Prince v. City of Northport, Alabama

CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Alabama
DecidedJune 25, 2021
Docket7:19-cv-01854
StatusUnknown

This text of Prince v. City of Northport, Alabama (Prince v. City of Northport, Alabama) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Prince v. City of Northport, Alabama, (N.D. Ala. 2021).

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ALABAMA WESTERN DIVISION

EMMITT PRINCE, )

) Plaintiff, )

) 7:19-cv-01854-LSC vs. ) CITY OF NORTHPORT, ) ) Defendant. )

MEMORANDUM OF OPINION I. INTRODUCTION Plaintiff Emmitt Prince (“Plaintiff” or “Prince”), a fifty-two year old African- American, brings this action against his employer, the City of Northport (“Defendant” or “Northport”). Prince asserts claims for race discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq. (“Title VII”), and 42 U.S.C. § 1981 brought pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Prince also brings a claim against Northport for age discrimination under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, 29 U.S.C. § 621 et seq. (“ADEA”). Before the Court is Northport’s Motion for Summary Judgment (doc. 16). This motion is fully briefed and ripe for review. For the reasons stated below, Northport’s motion is due to be granted. II. BACKGROUND1

Prince began working for Northport in April 2002 as a laborer in the Public Works Department. In 2016, Prince applied for and was promoted to the position of

Traffic Technician I. In this position, Prince was responsible for “[m]aintaining street signs, building signs,” operating various equipment on trucks, such as pulleys, “grinding, painting,” and helping Brad Akin (“Akin”) as needed. (Doc. 18-1 at 69.)

At that time, Akin held the position of Traffic Technician II. In late 2018, Akin was promoted to the position of Traffic Signal Technician, which created an opening for Traffic Technician II.

After Akin was promoted, Brooke Starnes (“Starnes”), the Director of Public Works, chose to make the Traffic Technician II position more technical. Northport had to rely on the Alabama Department of Transportation (“ALDOT”) to service

traffic cabinets, which was costly. Starnes believed that Northport should be able to handle this work within its own Traffic Department. In order to achieve this goal,

1 The facts set out in this opinion are gleaned from the parties’ submissions of facts claimed to be undisputed, their respective responses to those submissions, and the Court’s own examination of the evidentiary record. These are the “facts” for summary judgment purposes only. They may not be the actual facts. See Cox v. Adm'r U.S. Steel & Carnegie, 17 F.3d 1386, 1400 (11th Cir. 1994). The Court is not required to identify unreferenced evidence supporting a party’s position. As such, review is limited to exhibits and specific portions of the exhibits specifically cited by the parties. See Chavez v. Sec’y Fla. Dept. of Corr., 647 F.3d 1057, 1061 (11th Cir. 2011) (“[D]istrict court judges are not required to ferret out delectable facts buried in a massive record . . . .”) Northport changed the qualifications for the Traffic Technician II position, requiring a heightened level of electrical knowledge. To assess an applicant’s

electrical knowledge, Starnes and Joey Olive (“Olive”), the Assistant Director of Public Works, developed a series of questions that would be asked during interviews

to determine whether an applicant could use electrical equipment as well as read electrical schematics.2 Additional requirements for Traffic Technician II listed in the written job description included one year of experience in electronics and the ability

to read a voltmeter. Prince applied for the Traffic Technician II position in December 2018. He listed previous experience on his application, which included work in his position as

Traffic Technician I, and high school electrical classes, which he had taken at least thirty-three years ago. Prince did not have one year of experience in electronics. Jesse Hallman (“Hallman”), a twenty-seven-year-old Caucasian male, also applied for the

open position. At that time, Hallman was employed by Northport as a Wastewater Operator. Hallman listed previous experience on his application, which included working with relevant electrical equipment, and an associate’s degree in applied

science with a focus in electrical technology. Consistent with Northport’s

2 While these interview questions were implemented for the first time in 2018, Northport continued to use the same questions in subsequent years during interviews for the Traffic Technician II position. procedures for filling open positions, Northport’s Civil Service Board evaluated potential applicants and allowed Prince, Hallman, and two other candidates to apply

for the Traffic Technician II position. By permitting the candidates to apply, Northport’s Civil Service Board certified that each was minimally qualified for the

position. While four candidates were permitted to apply for the position, only three proceeded with the interview process. The interviews were structured such that each applicant would be asked the

same series of questions using an interview guide. This included eight standard interview questions, and five questions tailored to the technical job requirements of Traffic Technician II. The questions relevant to Traffic Technician II focused on the

applicant’s knowledge of electricity, including whether the applicant could distinguish between different colors on a wire sample; identify different settings on a voltmeter; measure ohms and determine continuity in a wire sample; utilize a tape

measure; and determine the function of different wires on a diagram. Northport sought both external and internal applicants for the open position. Consistent with Northport’s policies for jobs open to external candidates, the interview would

represent 100% of a candidate’s score.3

3 Prince disputes this, stating that Northport should have considered seniority in calculating each candidate’s score in addition to the interview. However, Northport followed its own policies and procedures for jobs that are posted externally, which Prince concedes, and Prince has presented no evidence to suggest that Northport deviated from its own policies and procedures. All interviews were conducted by the same panel of interviewers: Starnes,

Olive, Akin, and Joseph Rose (“Rose”), the Director of Human Resources. These interviewers were all Caucasian. During Prince’s interview, he received scores of 27, 32, and 29 for an average score of 29.34 These were the lowest scores of the three

candidates who interviewed. Prince could not identify four of five symbols on a voltmeter. He did not demonstrate that he could measure the continuity of the wire

sample, and he had difficulty identifying the function of wires in the diagram. Prince recognized that the interview had gone poorly, admitting as much to Akin and Starnes shortly thereafter.

During Hallman’s interview, he received scores of 38, 51, and 46, for an average score of 45. These were the highest scores of the three candidates who interviewed. Hallman correctly identified all of the symbols on the voltmeter;

measured the continuity of the wire sample; and identified the function of wires in the diagram. At Starnes’s recommendation, Northport hired Hallman for the Traffic Technician II position because of his superior performance during the interview.

4 Although there were four interviewers, each candidate received three scores, as Rose did not possess the technical knowledge to provide a score. After Hallman was hired, he became Prince’s supervisor.

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