An Alabama public housing employee sought another promotion—her third—after 5 years on the job. When she didn’t get it, she began complaining of race discrimination, contending that Caucasian employees were treated better than she was. She escalated her complaints, and was finally fired in response.For a Limited Time receive a
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Download NowWhat happened. “Jones-Brown,” an African American woman, joined the Tuscaloosa Housing Authority (THA) as a receptionist in January 2000. She was promoted to neighborhood coordinator 3 months later, and to public housing site manager I in 2001. She asked for further promotions in October and November 2005. Failing both times, she filed a charge of race bias with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in March 2006.
While her complaint was still pending, Jones-Brown sent THA’s executive director a letter accusing him of unethical and racially biased behavior toward her and of screaming and shouting at her in front of other employees. She also sent copies of the letter to the Tuscaloosa mayor and the chairman of THA. The director replied, denying her charges, chastising her for leveling accusations against him to third parties, and placing her on paid administrative leave. THA’s attorney investigated Jones-Brown’s allegations and found that no other employee could confirm any of her allegations, including the reported screaming incidents. The attorney recommended that Jones-Brown be fired.
THA did so, saying she’d been disruptive, insubordinate, and dishonest. Jones-Brown sued for race discrimination and retaliation. A federal district judge ruled entirely in the authority’s favor, dismissing the suit. She appealed to the 11th Circuit, which covers Alabama, Florida, and Georgia.
What the court said. Jones-Brown told appellate judges that she had presented direct evidence of retaliation. She asserted that she had followed protocol in filing her grievance against the director, which required her to send copies to the mayor and THA chairman. She also contended that the director’s referring her complaint to the attorney was direct evidence of retaliation.
Judges did not agree that what she’d presented was in any way evidence of either racial bias or retaliation, and they sought indirect proof of either. But, they said, “Conclusory allegations or unsupported assertions of discrimination, without more, are not sufficient to raise an inference of pretext.” So they dismissed her suit again. Tiggs-Vaughn v. Tuscaloosa Housing Authority, U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, No. 09-15485, unpublished (7/2/10).
Point to remember: The plaintiff’s letter itself served as documentation of the legitimate reasons she was fired.