Perry v. City of Stamford

996 F. Supp. 2d 74, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16922, 2014 WL 558897
CourtDistrict Court, D. Connecticut
DecidedFebruary 11, 2014
DocketNo. 3:11-cv-01833 (CSH)
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 996 F. Supp. 2d 74 (Perry v. City of Stamford) 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
Perry v. City of Stamford, 996 F. Supp. 2d 74, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16922, 2014 WL 558897 (D. Conn. 2014).

Opinion

RULING ON DEFENDANT’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

HAIGHT, Senior District Judge:

I. Introduction and Summary of Facts

Plaintiff Corinne Perry (hereinafter “Plaintiff’), who was known by the name Corinne Stevens at the time of events relevant to this lawsuit, brings this action against Defendant City of Stamford (hereinafter “Defendant”) for allegedly discriminating against her “in public employment on the basis of the fact that she was a woman who had survived breast cancer, in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution as enforced by Sections 1983 and 1988 of Title 42 of the United States Code.” [Doc. 1] at 3. Plaintiff initiated this action on November 28, 2011, over five years after the employment events in question. See [Doc. 1] at 1. Defendant City of Stamford filed a Motion to Dismiss in this matter, [Doc. 14], and it now files a Motion for Summary Judgment, [Doc. 28]. Plaintiff filed an amended memorandum in opposition to Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment, [Doc. 35], and Defendant filed a Reply brief, [Doc. 37]. Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment is therefore ripe for adjudication.

[77]*77Plaintiff avers that she applied for a position as an officer with the Stamford Police Department in 2006 and that, on July 12, 2006, Defendant, acting through its Director of Human Resources Dennis C. Murphy, “informed [Plaintiff] in writing that her application was being rejected because a preliminary investigation had disclosed that she had participated in a criminal insurance fraud.” Id. at 2. Shortly thereafter, “believing that [Defendant] may have misrepresented its true reasons for rejecting her application,” which, as Plaintiff avers, is her status as a breast cancer survivor, Plaintiff “through counsel served a subpoena duces tecum upon Dennis C. Murphy, commanding him to produce at a deposition at the office of her attorney ‘[t]he entire files of the City of Stamford Human Resources Department and Police Department concerning [Plaintiff].’” Id. Plaintiff avers that Mr. Murphy “produced at the office of [her] attorney a collection of documents which he represented constituted everything that had been subpoenaed;” however, such materials “were not complete and did not include evidence which would have established that the stated reason for rejecting [her] application was not the true reason” — the true reason being, Plaintiff again avers, her status as a breast cancer survivor. As such, Plaintiff contends, Defendant “fraudulently concealed from [her] the evidence necessary to commence this litigation within three years from July 12, 2006.” Id. at 2-3.

Defendant denies that it or any of its employees who were involved with processing and evaluating Plaintiff’s 2006 police officer application knew of Plaintiff’s history with breast cancer, and contends that Plaintiff has “failed to offer any admissible evidence to contradict Defendant’s evidence” that this was the case. [Doc. 37] at 3. In Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment, [Doc. 28], Defendant raises three specific legal arguments: (1) that the applicable statute of limitations bars this action; (2) that, in the alternative, Plaintiff fails to state a cognizable violation of the Equal Protection Clause and, even if she had done so in her Complaint, the undisputed evidence in this case does not support such a claim; and (3) that Plaintiff is unable to prove, based on the undisputed evidence, that Defendant City of Stamford had an official policy that resulted in the alleged discrimination and, therefore, Plaintiff cannot pursue her claim against Defendant. [Doc. 28] at 1.

The relevant facts are as follows. Plaintiff applied to become a police officer for Defendant City of Stamford in 2004, and again in 2006. As Mr. Murphy, then-Human Resources Director for Defendant states in an Affidavit, “[o]n May 8, 2006 the Human Resources Department sent [Plaintiff] a letter informing her that she had achieved a passing score on the April 2006 oral examination and that she would be contacted very soon by the Stamford Police Department to begin the background investigation process.” [Doc. 29] at 2; see also, e.g., id. at 7 (a copy of the May 8, 2006 letter sent to Plaintiff). In connection with her 2006 application to become a City of Stamford police officer, Plaintiff participated in a pre-employment polygraph exam on June 14, 2006. See, e.g., id. at 33. This exam was conducted by A.D.M. Associates Investigations L.L.C. (hereinafter “A.D.M. Associates Investigations”), an entity which was not affiliated with Defendant, but was rather an outside company which performed pre-em-ployment polygraphs for Defendant’s Internal Affairs Division. Defendant’s Internal Affairs Division conducted background checks on individuals who had applied to work for Defendant. Id. at 44-45. Prior to taking her pre-employment polygraph, Plaintiff completed a pre-polygraph questionnaire, in which she claims she revealed her medical history including the fact that [78]*78she is a breast cancer survivor. As discussed infra, there is no evidence on record, save Plaintiffs own testimony, to support Plaintiffs averment that she made such disclosures on the pre-polygraph questionnaire.

According to the Affidavit of Louis De-Rubeis, who in 2006 “was working in the Internal Affairs Division of the [Stamford] Police Department,” after Plaintiff “attended her pre-employment polygraph on June 14, 2006, A.D.M. Associates Investigations contacted [Defendant] and reported that [she] had knowingly inflated an insurance claim.” Id. A copy of this letter may be found at page 11 of [Doc. 29], and in addition to the inflated insurance claim, it informs Defendant that Plaintiff reports having been disciplined over the course of previous employment for a security company and a pizzeria. Id. at 11. In addition, Mr. DeRubeis, states, A.D.M. Associates Investigations “forwarded to the police department a report summarizing the results of [Plaintiffs] pre-employment polygraph,” but “did not provide the police department with any graphs generated during [her] polygraph or any questionnaire she may have filled out or any other document, CD, or video.” Id. at 45.

Mr. DeRubeis avers that in response to having received this letter from A.D.M. Associates Investigations, “[o]n or about June 19, 2006, the Internal Affairs Division of the Stamford Police Department sent a memorandum to the Human Resources Department concerning the results of [Plaintiffs] pre-employment polygraph,” which, using the information provided to Defendant’s Internal Affairs Division by A.D.M. Associates Investigations, reported that Plaintiff had “knowingly inflated an insurance claim as the result of a fire in the kitchen of her home,” and “noted that based on [such] information,” the Internal Affairs Division felt that Plaintiff was “no longer a suitable candidate for the position of Police Officer with the City of Stamford.” Id. Mr. DeRubeis further states that “A.D.M. Associates [Investigations] did not inform the Internal Affairs Division of the Police Department that [Plaintiff] was a breast cancer survivor[,] if the company had that information,” and that the Internal Affairs Division was not privy to such information at the time the June 19, 2006 memorandum was sent to Defendant’s Human Resources Department. Id. at 45-46.

A copy of the June 19, 2006 letter sent from A.D.M. Associates Investigations to Defendant’s Human Resources Department may be found at page 9 of [Doc. 29].

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Bluebook (online)
996 F. Supp. 2d 74, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16922, 2014 WL 558897, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/perry-v-city-of-stamford-ctd-2014.