Phillips v. Heydt, 00-CV-5486.

197 F.Supp.2d 207

Tony PHILLIPS, Plaintiff, v. William L. HEYDT and City of Allentown, Defendants.

No. 00-CV-5486.

United States District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania.

April 18, 2002.

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Fredrick E. Charles, Allentown, PA, for plaintiff.

Platte V. Moring, III, White & Williams, LLP, Allentown, PA, for defendants.

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

ANITA B. BRODY, District Judge.

Plaintiff Tony Phillips ("plaintiff" or "Phillips") has filed suit against his employer, the City of Allentown ("city" or "Allentown") and its mayor, William Heydt ("mayor" or "Heydt") (collectively "defendants"), alleging that the defendants violated his rights under the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ("Title VII"), 42 U.S.C. § 2000(e) et. seq., the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act ("PHRA"), 43 P.S. § 951 et seq., and 42 U.S.C. § 1981 ("Section 1981"). Phillips claims that these violations began in the early 1980s and continued until the time this action was filed in October 2000. Phillips, who is a black police officer in Allentown, asserts that during this period the defendants subjected him to a hostile work environment and denied him all of the benefits and privileges of his contractual relationship with them. On May 6, 1998, plaintiff filed his charge with the EEOC and the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission ("PHRC"), received a Notification of Right to Sue on August 3, 2000, and instituted the current action on October 27, 2000. Phillips is seeking compensatory damages on all claims, punitive damages on his § 1981 claim, and any other relief this court deems appropriate. On October 22, 2001, plaintiff moved for partial summary judgment and defendants moved for summary judgment. Now before me are those motions.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND¹

Plaintiff, Tony Phillips, joined the Allentown Police Department in 1982 and in May 1992 was promoted to the rank of sergeant, which he currently holds (Dep. of Phillips, 17, 24). In 1982, at about the time Phillips joined the police force, he and other members of the police department noticed that Michael Combs, an officer in the department, wore a swastika pin on his police uniform and also made racist comments. No one lodged a complaint. (Internal Affairs Investigation of Combs, 42-43).² Sometime in 1988 or 1989, Phillips observed a Ku Klux Klan (KKK) photograph on Combs' desk. Twenty other individuals made similar observations of offensive items in Combs' office, including German and Nazi memorabilia, a bust of Hitler, and a Confederate flag. Though Combs admits to having these items in his office, he contends that they were the fruits of search warrants and drug raids, rather than chosen decoration. (Internal Affairs Investigation of Combs, 44-45). In 1990, following an incident when a reporter and photographer from The Morning Call, the local newspaper, observed these items in his office, Chief Wayne Stephens ordered Combs to remove them and he complied.³ (Internal Affairs Investigation of Combs, 38). Captains Robert Manescu and Thomas Bennis also claim that at various times between 1982 and 1986, Combs gave them white supremacist literature. (Internal Affairs Investigation of Combs, 45-46). Officer Rafael Perez, a Puerto Rican officer, alleges that in the spring or summer of 1989, Combs marched passed his desk with a burning Puerto Rican flag. (Internal Affairs Investigation of Combs, 51). Additionally, several members of the police department testified that they felt as if Combs had directed them to focus their attention on black criminals rather than white ones. (Internal Affairs Investigation of Combs, 48-49). During a 1995 internal affairs investigation of a black officer, Combs stated that because the officer lived in such a nice home, he must be a drug dealer. Subsequently, the target of that investigation, Sergeant Walter Felton, was fully exonerated of any wrongdoing, (Dep. of Felton, 66-67).

While numerous members of the Allentown Police Department witnessed these events over the course of a decade, no one lodged any sort of official complaint against Combs. On January 12, 1996 the police department promoted Combs to the rank of captain. On November 14, 1996, an article appeared in The Morning Call that detailed interviews with members of the department that had described the allegations against Combs. Two days later, on November 16, 1996, Mayor Heydt ordered an inquiry and an instituted an internal affairs investigation led by Captain Paul Snyder. (Internal Affairs Investigation of Combs, 39-40). Over the course of several months, the panel interviewed 92 people, met repeatedly, conducted independent investigation, and issued their report on April 22, 1997. (Internal Affairs Investigation of Combs, 41).

On April 30, 1997, at a press conference, Mayor Heydt and Chief Monahan made the results of the investigation public and discussed them. The report cleared Combs of the most serious allegations, finding them either unsustained or unfounded, but sustained the allegations that Combs had displayed Nazi memorabilia in his office and engaged in verbal insensitivity towards certain ethnic and religious groups.⁴ (Internal Affairs Investigation of Combs). Based upon these findings, the mayor and chief decided that the appropriate punishment was to require Combs to attend sensitivity training. The police chief and mayor indicated that Combs' conduct warranted no further sanction because Chief Stephens had reprimanded Combs in 1990 for displaying the memorabilia, most of the events took place seven or eight years prior to the complaint, and the panel was unsure Combs had intended offense with his comments and actions. Moreover, Combs expressed remorse for any offense he caused, maintained a pristine record during his tenure, and the intense public scrutiny of his actions hurt Combs both personally and professionally. (Mayor Heydt's Comments and Press Conference Releasing Combs Report, 63).

The following week, on May 7, 1997, Chief Monahan met with minority members of the police department to discuss their concerns with the outcome of the Combs investigation and the limited sanction he received. Plaintiff attended that meeting and at that time, as he did subsequently, expressed criticism of Monahan, Heydt, and the entire investigation. (Aff. of Gerald M. Monahan at ¶ 13). Plaintiff contends that following his cooperation in the Combs investigation and his criticism of it, the defendants subjected him to "subtle" forms of harassment. (EEOC Determination, April 12, 1999). Also at that meeting, Officer Solivan indicated that at a change of shift the previous month, Lieutenant John Kerrigan used the expression "nigger knocker" to describe a car horn. Though the statement was repeated twice, in the presence of many officers, plaintiff was not there and heard about the comment afterwards. (Dep. of Phillips at 139-40).

Phillips encountered additional troubles in May 1997. On April 28, 1997, an individual named Nestor Vargas complained about the conduct of an Officer Perez in a letter to the police department. Subsequently, Vargas supplemented his complaint and alleged that he had witnessed several members of the police force smoking marijuana in 1989. Vargas did not mention Phillips in these allegations, but when the officer in charge of the investigation interviewed Vargas again on May 6, 1997, he included Phillips among those officers. (Mem. from Lt. Joseph Hanna to Captain Paul Snyder, May 9, 1997). At a third interview, on May 29, 1997, Vargas insinuated that he manufactured his claim against Phillips so he would know "what it feels like [to be the target of an investigation]." The department did not investigate whether Combs had encouraged Vargas to file this complaint. The investigation fully exonerated Phillips and the department did not subject him to any discipline. (Mem. from Captain Ronald Manescu to Chief Gerald Monahan Jr., July 23, 1997). Phillips, however, expressed dissatisfaction with the investigation and pursued criminal charges against Vargas for filing a false complaint—an offense of which he was eventually found guilty. Plaintiff pursued this claim without the support of his superiors and indicates that on September 10, 1997, Chief Monahan wrote to him, hoping to "derail this arrest." (Pl.'s Statement of Contested Material Facts at ¶ 33(g)).

On September 14, 1997, Phillips arrived at work at approximately 10:15 P.M. to begin work on the night shift. After completing some administrative tasks, he approached his car to respond to a call. As he neared the vehicle, Phillips observed a doll's head wedged between the steering wheel and dashboard. Upon closer inspection, he noticed that the eyes of the doll had been poked out and its face was soiled or "blackened." Phillips immediately expressed his belief that the doll's head constituted retaliation for participating in and complaining about the Combs investigation and was an attempt at ethnic intimidation. (Dep. of Phillips at 148-52). The police department responded by instituting an internal affairs inquiry and assigned Captain Manescu to investigate. After examining the physical evidence and interviewing members of the department, Manescu determined that the evidence failed to support the allegations. (Mem. from Captain Ronald Manescu to Chief Gerald Monahan, Jr., October 1, 1997). Several of the officers interviewed admitted to having been in possession of the doll's head over the course of the day and eventually Sgt. Michael Popovich left the doll in the car as a practical joke directed towards another officer. All parties involved claimed their actions had no racial or retaliatory motive. (Internal Affairs Investigation of Doll's Head Incident by Captain Manescu).

On October 16, 1997, Chief Monahan scheduled a meeting between Phillips and Popovich to discuss the incident and the conclusions of the investigation. Chief Monahan rescheduled that meeting for the following day to...