Caver v. City of Trenton

Page 243

420 F.3d 243

Limmie CAVER; Lawrence M. Davis; Joseph Finney; Joseph Richardson; Brother Officers Law Enforcement Society; Teresa Caver, As the Wife of Limmie Caver; Karen Davis, As the Wife of Lawrence Davis; Lafayette Sutphin, v. THE CITY OF TRENTON; the Trenton Police Division; Ernest Williams, Individually and in his Official Capacity; Dennis Keenan, Public Safety Director, Individually and in his Official Capacity; James A. Waldron, Jr., Former Public Safety Director, Individually and in his Official Capacity; Paul J. Meyer, Individually and in his Official Capacity; Daniel McKee, Individually and in his Official Capacity; Joseph Valdora, Individually and in his Official Capacity; Fred Reister, Individually and in his Official Capacity; Ronald Cole, Individually and in his Official Capacity; Joseph Constance, Individually and in his Official Capacity; Thomas Coppalecchia, Individually and in his Official Capacity; Richard Kokotalaj, Individually and in his Official Capacity; Alfred Auletta, Individually and in his Official Capacity; Robert Defeo, Individually and in his Official Capacity; Thomas Murphy, Individually and in his Official Capacity; John Does, No. 1 Through 50, Individually and in their Official Capacity; the Trenton Police Benevolent Association Local 11; Robert Smith, Trenton PBA President, Individually and in his Official Capacity; Joseph Nocera, Trenton PBA Member, Individually and in his Official Capacity; Leonard Cipriano, Trenton PBA Member, Individually and in his Official Capacity; John Does, Trenton PBA Officers/Members, No. 1 through 10, Individually and in their Official Capacity; John R. Gabauer Lawrence M. Davis, Appellant.

No. 04-2600.

United States Court of Appeals, Third Circuit.

Argued June 7, 2005.

August 26, 2005.

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Kevin Kovacs (Argued), Purcell, Ries, Shannon, Mulcahy & O'Neill, Bedminster, NJ, for Appellant Lawrence M. Davis.

Herbert I. Waldman (Argued), Nagel Rice & Mazie, LLP, Roseland, NJ, Susan S. Singer (Argued), Singer & Goger, Newark, NJ, Joel B. Korin, Kenney & Kearney, Cherry Hill, NJ, for Appellee City of Trenton.

Before FUENTES, VAN ANTWERPEN and BECKER, Circuit Judges.

OPINION

VAN ANTWERPEN, Circuit Judge.

Appellant Lawrence Davis brought various federal and New Jersey state law claims against his employer, the City of Trenton, alleging unlawful discrimination, retaliation and hostile work environment. Before this Court are six challenges on appeal from the five-plus year litigation that ensued. Davis first appeals the District Court's September 28, 2001, grant of summary judgment on his retaliation claim brought under the New Jersey Conscientious Employee Protection Act ("CEPA"), N.J.S.A. 34:19-1, et seq. Second, Davis challenges the District Court's denial of his Motion to Vacate the summary judgment order. Third, he appeals the District Court's denial of his Motion to Amend the Final Pretrial Order. Fourth, Davis appeals the District Court's apparent dismissal of his hostile work environment claim at the close of evidence. Fifth, Davis challenges evidentiary rulings that limited his ability to present psychiatric evidence. Finally, Davis claims that the District Court erred in applying a "determinative factor" standard to his retaliation claims. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm the District Court's disposition of this case in all respects.

I.

A. Background

Davis is a police officer of African-American descent who began working for the Trenton Police Department ("the Department") in August 1990. Prior to the events that gave rise to this litigation, Davis had been a successful officer in the K-9 unit of the Department. He has received a number of commendations for meritorious service and was never subject to discipline from the beginning of his employment until May 1998.

The long and complicated procedural history of this case began on April 9, 1999, when Davis, along with four other African-American officers and the Brother Officers Law Enforcement Society ("BOLES") filed a Complaint in federal district court. The plaintiffs filed an Amended Complaint on October 7, 1999, and a Second Amended Complaint on May 1, 2000. Since then, all of the plaintiffs with the exception of Davis have settled their claims with the City, and only Davis' case went to trial. On March 19, 2004, a jury returned a verdict in favor of the City in Davis' case.

Only Counts One, Four, Seven, and Sixteen of the 16-count Second Amended Complaint are relevant to the issues presented to this Court. Count One alleged that the defendants created a hostile work environment for Davis and other African-American officers in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000e, et seq., and the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination ("LAD"), N.J.S.A. 10:5-1, et seq. In Count Four, Davis alleged race-based retaliation in violation of Title VII and the LAD. Count Seven set forth a retaliation claim under the CEPA, New Jersey's "whistle-blowing" statute. Finally, Count Sixteen, which was not part of the original Complaint, alleged that Davis suffered continued discrimination, harassment, and retaliation in violation of Title VII, the LAD, and the CEPA after the filing of the original Complaint with the District Court.

B. Factual History

Racial insensitivity in the Department

Davis testified that he overheard other officers, including two of his superiors, Lt. Joseph Valdora and Cpt. Daniel McKee, use hurtful racial slurs to describe African-Americans on a number of occasions throughout the 1990s. On one occasion, McKee read a memo about the City's harassment policy, which stated that officers should not be harassed for their membership in social groups, and told Valdora, in front of all of the other officers, "see, the chief just said it's okay to be in the KKK." (Pa486.)¹ Davis' testimony mainly concerned comments made by Valdora and McKee to African-American prisoners and detainees. Davis did not testify that other officers ever directed racist comments at him personally. Davis also sought to show that the City failed to address complaints of racist graffiti being written on bathroom walls and racist flyers being posted at headquarters.

Problems with the Department's Communications Center

In addition to problems with the racial insensitivity of other officers, Davis claimed that he began to experience problems with the Department's Communications Center ("the radio room") in the summer of 1997. The radio room is responsible for dispatching and assigning officers and for keeping records of which officers have been dispatched to particular jobs. Davis said he observed mistakes in the radio room's record-keeping, and he was erroneously assigned to multiple jobs at the same time. He also objected to being assigned to cases that he believed were inappropriate for a K-9 officer.

In July 1997, Davis confronted the radio room supervisor, Joe Woodcock, with his concerns. Around the same time, according to Davis' testimony, an unidentified radio room employee informed Davis that he was being singled out by Woodcock. Davis believed that the only possible reason Woodcock would target him was his race. Davis began submitting memoranda to his supervisors indicating that the radio room was purposely falsifying information. Cpt. McKee forwarded one of these complaints to the Department's Communications Section for an investigation. McKee also drafted a memo to his superior, Deputy Chief Paul Meyer, agreeing that there were problems with the radio room's record-keeping that needed to be addressed.

On July 18, 1997, Davis met with Lt. Valdora and another superior officer, Sgt. John Kemler. They suggested that Davis not question the radio room staff directly about assignments, but rather approach his superior officers with any concerns. Valdora and Kemler also advised Davis that his problems with the radio room were not unique. Davis has since conceded that he knew problems in the radio room were widespread and that many white officers also had issues with inaccurate radio room record-keeping and inappropriate assignments. He nevertheless persisted in his belief that he was being singled out. After the meeting, Valdora wrote a memo to McKee, stating that he believed Davis was being "paranoid," even though he was an otherwise "bright, young officer." (Pa406.)

Davis continued to submit complaints about the radio room. One memo, which detailed a conflict between Davis and Woodcock over the radio, was forwarded to Internal Affairs for an investigation. Woodcock admitted to Internal Affairs that the radio room had problems with record-keeping and mistaken assignments. He denied, however, that Davis' concerns arose out of any personal dispute. On October 3, 1997, Internal Affairs determined that Davis' harassment complaint was "Not-Sustained." (Pa410.)² On January 9, 1998, Valdora wrote another memo to McKee, expressing concerns about Davis' behavior. He stated that the most recent complaint was "a somewhat rambling account" of the radio room incident. (Pa412.)

Recommendations for psychiatric treatment

In the January 9, 1998, memo, Valdora reiterated that he thought Davis was "essentially a good officer," but that he was exhibiting "paranoid" behavior. Valdora agreed that many of Davis' complaints about the radio room were well-founded, but he faulted Davis for attributing those problems to a personal or racial dispute.

This irrational, obsessive behavior troubles me deeply. Imagine if you will, Officer Davis arresting a civilian employee for official misconduct when the elements of the crime are completely absent from all reporting. The civil liabilities would be tremendous. Therefore, I would like to provide you a recommendation. I would like to see Officer Lawrence Davis evaluated by a trained professional.

Id.

On January 11, 1998, McKee wrote a...