Charles Bishop, Plaintiff-appellee, v. James Avera, Police Chief, Defendant-appellant, 177 F.3d 1233 (11th Cir. 1999)

James Avera, Police Chief for the city of Macon, Georgia, appeals the denial of his motion for summary judgment on the ground of qualified immunity in a reverse discrimination suit filed by former Deputy Chief Charles Bishop. Bishop, who is white, sued Avera, the city of Macon, and Mayor Tommy Olmstead under 42 U.S.C. §§ 1981, 1983, and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et. seq. ("Title VII"), claiming that Avera unlawfully demoted him and replaced him with a less qualified black deputy chief in order to fulfill a campaign promise made by the mayor. Bishop argues that the demotion constituted unlawful discrimination in violation of his civil rights and the Fourteenth Amendment.

Bishop alleges that he was removed based on race from the position of Deputy Chief in 1992, a position he had held since 1983, as a result of an agreement made between Mayor Tommy Olmstead and City Council member Charles Dudley during Olmstead's campaign for mayor. According to Bishop, Dudley agreed to support Olmstead for mayor if Olmstead promised to appoint a black Deputy Chief of Police. Following Olmstead's election, Bishop alleges that Dudley continued to press the mayor, both publicly and privately, for the appointment of a black Deputy Chief. In May 1994, Dudley declared in an open meeting of the City Council that he would not vote for any further police budget items until the mayor appointed a black Deputy Chief. In June 1994, Avera, a mayoral appointee, relieved Bishop of his position and demoted him to Captain. Avera's stated reasons for demoting Bishop were disloyalty and incompatible law enforcement philosophies. However, Bishop argues that these reasons were pretextual, offering evidence that in February 1994, Avera wrote a letter of commendation to Bishop and, in July 1994, following Bishop's demotion, Avera assessed Bishop's performance as Deputy Chief as "superior."

Following discovery, Avera filed for summary judgment, arguing that Bishop's claims could not be maintained against him in his individual capacity; that Bishop had failed to make or support an essential element of his claim and; that as a government official acting in his discretionary capacity, Avera was entitled to qualified immunity from all of Bishop's claims. The district court summarily denied the motions and this interlocutory appeal followed. On appeal Avera raises only the issue of qualified immunity.¹ 

To survive a motion for summary judgment on grounds of qualified immunity, a plaintiff must show that "when the defendant acted, the law established the contours of a right so clearly that a reasonable official would have understood his acts were unlawful." Post v. City of Fort Lauderdale, 7 F.3d 1552, 1557 (11th Cir. 1993); see also Moniz v. City of Fort Lauderdale, 145 F.3d 1278, 1281-82 (11th Cir. 1998). If Bishop's account of events is true--and for purposes of reviewing a denial of summary judgment, we assume that it is² --then a reasonable jury could find that Avera's stated reasons for Bishop's demotion and replacement were pretextual and that Bishop was instead demoted because of his race. To demote and replace Bishop solely for racial reasons was, at the time of his demotion, strictly and clearly proscribed by law. See e.g., Smith v. Lomax, 45 F.3d 402, 407 (11th Cir. 1995) (noting clear state of the law prohibiting racial discrimination in public employment); Yeldell v. Cooper Green Hospital, Inc., 956 F.2d 1056, 1064 (11th Cir. 1992) (same). We therefore affirm the district court's denial of summary judgment on Bishop's § 1983, and Title VII claims.

However, we conclude that the district court erred in denying Avera qualified immunity on Bishop's § 1981 claim. Section 1981 guarantees to all persons in the United States "the same right ... to make and enforce contracts ... as is enjoyed by white citizens." 42 U.S.C. § 1981(a). In 1991, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1991, which amended § 1981 in response to the Supreme Court's decision in Patterson v. McLean Credit Union, 491 U.S. 164, 109 S. Ct. 2363, 105 L. Ed. 2d 132 (1989). Patterson held that § 1981 did not address discriminatory conduct that occurred after the making of the contract which did not interfere with the plaintiff's enforcement of his or her contractual rights. The Civil Rights Act of 1991 amended § 1981 to broaden the definition of "make and enforce contracts" to include "the enjoyment of all benefits, privileges, terms, and conditions of the contractual relationship." 42 U.S.C. § 1981(b).³ 

Avera argues that at-will employees do not have contractual relationships with employers and that Bishop, whose Deputy Chief post was an at-will position,⁴  therefore cannot sustain a claim under § 1981. While there is ample caselaw on both sides of this question,⁵  there is no Supreme Court⁶  or Eleventh Circuit precedent on point.

Considering the confusion in the law on this issue at the time of Avera's actions, we cannot say that his conduct was clearly unlawful in light of the pre-existing law governing claims under § 1981. See Anderson v. Creighton, 483 U.S. 635, 640, 107 S. Ct. 3034, 97 L. Ed. 2d 523 (1987) (" [I]n light of pre-existing law, the unlawfulness [of the official conduct at issue] must be apparent."); Moniz, 145 F.3d at 1282. We therefore reverse the district court's denial of Avera's motion for summary judgment on this claim.⁷ 

AFFIRMED in part, REVERSED in part and REMANDED for proceedings consistent herewith.