SAMUEL G. WILSON, District Judge.
This is an action brought pursuant to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e, et seq. (2006) ("Title VII"), by plaintiff Marilyn Session ("Session") against her employer, the Montgomery County School Board ("the Board").
In the light most favorable to Session, the facts are as follows. Session has been employed by the Montgomery County Public Schools ("MCPS") since 1977, when she began as a Social Studies teacher. From 1977 through 2004, she was given only excellent evaluations. In September of 2004, Session was promoted to Supervisor of Social Studies and Library Media. In March of 2005, Anderson became the Superintendent of the MCPS. Session alleges that in June and July of that year, Anderson made two racially derogatory comments and Session complained to the Board that Anderson's comments amounted to racial harassment.
As detailed in Session's complaint to the Board, the first of these incidents occurred in June 2005. According to that complaint, Session stated that she was seated at her desk in the school board office speaking with her friend Brenda Brand, when Anderson walked in. According to Session, Anderson, said that she stopped to speak to Session and Brand, who are both also African-American, because "she thought she saw another `person of color' in the office." (Session Incident Report 1.) Anderson then asked Session and Brand about finding a local hairdresser. During the conversation, Anderson asked Session how she styled her hair, and Session replied that she only washed and dried it. Anderson then commented "oh, you have that good hair," to which Session angrily responded that Anderson should "watch it." (Session Incident Report 1-2.)
Session asserts that Anderson's comment about having "good hair" has long been understood in the African-American community to be a racially charged insult which intimates that an individual has light-skinned features, and hair that isn't "like other black people['s]." (Session Incident Report 2.) In essence, because, as Session states, Anderson "is dark skinned with traditional African-American hair..." (Session Motion in Opposition 2), her comment of "good hair" in this context is condescending because it implies that Session is "not black enough."
The second incident, according to Session's complaint to the Board, occurred the following month at a staff meeting. At the end of the meeting, Anderson asked the attendees, including Session, to bring a baby picture of themselves to the next meeting to play a guessing game in which staff members would guess whose baby picture was whose. Anderson then stated to the group that they would have to use "plant" pictures, or fake photos, because "some of us have more melanin in our skin than others." (Session Incident Report 2.) Session believed that, as a light-skinned African-American woman, this comment was directed at her. She also asserts that the comment created an uncomfortable environment, and believed that it created unwanted attention from other staff members.
On November 15, 2005, the Board held a hearing to consider Session's complaint and determined that it was "unfounded." That same day, Anderson asked the Board to eliminate Session's supervisor position and create a new position in its place. Session applied for this new position but was not granted an interview, and the
In April of 2006, Anderson informed Session that she would be reassigned from her supervisory role to a teaching position and would take a pay cut. In July of that year, Session received her first negative performance evaluation, and in August, Session was assigned to the Phoenix Center, an alternative education program for troubled students who have anti-social attitudes, display violent tendencies, or have been convicted of crimes. Session alleges that this reassignment was in retaliation for her internal complaint against Anderson, and has or will cost her over $100,000 in wages and lost benefits.
Session filed a charge of discrimination with the EEOC alleging retaliation, the EEOC found reasonable cause to believe that the Board had retaliated against her, and Session filed this timely suit against Anderson and the Board. On February 11, 2010, 2010 WL 519839, the court granted Anderson's motion to dismiss on the ground that only employers (and not supervisors) can be liable under Title VII. The Board now moves for summary judgment.
The Board moves for summary judgment
To establish a prima facie case of retaliation under Title VII, a plaintiff must establish "that [she] engaged in a protected activity, that the employer took an adverse action against [her], and that a causal relationship existed between [her] protected activity and the employer's adverse action."
Id. This standard is designed to balance the competing interests of protecting employees from workplace discrimination, and ensuring that "Title VII . . . does not [create] `a general civility code for the American workplace.'" Burlington N. & Santa Fe Ry. Co. v. White, 548 U.S. 53, 68, 126 S.Ct. 2405, 165 L.Ed.2d 345 (2006) (citing Oncale v. Sundowner Offshore Servs., Inc., 523 U.S. 75, 80, 118 S.Ct. 998, 140 L.Ed.2d 201 (1998)). To that end, the courts have held that, generally, "simple teasing, off-hand comments, and isolated incidents (unless extremely serious) will not amount to discriminatory changes in the terms and conditions of employment." Jordan, 458 F.3d at 339 (citing Faragher v. City of Boca Raton, 524 U.S. 775, 787-88, 118 S.Ct. 2275, 141 L.Ed.2d 662 (1998)). See also EEOC v. Fairbrook Med. Clinic, 609 F.3d 320, 327-28 (4th Cir.2010).
Here, it is clear that Session did not engage in a protected activity under Title VII when she filed her internal complaint because Anderson's comments did not violate Title VII, and it was not objectively reasonable to believe that they did.
For the reasons stated, the Board's motion for summary judgment is granted.