United States District Court, E.D. Michigan, Southern Division
OPINION AND ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANT DETROIT PUBLIC
SCHOOLS' MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT (ECF #16) AND
DENYING PLAINTIFF GREGORY STOKES' MOTION FOR SUMMARY
JUDGMENT (ECF #23)
Paul
D. Borman United States District Judge.
I.
BACKGROUND
Plaintiff
Gregory Stokes, an African-American male who was 55 years of
age during the relevant time period, was previously employed
by Defendant, Detroit Public Schools
("DPS")-[1] After his contract expired, and he was not
selected to fill the newly-created position of Executive
Director - Talent Management, Plaintiff filed a four-count
Complaint (September 20, 2017, ECF #1) against DPS, alleging
wrongful termination and failure to promote on the basis of
age under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act
("ADEA"), 29 USC §621, et seq., and
age and gender under Michigan's Elliott-Larsen Civil
Rights Act ("ELCRA"), MCL §37.2101, et
seq. On November 22, 2017, Plaintiff filed an Amended
Complaint (ECF #3), to include two counts under Title VII, 42
USC §2000e, for gender and age discrimination, as
follows:
Count I: Failure to Promote on the Basis of Gender - Title
VII, 42 USC §2000e-2(a)
Count II: Unlawful Termination on the Basis of Gender - Title
VII, 42 USC §2000e-2(a)
Count III: Failure to Promote Based on Age - ADEA, 29 USC
§621
Count IV: Unlawful Termination Based on Age - ADEA, 29 USC
§621
Count V: Denying Promotion on the Basis of Age/Gender -
Elliot Larsen Civil Rights Act, MCL §37.2101, et
seq.
Count VI: Unlawful Termination on the Basis of Age/Gender -
Elliot Larsen Civil Rights Act, MCL §37.2101, et
seq.
Before
the Court are the Parties' cross-Motions for Summary
Judgment. (ECF #16, 23.) On December 17, 2018, the Parties
filed their Motions. (ECF #15, 16.)[2] On January 31, 2019,
Defendant filed its Response to Plaintiffs Motion (ECF #19),
and Plaintiff filed his Response to Defendant's Motion
(ECF #20). On February 14, 2019, Plaintiff filed his Reply.
(ECF #21.) Defendant did not file a reply in support of its
Motion. On May 3, 2019, the Court held a hearing on the
instant Motions.
II.
FACTS
A.
Plaintiffs Initial Employment with DPS
Plaintiff,
a 55 year-old African-American male during the time of the
alleged adverse actions, began his employment with DPS in
2006 as a Human Resources Administrator. (Dep. of Gregory
Stokes, June 18, 2018, ECF #24-2, 15:12-19, PgID 2869). In
2010, the Human Resources Director at that time, Robyn
Diamond, promoted Plaintiff to the position of Talent
Acquisition Manager. (Id. at 17:22-18:21, PgID
2871-72.) Plaintiff did not have to go through an application
and interview process for this promotion. Id. In
March 2013, Gwendolyn DeJongh, the newly appointed Chief
Human Resources and Labor Relations Officer, appointed
Plaintiff to the position of Interim Executive Director of
recruitment.[3] (Id. at 22-23.)
B.
The New Teacher Project
DPS had
been under the control of emergency management since 2009. As
part of an effort to restructure the central office into a
"network model," DPS entered into a contract with
consultants The New Teacher Project ("TNTP") in
June 2015. (Dep. of Errick Greene, July 10, 2018, ECF #24-23,
45:9-17, PgID 3577.) As part of this effort, TNTP evaluated
and reconfigured roles where necessary to
"rightsize" the organization, including roles
within the Human Resources and Talent Management areas.
(Id. at 35:17-23, PgID 3567.) TNTP was also engaged
to assist with the transfer of control back to the school
district from the emergency manager system. (Id. at
20:10-20, PgID 3552.) In October 2015, when Plaintiff was
informed that his contract would not be extended, Darnell
Earley was the emergency manager, and Errick Greene was his
special assistant. (Id. at 7:21-22, PgID 3539.)
Nicholas
Denton-Brown, a TNTP employee, was the Talent Acquisition
Manager for the restructure. (Dep. of Nicholas Denton-Brown,
July 26, 2018, ECF #24-9, 16:9-10, PgID 3084.)
Denton-Brown's role was to recruit individuals for the
various positions created, which included conducting initial
screening interviews and assisting with the resume
verification process. (Id. at 81:4-82:20, PgID
3149-50.) The Parties dispute whether "employment"
had to be verified during the hiring process, or whether
contacting references satisfied that aspect of the candidate
screening process. (Id. at 81:13-82:1, PgID
3149-50.) It is notable that neither Party has produced a
written recruiting, hiring and/or interviewing policy that
was effective during 2015.
Once
Denton-Brown recruited and screened an applicant, he would
refer viable candidates to an interview committee for that
particular position. (Id. at 68:24- 69:2, PgID
3136-37.) The hiring manager for the position of Executive
Director -Talent Management was Errick Greene. (Id.
at 68:19, PgID 3136.)
On June
30, 2015, Plaintiff was offered a six-month contract as
Acting Deputy Director Executive Director, still reporting to
DeJongh. (See Def.'s Mot. ECF #16-5, Ex. B, PgID
828; Dep. of Cassandra Washington, June 19, 2018, ECF #24-11,
44:6-14, PgID 3253.) Plaintiff began reporting to
DeJongh's replacement, Cassandra Washington, on July 6,
2015. (Washington Dep., ECF #24-11, 54:4-5, PgID 3263.)
On
October 22, 2015, Plaintiff received a notice of non-renewal
of his contract as of December 31, 2015 due to "Economic
Necessity and/or Reorganization." (Def.'s Mot, ECF
#16-6, Ex. C, PgID 843.)[4]
Chanel
Hampton, who was not a DPS employee at the time, first
applied for the higher position of Deputy Superintendent -
Talent Management on November 3, 2015. (Denton-Brown Dep.,
ECF #24-9, 125:5-14, 29:13-17, PgID 3097, 3193; Def.'s
Mot, ECF #16-10, Ex. G, PgID 1012.) She submitted a cover
letter expressing her interest in that position as well as
her resume. (Denton-Brown Dep., ECF #24-9, 29:8-17, PgID
3097.) Denton-Brown testified at his deposition that
Hampton's references were contacted by phone and
verified. (Id. at 81:16-18, PgID 3149.)
On
November 30, 2015, Denton-Brown emailed several TNTP
employees a list of follow-up questions on various issues,
including the progress of Hampton's Deputy Superintendent
interview and the Executive Director - Talent Manager
position:
...5. Miriam, any update from Cassandra about the talent
acquisition logistics for the ED, Talent role? e.g. posting
on DPS site vs on a 3rd party site? Who will manage processes
like background checks, etc. for this role considering the
conflict of interest with [Plaintiff]?
6. Andrew, any update on a Deputy Supe, Talent interview for
Chanel Hampton? Ideally she would interview for that role
and, if strong but not quite qualified for that position as
we and Errick Greene suspect, she would be offered the
ED, Talent position.
(PL's Mot, ECF #16-11, PgID 1014.) (Emphasis added.)
Hampton
went through the interview process for Deputy Superintendent
- Talent Management, and the interviewers, including Greene
and Emergency Manager Darnell Earley, determined that
although she did not have sufficient experience for that
position, she was a strong candidate for the Executive
Director - Talent Manager position. (Denton-Brown Dep., ECF
#24-9, 29:18-22, PgID 3097.) That position was yet to be
posted as available, but Denton-Brown testified that Hampton
was asked to apply for that role, as evidenced by emails
between TNTP consultants and Greene on December 3 and 4,
2015. (Id. at ...