UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
HAROLD D. SCHULER, ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) Civil Case No. 05-2355 (RJL) ) PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS, LLP, ) ) Defendant. 1() )
MEMORA~ OPINION (September2t,.2010) [#41, #44, #45]
Plaintiff, Harold D. Schuler ("Schuler"), filed this lawsuit against his employer,
PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP (,'PwC" or "defendant"), alleging a pattern and practice of
age discrimination in PwC's promotion policy, in violation of the Age Discrimination in
Employment Act of 1967 ("ADEA"), 29 U.S.C. § 621 et seq., and the District of
Columbia Human Rights Act ("'DCHRA"), D.C. Code § 2-140l.01 et seq. Currently
pending before the Court are defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment and plaintiffs
Motion for a Permanent Injunction or, in the Alternative, for a Preliminary Injunction
Pending Trial. Upon review of the pleadings, the entire record, and the applicable law,
defendant's motion is GRANTED, and plaintiffs motion is DENIED.
BACKGROUND
This matter is before the Court on remand from our Circuit Court. Because I have
previously summarized the factual background of this matter in an earlier Memorandum
Opinion, see Schuler v. PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP, 457 F. Supp. 2d 1 (D.D.C. 2006)
1 ("Schuler F'), the following short summary will suffice. 1 PwC is an accounting and audit
firm with over 20,000 employees and more than 2,000 individuals who are partners or
principals. (Def.'s Stmt. ~ 2.) PwC is organized and exists pursuant to the PwC
Partnership and Principals Agreement ("the Partnership Agreement"), which provides
that "[ a]n Individual's association with the Firm shall cease at the end of the Fiscal Year
in which he or she attains age 60." (Def.'s Stmt. ~ 2; PI.'s Ex. 1, Art. 10, Sec. 10.I(a).)
The term "Individual" is defined as "a person who is either a Partner or a Principal."
(PI.'s Ex. 1, Art. 1.) The sole parties to the Partnership Agreement are the partners and
principals ofPwC; there is no such mandatory retirement provision for PwC employees.
(Def. 's Stmt. ~ 15.)
Defendant's partnership promotions go into effect on July 1 of each year, (Compi.
~ 16; Answer ~ 16), and Schuler, a Managing Director in the Washington, D.C. office,
was not among those promoted in either 2004 or 2005. (Compi. ~~ 2,39.) Based on his
non-promotions, Schuler filed a charge of discrimination with the New Yark City District
Office of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") on February
23,2005. (Compi. ~ 44; Answer Ex. 2 at 4-9; Marcus Deci. Ex. A at 4.) On the charge
form, Schuler indicated that his was a "Class Action Charge," that the latest act of
Additional factual background can be found in a bevy of prior opinions in two related cases: Murphy v. PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP, No. 02-982 (D.D.C. filed May 20, 2002) and Murphy v. PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP, No. 05-1054 (D.D.C. filed May 26,2005). Those litigations spawned several opinions by both the District Court and the Circuit Court: Schuler v. PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP, 595 F.3d 370 (D.C. Cir. 2010); Murphy v. PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP, 580 F. Supp. 2d 4 (D.D.C. 2008) (relating to Murphy's claims); Murphy v. PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP, 580 F. Supp. 2d 16 (D.D.C. 2008) (relating to Schuler's claims); Murphy v. PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP, 357 F. Supp. 2d 230 (D.D.C. 2004).
2 discrimination by defendants took place on "July 1, 2004 or later," and that Schuler
wanted the charge filed with the "New York City (N.Y.) Commission Human Rights, and
New York State Div. of Human Rights, and EEOC." (Answer Ex. 2 at 4; Marcus DecI.
Ex. A at 4.) Schuler also wrote above the signature line on the charge form: "1 want this
Class Action Charge filed with both the EEOC and the State and local Agency, if any."
(Answer Ex. 2 at 4; Marcus Decl. Ex. A at 4.)
On March 14,2005, Schuler received a letter acknowledging receipt of his charge
from the EEOC's New York District Office. (Marcus DecI. Ex. A at 1; see CompI. ~ 45.)
On April 28, 2005, the EEOC's New York District Office informed Schuler that the
EEOC was dismissing his charge because a case was pending in this Court, ostensibly a
reference to a 2002 lawsuit that Schuler filed with a co-plaintiff, C. Westbrook Murphy,
against PwC, Murphy v. PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP, No. 02-982 (D.D.C. filed May
20, 2002), that also alleged ADEA and DCHRA violations. (Answer Ex. 3 at 1.) The
notice informed Schuler that he could file suit regarding his latest EEOC charge in
federal district court within ninety days, a time limit the parties tolled as they attempted
to settle the case. See Schuler v. PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP, 514 F .3d 1365, 1369
(D.C. Cir. 2008) ("Schuler IF'). When negotiations failed, Schuler filed the present
action in this Court, asserting that he was "filing an opt-in class action suit on behalf of
himself and other similarly situated employees over the age of 45" whom PwC
discriminated against "by denying them promotions to partnership on the basis of their
age." (CompI. ~~ 47-48.)
In Schuler I, this Court dismissed Schuler's complaint, holding that plaintiff did
3 not satisfy the ADEA's procedural requirements because he failed to file: (1) his EEOC
charge with the D.C. Office of Human Rights; and (2) a new EEOC charge following the
company's allegedly unlawful July 2005 promotion denial. See Schuler I, 457 F. Supp.
2d at 4-5. I declined to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over the remaining DCHRA
claims. See id. at 5. On appeal, our Circuit Court reversed, holding that Schuler had
"satisfied the ADEA's state filing requirement by virtue of a work sharing agreement
between the EEOC and the D.C. Office of Human Rights, as well as through the
Commission's referral of his charge to the New York State Division of Human Rights."
Schuler 11,514 F.3d at 1367. The Circuit Court further held that "because plaintiff seeks
damages flowing from the July 2004 ADEA violation alleged in his original EEOC
charge through the present, his failure to file a new charge after the July 2005
nonpromotion decision is of no consequence." Id. The matter was remanded for this
Court to reconsider Schuler's claim as "a class-action pattern or practice ADEA claim
arising out of PwC's mandatory retirement and promotion policy" and to decide again
whether to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over Schuler's DCHRA claim. Id. at 1379-
80.
ANALYSIS
I. Standard of Review
Summary jUdgment is appropriate when the pleadings and the record demonstrate
that "there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the movant is entitled to
judgment as a matter of law." Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c). The moving party bears the initial
burden of demonstrating the absence of a genuine dispute of material fact, Celotex Corp.
4 V. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323 (1986), and the Court draws all reasonable inferences
regarding the assertions made in a light favorable to the non-moving party, Anderson v.
Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 255 (1986). The party opposing a motion for
summary judgment, however, "may not rest upon the mere allegations or denials of his
pleading, but ... must set forth specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for
trial." Anderson, 477 U.S. at 248 (internal quotations omitted).
II. ADEA Pattern and Practice Claim
Plaintiff has filed a Motion for a Permanent Injunction or, in the Alternative, for a
Preliminary Injunction Pending Trial, and defendant has filed a Motion for Summary
Judgment. In support ofplaintiffs motion, which is essentially one for partial summary
judgment, Schuler argues that PwC has violated the ADEA by engaging in a pattern and
practice of discrimination against him and other employees that he can establish by
statistical evidence. Schuler also argues that PwC's partner promotion policy has a
disparate impact on Schuler and other employees on the basis of their age in violation of
the ADEA. Plaintiff asks the Court to issue a permanent injunction barring PwC from
continuing its allegedly discriminatory partner promotion policy or, if the Court finds that
Schuler is not entitled to judgment as a matter of law, to issue a preliminary injunction
until trial.
In support of its motion, defendant argues that Schuler is seeking to reincarnate
claims initially asserted in the lawsuit filed with Murphy in 2002 and dismissed by the
Court on cross-motions for summary judgment. Defendant asserts that because this
Court held in Murphy v. PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP, 357 F. Supp. 2d 230 (D.D.C.
5 2004) ("Murphy"), that an individual, non-class plaintiff cannot proceed on a pattern and
practice ADEA claim as a matter of law, plaintiffs claims in this matter are barred by the
doctrine of collateral estoppel. Defendant further asserts that even if Schuler is not
barred as a matter of law from pursuing his claims, summary judgment in favor of PwC is
still warranted on the undisputed facts.
I agree with PwC that Schuler's ADEA pattern and practice claim is barred by the
doctrine of collateral estoppel. In their 2002 lawsuit, Murphy and Schuler asserted an
ADEA pattern and practice claim, alleging that PwC had a policy and practice of denying
older employees promotion to partner in favor of younger employees, but seeking relief
for their specific non-promotions in 1999,2000, and 2001. (Compl., No. 02-982, ~~ 19,
29,43-45.) The parties filed cross-motions for summary judgment on the pattern and
practice claim. I granted PwC's Motion for Summary Judgment, agreeing with PwC that
Murphy and Schuler could not proceed on a pattern and practice claim in an individual
action for discrimination in violation of the ADEA. See Murphy, 357 F. Supp. 2d at 247.
As an initial matter, I found that in the administrative charges underlying Murphy,
the plaintiffs did not give notice of their intent to proceed as a class action. Murphy, 357
F. Supp. 2d at 241. Because notice to PwC was a necessary prerequisite to the viability
of any claims, I granted the defendants' motion to dismiss the class allegations of the
compliant. Id. Then when examining the motions with regard to the pattern and practice
claim, I first noted that our Circuit recognizes "an important distinction between the
assertion of a 'pattern and practice' claim and the use of statistical or other evidence of
systematic discrimination to prove an individual discrimination claim." Id. at 246. I also
6 noted that "where courts in this Circuit have recognized 'pattern and practice' -type
claims, the plaintiffs were proceeding on behalf of a class." Id. at 247 (citing Cook v.
Boorstin, 763 F.2d 1462 (D.C. Cir. 1985); Hyman v. First Union Corp., 980 F. Supp. 38
(D.D.C. 1997)). Accordingly, I held that
in light of this Court's earlier finding that the plaintiffs may not proceed with their class allegations because they failed to adequately allege such claims at the administrative level, it additionally concludes that they are barred from proving their discrimination claims under a 'pattern and practice' theory.
ld. Put simply, Murphy and Schuler were barred from pursuing a pattern and practice
claim under the ADEA because they had failed to bring it as class action.
Not surprisingly, when Schuler filed his 2005 charge of discrimination that led to
the instant action, he indicated that it was a "Class Action Charge." (Answer Ex. 2 at 4;
Marcus Decl. Ex. A at 4.) He also titled his Complaint in this action as a "Class
Complaint for Relief From Age Discrimination in Employment." (Compi. at 1.) Despite
these indications that he intended to proceed on behalf of a class, Schuler has not moved
for notice of a collective action, and thus no allegedly similarly situated employees have
ever opted-in to this case. (See Pl.'s Mot. for Leave to File Ex. A at 10 [Dkt. #35]
("Although Plaintiff does not intend to file a motion for collective action at the present
time, he reserves the right to do so at a later date.").) Schuler has also chosen not to
move for class certification on the DCHRA claim, despite his Complaint's averments that
the requirements for such certification are met. (See Compi. ~ 58.) In sum, Schuler is
pursuing a pattern and practice claim in this case as an individual, non-class plaintiff, just
as he and Murphy did in their 2002 lawsuit. It will not work! After all, it doesn't take a
7 law degree to figure out that you can put a lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig.
"The Supreme Court has defined issue preclusion to mean that 'once a court has
decided an issue of fact or law necessary to its judgment, that decision may preclude
relitigation of the issue in a suit on a different cause of action involving a party to the first
case.'" Yamaha Corp. v. United States, 961 F.2d 245,254 (D.C. Cir. 1992) (quoting
Allen v. McCurry, 449 U.S. 90, 94 (1980)). "To preclude parties from contesting matters
that they have had a full and fair opportunity to litigate protects their adversaries from the
expense and vexation attending mUltiple lawsuits, conserves judicial resources, and
fosters reliance on judicial action by minimizing the possibility of inconsistent
decisions." Montana v. United States, 440 U.S. 147, 153-54 (1979). The standards for
establishing the preclusive effect of a prior holding are: (1) the same issue now being
raised must have been contested by the parties and submitted for judicial determination in
the prior case; (2) the issue must have been actually and necessarily determined by a
court of competent jurisdiction in that prior case; and (3) preclusion in the second case
must not work a basic unfairness to the party bound by the first determination. Yamaha,
961 F.2d at 254.
This case meets all three requirements for finding issue preclusion. The
underlying factual allegations in the complaints filed in Murphy and Schuler I are
essentially identical, while seeking relief for non-promotion in different partner
admission cycles at PwC. See Montana, 440 U.S. at 157-58 (noting that because the
complaint in the second case "tracks almost verbatim" the allegations of the prior case
and absent any "significant changes in controlling facts or legal principles," the prior
8 resolution was preclusive) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). Although I
did not reach the merits on the pattern and practice theory of recovery in its Murphy
ruling, I did issue a final judgment on the necessary legal issue of whether an individual,
non-class plaintiff may proceed on a pattern and practice theory in an ADEA
discrimination case. That holding in Murphy rested upon a finding that, as a matter of
law, an individual plaintiff cannot pursue a pattern and practice ADEA discrimination
claim. See Murphy, 357 F. Supp. 2d at 247; see also Yamaha, 961 F. 2d at 254 ("[O]nce
an issue is raised and determined, it is the entire issue that is precluded, not just the
particular arguments raised in support of it in the first case.") (emphasis in original). It
does not appear that the plaintiffs ever appealed this aspect of the Murphy ruling, nor has
Schuler provided any basis in his briefing following remand in Schuler II to reverse this
ruling. Nor can it be said that finding Schuler's claim to be estopped works a "basic
unfairness" to him, since he is asserting the same claim against the same defendant, with
no significant change in facts or law. No subsequent development in the law of our
Circuit, or any other Circuit for that matter, has changed the rationale underlying my
ruling in Murphy that an individual, non-class plaintiff cannot pursue a pattern and
practice ADEA claim. See Murphy, 357 F. Supp. 2d at 246-47 (citing Palmer v. Shultz,
815 F.2d 84, 90-91 (D.C. Cir. 1987); Williams v. Boorstin, 663 F.2d 109, 115 n.38 (D.C.
Cir. 1980); Cook v. Boorstin, 763 F.2d 1462 (D.C. Cir. 1985); Hyman v. First Union
Corp. 980 F. Supp. 38 (D.D.C. 1997)); see also id. at 246 n.13 (discussing the "seminal
case" of Int 'I Bhd. O/Teamsters v. United States, 431 U.S. 324 (1977), which stated that
for a class of employees, "proof of the pattern or practice supports an inference that any
9 particular employment decision, during the period in which the discriminatory policy was
in force, was made pursuant to that policy"). 2
Furthermore, Schuler's reliance on Davis v. Califano, 613 F.2d 957 (D.C. Cir.
1979), in his pleadings is misplaced. Schuler argues that Davis stands for the proposition
that a pattern and practice suit can be pursued by an individual plaintiff in our Circuit.
(See Pl.'s Opp'n 6-8.) In fact, Davis held that aprimajacie case in an individual claim
of discrimination could be established based on statistical evidence, as it might be in a
pattern and practice case. See Davis, 613 F.2d at 962 ("We have previously indicated,
and now explicitly hold, that statistical evidence may establish a [p ]rima facie case of
employment discrimination in an individual case."). The Davis court did not adopt the
pattern and practice framework in an individual plaintiffs claim of discrimination; rather,
it discusses the use of statistical evidence commonly seen in pattern and practice cases in
the context of individual plaintiffs' cases under the familiar McDonnell-Douglas burden-
2 The Supreme Court has not spoken directly on this issue and has provided only opaque reference to the difference between an individual's discrimination claim and a class action alleging a pattern or practice of discrimination. Cooper v. Fed. Reserve Bank of Richmond, 467 U.S. 867, 876 (1984) ("The crucial difference between an individual's claim of discrimination and a class action alleging a general pattern or practice of discrimination is manifest."). Courts in every other Circuit that has touched on this issue have indicated that an individual plaintiff cannot maintain a pattern and practice claim. See, e.g., Velez v. Marriott PR Mgt., Inc., 590 F. Supp. 2d 235, 243-45 (D.P.R. 2008); Brown v. Coach Stores, Inc., 163 F.3d 706, 711 (2d Cir. 1998); Lowery v. Circuit City Stores, Inc., 158 F.3d 742, 759-62 (4th Cir. 1998), vacated on other grounds, 527 U.S. 1031 (1999); Celestine v. Petroleos de Venezuella SA, 266 F.3d 343, 355-56 (5th Cir. 2001); Bacon v. Honda, 370 F.3d 565, 575 (6th Cir. 2004); Babrocky v. Jewel Food Co., 773 F.2d 857, 866 n.6 (7th Cir. 1985); Cratk v. Minnesota State Unt., 731 F.2d 465, 469-70 (8th Cir. 1984); Mansourian v. Bd. of Regents, No. CIV. 2-03-02591-FCD-EFB, 2007 WL 3046034, *7-*8 (E.D. Cal. Oct. 18,2007), rev 'd on other grounds, 594 F.3d 1095 (9th Cir. 2010), amended on other grounds, 602 F.3d 957 (9th Cir. 2010); Semsroth v. City of Wichita, 304 F. App'x. 707, 715-17 (10th Cir. 2008); Davis v. Coca-Cola Bottling Co. Canso!., 516 F.3d 955,967-69 (11 th Cir. 2008).
10 shifting framework. See id. at 962-63. In addition, Murphy explicitly discusses Davis
and the fact that "the D.C. Circuit has held that statistical evidence[] may establish a
primafacie case of discrimination in an individual action." Murphy, 357 F. Supp. 2d at
247 (citing Davis, 613 F.2d at 962). Schuler's attempt to conflate the type of evidence an
individual may use in a discrimination case and the type of claim that an individual may
bring is disingenuous, at best. 3
Schuler also attempts to distinguish his pattern and practice claim from prior case
law by arguing that "collective actions" brought under the ADEA should be treated
differently from "class actions" brought under Title VII because the former involve an
"opt-in" class rather than the latter's "opt-out" class. This too must fail. First, Schuler
himself styled the charge filed with the EEOC as a "class action charge," (see Answer
Ex. 2 at 4), and the Complaint filed in this case as a "class complaint," (see Compl. at 1).
Our Circuit Court similarly described Schuler's complaint as a "class-action complaint,"
Schuler II, 514 F.3d at 1367, specifically described his federal claim as a "class-action
pattern or practice ADEA claim," id. at 1379, and described his EEOC charge as a "class-
action charge," id. at 1369. Second, my holding in Murphy that an individual, non-class
plaintiff cannot proceed on a pattern and practice basis was limited to the ADEA context.
3 Similarly, plaintiffs reliance on Thiessen v. General Electric Capital Corp., 267 F.3d 1095 (lOth Cir. 2001), is misplaced. (Pl.'s Mot. 8.) Schuler claims that the Tenth Circuit, in Thiessen, "held that a class action does not need to be certified for the pattern-or-practice theory to apply." (Jd at 8.) In actuality, Thiessen concerned not whether individuals can pursue pattern and practice claims but the appropriate process of certifying a class for a pattern and practice claim: We do not hold that whenever there is evidence of a pattern-or-practice, a class must be certified. Whether certification or decertification is appropriate depends upon application of the factors we have identified in the ad hoc approach. Thiessen, 267 F.3d at 1108.
11 And unlike in Murphy, Schuler has admittedly chosen not to take the essential first step
of moving for notice to potential class members in the present case, and thus no allegedly
similarly situated employees ever opted-in to a class for this case. (See PI.'s Mot. for
Leave to File Ex. A at 10 [Dkt. #35].) Thus, any purported differences between class and
collective actions are irrelevant because there simply is no class of plaintiffs in this case.
The bottom line is clear: Schuler is proceeding as an individual, non-class plaintiff, and
as such, he cannot pursue his "pattern and practice" claim as a matter of law. 4
III. DCHRA Claim
Finally, the Complaint also alleges that defendant violated certain provisions of
the DCHRA. A federal district court may exercise supplemental jurisdiction over a
plaintiffs state law claims if they are "so related to claims in the action within such
original jurisdiction that they form part of the same case or controversy." 28 U.S.C.
§ 1367(a). The decision to exercise supplemental jurisdiction, however, is discretionary.
Osborn v. Haley, 549 U.S. 225, 245 (2007). When deciding whether or not to exercise
supplemental jurisdiction, a court is to consider judicial economy, convenience, fairness,
and comity. United Mine Workers v. Gibbs, 383 U.S. 715, 726 (1966).
In this case, the Court's original jurisdiction is over Schuler's ADEA claim.
Considering that the Court has granted defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment and
dismissed Schuler's ADEA claim, it would not be in keeping with judicial economy or
4 Moreover, Schuler's attempt to generate a disparate impact claim at this late stage is unavailing. See Pl.' s Mot. at 28-32. Nowhere in Schuler's complaint or his EEOC charge has Schuler challenged any facially neutral policy that purportedly adversely affects older employees. Schuler has simply not raised any claims of disparate impact that he can now rely on to survive defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment.
12 comity to maintain jurisdiction over the remaining state law claim. See id. Therefore, I
decline to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over Schuler's DCHRA claim.
CONCLUSION
For all of the foregoing reasons, defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment is
GRANTED, and plaintiffs Motion for a Permanent Injunction, in the Alternative, for a
Preliminary Injunction Pending Trial is DENIED. Furthermore, plaintiffs DCHRA
claims for 2004 and 2005 are dismissed without prejudice pursuant to U.S.C.
§ 1367(c)(3). An Order consistent with this decision accompanies this Memorandum
Opinion.
United States