Diggs v. Town of Manchester

Page 163

303 F.Supp.2d 163

Marcus H. DIGGS, Plaintiff, v. TOWN OF MANCHESTER, Steven Werbner, Deputy General Manager, Thomas Weber, Fire Chief, and Robert Bycholski, Assistant Fire Chief, in their individual and official capacities; and Local 1579 Iaff, David M. Mayer, President, Defendants.

No. 3:02CV1628 (GLG).

United States District Court, D. Connecticut.

February 13, 2004.

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Cynthia Renee Jennings, The Barrister Law Group, Bridgeport, CT, for Plaintiff.

Alexandria L. Voccio, Michael J. Rose, Howd & Ludorf, Hartford, CT, James C. Ferguson, Ferguson, Doyle & Springer, Rocky Hill, CT, for Defendants.

OPINION

GOETTEL, District Judge.

This eight-count complaint arises out of Plaintiffs termination as a firefighter with the Town of Manchester. Defendants, the Town of Manchester, Town Manager Steven Werbner, Fire Chief Thomas Weber, and Assistant Fire Chief Robert Bycholski (the "Town Defendants") have now moved for summary judgment [Doc. # 15] on 21 different grounds. Likewise, Defendants Local 1579 IAFF and David Mayer, the past-President of the Local, (the "Union Defendants") have moved for summary judgment [Doc. # 24] on nine grounds. As discussed below, the Defendants' motions will be granted.

Summary Judgment Standard

The standard for granting a motion for summary judgment is well-established. A moving party is entitled to summary judgment "if 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 a judgment as a matter of law." Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(e). The burden of establishing that there is no genuine factual dispute rests with the moving party. See Gallo v. Prudential Residential Servs., Ltd. P'ship, 22 F.3d 1219, 1223 (2d Cir. 1994). In ruling on a summary judgment motion, the Court cannot resolve issues of fact. Rather, it is empowered to determine only whether there are material issues in dispute to be decided by the trier of fact. The substantive law governing the case identifies those facts that are material. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). In assessing the record to determine whether a genuine dispute as to a material fact exists, the Court is required to resolve all ambiguities and draw all reasonable inferences in favor of the nonmoving party. Id. at 255, 106 S.Ct. 2505; Matsushita Electric Ind. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 587, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986).

Factual Background

Plaintiff, Marcus H. Diggs, who is African — American, was employed as a firefighter by the Town of Manchester, Connecticut, for 17 years. Throughout his employment, he was a member of Local 1579 of the International Association of Fire Fighters, IAFF. (Un. St. ¶ 2.)¹ The record in this case presents the following chronology concerning Plaintiff's employment history as a firefighter.

Plaintiff commenced Ms employment as a firefighter with the Town of Manchester on a probationary basis on February 28, 1983. At the time, he was the only black firefighter for the Town of Manchester. (Pl.'s Dep. at 174.) His one-year probationary period was extended three months until May 28, 1984, by Chief John C. Rivosa "because of episodes that have occurred during his probation." (Un.St.¶ 5.) At meetings regarding Plaintiffs probationary status, Plaintiff was represented by the Local Union. (Id.) On July 5, 1984, Plaintiff was approved for permanent status as a firefighter. (Un.St.¶ 6.)

On August 10, 1984, Plaintiff received a warning from Chief Rivosa for poor driving, tardiness, and for an incident in which he used an "off color" remark in a telephone conversation with a member of the public. The Local represented Plaintiff at the pre-disciplinary sessions. (Un.St.¶ 7.)

On September 30, 1984, Plaintiff received a warning from the Chief for failing to report to work on time, Union member Defendant David Mayer represented Plaintiff at the meeting with the Fire Chief. (Un.St.¶ 8.)

Sometime in the mid-80's, Plaintiff filed a written complaint of discrimination with the City against three firefighters, Krabontka, Bajoris, and Dappollonia, who purportedly told Plaintiff that "he'd better keep his mouth shut M the TV room or they would tell the Chief that they couldn't work with this n______." (Pl.'s Dep. at 26-27.) Plaintiff states that his complaint was investigated and summarily dismissed. (Id. at 27.)

On September 16, 1986, Plaintiff was ordered to reimburse the Department for personal phone calls made while on duty. (Un.St.¶ 9.) He also received a written reprimand for failure to report to work. (Un. St.¶ 10.) Dan Huppe, the Local Union Steward, represented Plaintiff at the meeting with Deputy Fire Chief Bycholski. Plaintiff accepted the discipline relating to the phone calls and did not appeal the discipline relating to his failure to report to work. (Un. St. ¶¶ 9 & 10.)

On August 18, 1987, Plaintiff was warned about various aspects of his job performance by Deputy Chief Bycholski and was temporarily transferred to another station. (Un.St.¶ 11.)

On December 31, 1987, Plaintiff was suspended for one day and was required to reimburse the Department for four hours of overtime for his failure to report to work on December 24th. (Un.St.¶ 12.) Plaintiff was represented by Local Steward Huppe. He did not appeal this discipline. (Id.)

On January 8, 1988, Plaintiff was suspended for one week for his failure to report to work on January 4, 1988. He was represented by the Local President Robert Martin and two other Union members. Plaintiff did not grieve this discipline. (Un.St.¶ 13.)

On August 10, 1988, Local 1579 filed a grievance on Plaintiff's behalf regarding a denial of Union representation at a disciplinary meeting. (Un.St.¶ 15.)

On August 25, 1988, the Fire Chief suspended Plaintiff for two days for insubordination, charging Plaintiff with directing profanities at his superior officer. (Un. St. ¶ 16 & Pl.'s Resp. to ¶ 16.) Plaintiff claims that profanity was used among the firefighters on a daily basis and that white firefighters were not disciplined for similar statements. Plaintiff disputes whether he received representation from the Union at the disciplinary meeting. (Pl.'s Resp. to ¶ 16.) However, on August 29, 1988, Local President Martin filed a grievance alleging that Plaintiff's August 25th discipline was without just cause. (Un.St.¶ 17.) On January 5, 1989, the Local presented his suspension grievance at an arbitration before the State Board of Mediation and Arbitration, which upheld the suspension. (Un. St. ¶¶ 22 & 24.)

On September 28, 1988, Deputy Fire Chief Bycholski observed Plaintiff displaying "extremely erratic behavior, including talking to himself, speaking illogically, excessive swearing, continuous laughing, tossing around objects and occasional hostility." (Pl.'s Ex. 3, Bycholski Aff. ¶ 7;² Pl.'s Ex. 4, Bycholski 9/28/88 Memo to File of Marcus Diggs³.) Plaintiff was evaluated by a psychologist who, on October 1, 1988, involuntarily committed Plaintiff to the Institute for Living. (Un.St.¶ 18.) Plaintiff remained hospitalized for a month or two. (Pl.'s Dep. at 149.) On November 30, 1988, Plaintiff returned to work after meeting with Fire Chief Rivosa. He was represented in that meeting by Local President Martin. (Un.St.¶ 19.) However, the next day, December 1, 1938, Plaintiff failed to report for his scheduled shift and eventually showed up 50 minutes late. Chief Rivosa extended Plaintiff's previous one-year probation for failure to report until January 10, 1990. Plaintiff was represented by the Local and did not grieve the extended probation. (Un.St.¶ 20.)

On January 23, 1989, Plaintiff filed a complaint of discrimination based on race with the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities ("CCHRO") against the Town of Manchester Fire Department. (Un. St. ¶ 21; Un. Ex. D.) This complaint was dismissed by the CCHRO on January 16, 1990, and on May 16, 1990, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") issued its finding of no reasonable cause. (Un. St. ¶¶ 23 & 25; Un. Ex. D.)

On August 24, 1990, Plaintiff received a written reprimand for being absent without leave. He was represented at the disciplinary meeting by Local President Martin and elected not to grieve the discipline. (Un.St.¶ 26.)

On August 17, 1991, Plaintiff filed a grievance charging the Fire Department with unjust discipline. (Un.St.¶ 27.) The grievance was settled with the Fire Chiefs granting Plaintiffs requested relief. Plaintiff was again represented at the grievance meeting by Local President Martin. (Un.St.¶ 28.)

On July 11, 1994, Plaintiff was involved in a verbal altercation with a fellow firefighter, John Tsokalas, who suggested that Plaintiff might be a racist based upon certain derogatory comments Plaintiff made about "white people." (Pl.'s Ex. 5.) The conversation became quite heated and Plaintiff suggested they meet in the park after work "to discuss this further." (Tsokalas claims that Plaintiff said, "We'll go to the park in an hour and I'll show you who's a racist. I'll kick you're a______. I'll f______ kill you.") (Pl.'s Ex. 5 & Pl.'s Dep. at 22.) At that point, Tsokalas lifted a chair over his head and slammed it to the ground, breaking one of the legs. (Id. at 22-23.) Tsokalas states that he and Plaintiff shouted profanities at each other, and Plaintiff threatened him several more times. (Pl.'s Ex. 5.) Tsokalas then called headquarters. (Id.; Pl.'s Dep. at 23.) Another firefighter was sent to the station to relieve Plaintiff for the last few minutes of his shift. (Id.) Firefighter Tsokalas provided the Fire Chief with a written account of the incident (Pl.'s Ex. 5), to which Plaintiff responded. After an investigation, Fire Chief Rivosa concluded that Plaintiff provoked other employees into arguments and...