Opinion
Civil Action 4:21-cv-03509
08-07-2023
JOSHUA H. JUMBO, Plaintiff. v. GOODWILL INDUSTRIES HOUSTON, Defendant.
MEMORANDUM AND RECOMMENDATION
ANDREW M. EDISON, UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
Plaintiff Joshua H. Jumbo (“Jumbo”), proceeding pro se, brings this ethnicity- and national origin-based employment discrimination and retaliation case pursuant to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000e et seq., and 42 U.S.C. § 1981. Goodwill Industries Houston (“Goodwill Houston”) is the only defendant remaining in this lawsuit.
Now before me is Goodwill Houston's Motion for Summary Judgment. Dkt. 43. Having reviewed the briefing, the record, and the applicable law, I recommend that the motion be GRANTED in part and DENIED in part.
BACKGROUND
A. Jumbo's Employment with Goodwill Houston
Jumbo is an American citizen of Nigerian descent. Goodwill Houston hired Jumbo as a cashier in July 2018 at its Briargrove location and promoted him to a third-in-line management position at the same store in June 2019. On October 21, 2019, Jumbo applied for a store manager position at a different Goodwill store- the Town and Country location. He did not get the job. Elizabeth Johnson (“Johnson”), the Briargrove store manager, told Jumbo that he was not qualified to be a store manager.
In December 2019, Johnson disciplined Jumbo with a written warning because his cash register had a $7.41 overage. Johnson disciplined Jumbo again in January 2020 for locking customers in the store, being rude to a customer, and failing to give a customer a donation receipt. In a form Jumbo signed on January 8, 2020 acknowledging that Goodwill Houston explained to him why he was being disciplined, Jumbo accused Johnson of retaliation because he “had applied for a store manager position.” Dkt. 44-3 at 34 (“This write-up is retaliatory, oppressive, and with a pretext for a disparate treatment because I had applied for a store manager position.”). Jumbo further claimed that Johnson and Christopher Hester (“Hester”), the assistant manager at the Briargrove location, were “setting [him] up for termination because of national origin.” Id. at 35. Human Resources Business Partner Shannon Powers (“Powers”) met with Jumbo on January 9, 2020 to address Jumbo's concerns.
On February 25, 2020, Jumbo reported that his cash register was short $20.10 and stated that he did not know how the money went missing. On March 6, 2020, Johnson demoted Jumbo to a floor associate position because of the shortage. This demotion conformed to Goodwill Houston's policy that the second occurrence of a $5 cash register discrepancy “will result in a final written warning and or demotion.” Dkt. 43-7 at 4. Jumbo emailed Jim Freeze (“Freeze”), the vice president of donated goods at Goodwill Houston, on March 9, 2020 and accused Hester of “tamper[ing] with [Jumbo's] register and caus[ing] it to be $20.10 short.” Dkt. 44-3 at 40. Two Goodwill Houston employees later reviewed camera footage, which showed Hester opening Jumbo's register. And Hester eventually admitted to “going in [Jumbo's] drawer to make change.” Dkt. 43-15 at 3. Although Goodwill Houston subsequently disciplined Hester with a warning for his conduct, Goodwill Houston did not overturn Jumbo's demotion.
In late March 2020, Goodwill Houston temporarily closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. During this closure, Jumbo filed his first charge of discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) based on Goodwill Houston not promoting Jumbo to store manager and demoting Jumbo. Jumbo claimed that Goodwill Houston discriminated against him based on national origin and ethnicity and retaliated against him for complaining to HR in January 2020.