Jeremy Clawson is a black firefighter in the City of Albany, New York. He began his career with the Albany Fire Department (AFD) in 1993, was promoted to lieutenant in 2005, and to captain in 2010. In 2019, Clawson was offered a provisional promotion to battalion chief, the third highest-ranking position at the AFD, that was to take effect after a swearing-in ceremony. Clawson had placed first on a civil service exam for the position. Shortly before the ceremony, Clawson drank at least seven pints of beer. He proceeded to expose himself outside of a Dunkin’ Donuts. When first responders arrived, they found him outside of the restaurant with his pants around his ankles, covered in his own feces.
Clawson was summoned to a meeting with AFD Chief Joseph Gregory. Gregory requested the presence of a police officer at the meeting, and notified Clawson that his promotion offer was rescinded. AFD subsequently promoted Captain Kowalski, who is white, to battalion chief. Kowalski placed second on the civil service exam for the opening. Several months later, Gregory met with Clawson again, invited him to apply for another promotion, and explained that although he wanted to promote Clawson to battalion chief, he was pressured not to.
Clawson sued the AFD under Title VII and the New York State Human Rights Law, alleging racial discrimination. The AFD successfully argued that his race did not motivate the rescission of his promotion offer. Clawson appealed.
The Second Circuit affirmed. To allege discrimination, Clawson had to show that (1) he was a member of a protected class; (2) he was qualified for the battalion chief position; (3) he suffered an adverse employment action; and (4) the circumstances gave rise to an inference of discrimination. Once proven, the AFD was burdened to show that the adverse employment action was motivated by a non-discriminatory reason. If successful, Clawson could still prevail by showing that the non-discriminatory reason was merely a pretext for discrimination. The Court agreed that Clawson alleged a prima facie case for discrimination: (1) he was a member of a protected class; (2) he scored first on the civil service exam for the battalion chief position, and was thus qualified for it; (3) he was denied a promotion, which qualified as an adverse employment action; and (4) the AFD instead promoted a white man, which gave rise to an inference of discrimination. However, the AFD advanced a legitimate, non-discriminatory reason for rescinding his promotion offer: Following Clawson’s incident at the Dunkin’ Donuts, his promotion to battalion chief would undermine the AFD’s internal morale and its public perception, as well as Clawson’s effectiveness as a leader.
The Second Circuit rejected all of Clawson’s arguments that the AFD’s explanation was pretextual. Clawson argued that Gregory’s request for police presence at the meeting where he learned of the rescission “reflected the AFD’s stereotypical and discriminatory view that ‘black men are dangerous.’” The Court ruled that under these circumstances, a reasonable jury would not conclude that Gregory’s actions were motivated by Clawson’s race.
Clawson then argued that he was treated differently than a white AFD employee under similar circumstances. In 2020, AFD promoted Patrick Trippany, who is white, to the rank of Captain. Trippany was arrested and charged with aggravated DWI in 2017, about three years prior. The Court determined that Clawson and Trippany were not similarly situated, because Clawson was slated for a promotion to a much more senior position, and he had publicly humiliated himself days prior to the intended promotion, as compared to the years between Trippany’s arrest and promotion.
Clawson argued that he was more qualified than Captain Kowalski, who was ultimately selected for the promotion. The Court determined that this argument utterly ignored Clawson’s own misconduct on the eve of his promotion. Furthermore, he failed to allege that Kowalski engaged in any misconduct or otherwise misbehaved during his tenure at AFD. Last, Clawson argued that AFD was inconsistent in its rationale for rescinding the promotion, because Gregory initially justified it in reference to the Dunkin’ Donuts incident, and several months later explained that he was pressured not to promote Clawson. The Court did not find these two explanations to be in conflict; in both of Gregory’s explanations, Clawson’s misconduct was the primary motivation for the rescission. The Court upheld the grant of summary judgment to AFD.
Clawson v. City of Albany Department of Fire & Emergency, 23-482, 2024 WL 1044531 (2d Cir., 2024).