Cruz v. Hagel

152 F.Supp.3d 74

Samuel Cruz, Plaintiff,

v.Chuck Hagel, Defendant.

CIVIL NO. 13–1308 (PAD)

United States District Court, D. Puerto Rico.

Signed January 27, 2016

Vladimir Mihailovich–Nikolich, Carolina, PR, for Plaintiff.

Rafael J. Lopez–Rivera, United States Attorney's Office, District of Puerto Rico, San Juan, PR, for Defendant.

OPINION AND ORDER

Delgado–Hernández, District Judge.

Samuel Cruz initiated this action against the Secretary of Defense, Chuck Hagel, seeking redress for alleged discrimination because of his sex, in violation of Title VII, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq. (Docket No. 13). Before the court is defendant's “Motion for Summary Judgment” (Docket No. 41), which plaintiff opposed (Docket No. 48). Defendants replied (Docket No. 53) and plaintiff surreplied (Docket No. 57). Upon careful consideration of the parties' submissions and applicable law, defendant's request is GRANTED and the case DISMISSED.¹

I. BACKGROUND

Plaintiff has been a substitute teacher at Antilles Elementary and Middle Schools in Fort Buchanan, Puerto Rico, since 1995. Id. at ¶ 15. Beginning in 1997, he has applied for a full permanent teacher position at the schools, to no avail. Id. at ¶ 19. In his view, all of the positions he has applied for were or are being filled with female teachers because there is “an unwritten policy at Antilles kindergarten and elementary School in Forth Buchanan not to hire males as classroom teachers.” Id. at ¶¶ 20–21. On that basis, he filed a formal complaint before the Diversity Management and Equal Opportunity Office (“EOO”), claiming discrimination based on sex. Administrative remedies were exhausted, and this suit followed.

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW

Summary judgment is appropriate when “the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). The purpose of summary judgment is to pierce the pleadings and assess the proof in order to see whether there is need for trial. Mesnick v. General Electric Co., 950 F.2d 816, 822 (1st Cir.1991).

The party moving for summary judgment bears the initial responsibility of demonstrating the absence of a genuine issue of material fact. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). A factual dispute is “genuine” if it could be resolved in favor of either party. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 249, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). It is “material” if it potentially affects the outcome of the case in light of applicable law. Calero–Cerezo v. U.S. Dep't of Justice, 355 F.3d 6, 19 (1st Cir.2004). As to issues on which the nonmovant has the burden of proof, the movant need to no more than aver absence of evidence to support the nonmoving party's case. Celotex Corp., 477 U.S. at 325, 106 S.Ct. 2548 ; Mottolo v. Fireman's Fund Ins. Co., 43 F.3d 723, 725 (1st Cir.1995).

Once the moving party has satisfied this requirement, the nonmoving party has the burden of presenting facts that demonstrate a genuine issue of material fact for trial. LeBlanc v. Great American Ins. Co., 6 F.3d 836, 841 (1st Cir.1993). All reasonable factual inferences must be drawn in favor of the party against whom summary judgment is sought. Shafmaster v. U.S., 707 F.3d 130, 135 (1st Cir.2013).

To resist summary judgment, the nonmovant must do more than show some metaphysical doubt as to a material fact. Matsushita Elec. Inds. Co., Ltd. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 586, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986). Conclusory allegations, empty rhetoric, unsupported speculation, or evidence which, in the aggregate, is less than significantly probative will not suffice to ward off a properly supported motion for summary judgment. Nieves–Romero v. U.S., 715 F.3d 375, 378 (1st Cir.2013). Careful record review reflects absence of genuine dispute as to the facts identified in the section that follows. Based on those facts, defendant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.

III. FINDINGS OF FACT²

A. The Department of Defense Domestic Dependent Elementary and Secondary Schools

The Department of Defense operates two (2) statutorily distinct elementary and secondary school systems for children of military personnel: domestic schools (i.e., Domestic Dependent Elementary and Secondary Schools (“DDESS”)); and overseas schools (i.e., Department of Defense Dependents' Schools (“DoDDS”)). Defendant's “Statement of Material Uncontested Facts in Support of Motion for Summary Judgment” (“SUMF”), Docket No. 42–2 at ¶ 1. Both DoDDS and DDESS are organizational elements of the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA), located in Alexandria, VA. SUMF at ¶ 2.

DDESS has one Area Service Center (“ASC”), headquartered in Peachtree City, Georgia. Id. DDESS is charged with providing elementary and secondary education to eligible dependents of military members and certain Federal civilian employees who reside on military installations in the continental United States, and military members and Federal civilian employees assigned to and working in Puerto Rico and Guam. SUMF at ¶ 3. It is organized into six (6) school districts, based on the number and size of the schools at each military installation and the geographic location of the installation. SUMF at ¶ 4.

The relevant district is comprised of DDESS schools located at the United States Military Academy, West Point, New York; Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia; Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren, Virginia; Fort Buchanan Army Installation, Puerto Rico; and Coast Guard Air Station Borinquen, Puerto Rico. Id. Fort Buchanan currently has three (3) schools comprised of one elementary school (Antilles Elementary School), one middle school (Antilles Middle School), and one high school (Antilles High School). SUMF at ¶ 5. Since 1997, plaintiff has been a Substitute Teacher at Antilles Elementary and Middle Schools. SUMF at ¶ 7.

B. The Employment Application System

From 2009, plaintiff has had an active online application for a position as elementary school teacher at Antilles Elementary and Middle Schools, which he prepared and submitted using the DDESS Employment Application System (“EAS”). SUMF at ¶ 8.³ The EAS is accessed online through the DoDEA website, and serves all schools in DoDEA. SUMF at ¶ 9.

The applicant may select the regions he wants to submit applications for. Id. The application consists of several modules which the applicant completes by providing information on a number of topics such as personal data, work experience, education and professional backgrounds, including evaluations, if any. Also, applicants may submit copies of their teaching credentials and transcripts, along with any other information they deem necessary. Id.

Once the EAS application is submitted, a certification unit over at DDESS headquarters conducts a teacher licensure (e.g. application of rating criteria). SUMF at ¶ 10. To that end, the unit reviews the applicant's transcripts and the target position the applicant is interested in, and if there is something missing it so informs the applicant. Id.

Once the application is complete, it can be updated, changed or deleted by the applicant, who is the only one with access and authorization to edit the application. The licensure staff may access the application to make annotations about the qualifications, which the applicant sees. SUMF at ¶ 11.

When a vacancy arises, the school principal submits a request for a personnel action (“RPA”), based on classroom needs. The RPA is received by the HR division at the ASC in Peach Tree City, Georgia, as the division responsible for preparing the referral and selection lists for all vacant educator positions in DDESS. SUMF at ¶¶ 6 and 12.⁴

In that process, the candidate's online application, supporting documentation, and the applicant's responses to the online questions/dropdown menus are matched with objective criteria. The menus are designed to capture the desired competencies/knowledge, skills, and abilities for the professional educator position being filled. SUMF at ¶ 13.⁵ Once the system is queried for all individuals who have expressed interest in the vacant position, it generates, on the basis of a score order, a list of available candidates.

After applying veterans and military spouses preference eligibilities, the HR staff at the ASC usually refers the top 25 candidates. SUMF at ¶ 14. The referral determination is based on the candidate's response to the questions/dropdown menus, and is a measure of the degree to which the applicant's background matches the competencies, knowledge, skills and abilities contained in the objective criteria required of the professional educator position being filled. SUMF ¶ 15.⁶

Upon selection, a course work/academic evaluation is performed by the DoDEA Certification/Licensure Unit to ensure that the candidate selected will be able to obtain DoDEA certification. Id.⁷ Gender is not within the competencies/knowledge, skills and abilities the EAS applies in creating referral and selection lists. SUMF ¶ 16.⁸ Aside from submitting an RPA to the HR division at the ASC in Peachtree City, Georgia, the school principal, who serves as hiring official, has no participation in the process of generating those lists. SUMF ¶ 17.

The EAS works on a point-in-time basis. As such, new candidates can file on line applications for a particular position on a daily basis, while others can remove or modify them in a way that can alter how their qualifications match the desired competencies/knowledge, skills, and abilities for the position being filled. Hence, for a particular position, the system could provide a different list each time it is queried. SUMF at ¶ 18. The school principal has no authority to hire candidates outside of those named in the referral list issued by the HR division at the ASC in Peachtree City, Georgia. I...