Blackwell v. City of Bridgeport

238 F.Supp.3d 296

Lonnie BLACKWELL, Plaintiff,

v.CITY OF BRIDGEPORT, Defendant.

Civil No. 3:15–cv–0046 (JBA)

United States District Court, D. Connecticut.

Signed February 27, 2017

Thomas W. Bucci, Willinger, Willinger & Bucci, Bridgeport, CT, for Plaintiff.

Richard J. Buturla, Warren L. Holcomb, Berchem, Moses & Devlin, P.C., Milford, CT, for Defendant.

RULING ON DEFENDANT'S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

Janet Bond Arterton, U.S.D.J.

Lieutenant Lonnie Blackwell ("Lt. Blackwell" or "Plaintiff") brings this action against his employer, the Bridgeport Police Department ("BPD" or "Defendant"), alleging discrimination on the basis of race and unlawful retaliation in violation of Title VII and 42 U.S.C. § 1981 and seeking declaratory or injunctive relief in addition to compensatory and punitive damages.

Defendant Bridgeport Police Department ("BPD") now moves [Doc. #31] for summary judgment on the entirety of Plaintiff's complaint, claiming that there is no genuine issue of material fact that Defendant's actions did not create or tolerate a hostile work environment and that Defendant in any case has legitimate non-discriminatory reasons for its actions. Similarly, Defendant asserts that there is no genuine issue of material fact that its actions were not retaliatory. For the reasons discussed below, the Court DENIES Defendant's motion for summary judgment with respect to Plaintiff's hostile work environment claim under Title VII and § 1981, and GRANTS Defendant's motion for summary judgment on the claims of unlawful retaliation.

I. Facts

Plaintiff Lonnie Blackwell is a member of the Bridgeport Police Department who has risen through the ranks to become lieutenant and Officer in Charge of the BPD's Training Academy. (Defendant's Local Rule 56a(1) Statement [Doc. # 31–2] at ¶¶ 4–6 ("56a(1) Stmt."); Plaintiff's Local Rule 56a(2) Statement [Doc. # 41] ¶¶ 4–6 ("56a(2) Stmt.")). Lt. Blackwell began his career at the Bridgeport Police Department in November, 2000 when he was hired as a police officer., Ex. 1 ("Blackwell Aff.") to Pl.'s Mem. Opp'n. [Doc. # 40–1] ¶ 5. In 2006, after six years on the force, he was promoted to Sergeant and in 2008 he was promoted to Lieutenant. (Id. ) In January, 2009, he was appointed to the position of Officer in Charge of the Training Academy. (Id. at ¶ 9.) Since 2010, Lt. Blackwell has been president of the Bridgeport Guardians, an organization comprised of minority police officers whose mission is to combat employment discrimination in the Bridgeport Police Department. (Blackwell Aff. ¶ 12.) Lt. Blackwell is African–American and black. (Id. ¶ 1.)

The events giving rise to Lt. Blackwell's lawsuit began on March 26, 2012, when an anonymous letter dated March 3, 2012 and purporting to be authored by multiple "Concerned Officers" was distributed throughout the BPD. (See Ex. A ("2012 Anonymous Letter") to Gaudett Aff. [Doc. # 31–11].) The letter was addressed to Chief of Police Joseph Gaudett and voiced complaints about Lt. Blackwell, focusing primarily on his compensation and his apparent permission to drive a police car home every day.

Because this one-page letter grounds the discrimination and retaliation claim, it will be quoted at length. In pertinent part, it reads:

Chief Gaudett, This letter is being written to you after we've received numerous complaints regarding the freedom you have allowed Lonnie Blackwell.... First and foremost is his salary/overtime over the past several years. $125,000 in 2009, $152,000 in 2010, and now $168,000 in 2011. What other Lt. writes his own overtime like this? ... How could YOU allow this to happen under your watch? The talk amongst officers is that he has an open checkbook to write whatever overtime he wants.... Most Patrol Lt.s salary and overtime combined do not even match Blackwell's overtime alone.... An element of larceny 1^st is the property is obtained by defrauding a public community!!!!!!!!!! We are supposed to fight criminal activity, not allow it.... He is one of the few people who still takes a car home every night. Did we not end the take home car policy? That white S.U.V. is in Milford almost every night.... Blackwell is known to never be at the academy while either out meeting with retired/current Guardian members. All this to further his race hustle as President of the Guardians. Do you as Chief of Police allow this to happen in order to appear as if you have solved the racial woes of the Department? ... At what point are we done paying for Remedy? The tide has turned and now you have numerous unhappy white officers among your ranks. Do you even care? Blackwell will use you and then spit you out the second he no longer needs you, while calling you a racist. He's known as Blackhell for a reason.... Initial discussions have surfaced about forming a white officers society to help protect ourselves against the abuses you have allowed to occur.

2012 Anonymous Letter.

The 2012 Anonymous Letter was discovered in the patrol room over the weekend of March 24–25, 2012. (Gaudett Aff. [Doc. 31–10] ¶ 10.) On Monday, March 26, 2012, Chief Gaudett had a copy of the letter sent to Lt. Blackwell and subsequently met with him to discuss its contents. (56a1 Stmt. ¶ 15.) Neither recalls the exact content of their discussion, although Lt. Blackwell testified that he "may have asked the Chief to try to eliminate the racism in the department." (Blackwell Tr. [Doc. # 31–4] at 29:5–7; 35:5–15.) According to Chief Gaudett, further copies of the 2012 letter were found one month later again distributed throughout the patrol room and police headquarters. (Gaudett Aff. ¶¶ 13–14.)

On March 26, 2012, the same morning he spoke to Plaintiff about the letters and the department's response, Chief Gaudett sent an email to Assistant City Attorney Arthur Laske and Lt. Rebecca Garcia, officer in charge of the Bridgeport Police Department's Office of Internal Affairs, requesting that Lt. Garcia "[p]lease open an investigation into [the letter's] authorship, etc." (Ex. B. to Gaudett Aff.) Lt. Garcia testified that she did try to track down the original copy of the letter but, despite the Chief's request, Lt. Garcia did not open an investigation. (Garcia Tr. [Doc. # 31–5] at 13:3–15:8.) In deposition, she explained that Chief Gaudett's email was not an "official directive," and absent such official directive, she never opened an investigation. (Garcia Tr. at 15:6–16:18.) Lt. Blackwell testified that no one from internal affairs followed up with him and no one from internal affairs checked on his safety. (Blackwell Tr. at 35:18–20.)

On March 27, 2012, Lt. Blackwell's immediate supervisor, Captain Robert Sapiro, sent an email to Deputy Chief James Baraja about the 2012 anonymous letter. He wrote:

Lt. Blackwell is personally attacked in this racially charged letter. I am concerned regarding allegations that involve his daily whereabouts, his role as Guardian President, and the location of his residence. The name alteration to "Blackhell"; the reference to maligned races; and the need for protection from "abuses that you have allowed to occur" indicates someone feeling victimized, and frustrated with nowhere to turn. Intolerance and animosity expressed toward Lt Blackwell's race, and the Guardians, could foment an atmosphere of hostility toward Black officers in our department. Please advise if there is any policy adherence or any other matters I need to attend to regarding this situation.

(Ex. 1 ("Sapiro E-mail") to Pl.'s Opp'n. to Mot. Summary Judgment [Doc. # 40–2].)

A little more than a year later, a second anonymous letter surfaced, but instead of being distributed throughout the department, it was sent to Assistant Chief of Police James Nardozzi. For the most part, the letter focuses on Lt. Blackwell as an individual and attacks the chief of police for cowardice in failing to stand up to Lt. Blackwell's supposed abuses.

In pertinent part, the second letter reads:

Assistant Chief Nardozzi, We are now writing to you about Lt. Lonnie Blackwell in hopes that you will look into our claims. It is obvious that no high ranking member in the department will stand up for what is right.... Last year we wrote an unsigned letter to Chief Gaudett ... hoping he would look into the issues mentioned. For obvious reasons, we could not sign it because retaliation would occur. Our understanding is one of the main reasons you were brought in was to fix the overtime. The simple solution to curtail the overtime issues in the department would be to cut back in patrol, but how about an audit of several other areas including the wasteful overtime Blackwell receives. You would think common sense would prevail that one Lt. who needs over $100,000 in overtime should be replaced with a more competent person.... Just take a look at the pay he received over the last four years ($607,000) and with a clear head tell us if you think that's appropriate. Of course it's not. This get rich quick scheme that Blackwell is performing occurs while Captain Sapiro runs interference for him.... How arrogant that the biggest single abuser of overtime in the department shows up late for a mandatory meeting to discuss overtime!!! .... The Guardian hush money he receives from the Chief is the dirty little secret nobody wants to talk about.... [Quoting Chief Gaudett from an interview:] ‘Our officers are held to high standards and rightfully so, and we intend to maintain these high standards.’ Doesn't this also apply to a Lt. committing Larceny and Fraud? ... The Guardian study sessions that Blackwell was conducting on company time we find especially interesting. After it was agreed upon by Chief Gaudett that promotional exams would require five years of service, Blackwell convinced David Dunne (Civil Service) to have it remain the way it currently is so that his cronies in the Guardians would be eligible to take the exam. He obviously doesn't want the best qualified candidates, just the right color. He would make the circus proud of the clown

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