Hansborough v. City of Elkhart Parks & Recreation Department

802 F. Supp. 199, 1992 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14801, 60 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 41,867, 59 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1602
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Indiana
DecidedSeptember 30, 1992
DocketS91-13
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 802 F. Supp. 199 (Hansborough v. City of Elkhart Parks & Recreation Department) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Indiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hansborough v. City of Elkhart Parks & Recreation Department, 802 F. Supp. 199, 1992 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14801, 60 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 41,867, 59 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1602 (N.D. Ind. 1992).

Opinion

ORDER ON DEFENDANT’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

ALLEN SHARP, Chief Judge.

I. PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Plaintiff Harold W. Hansborough, Jr. initially filed charges with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) after being terminated from his position with the defendant, City of Elkhart Parks and Recreation Department (“City of Elk-hart”) on July 5, 1990. A “right to sue” letter was issued by the EEOC to Mr. Hansborough on December 3, 1990. 1 The plaintiff filed suit in this court on January 9, 1991 pursuant to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 for employment discrimination. 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000e — 2000e-17. The court granted the plaintiff’s petition to proceed in forma pauperis on January 9, 1991. On January 24, 1991 the plaintiff moved the court to appoint legal counsel to represent him. The court held a pre-trial conference on this matter on May 10, 1991 at which time the plaintiff appeared pro se, and the court agreed to attempt to appoint counsel for the plaintiff. On June 27, 1991, Bryon Berry entered his appearance on behalf of the plaintiff. On September 17, 1991 the court held a telephonic pre-trial conference in this matter, and a schedule for proceeding with this case was established.

On October 30, 1991 the plaintiff filed an amended complaint. The defendant filed a motion for summary judgment on August 13, 1992. As of this date, no response has been filed by the plaintiff. Nonetheless, this court now proceeds with its ruling on the motion pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. Rules 12(c) and 56 and Local Rule 9.

II.ISSUES PRESENTED

The plaintiff alleges that he has been discriminated against in violation of Title VII by his supervisors at the City of Elk-hart’s Mayor’s Summer Youth Corp Program; The Recreation Supervisor for the Parks and Recreation Department and the supervisor of the Mayor’s Summer Youth Corp Program, Ben Barnes, is a black male. The plaintiff’s immediate supervisor, Virta Vance, is a black female. Mr. Hansborough is alleging both race and sex discrimination. Thus, the first issue this court must address is whether intraracial *201 discrimination is actionable under Title VII. The exact issue before this court is whether discrimination by a black individual against another black individual because of the fact that he is a black person is actionable under the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“1964 Act”) 2 .

For the reasons expressed below, this court holds that intraracial discrimination is actionable under Title VII. Given this finding, the court then addresses a second issue: whether Hansborough has sustained his burden of proof to establish his prima facie case of discrimination under Title VII.

III. SUMMARY JUDGMENT

Summary judgment is proper if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories and admissions on file, together with any affidavits, show that there exists no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56; accord Juarez v. Ameritech Mobile Communications, 957 F.2d 317, 320 (7th Cir.1992). A material question of fact is a question which will be outcome determinative of an issue in that case. Wainwright Bank v. Railroadmens Federal Sav., 806 F.2d 146 (7th Cir.1986).

While generally, “Summary Judgment is only appropriate when the record reveals that no reasonable jury could find for the nonmoving party, ... this general standard is applied with added rigor in employment discrimination cases, where intent is inevitably the central issue.” McCoy v. WGN Continental Broadcasting Co., 957 F.2d 368, 370-371 (7th Cir.1992) (citations omitted). Still, “[sjummary judgment will not be defeated simply because issues of motive or- intent are involved, and is proper when the plaintiff fails to indicate any motive or intent to support plaintiffs position.” Rush v. McDonald’s Corp., 966 F,2d 1104, 1109 (7th Cir.1992) (quoting Morgan v. Harris Trust & Savings Bank, 867 F,2d 1023, 1026 (7th Cir.1989)). The most recent, thorough discussions of Rule 56 by the Supreme Court of the United States can be found in a trilogy of cases decided in 1986. See Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986); Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986) 3 ; and Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). Celotex addressed the initial burdens of the parties under Rule 56, and Anderson addressed the standards under which the record is to be analyzed within the structure of Rule 56.

After Celotex, it is clear that a non-moving party may not rest on its pleadings to avoid summary judgment. Celotex, 477 U.S. at 325-26, 106 S.Ct. at 2554. See also, Lujan v. National Wildlife Federation, 497 U.S. 871, 110 S.Ct. 3177, 111 L.Ed.2d 695 (7th Cir.1990); and Zayre Corp. v. S.M. & R. Co., 882 F.2d 1145 (7th Cir.1989). “The days are gone, if they ever existed, when the nonmoving party could sit back and simply poke holes in the moving party’s summary judgment motion.” Fitzpatrick v. Catholic Bishop of Chicago, 916 F.2d 1254, 1256 (7th Cir.1990). The initial *202 burden is on the moving party to demonstrate “with or without supporting affidavits” the absence of a genuine issue of material fact and that judgment, as a matter of law, should be granted in the moving party’s favor. Celotex, 477 U.S. at 324, 106 S.Ct. at 2553 (quoting Rule 56). Once the moving party has met the initial burden, the opposing party must “go beyond the pleadings” and “designate ‘specific facts showing that there is a genuine [material] issue for trial.’ ” Id. Furthermore, in Anderson, the Court held that what facts are material in a specific case shall be determined by the substantive law controlling that case or issue. Anderson, 477 U.S. at 248, 106 S.Ct. at 2510. In addition, the Court went on to interpret Rule 56 as requiring that courts analyze summary judgment motions utilizing the standard of proof relevant to the specific case or issue.

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802 F. Supp. 199, 1992 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14801, 60 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 41,867, 59 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1602, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hansborough-v-city-of-elkhart-parks-recreation-department-innd-1992.