Kantha v. Blue

262 F.Supp.2d 90

Maria Munoz KANTHA, Plaintiff, v. Jerome BLUE, individually, Evonne Jennings Tolbert, individually, George Doe, a State of New York Official, individually, James Roe, a State of New York Official, individually, Thomas Poe, a State of New York Official, individually, Defendants.

No. 01 CIV. 10809(CM).

United States District Court, S.D. New York.

May 2, 2003.

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Drita Nicaj, Lovett & Gould, Esqs, White Plains, NY, for Maria Munoz Kantha, plaintiff.

Robert N. Felix, Constantine Aristidis Speres, Eliot Spitzer, Attorney General of the State of N.Y., New York City, for Jerome Blue, Individually, Evonne Jennings Tolbert, Individually, George Doe, A State of New York Official, Individually, James Roe, A State Of New York Official, Individually, Thomas Poe, A State of New York Official, Individually, defendants.

MEMORANDUM DECISION AND ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART DEFENDANTS' MOTIONS FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

MCMAHON, District Judge.

Plaintiff Maria Munoz Kantha brings this action against defendants Jerome Blue, Evonne Jennings Tolbert, and three unidentified New York state officials pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 ("Section 1983"), claiming that Blue discriminated against her because she was female (in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment) and that both defendants retaliated against her because she engaged in constitutionally protected speech (in violation of the First Amendment). Plaintiff also asserts a claim against Blue under New York Executive Law § 296(6). Defendants Blue and Tolbert now move for summary judgment on all claims against them.¹

For the following reasons, defendant Tolbert's motion is granted and defendant Blue's motion is denied.

I. Facts

Rule 56.1 of the Local Rules of Civil Procedure requires a party opposing summary judgment to submit a "separate, short and concise statement of the material facts as to which it is contended there exists a genuine issue to be tried." Each statement of material fact "must be followed by citation to evidence which would be admissible, set forth as required by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56(e)." Many of the statements of material fact set forth in plaintiffs 56.1 Statement either do not find support in the evidence cited or are supported by evidence that would be inadmissible at trial. The following facts are supported by admissible evidence and interpreted most favorably to plaintiff, the non-moving party.

On July 26, 1999, Governor George E. Pataki's Office appointed plaintiff Kantha as Deputy Regional Commissioner of the New York State Division of Human Rights. [Plaintiffs 56.1 Statement ¶ 5]. At that time, defendant Blue was the Commissioner of the Division. Id. at ¶ 3. Tolbert was appointed as Executive Deputy Commissioner on August 2, 1999. Id. at 117. As the Division was organized at the time of Tolbert's appointment, Blue headed the Division, Tolbert worked directly under Blue, and Kantha worked directly under Tolbert. [Id, at ¶ 6; Nicaj Affirmation, Ex. 7].

A. Blue's Actions Toward Female Employees

Kantha alleges that several of Blue's actions toward her and other female employees at the Division evidence Blue's animus toward women.

1. Failure to Introduce Female Executives

Plaintiff testified at her deposition that she, Tolbert, and Gina Lopez (General Counsel at the Division) attended an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission conference at which Blue failed to introduce them to the audience. Kantha also testified about an occurrence where Blue failed to acknowledge her when he introduced her subordinate staff (which included men and women) at a conference in Albany. Kantha contends that Blue's failure to introduce her humiliated her in front of a large audience. [Plaintiffs 56.1 Statement ¶ 11; Nicaj Affirmation, Ex. 4, at 165-66].

2. Verbal Abuse

Kantha testified that Blue yelled at female Division employees, including Tolbert and her, but she never saw him yell at any men. [Plaintiffs 56.1 Statement ¶ 12; Nicaj Affirmation, Ex. 4, at 166-68]. She also testified that Blue called at least one female employee "incompetent" and "useless." [Plaintiffs 56.1 Statement ¶ 7; Nicaj Affirmation, Ex. 4, at 142].

3. Preventing Female Employees From Performing Their Jobs

Plaintiff alleges that Blue prevented female executives from performing their job functions. She testified that Vallorie Lovelace, the Administrator of Human Resources, lost weight when Blue "completely disregarded" her and met with employees under her supervision. [Plaintiffs 56.1 Statement ¶ 13; Nicaj Affirmation, Ex. 4, at 113-14, 204, 232]. Kantha also testified that Blue excluded Denise Washington, an administrative law judge, from the decision-making process and then terminated her employment. [Plaintiffs 56.1 Statement ¶ 16; Nicaj Affirmation, Ex. 4, at 184-86]. The bulk of the evidence that plaintiff proffers to oppose defendants' motion for summary judgment, however, concerns Blue's treatment of three women: defendant Tolbert, Margaret Gormley-King, and plaintiff herself.

a. Tolbert

Kantha argues that two incidents evidence Blue's attempt to subvert Tolbert's authority at the agency. First, Blue objected to Tolbert's request that she receive a copy of reports sent to Blue from Bureau Heads and Regional Directors. [Plaintiffs 56.1 Statement ¶ 7; Nicaj Affirmation, Ex. 7]. Second, he attempted to alter the organizational structure of the Division in such a way that Tolbert would no longer directly supervise Kantha. [Plaintiffs 56.1 Statement ¶¶ 7-8; Nicaj Affirmation, Ex. 9]. After a meeting on the subject—attended by Tolbert, Blue, and Chicatelli (among others)—Blue abandoned his reorganizational effort. [Plaintiffs 56.1 Statement ¶ 9; Nicaj Affirmation, Ex. 6, at 119-20].

In addition, two Division employees (Margaret Gormley-King and Booker Ingram) testified that Blue kept Tolbert "out of the loop" and "excluded her from day-to-day business activities." [Plaintiffs 56.1 Statement ¶ 10; Nicaj Affirmation, Ex. 10, at 22-24; Nicaj Affirmation, Ex. 12, at 40].

b. Gormley-King

Blue directed male Division employees from the Buffalo office to meet with the local commission in Rockland County, even though it was within Margaret Gormley-King's jurisdiction and a part of her job responsibility. [Plaintiffs 56.1 Statement ¶ 21; Nicaj Affirmation, Ex. 12, at 13-16]. Gormley-King wrote a memorandum to Blue in which she complained about the incident. [Nicaj Affirmation, Ex. 25]. Blue responded with a memorandum in which he criticized her job performance. [Nicaj Mfirmation, Ex. 26]. Gormley-King concluded from this incident that Blue had difficulty dealing with women. [Nicaj Affirmation, Ex. 12, at 13].

c. Kantha

Kantha testified that Blue excluded her from all management meetings, [Plaintiffs 56.1 Statement ¶ 17; Nicaj Affirmation, Ex. 4, at 195]; ordered her to perform tasks that needed to be performed by lower-ranked employees working under Tolbert's supervision, [Plaintiffs 56.1 Statement ¶ 18; Nicaj Affirmation, Ex. 4, at 209-10]; prevented staff from giving her information that she needed to perform her job, [Plaintiffs 56.1 Statement ¶18; Nicaj Affirmation, Ex. 4, at 202-03]; and eliminated some of Kantha's duties and responsibilities by preventing her from leaving the office and going out to the "field." [Plaintiffs 56.1 Statement ¶ 18; Nicaj Affirmation, Ex. 4, at 203-04].

Plaintiff also related an incident involving Wilson Ortiz, a staff member who was subordinate to Kantha in the Division's chain of command. Plaintiff testified that Blue transferred Ortiz from the Brooklyn office to the White Plains office without first consulting with her. [Plaintiffs 56.1 Statement ¶ 17; Nicaj Affirmation, Ex. 4, at 34-35]. She also claimed that Blue told Ortiz that he no longer reported to Kantha, but should report directly to Blue instead. [Plaintiffs 56.1 Statement ¶ 21; Nicaj Affirmation, Ex. 4, at 200-01]. Kantha further alleges that Blue told a lot of regional directors (who worked under Kantha in the chain of command) that they should also report directly to him. Id.

d. Assigning Work to Males

Plaintiff presents evidence tending to establish that Blue assigned work to males that was within the job responsibilities of female employees. Gormley-King testified, for example, that Blue delegated responsibilities to male employees from Buffalo. Another Division employee, Edward Watkins, testified that Blue appeared to delegate responsibilities that could have been performed by Tolbert and Kantha (in their positions as executives in the Division) to two males, David Bailey and Mike Greason. [Nicaj Affirmation, Ex. 12, at 24-37]. Watkins testified that those two male employees seemed to work well with Blue, while Blue appeared uncomfortable when he dealt with Kantha and Tolbert. Id. at 22, 36.

B. Plaintiffs Complaints

Kantha expressed her concerns about Blue's conduct, both orally and in writing, to Nita Chicatelli, James Natoli (a Senior Program Associate), William Howard (Deputy Director of Governor Pataki's State Operations), Tom Doherty (head of Governor Pataki's Appointment Office), as well as to Blue himself. [Plaintiffs 56.1 Statement 1119; Nicaj Affirmation, Ex. 14-23, 28]. She testified, for example, that she told Doherty that Blue conflicted with Tolbert because Tolbert was a "strong woman." [Nicaj Affirmation, Ex. 4, at 407]. She also sent out several memoranda to various people.

1. The December 23, 1999 Memorandum and its Aftermath

In a December 23, 1999 memorandum to Blue, which she carbon copied to Nita Chicatelli, Kantha complained of Blue's "outward hostile management approach" and "abuse of power towards your administrative staff and other senior staff members." [Nicaj Affirmation, Ex. 14]. "Your disregard for my position as Deputy Commissioner, and exclusion of any decision making process with regard to my regional affairs department," she wrote, ...