JOHN D. BATES, District Judge.
Plaintiff Arthur Perry Bruder, an attorney representing himself, brought this action against Steven Chu, in his official capacity as the Secretary of Energy for the United States Department of Energy (the "Department"), alleging discrimination on the basis of sex and age in violation of federal law.
As an initial matter, the Court adheres to Local Civil Rule 7(h)(1), which requires that a party submitting a motion for summary judgment must attach a statement of
Bruder's Statement of Material Facts in Opposition to Defendant's Motion to Dismiss or in the Alternative for Summary Judgment [ECF No. 18] (Pl.'s Stat.), does not set out each fact in a separate, consecutively-numbered paragraph supported by specific citation to record evidence. Bruder's failure to comply with the local rules has made it unnecessarily difficult for the Court to discern which facts are in dispute, particularly because he intersperses disputed facts with both undisputed facts and self-serving arguments. Additionally, Bruder frequently states that "evidence indicates..." or "evidence shows ...," but either fails to cite to anything in the record or cites to documents that do not support his claim. See, e.g., Pl.'s Stat, at 6-9, 12. Bruder also repeatedly cites to various depositions that have not been submitted to the Court. See, e.g., Pl.'s Stat, at 3, 5-12. To the extent Bruder's statement fails to comply with the requirements of Local Rule 7(h), the Court will "assume that facts identified by [the Department] in its statement of material facts are admitted." Taylor v. Mills, 892 F.Supp.2d 124, 128 (D.D.C.2012).
Bruder is an attorney in the Office of the General Counsel. Def.'s Stat, of Mat. Facts [ECF No. 13-1] (Def.'s Stat.) ¶ 1. His claims in this action stem from his six-month tenure in the Administrative Litigation and Information Law ("ALIL") group of the General Law Section ("GC-77") of the Department. Id. ¶ 48. At the end of 2006, GC-77 was reorganized, and Bruder was moved from the Legal Counsel group to the ALIL group where Isaiah Smith and Susan Beard were "his first and second line supervisors respectively." Id. ¶¶ 49-50. In addition to Bruder, there were four other employees in the ALIL group, all of whom were female and younger than Bruder. See Compl. at 2-3. Bruder does not claim that GC-77's reorganization or his movement to the ALIL group were driven by discriminatory animus or negatively affected his employment status.
In March 2007 and June 2007, Bruder received two interim evaluations for his work in the ALIL group. Def.'s Stat. ¶ 52. On both evaluations, Bruder received a "3" rating on a 1-4 ascending scale in all of the five categories reviewed. Id. A "3" is considered "fully successful," and anything over a "3" is considered "highly successful." Id. ¶ 53. However, Bruder believed the rating he received was "bad." Id. ¶ 54. Bruder asked Smith, the supervisor who
Beginning on July 11, 2007, Smith went on leave from work for a medical emergency, and Beard became more directly involved in supervising Bruder. Id. ¶ 57. Around this time, Beard requested Bruder's case assignment sheet and was "able to close four [FOIA] cases in short order simply by making a few phone calls to offices within the Department." Id. Beard reviewed another FOIA matter assigned to Bruder and found that he had "missed the main legal issue." Id.
On July 23, 2007, per his own request, Bruder was temporarily detailed to another legal group within the Department. Id. ¶ 63. Bruder returned to the ALIL group in October 2007. Opp'n at 9. At the end of that month, Bruder was given a final performance rating of "3.2" — a score considered to be "highly successful." Id. ¶ 24. "[B]ased on this evaluation," Bruder received a cash award of $2,592. Id. ¶¶ 25, 58.
Around this time, Bruder initiated a formal complaint with the Department's Office of Civil Rights ("OCR"), alleging that he had received "unfair and biased ratings" and "every one of the younger females" received better ratings. Id. ¶ 26. Bruder also alleged that he was given inferior work assignments; that he was never asked to be acting supervisor when Smith was out of the office; and that his supervisors made untruthful statements about his work product. Id. ¶ 31. OCR accepted these claims, as well as several other claims not at issue before this Court, for investigation. Id. On May 20, 2001, after an investigation into Bruder's claims and a hearing on his complaint, an administrative judge assigned by the EEOC dismissed Bruder's claims, finding that there was no genuine issue of material fact. Compl. at 8-11 (Notice of Final Order).
Subsequently, Bruder filed a complaint in this Court, alleging that he was treated differently than the four younger, female employees in his section. See Compl. at 2. In particular, Bruder alleges that he suffered age and gender discrimination because he received lower ratings on his performance evaluations (Count 1), was not selected to temporarily supervise the office when Smith was out (Count 2), and was given inferior case assignments (Count 3). Id. at 3-5. Additionally, Bruder alleges that Smith and Beard conspired to denigrate Bruder's work by making untruthful statements (Count 6). Id. at 6. Lastly, Bruder claims that Smith and Beard conspired to abuse the Department's EEO and Grievance processes (Counts 4 and 5). Id. at 5-6.
To survive a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss, a complaint must contain "`a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief,' in order to `give the defendant fair notice of what the ... claim is and the grounds upon which it rests.'" Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007) (quoting Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 47, 78 S.Ct. 99, 2 L.Ed.2d 80 (1957)); accord Erickson v. Pardus, 551 U.S. 89, 93, 127 S.Ct. 2197, 167 L.Ed.2d 1081 (2007) (per curiam). Although "detailed factual allegations" are not necessary, to provide the "grounds" of "entitle[ment] to relief," plaintiffs must furnish "more than labels and conclusions" or "a formulaic recitation
"[I]n passing on a motion to dismiss ... the allegations of the complaint should be construed favorably to the pleader." Scheuer v. Rhodes, 416 U.S. 232, 236, 94 S.Ct. 1683, 40 L.Ed.2d 90 (1974); see also Leatherman v. Tarrant Cnty. Narcotics Intelligence & Coordination Unit, 507 U.S. 163, 164, 113 S.Ct. 1160, 122 L.Ed.2d 517 (1993). Therefore, the factual allegations must be presumed true, and plaintiffs must be given every favorable inference that may be drawn from the allegations of fact. See Scheuer, 416 U.S. at 236, 94 S.Ct. 1683; Sparrow v. United Air Lines, Inc., 216 F.3d 1111, 1113 (D.C.Cir.2000). However, the Court need not accept as true "a legal conclusion couched as a factual allegation," nor inferences that are unsupported by the facts set out in the complaint. Trudeau v. FTC, 456 F.3d 178, 193 (D.C.Cir.2006) (quoting Papasan v. Allain, 478 U.S. 265, 286, 106 S.Ct. 2932, 92 L.Ed.2d 209 (1986)).
Summary judgment, in turn, is appropriate when the pleadings and the evidence demonstrate that "there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(a). The party seeking summary judgment bears the initial responsibility of demonstrating the absence of a genuine dispute of material fact. See Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). The moving party may successfully support its motion by identifying those portions of "the record, including depositions, documents, electronically stored information, affidavits or declarations, stipulations (including those made for purposes of motion only), admissions, interrogatory answers, or other materials," which it believes demonstrate the absence of a genuine issue of material fact. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c)(1); see also Celotex, 477 U.S. at 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548.
In determining whether there exists a genuine dispute of material fact sufficient to preclude summary judgment, the Court must regard the non-movant's statements as true and accept all evidence and make all inferences in the non-movant's favor. See Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 255, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). A non-moving party, however, must establish more than the "mere existence of a scintilla of evidence" in support of its position. Id. at 252, 106 S.Ct. 2505. Moreover, "[i]f the evidence is merely colorable, or is not significantly probative, summary judgment may be granted." Id. at 249-50, 106 S.Ct. 2505 (citations omitted). Summary judgment, then, is appropriate if the non-movant fails to offer "evidence on which the jury could reasonably find for the [nonmovant]." Id. at 252, 106 S.Ct. 2505.
The Department has moved to dismiss Bruder's claims that Smith and Beard conspired to abuse the EEO and Grievance process (Counts 4 and 5) for failure to exhaust administrative remedies. The Department has also moved for dismissal or summary judgment on the remainder of Bruder's claims (Counts 1, 2, 3, and 6) for failure to show any adverse employment action and failure to rebut the Department's non-discriminatory reasons for any
Bruder fails to dispute the Department's argument that Counts 4 and 5 of his complaint, which allege that Smith and Beard conspired to abuse the EEO and Grievance processes, should be dismissed because Bruder failed to exhaust administrative remedies. See Def.'s Mot. to Dismiss or for Summ. J. [ECF No. 13] (Def.'s Mot.), at 17-20. Instead, Bruder states:
Pl.'s Opp'n to Def.'s Mot. [ECF. No. 18] (Opp'n), at 35 (citing Def.'s Mot.). When a plaintiff responds to a motion, but fails to address arguments made by the defendant, the Court may deem those arguments conceded. See Fox v. Am. Airlines, Inc., Civ. No. 02-2069, 2003 WL 21854800, at *2 (D.D.C. Aug. 5, 2003), affd, 389 F.3d 1291 (D.C.Cir.2004); see also Dews-Miller v. Clinton, 707 F.Supp.2d 28, 43 n. 10 (D.D.C.2010). Accordingly, Bruder has conceded the Department's argument to dismiss Counts 4 and 5 for failure to exhaust administrative remedies, and these counts will therefore be dismissed. This Court will consider the facts related to those counts in evaluating Bruder's remaining counts, as appropriate.
Bruder's remaining counts allege that the Department violated federal antidiscrimination law when Smith and Beard: appointed younger, female colleagues instead of Bruder to be acting supervisor whenever Smith was out of the office; gave younger, female colleagues better assignments than were given to Bruder; gave younger, female colleagues better performance evaluations than Bruder; and made untruthful statements about Bruder's work.
For employment discrimination claims in which the plaintiff lacks direct evidence of discrimination, the Supreme Court established the familiar three-part "burdenshifting approach." Chappell-Johnson v. Powell, 440 F.3d 484, 487 (D.C.Cir.2006) (citing McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 802, 93 S.Ct. 1817, 36 L.Ed.2d 668 (1973)). The D.C. Circuit has further clarified that "[i]n a Title VII disparate treatment suit where an employee has suffered an adverse employment action and an employer has asserted a legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for the decision, the district court need not — and should not — decide whether the plaintiff actually made out a prima facie case under McDonnell Douglas." Brady v. Office of the Sergeant at Arms, 520 F.3d 490, 494 (D.C.Cir.2008); see also Barnett v. PA Consulting Group, Inc., 715 F.3d 354, 358 (D.C.Cir.2013) (stating that ADEA claims are analyzed in the same way as Title VII claims). Instead, once an adverse employment action is shown and a nondiscriminatory reason is offered, the plaintiff has the ultimate burden of establishing that the reason provided by the employer is pretext, and the Court "must determine whether all the evidence taken together is insufficient to support a reasonable inference of discrimination." Musgrove v. District of Columbia, 775 F.Supp.2d 158, 169 (D.D.C.2011) (internal citations omitted). Here, the Department argues that there are no adverse employment actions, and has proffered non-discriminatory reasons for the alleged adverse employment actions. Accordingly, the Court will first
An adverse employment action is "a significant change in employment status, such as hiring, firing, failing to promote, reassignment with significantly different responsibilities, or a decision causing significant change in benefits." Douglas v. Donovan, 559 F.3d 549, 552 (D.C.Cir.2009) (internal citations omitted). The employee must "experience[] materially adverse consequences affecting the terms, conditions, or privileges of employment or future employment opportunities such that a reasonable trier of fact could find objectively tangible harm." Forkkio v. Powell, 306 F.3d 1127, 1131 (D.C.Cir.2002); see Griffin v. Wash. Convention Ctr., 142 F.3d 1308, 1310 (D.C.Cir.1998) (termination is an adverse employment action); Cones v. Shalala, 199 F.3d 512, 521 (D.C.Cir.2000) (refusal to allow an employee to compete for a job could be actionable because it was "tantamount to refusing to promote him," and failure to promote can be an adverse employment action); Taylor v. Small, 350 F.3d 1286, 1293 (D.C.Cir.2003) ("[FJormal criticism or poor performance evaluations are not [] adverse actions ... if they did not affect the employee's grade or salary."). The D.C. Circuit has cautioned that "not everything that makes an employee unhappy is an actionable adverse action." Russell v. Principi 257 F.3d 815, 818 (D.C.Cir.2001).
Bruder alleges that he suffered an adverse employment action when his supervisors repeatedly did not choose him as temporary supervisor when Smith was out of the office. Compl. at 3; Opp'n at 26-27. As a result, Bruder states, he was subjected to the supervision of other, purportedly less-qualified individuals. Id. However, as the Department correctly argues, the denial of this type of temporary designation fails to constitute an adverse employment action. Def.'s Mot. at 25.
Temporary designations do not constitute one of the "terms, conditions, or privileges of employment" for an adverse action. See Stewart v. Evans, 275 F.3d 1126, 1135 (D.C.Cir.2002) (a temporary designation is not a term, condition, or privilege contemplated by Title VII, and denial or delay of such a designation cannot be a cognizable harm under Title VII). Therefore, "denial of an acting position — without showing some further harm — does not by itself qualify as an adverse employment action." Glenn v. Williams, 2006 WL 401816, at *17 (D.D.C. Feb. 21, 2006). This includes situations where the plaintiff is repeatedly passed over for a temporary supervisory role. See Moore v. Ashcroft, 401 F.Supp.2d 1, 28 (D.D.C.2005) (repeated denial of temporary designation of employee as acting unit chief during her supervisors' many absences was not an adverse employment action). Accordingly, Bruder's claim that he was continually overlooked for the temporary designation of supervisor does not constitute an adverse action. His unhappiness with not being named temporary supervisor in the ALIL group is simply the sort of "minor and even trivial employment actionf] that [is] not properly the subject of Title VII discrimination suits." Forkkio v. Tanoue, 131 F.Supp.2d 36, 45 (D.D.C.2001), affd sub nom. Forkkio v. Powell, 306 F.3d 1127 (D.C.Cir.2002). Hence, Count 2 will be dismissed.
Bruder also alleges that he suffered an adverse employment action when
The Court examines Counts 1 and 6 of the complaint together. Count 1 alleges that Bruder suffered an adverse employment action when he received low ratings on two interim performance evaluations and one year-end performance evaluation in 2007. Compl. at 1. Count 6 alleges that Bruder suffered an adverse employment action when Isaiah Smith and Susan Beard "engagfed] in a pattern of denigrating Plaintiffs work by a series of blatantly untruthful statements." Compl. at 6. Bruder describes the alleged untruthful statements both as adverse employment actions that "affected [Bruder's] performance ratings," and as evidence that the Department's non-discriminatory explanations for Bruder's performance evaluations are a pretext for discrimination. Opp'n at 11-26. These alleged statements are intertwined with Bruder's performance evaluations.
Generally, performance ratings are not adverse employment actions unless they are associated with monetary gain or loss. See, e.g., Brown v. Brody, 199 F.3d 446, 457-58 (D.C.Cir.1999) ("[F]ormal criticism or poor performance evaluations are [not] necessarily adverse actions" and they should not be considered such if they did not "affect[] the [employee's] grade or salary."); Taylor, 350 F.3d at 1293 (delay in employee's receipt of performance evaluations that did not affect her grade or salary was not actionable). However, when a performance rating is directly tied to monetary gain, the D.C. Circuit has held that a
The Department asserts that the "interim appraisals ... did not affect [Bruder's] grade or salary." Mot. at 24. Bruder fails to contest this contention or allege that the interim performance evaluations affected his bonus or any other monetary aspect of his employment. Opp'n at 10. Accordingly, the interim performance evaluations do not constitute independent adverse employment actions.
With respect to the 2007 year-end review, however, Bruder argues that it caused him to receive a lower bonus.
Court will accept Bruder's citation to Smith's deposition, but Bruder must submit relevant transcript portions, as well as any other cited documents, in all future filings.
A link between the year-end performance evaluation and the bonus amount also appears to be supported by statements of the Department that Bruder's bonus "was based on" his final evaluation, and that the attorneys in the ALIL group who received higher bonuses "presumably got higher [evaluations than the Plaintiff." See Def.'s Stat, at 25; Def.'s Mot. at 12. However, the Department also states that "[Bruder] argues that he was subjected to an adverse employment action based on speculation that he might have received a higher bonus had he received a better performance evaluation," which seems to imply that the Department believes the performance evaluation is not directly linked to the year-end bonus. Def.'s Reply at 3 (emphasis added). Nonetheless, based on the Department's statements and Bruder's citation to the Smith deposition, and drawing all inferences in Bruder's favor, it appears that the year-end performance evaluation is linked to the year-end bonus, and is therefore an adverse employment action.
The Court turns now to whether Bruder produced sufficient evidence for a reasonable jury to find that the Department's asserted non-discriminatory explanation for giving Bruder a "bad" year-end performance evaluation was mere pretext.
The Department argues that Bruder received a lower year-end performance evaluation rating because he did not deserve a higher rating. In particular, the Department states:
An overwhelming body of evidence shows that the Plaintiff did not complete assignments or complete them in a timely manner; resisted or refused new assignments; claimed that a work assignment routinely performed by all attorneys in his unit, including his immediate supervisor, was beneath him; resisted supervisory oversight; occupied an office that had no work papers in sight and whose office computer apparently was rarely on; and failed to accept work assignments from persons acting in supervisory roles during a period when his immediate supervisor was on medical leave because of a heart attack.
Def.'s Mot. at 26-27. In support of these claims, the Department relies on declarations by Smith, Beard, and the four other ALIL employees: Kumar, Trznadel, Richards, and Strangis. Def.'s Mot., Exs. P, V, Q, R, S, U.
Bruder denies the allegations that he did not complete assignments or did not complete them in a timely manner, and attests that he asked for additional work but was never given it. Opp'n at 11-19, 30. In support of his claims, Bruder cites to portions of the depositions of Smith and Beard, as well as to several examples of his work product on assignments that are contested. Opp'n, Attachs. 7, 7A, 9, 10. He also argues that the allegations that his computer was rarely on, that his desk was devoid of papers, and that he refused work assignments allegedly occurred when Smith was on medical leave, a time period when Bruder was only in the office for a few days. Opp'n at 18-21; Def.'s Mot., Exs. Q ¶ 6, R ¶ 5, S ¶¶ 4, 6, U ¶¶ 4, 5. Bruder's argument is supported by the Department's acknowledgement that Smith was out of the office from Wednesday, July 11 to late August, and that Bruder began his detail assignment on Monday, July 23, 2007. Def.'s Stat. ¶¶ 57, 63. Bruder alleges that he did not return from detail until October. Opp'n at 9. Furthermore, Bruder's vacation schedule indicates that he was out of the office from Tuesday to Friday, July 17-20, 2007. Opp'n, Attach. 11. As a result, after Smith left on July 11, it appears that Bruder was in the
Bruder contends that he received an excellent evaluation from his detail work, which he does not believe was appropriately factored into his year-end 2007 performance evaluation rating. Opp'n at 9-10. He proffers a letter and an email from the individual who supervised him during his detail, which praises Bruder's work, and a letter from an attorney who worked with Bruder during his detail, which also praises his work. Opp'n, Attachs. 4, 5, 6. Bruder again cites to the purported Smith deposition transcript to show that Smith did not properly account for the positive review of Bruder's work by his detail supervisor when Smith decided Bruder's final performance evaluation rating. Opp'n at 10.
The Court is missing important pieces of information from the parties. In particular, the Court does not have Bruder's performance evaluation ratings or bonus amounts for the years preceding and following the one in question. Also, as noted earlier, the Court has not received any of the relevant deposition transcripts from the underlying EEO action cited by Bruder.
For the reasons set forth above, the Department's motion for summary judgment is granted in part and denied in part. Counts 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 will be dismissed. Count 1 survives. A separate Order has been issued on this date.