Kearney v. City of Bridgeport Police Department

573 F. Supp. 2d 562, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 66747, 2008 WL 2930299
CourtDistrict Court, D. Connecticut
DecidedSeptember 2, 2008
Docket3:07-cv-01251 (WWE)
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 573 F. Supp. 2d 562 (Kearney v. City of Bridgeport Police Department) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Connecticut primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Kearney v. City of Bridgeport Police Department, 573 F. Supp. 2d 562, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 66747, 2008 WL 2930299 (D. Conn. 2008).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OF DECISION ON DEFENDANTS’ MOTION TO DISMISS

WARREN W. EGINTON, Senior District Judge.

This action arises from plaintiff Verna Kearney’s claims that defendants City of Bridgeport Police Department, Chief Bryan Norwood and Lieutenant David Daniels (1) discriminated against her on the basis of her race, color and gender by subjecting her to a hostile work environment in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title VII”); (2) retaliated against her for opposing discriminatory practices; (3) discriminated against her in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the federal Constitution; and (4) discriminated against her in violation of the Connecticut Fair Employment Practices Act (“CFE-PA”), Conn. Gen.Stat. § 46a-60(a)(3)(4). Now pending before the Court is defendant’s Motion to Dismiss (Doc; # 28).

The Court has jurisdiction over plaintiffs claims pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1331 as to plaintiffs federal law claims and pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1367 as to plaintiffs state law claim.

BACKGROUND

For purposes of ruling on a motion to dismiss, the Court accepts all allegations of the complaint as.true. 1

Plaintiff is an African-American female residing in the state of Connecticut. She began working for defendant City of Bridgeport Police Department as a police officer in February 1997 as a routine patrol officer. She also served as an instructor at the Bridgeport Police Academy and as booking officer at the Bridgeport Jail.

Defendant Norwood, at all relevant times, was Chief of Police of the City of Bridgeport Police Department. Defendant Daniels was, at all relevant times, plaintiffs immediate supervisor. Defendant Police Department was, at all relevant times, an employer with more than 15 employees.

In March 2001, plaintiff was approached by Captain Radzimirski to direct the Seniors’ Program. She was given the title of Director of CARES/TRIAD. Directing the program became a full-time position for plaintiff, and under her leadership, the program grew. During her time as director, plaintiffs performance evaluations were excellent.

*568 On or about August 2006, • defendant Daniels informed plaintiff that she would be reassigned to work as a¡ School Resource Officer (“SRO”) three days per week, but that she would remain at the Seniors’ Program for two days per week. Daniels told plaintiff that the reason for this change was that he needed additional resources and was redeploying several officers. Specifically, he needed police officers to do less community work and more traditional police work. In response, plaintiff filed a written discrimination complaint with defendant, alleging that she had been discriminated against based on her race.

On September 12, 2006, a group of seniors approached Bridgeport Mayor John Fabrizi to express their disappointment at plaintiffs removal from the program. Mayor Fabrizi indicated that he had confidence in defendant Norwood’s recommendation.

In or about August and September 2006, plaintiff learned' that a Hispanic male would be "replacing her. On October 10, 2006, she learned that Officer Nick Ortiz would officially be replacing her and be responsible for the Seniors’ Program.

Plaintiff claims that the director of the Seniors’ Program position was more prestigious than that of an SRO. Plaintiff also alleges that she has fulfilled the requirements to be director while Officer Ortiz does not.

Plaintiff further contends that she became humiliated with how she was treated by Daniels and his superiors for opposing what she believed was employment discrimination. Further, she argues that Daniels made her work environment hostile..

On October 4, 2006, plaintiff wrote to Daniels and Sergeant Meekins, with copies to Mayor Fabrizi and Norwood, that she believed that she was being discriminated against based on her race, color and gender. On October 11, 2006, Daniels informed plaintiff that she was being transferred back to “Patrol” and removed from her director position.

Plaintiff argues that while she served as director, she accrued compensatory time. When Ortiz took over, however, he was paid overtime pay instead of compensatory time.

Plaintiff asserts that she has exhausted the requisite administrative remedies prior to filing suit.

DISCUSSION

The function of a motion to dismiss is “merely to assess the legal feasibility of the complaint, not to assay the weight of the evidence which might be offered in support thereof.” Ryder Energy Distribution v. Merrill Lynch Commodities, Inc., 748 F.2d 774, 779 (2d Cir.1984). When deciding a motion to dismiss, the court must accept all well-pleaded allegations as true and draw all reasonable inferences in favor of the pleader. Hishon v. King, 467 U.S. 69, 73, 104 S.Ct. 2229, 81 L.Ed.2d 59 (1984). The complaint must contain the grounds upon which the claim rests through factual allegations sufficient “to raise a right to relief above, the speculative level.” Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, — U.S.-,-, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 1965, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007). A plaintiff is obliged to amplify a claim with some factual allegations in those contexts where such amplification is needed to render the claim plausible. Iqbal v. Hasty, 490 F.3d 143 (2d Cir.2007) (applying flexible “plausibility standard” to Rule 8 pleading).

I. Violation of the Title VII

Defendants seek dismissal of count I on the grounds that plaintiff has failed to allege any set of facts that support a claim under Title VII and that plaintiff has failed to describe an adverse employment action. *569 Count I of the complaint alleges that plaintiffs rights under Title VII were violated by the creation of a hostile work environment and the transfer of plaintiff as retaliation for opposing discriminatory practices.

Title VII provides that “[i]t shall be an unlawful employment practice for an employer ... to discriminate against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of such individual’s race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.... ” 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2(a)(l).

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Bluebook (online)
573 F. Supp. 2d 562, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 66747, 2008 WL 2930299, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kearney-v-city-of-bridgeport-police-department-ctd-2008.