Police officer Raymond Carnation, a white man, complained repeatedly of racial discrimination in the Philadelphia police department directed at his colleagues who were black. He went through the proper channels but his reports were not well-received, and he was told, in essence, to shut up. When he insisted on doing the right thing, his commander, a Captain William Colarulo, filed charges against him to get him fired.
Colarulo's charges against Carnation were heard by the police department's Police Board of Inquiry (PBI). The PBI accepted Colarulo's recommendation that Carnation be terminated and then the police commissioner signed off on Carnation's termination also.
After he was fired, Carnation filed suit, claiming that he was fired in violation of Title VII's anti-retaliation provisions. A jury saw right through the police department's scheme: it awarded Carnation $2,000,000 in compensatory damages (which was reduced to $300,000 because of Title VII's damages cap), $208,781 in back pay and $46,560 in prejudgment interest. The essential finding by the jury was that Colarulo filed charges against Carnation in retaliation for Carnation's opposition to racially discriminatory practices.
The city argued on appeal that the PBI's action broke the retaliatory chain of causation put in motion by Colarul0's filing of charges against Carnation. This required consideration of the Supreme Court's decision in Staub v. Proctor Hosp., 131 SCt 1186 (2011). The Third Circuit rejected this argument because the PBI proceeding had at best minimal due process, the record reviewed by the police commissioner was limited and Carnation had a very limited right of appeal. The Court further observed:
Even if the City had proven that the PBI was a truly independent body, this alone would not undermine the jury's determination, based on all the evidence, that there was a causal connection between Carnation's termination and his involvement in protected activity.
The Third Circuit decision is McKenna v. City of Philadelphia, No 10-3430 (August 17, 2011). Brian M. Purcelli of Newtown, Pennsylvania represented officer Carnation.
