Dotson v. The City Of Syracuse

SONIA DOTSON, Plaintiff,

v. THE CITY OF SYRACUSE, THE CITY OFSYRACUSE POLICE DEPARTMENT, FORMER CHIEF OF POLICE DENNIS DUVAL, SGT. TIMOTHY GAY, MARK McCARDLE¹, PATRICK HARRINGTON, MICHAEL RATHBUN, Defendants.

5:04-CV-1388 (NAM/GJD)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK

Date: March 2, 2011

APPEARANCES:

Bosman Law Office

Attorney for Plaintiff

OF COUNSEL:

A.J. Bosman, Esq.

City of Syracuse Corporation Counsel

Attorneys for Defendants

OF COUNSEL:

Rory A. McMahon, Esq.

Joseph Francis Bergh, Esq.

Norman A. Mordue, Chief U.S. District Judge:

MEMORANDUM-DECISION AND ORDER

INTRODUCTION

Plaintiff Sonia Dotson brought this employment action against defendants pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq. ("Title VII"); 42 U.S.C. §§ 1981 and 1983; and the N.Y. Exec. Law § 296 ("New York Human Rights Law" or "NYHRL"). After a five-day trial, a jury found that defendants retaliated against plaintiff by requisitioning and listening to recordings of plaintiff'stelephone conversations after plaintiff made complaints about pornography in the workplace. The jury awarded plaintiff $175,000.00 in compensatory damages against the City of Syracuse; $125,000.00 in compensatory damages against defendant Timothy Gay; and $150,000.00 in compensatory damages against Mark McArdle. On March 2, 2010, plaintiff filed a motion for attorneys' fees and costs. (Dkt. No. 118). Defendants oppose the motion and cross move for the following relief: (1) judgment as a matter of law pursuant to Rule 50(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure; or (2) a new trial pursuant to Rule 59 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure; or (3) an Order amending or altering the judgment and jury verdict for compensatory damages; and (4) a stay of enforcement of the judgment pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 62(d). (Dkt. No. 122).

BACKGROUND AND TRIAL TESTIMONY

Familiarity with the facts of this case is assumed based on this Court's previous Memorandum-Decision and Order. Dotson v. The City of Syracuse, et. al., 04-CV-1388, Dkt. No. 61 (July 21, 2009). Prior to trial, defendants filed a motion for summary judgment seeking dismissal of all plaintiff's claims. The only causes of action to survive summary judgment were plaintiff's Title VII retaliation claims against the City based upon the act of eavesdropping on plaintiff's telephone conversations; plaintiff's NYHRL retaliation claims against the City, Gay and McArdle based upon the act of eavesdropping on plaintiff's telephone conversations; and plaintiff's § 1981 racial discrimination claim against McArdle and Gay. The Court dismissed all causes of action against Duval, Harrington and Rathbun.

The evidence at trial established as follows: On August 30, 2000, plaintiff began working for the Syracuse City Police Department as a Civil Service Officer ("CSO"). On two occasions, between March 2003 and June 2003, plaintiff observed CSO Patrick Harrington viewingpornographic movies on a laptop computer in the front desk area.² At the time of the incidents, plaintiff did not complain to anyone within the Department, other than her husband, about the pornography.

On September 11, 2003, plaintiff was involved in a work-related automobile accident. On September 12, 2003, plaintiff sought medical treatment for back pain. Plaintiff's physician completed a "sick slip" that excused plaintiff from work for one day and recommended light duty for two weeks. Plaintiff testified that she attempted to return to work on September 13, 2003, but she was "still sore". Plaintiff called into work and asked another CSO to complete a "sick slip" for human resources. Plaintiff was not scheduled to work on September 14^th and 15^th.³

On September 16, 2003, plaintiff returned to work on "light duty" and was assigned to the front information desk with Sergeant Timothy Gay. While working at the front desk, plaintiff received a telephone call from Lieutenant Thomas Serrao. Lt. Serrao questioned plaintiff regarding her absence from work on September 13, 2003. Plaintiff testified that Lt. Serrao "asked" her to provide another note from her physician. Sgt. Gay testified that he overheard plaintiff's portion of the conversation and believed that plaintiff was insubordinate to Lt. Serrao.

Shortly after plaintiff spoke with Lt. Serrao, plaintiff placed a telephone call to her husband, Lonnie Dotson, from the front desk. Plaintiff testified that she told her husband that she, "didn't understand what Lt. Serrao wanted from [her]" and that "these guys kept messing with me". Plaintiff stated that she was resentful because, "these guys were watching pornography and bringing in [ ] magazines and they were worried about a sick day. I didn't get that [ ]."

Plaintiff also telephoned Sergeant Rutha DeJesus from the front desk telephone. Plaintiff told Sgt. DeJesus about her conversation with Lt. Serrao and complained about pornographic movies and magazines in the workplace. Sgt. DeJesus told plaintiff to file a complaint with the Equal Opportunity Officer, Lieutenant Rebecca Thompson.

Sgt. Gay admitted that he overheard plaintiff on the telephone with her husband and Sgt. DeJesus and described plaintiff as "very upset". Sgt. Gay testified that he did not hear plaintiff complain "at all" about pornography and stated that there were portions of the conversations that were quiet and confined to the phone calls.

Shortly thereafter, Captain Mark McArdle called Sgt. Gay to his office. Lt. Serrao was in Capt. McArdle's office when Sgt. Gay arrived. Accordingly to Capt. McArdle, Sgt. Gay described plaintiff as "having a meltdown" at the front desk. Capt. McArdle asked Sgt. Gay to obtain a memorandum from plaintiff documenting her medical absence. Sgt. Gay testified that he attempted to obtain the memorandum from plaintiff but she refused to comply. Capt. McArdle asked Sgt. Gay to bring plaintiff to his office to resolve the issue. Capt. McArdle stated that he "counseled" plaintiff and told her she needed to follow departmental procedure.

Plaintiff and Sgt. Gay returned to the front desk area. Sgt. Gay testified that plaintiff threw a memorandum over his shoulder. Sgt. Gay returned to Capt. McArdle's office with the memorandum and "strongly recommended" that plaintiff be disciplined. Capt. McArdle testified that he decided to investigate the issue to determine whether disciplinary action was appropriate. Therefore, Capt. McArdle asked Sgt. Gay to secure the recordings of plaintiff's telephone conversations with Lt. Serrao and any subsequent conversations "where plaintiff was upset". Capt. McArdle testified that when he gave Sgt. Gay that directive, he was not aware that plaintiff made any complaints regarding pornography in the workplace. Capt. McArdle testified that Sgt. Gay did not tell him that he overheard plaintiff saying she was going to make an EEOC complaint. On September 16, 2003, Sgt. Gay left a message for Detective Rick Rioux in the "telecommunications management" department in an attempt to obtain the recordings. On September 22, 2003, Det. Rioux contacted Sgt. Gay and asked him to complete an interdepartmental memorandum to memorialize his request.

At the relevant time, Deputy Chief Rebecca Thompson was a lieutenant in charge of the family services division and the EEOC Officer for the Department. Dep. Chief Thompson testified that she received a complaint from plaintiff on September 23, 2003 regarding pornographic material in the workplace between March and June 2003. Plaintiff complained that another CSO brought pornographic material to the front desk area and that it made her feel uncomfortable.

On September 24, 2003, Dep. Chief Thompson attempted to discuss plaintiff's complaint with Sgt. Gay and CSO Harrington but she was advised that they were both off duty until September 26, 2003.

On September 25, 2003, Sgt. Gay completed a memorandum as a "back up" to his oral request for his recordings and slid it under Detective Rioux's door. On September 26, 2003, Sgt. Gay and Capt. McArdle obtained and listened to the tapes. On September 26, 2003, Dep. Chief Thompson spoke with Capt. McArdle and Sgt. Gay about plaintiff's complaint. Dep. Chief Thompson testified that she did not notify McArdle and Gay of plaintiff's complaint prior to that date. Capt. McArdle and Sgt. Gay both testified that they were not aware that plaintiff filed a complaint with the EEOC until they spoke with Lt. Thompson on September 26, 2003.

On September 27, 2003, Capt. McArdle prepared a memorandum regarding plaintiff and suggested disciplinary action due to insubordination. Capt. McArdle stated, "CSO Dotsonengaged in insubordinate behavior as a direct result of being questioned in regards to an unauthorized absence from duty on Sat 13 Sep '03."

In "September 2003", Sgt. DeJesus told plaintiff that defendants requisitioned and listened to her telephone conversations.

On October 16, 2003, plaintiff filed another EEOC complaint with Dep. Chief Thompson alleging she was being retaliated against as a result of filing her September 2003 complaint. Plaintiff did not provide any specific information or identify any incidents of retaliation. Plaintiff did not claim that the retaliation involved eavesdropping and plaintiff never told Lt. Thompson that defendants requisitioned and listened to her telephone calls. Plaintiff could not recall making any complaints regarding defendants actions involving her telephone calls.

At the conclusion of the trial, defendants moved for judgment as a matter of law seeking dismissal of plaintiff's remaining claims. The Court held that plaintiff failed to establish that she was discriminated against on the basis of race and dismissed plaintiff's § 1981 claims. The Court denied defendants' motion relating to plaintiff's retaliation claims as there were questions of fact for the jury.

DEFENDANTS' MOTIONS

I. RULE 50(B) MOTION OF JUDGMENT AS A MATTER OF LAW

The standard governing a Rule 50 motion for judgment as a matter of law is well settled:

Judgment as a...