Seaward v. Burwell

Filing 22

MEMORANDUM. Signed by Judge J. Frederick Motz on 12/2/2015. (c/m 12/3/15 bas, Deputy Clerk)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF MARYLAND

STEVEN SEAWARD

v.
SYLVIA MATHEWS BURWELL

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2ill5 DEC -2 PH I: 06

"_._~::p TY
: U
Civil No. - JFM-14-3410

MEMORANDUM

Steven Seaward, an African-American employee of the Department of Health and Human
Resources, has brought this action for employment discrimination.

Defendant has filed a motion

to dismiss or for summary judgment. The motion will be granted.
Plaintiff claims that he was discriminated against when he was assigned to the Office of
Human Resources within the Food and Drug Administration.

In order to prove that he was

discriminated against, a plaintiff must establish (l) membership in a protected class; (2)
satisfactory job performance; (3) adverse employment action; and (4) treatment different from
similarly situated employees outside the protected class. Here, Plaintiff is a member of the
protected class and it may be assumed that his job performance was satisfactory and that he was
subjected to an adverse employment action. He cannot, however, establish that he was treated
differently from similarly situated employees outside the protected class. After an investigation
and hearing, the Agency and the EEOC determined that Plaintiff had not been treated differently
from similarly situated employees outside the protected class.
It is to be noted, that one of plaintiff s alleged comparators was himself AfricanAmerican. Further, the two persons with whom plaintiff compares himself were not "similarly
situated" in that they held completely different positions than the position held by plaintiff.
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Plaintiff also cannot establish that the reasons taken for the Agency's action were
pretextual. HHS developed a plan to create the Office of Human Resources, and it was
inevitable that some human resources employees would be transferred from other FDA offices to
the new office's Maryland location. After a deliberative process, plaintiff was selected as one of
the employees to be transferred. His race was incidental to the transfer.
A separate order granting defendant's motion is being entered herewith.

Date:

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J. Fr~erick Motz
V
Unfted States District Judge

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