Moore v. Carson

322 F. Supp. 3d 163
CourtCourt of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
DecidedAugust 24, 2018
DocketCivil Action No. 14-2109 (JDB)
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 322 F. Supp. 3d 163 (Moore v. Carson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Moore v. Carson, 322 F. Supp. 3d 163 (D.C. Cir. 2018).

Opinion

JOHN D. BATES, United States District Judge

Andrew Moore, a former employee of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development ("HUD"), is an African-American man over sixty-seven years old. He alleges that while he was employed at HUD, the agency took adverse employment actions against him because of his race, sex, and age and in retaliation for filing a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC"). The Court previously entered summary judgment in HUD's favor on all of Moore's claims but one: his claim that HUD subjected him to a hostile work environment because of his age in violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act ("ADEA"), 29 U.S.C. § 621 et seq. The parties have now filed cross-motions for summary judgment on that claim and, for the reasons that follow, Moore's summary judgment motion will be denied, and HUD's will be granted.

BACKGROUND

I. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

The facts of this case are explained more fully in the Court's prior decisions. See Moore v. Castro ("Moore I"), 192 F.Supp.3d 18, 31-32 (D.D.C. 2016) ; Moore v. Carson ("Moore II"), Civil Action No. 14-2109 (JDB), 2017 WL 1750248, at *1 (D.D.C. May 3, 2017). Thus, the facts are summarized here only briefly.

In 2014, Moore was selected as a finalist for the Presidential Management Fellowship ("PMF") by the Office of Personnel Management. Moore I, 192 F.Supp.3d at 31. Moore then interviewed with HUD and was hired for what he believed to be a "management position." Id. However, when Moore began the job in April 2014, he was disappointed to discover that he had been hired as a building inspector rather than a manager. Id. He was also disappointed that other PMF employees with less education and management experience had been assigned to higher pay grades. Id. at 31-32.

According to Moore, HUD hired him as a PMF and then pushed him into a lower-paying job for which he was less qualified because of his race, gender, and age. See Am. Compl. [ECF No. 12] ¶¶ 61, 66, 126(a). Moore claims that this discrimination continued throughout his employment and culminated later in 2014, when three of his supervisors "made offensive and insulting remarks or comments suggesting that Moore worked too slow, suffered from a memory loss, had a learning inability, and could not sufficiently comprehend ... because of his age." Id. ¶ 88. Moore was fired from HUD on September 24, 2014 on what he alleges were "false trumped-up charges." Id. ¶¶ 107-08.

II. PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

After filing two Equal Employment Opportunity ("EEO") complaints and an *166EEOC age discrimination claim, Moore brought suit in this court on December 11, 2014. See id. ¶¶ 17, 19. The defendants (who originally included nine individual HUD employees, as well as then-Secretary of HUD Julian Castro) moved to dismiss or, in the alternative, for summary judgment. See Defs.' Mot. to Dismiss & Mot. for Summ. J. [ECF No. 20]. Moore opposed the motion, arguing that he had not yet been able to engage in discovery, and moved to disqualify the undersigned judge. See Pl.'s Resp. to Defs.' Mot. to Dismiss & Mot. for Summ. J. [ECF No. 29] at 18-19; Pl.'s Mot. to Disqualify [ECF No. 53]. The Court granted in part and denied in part defendants' motion and denied Moore's disqualification motion. See Moore I, 192 F.Supp.3d at 34, 54. Following the Court's partial grant of summary judgment for defendants, Moore's only surviving claim was one alleging a hostile work environment in violation of the ADEA. See id. at 54.

Moore then moved to vacate the Court's June 17, 2016 Order. See Pl.'s Mot. to Vacate [ECF No. 63]. The Court held Moore's motion in abeyance pending his simultaneous appeal of that Order, which the D.C. Circuit ultimately dismissed for lack of jurisdiction. See Moore v. Castro, No. 16-5361, Order (D.C. Cir. Feb. 6, 2017) (per curiam) (unpublished). Following that appeal, this Court denied Moore's motion to vacate. Moore II, 2017 WL 1750248, at *7.

The remaining ADEA claim proceeded to discovery, and Moore later moved for summary judgment. See Pl.'s Mot. for Summ. J. [ECF No. 92]. HUD filed a consolidated opposition and cross-motion for summary judgment, which Moore now opposes. See Mem. of Law in Supp. of Def.'s Cross-Mot. for Summ. J. & Resp. to Pl.'s Mot. for Summ. J. ("Def.'s Opp'n") [ECF No. 107]; Pl.'s Opp'n to Def.'s Cross-Mot. for Summ. J. ("Pl.'s Opp'n") [ECF No. 108]; Pl.'s Reply Mem. in Supp. of Mot for Summ. J. ("Pl.'s Reply") [ECF No. 110]. The parties' motions are now fully briefed and ripe for decision.1

LEGAL STANDARD

A party is entitled to summary judgment where the pleadings and evidence "show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law." Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986) (quoting Fed. R. Civ. P. 56 ). On a motion for summary judgment, "[t]he evidence of the non-movant is to be believed, and all justifiable inferences are to be drawn in his favor." Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc.

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Bluebook (online)
322 F. Supp. 3d 163, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/moore-v-carson-cadc-2018.