Nelson v. Pulaski County Sheriff's Department

859 F. Supp. 1228, 1994 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11245, 65 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1563, 1994 WL 423445
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Arkansas
DecidedAugust 12, 1994
DocketNo. LR-C-93-201
StatusPublished

This text of 859 F. Supp. 1228 (Nelson v. Pulaski County Sheriff's Department) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Nelson v. Pulaski County Sheriff's Department, 859 F. Supp. 1228, 1994 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11245, 65 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1563, 1994 WL 423445 (E.D. Ark. 1994).

Opinion

ORDER

ROY, District Judge.

Plaintiff has brought his employment related race discrimination case pursuant to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e. More specifically, he alleges that he was not hired for a position with the Pulaski County Sheriffs Department because of his race. He properly first sought and obtained a notice of right to sue letter from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission dated December 24, 1992.

The Court presided over a bench trial during which Mr. Nelson’s ease was presented. After having examined all the evidence put on at trial, together with the several pleadings submitted by the parties, including post trial briefs, the Court now makes its findings of fact and conclusions of law.1

I.

Mr. Darel Nelson, an adult black male, applied for employment with the sheriffs department on or about November 27, 1989. Earlier that year the department had been directed by court order (in an unrelated lawsuit) to bunk a larger number of prisoners at the county jail (the “double bunk order”). This necessitated the hiring of ten new jailers. The Department then directed the county personnel office to advertise these new openings. It was for one of these jailer positions, and also for a separate investigator position, that plaintiff applied.2

After the personnel office cheeked the applications for minimum qualifications, several dozen, including the plaintiffs, were forwarded to the sheriffs department. Sheriff Gra-vett had delegated to Captain James White, the Jail Administrator, full authority to screen and interview the applicants. White’s tentative selections were to be then forwarded to the Sheriff for final official approval and hiring.

Captain White testified that when determining which applicants would be selected for interviews and further processing, he would consider the applicant’s education, training, job history, job stability, military service, his own personal knowledge of the applicant, if any, and the applicant’s references. White would examine the applications and, applying those criteria, “red flag” any portion of an application which gave him concern that the applicant might not be suitable for the position applied for. Those applications would then be set aside.

[1230]*1230If the remaining applications were of sufficient number to provide a suitably large pool of applicants for further processing, then the flagged applications would receive no further consideration. On the other hand, if the resulting “clean” pool was deemed too small, then flagged applications could be considered again.

Those whose applications were not flagged were granted interviews. Those not rejected after the interview were given a psychological examination, a physical examination, and subjected to a background investigation by an officer with the Department. Those remaining after passing through these additional filters had their names submitted to the Sheriff who would then make the final decision as to hiring.

The plaintiff was not hired by the Department, nor was he selected for an interview. Five of the ten people eventually hired to satisfy the new requirements caused by the “double-bunking” order had already applied and interviewed prior to the plaintiffs application on November 27, 1989. The earliest hire date was January 4, 1990. All five were white. Five additional hires were made; all of them were also white. In other words, all ten of the new jailers hired were white.3

Captain White testified that he flagged the plaintiffs application for three reasons. First, he was suspicious that the applicant was not being truthful when he stated he had received an “honorable” discharge from the Navy after only serving two years. Second, the application indicated plaintiff left the Arkansas Department of Corrections to “relocate,” yet showed his next employment to be in Little Rock, which would have required no relocation (the plaintiff was living in Little Rock at the time). Third, Captain White perceived a propensity on the part of the applicant to change jobs frequently.

II.

Section 703(a)(1) of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 provides in relevant part:

It shall be an unlawful employment practice for an employer—
“(1) ... to discharge any individual, or otherwise to discriminate against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of such individual’s race.... ”

42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2(a).

An allocation of the burden of production and an order for the presentation of proof in Title VII discrimination cases was established by the Supreme Court in McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 802-06, 93 S.Ct. 1817, 1824-26, 36 L.Ed.2d 668 (1973). “The plaintiff in such a case ... must first establish, by a preponderance of the evidence, a ‘prima facie’ case of racial discrimination.” St. Mary’s Honor Center v. Hicks, — U.S. —, —, 113 S.Ct. 2742, 2746-47, 125 L.Ed.2d 407 (1993).

[1231]*1231Once accomplished, the defendant then has “the burden of producing an explanation to rebut the prima facie ease — ie., the burden of ‘producing evidence’ that the adverse employment actions were taken ‘for a legitimate, nondiseriminatory reason.’” Id. at -, 113 S.Ct. at 2747 (quoting Texas Dept. of Community Affairs v. Burdine, 450 U.S. 248, 254, 101 S.Ct. 1089, 1094, 67 L.Ed.2d 207 (1981)).

If the defendant is successful, the plaintiff then has the “ ‘ultimate burden of persuading the trier of fact’ ” “ ‘that the proffered reason was not the true reason for the employment decision’ and that race was.” — U.S.—, 113 S.Ct. at 2747 (quoting Burdine, 450 U.S. at 256, 101 S.Ct. at 1095).

A. Plaintiff’s prima facie case.

The Court first considers whether the plaintiff in this case, Mr. Nelson, has met his initial burden of establishing a prima facie case. To make out a prima facie claim of disparate treatment in a job application scenario, a plaintiff must show:

(i) that he belongs to a racial minority; (ii) that he applied and was qualified for a job for which the employer was seeking applicants; (iii) that, despite his qualifications, he was rejected; and (iv) that, after his rejection, the position remained open and the employer continued to seek applicants from persons of complainant’s qualifications. 411 U.S., at 802 [93 S.Ct., at 1824],

Furnco Construction Corp. v. Waters, 438 U.S. 567, 98 S.Ct. 2943, 57 L.Ed.2d 957 (1978), quoting McDonnell Douglas, supra.

Of course, there is no dispute that the plaintiff is black and that he was not hired, thus satisfying the first and third elements.

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Related

McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green
411 U.S. 792 (Supreme Court, 1973)
Furnco Construction Corp. v. Waters
438 U.S. 567 (Supreme Court, 1978)
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)
Robinson v. Adams
847 F.2d 1315 (Ninth Circuit, 1987)

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859 F. Supp. 1228, 1994 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11245, 65 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1563, 1994 WL 423445, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/nelson-v-pulaski-county-sheriffs-department-ared-1994.