administrative Record, at 2. On September 22, 1982, the Office of Personnel Management issued “advisory classification opinions” finding that plaintiff had been properly classified as a GS-7 employee from February 9, 1975 through November 29, 1981, and as a GS-8 employee from that date forward. Id. at 6-24. At oral argument, the parties agreed that these “advisory classification opinions” constituted the audit required by the settlement agreement. Accordingly, it is obvious that AID did exactly what the express terms of the settlement agreement contemplated: it arranged for an audit, which occurred as quickly as the bureaucracy can reasonably be expected to operate.

Plaintiff suggests that the agreement was breached in several respects. First, plaintiff takes issue with the substantive findings of the “advisory classification opinions.” This she may not do.

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690 F. Supp. 52, 1988 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7076, 47 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 38,379, 47 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1771, 1988 WL 73542, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/griffin-v-administrator-dcd-1988.