Duguie v. City of Burlington
Duguie v. City of Burlington
Opinion of the Court
SUMMARY ORDER
Plaintiffs Patricia Duguie and Patricia Deforge brought this action against the City of Burlington, alleging that they had been subjected to sexual harassment when working for a private cleaning business that provided janitorial services at the Burlington Police Department (“BPD”). Specifically, plaintiffs claimed that on weekends or when the regular janitor of the BPD was on vacation, they were assigned to clean the men’s locker room at the BPD. Allegedly, in several instances while each of the plaintiffs was cleaning the locker room, a male police officer came into the locker room and began to undress or to urinate. Plaintiffs asserted claims pursuant to: (1) 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for violation of their rights under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment; (2) the Vermont Fair Employment Practices Act (“VFEPA”), Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 21, § 495 et seq.; and (3) the common law of negligent supervision and termination in violation of public policy. Defendants moved for summary judgment pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56, and the District Court granted the motion. We assume the parties’ familiarity with the underlying facts and procedural history.
The District Court determined that plaintiffs had failed to establish a basis for municipal liability pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. See generally Monell v. New York City Dep’t of Social Servs., 436 U.S. 658, 98 S.Ct. 2018, 56 L.Ed.2d 611 (1978).
On appeal, plaintiffs argue that the District Court’s legal analysis was flawed because it allegedly ignored facts tending to support plaintiffs’ claims and failed to draw all reasonable inferences in plaintiffs’ favor. Upon de novo review of the record, see Conn. Dep’t of Social Servs. v. Leavitt, 428 F.3d 138, 143 (2d Cir. 2005), we conclude, for substantially the reasons set forth by the District Court in its thoughtful and comprehensive opinion, that summary judgment was properly granted in favor of defendants.
We have considered all of plaintiffs’ arguments on appeal and find them to be without merit. Accordingly, we hereby AFFIRM the judgment of the District Court.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Patricia DUGUIE and Patricia Deforge v. CITY OF BURLINGTON, John Does, Individually and as Officers of City of Burlington Police Department and ENE Evaluator
- Cited By
- 1 case
- Status
- Published