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Worker Keeps Racial Bias Case Alive
Odds seem stacked in employer's favor, but battle enters Round 3.
By Jeff Scullin
The Ledger
jeff.scullin@theledger.com
BARTOW -- Florida's Natural Growers fired Rony Civil in December 2000, citing three disciplinary write-ups he received in less than a year.
But Civil, who is black and Haitian, saw racial discrimination behind the firing. He filed a lawsuit in federal court against Florida's Natural and its parent company, Citrus World, both of which are based in Lake Wales.
The Avon Park man claimed that a supervisor had humiliated him with racial and ethnic slurs and denied him a promotion because of his background
Civil accused company officials of looking the other way after he reported the harassment and said he was fired in retaliation for circulating a petition seeking better pay for off-season workers.
&
quo
;The way I was treated, I
felt like killing myself," Civil said in an interview last week.
The legal battle is entering Round 3. Earlier this month, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta reversed a lower court decision, finding that Civil had enough of a case to go before a jury.
The very fact that Civil's case has survived at all is somewhat unusual, according to legal experts.
"For an employee to win in the 11th Circuit in an employment discrimination case is extraordinarily unusual," said Anthony Niedwiecki, a law professor at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale. "The 11th Circuit is generally considered one of the most conservative courts, especially when it comes to employment discrimination cases."
Generally, judge
s are reluctant to question a company's personnel policies, so long as they are consistently applied to all employees, according to the lawyers on both sides of Civil's case.
That
rel
ucta
nce, combin
ed with the need to wade through a growing number of employme
nt discrimination lawsuits, has made federal trial court judges more willing to grant employers' motions for summary judgment, dismissing employee complaints, Niedwiecki said. The 11th Circuit does not overturn many of those summary judgments, which has discouraged employees from filing employment discrimination lawsuits and lawyers from taking cases, he said. But Civil and his Lakeland lawyer, Peter Helwig, have kept pushing.
"It is very necessary," Civil said. "The company does not use good judgment. . . . They use (their) policies to do whatever they want to the employees."
Civil was employed by Florida's Natural between 1993 and 2000, working his way up from fruit runner to quality control t
echnician.
According to his lawsuit, Civil's problems began in 1997, after Florida's Natural hired Larry Mundy as a supervisor and put him in charge of Civil's dep
artment.
Mundy, according to
the lawsuit, called black employees "boy" and other racial slurs. He called Civil "the Haitia
n" and worse and, on occasion, told Civil he would like to "ship him back from where he came from."
Civil claimed that Mundy drove other black employees out of the department and told co-workers he wanted to get rid of Civil, too. One of Civil's co-workers testified that Mundy referred to Civil as a "monkey" and asked her to lie about Civil's work performance.
"(This) degree of racial hostility coming from a supervisor . . . is something you don't see anymore," Helwig said.
Mundy said he acted properly during the time he supervised Civil. He isn't named as a defendant in the suit.
"We went strictly by a
ll our company's policies regarding Rony's issues and that eventually got him terminated," Mundy said,
Mundy said he would like to comment further but
could not w
ithout consu
lting with his employers.<b
r>
After he was fired, Civil filed a discrimination complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in May 2001. After the EEOC dismissed his complaint, Civi
l filed a federal employment discrimination lawsuit against Florida's Natural and Citrus World.
The lawsuit made four claims of discrimination against the juice companies. Civil argued he had been subjected to a hostile work environment, denied promotions, better pay and working conditions because of his race and Haitian ancestry. He claimed the company had retaliated against him and treated him differently than white employees.
Civil asked for his job back, nearly $140,000 in back pay, punitive and compensatory damages and legal fees. The lawsuit doesn't specify how much Civil is seeking
in damages, though he said $10 million would be appropriate. His lawyer said the issue of damages is best left to a jury.
Florida's Natural con
tends Civil was
fired for repeat
ed disciplinary violations, not ra
cial discrimination.
Between December 1999 and December 2000, company officials cited Civil for three "Group II" offenses: threatening to physically harm someone, making false st
atements or falsifying records and insubordination. Company policy is to fire any employee who receives three Group II demerits in less than a year.
"We have felt all along that he was terminated for good reason and not because of his race or national origin at all," said Jacksonville lawyer Tom Harper, who represents Florida's Natural and Citrus World. "Citrus World would not tolerate that. But at the same time, you've got to do your job and you've got to follow the rules."
According to Civil, he was written up after Mundy asked co-workers to fals
ify reports accusing him of misconduct.
Harper said company officials do not think Mundy ever made racially offensive comments to Civil.
<
br>Civil never comp
lained of discrimina
tion while he was working for Florida'
s Natural, Harper said. After Civil filed his complaint, company officials investigated his allegations but found no truth in them, Harper said. The company investigation also failed to substantiate an ongoing pattern of ra
cial discrimination.
Company officials didn't learn that a co-worker supposedly was asked to lie about him until after he filed his lawsuit, Harper said. The woman has since been fired. But company officials contend the woman's initial statement is consistent with the one she later made about Civil, Harper said.
Whether or not the woman was pressured to change her story is a contested issue, as is whether Civil told company officials that Mundy was harassing him.
In November 2002, U.S. District Judge Elizabeth Kovachevich granted the
juice companies' request for summary judgment, dismissing Civil's lawsuit.
Even if Mundy used racial slurs in reference
to Civil, the judge rea
soned, that doesn't
prove Civil was fired because Mundy was a racist.
Civil's troubles were rooted in his own actions, not in Mundy's comments or discrimination, Kovachevich said in her ruling.
Moreover, Civil failed to prove that he had been treated differently from other employees or that managers at
Florida's Natural ever knew of any discrimination, according to the judge.
But the 11th Circuit Court disagreed. It reversed Kovachevich's ruling on three of Civil's four discrimination claims. The appellate court agreed with Kovachevich that Civil had not made a case for retaliation.
"(But) there is a genuine issue of material fact regarding severe or pervasive harassment," the appellate court said in a unanimous opinion.
Unless Florida's Natural asks the 11th Circuit Court for a re-hea
ring, the case will go back to the federal court in Tampa for trial. Or, the two sides could settle out of court. A settlemen
t has not been discussed bu
t remains a possibility, es
pecially because the trial court is likely to send the si
des back to mediation, according to Helwig and Harper.
http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/art.../404260333/1134
Worker Keeps Racial Bias Case Alive
Odds seem stacked in employer's favor, but battle enters Round 3.
By Jeff Scullin
The Ledger
jeff.scullin@theledger.com
BARTOW -- Florida's Natural Growers fired Rony Civil in December 2000, citing three disciplinary write-ups he received in less than a year.
But Civil, who is black and Haitian, saw racial discrimination behind the firing. He filed a lawsuit in federal court against Florida's Natural and its parent company, Citrus World, both of which are based in Lake Wales.
The Avon Park man claimed that a supervisor had humiliated him with racial and ethnic slurs and denied him a promotion because of his background
Civil accused company officials of looking the other way after he reported the harassment and said he was fired in retaliation for circulating a petition seeking better pay for off-season workers.
&
quo
;The way I was treated, I
felt like killing myself," Civil said in an interview last week.
The legal battle is entering Round 3. Earlier this month, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta reversed a lower court decision, finding that Civil had enough of a case to go before a jury.
The very fact that Civil's case has survived at all is somewhat unusual, according to legal experts.
"For an employee to win in the 11th Circuit in an employment discrimination case is extraordinarily unusual," said Anthony Niedwiecki, a law professor at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale. "The 11th Circuit is generally considered one of the most conservative courts, especially when it comes to employment discrimination cases."
Generally, judge
s are reluctant to question a company's personnel policies, so long as they are consistently applied to all employees, according to the lawyers on both sides of Civil's case.
That
rel
ucta
nce, combin
ed with the need to wade through a growing number of employme
nt discrimination lawsuits, has made federal trial court judges more willing to grant employers' motions for summary judgment, dismissing employee complaints, Niedwiecki said. The 11th Circuit does not overturn many of those summary judgments, which has discouraged employees from filing employment discrimination lawsuits and lawyers from taking cases, he said. But Civil and his Lakeland lawyer, Peter Helwig, have kept pushing.
"It is very necessary," Civil said. "The company does not use good judgment. . . . They use (their) policies to do whatever they want to the employees."
Civil was employed by Florida's Natural between 1993 and 2000, working his way up from fruit runner to quality control t
echnician.
According to his lawsuit, Civil's problems began in 1997, after Florida's Natural hired Larry Mundy as a supervisor and put him in charge of Civil's dep
artment.
Mundy, according to
the lawsuit, called black employees "boy" and other racial slurs. He called Civil "the Haitia
n" and worse and, on occasion, told Civil he would like to "ship him back from where he came from."
Civil claimed that Mundy drove other black employees out of the department and told co-workers he wanted to get rid of Civil, too. One of Civil's co-workers testified that Mundy referred to Civil as a "monkey" and asked her to lie about Civil's work performance.
"(This) degree of racial hostility coming from a supervisor . . . is something you don't see anymore," Helwig said.
Mundy said he acted properly during the time he supervised Civil. He isn't named as a defendant in the suit.
"We went strictly by a
ll our company's policies regarding Rony's issues and that eventually got him terminated," Mundy said,
Mundy said he would like to comment further but
could not w
ithout consu
lting with his employers.<b
r>
After he was fired, Civil filed a discrimination complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in May 2001. After the EEOC dismissed his complaint, Civi
l filed a federal employment discrimination lawsuit against Florida's Natural and Citrus World.
The lawsuit made four claims of discrimination against the juice companies. Civil argued he had been subjected to a hostile work environment, denied promotions, better pay and working conditions because of his race and Haitian ancestry. He claimed the company had retaliated against him and treated him differently than white employees.
Civil asked for his job back, nearly $140,000 in back pay, punitive and compensatory damages and legal fees. The lawsuit doesn't specify how much Civil is seeking
in damages, though he said $10 million would be appropriate. His lawyer said the issue of damages is best left to a jury.
Florida's Natural con
tends Civil was
fired for repeat
ed disciplinary violations, not ra
cial discrimination.
Between December 1999 and December 2000, company officials cited Civil for three "Group II" offenses: threatening to physically harm someone, making false st
atements or falsifying records and insubordination. Company policy is to fire any employee who receives three Group II demerits in less than a year.
"We have felt all along that he was terminated for good reason and not because of his race or national origin at all," said Jacksonville lawyer Tom Harper, who represents Florida's Natural and Citrus World. "Citrus World would not tolerate that. But at the same time, you've got to do your job and you've got to follow the rules."
According to Civil, he was written up after Mundy asked co-workers to fals
ify reports accusing him of misconduct.
Harper said company officials do not think Mundy ever made racially offensive comments to Civil.
<
br>Civil never comp
lained of discrimina
tion while he was working for Florida'
s Natural, Harper said. After Civil filed his complaint, company officials investigated his allegations but found no truth in them, Harper said. The company investigation also failed to substantiate an ongoing pattern of ra
cial discrimination.
Company officials didn't learn that a co-worker supposedly was asked to lie about him until after he filed his lawsuit, Harper said. The woman has since been fired. But company officials contend the woman's initial statement is consistent with the one she later made about Civil, Harper said.
Whether or not the woman was pressured to change her story is a contested issue, as is whether Civil told company officials that Mundy was harassing him.
In November 2002, U.S. District Judge Elizabeth Kovachevich granted the
juice companies' request for summary judgment, dismissing Civil's lawsuit.
Even if Mundy used racial slurs in reference
to Civil, the judge rea
soned, that doesn't
prove Civil was fired because Mundy was a racist.
Civil's troubles were rooted in his own actions, not in Mundy's comments or discrimination, Kovachevich said in her ruling.
Moreover, Civil failed to prove that he had been treated differently from other employees or that managers at
Florida's Natural ever knew of any discrimination, according to the judge.
But the 11th Circuit Court disagreed. It reversed Kovachevich's ruling on three of Civil's four discrimination claims. The appellate court agreed with Kovachevich that Civil had not made a case for retaliation.
"(But) there is a genuine issue of material fact regarding severe or pervasive harassment," the appellate court said in a unanimous opinion.
Unless Florida's Natural asks the 11th Circuit Court for a re-hea
ring, the case will go back to the federal court in Tampa for trial. Or, the two sides could settle out of court. A settlemen
t has not been discussed bu
t remains a possibility, es
pecially because the trial court is likely to send the si
des back to mediation, according to Helwig and Harper.
http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/art.../404260333/1134