Gutwill v. City of Framingham ( 2021 )

United States Court of Appeals
For the First Circuit
No. 20-1174
MATTHEW J. GUTWILL,
Plaintiff, Appellant,
v.
CITY OF FRAMINGHAM, MASSACHUSETTS, f/k/a Town of Framingham; and
KENNETH FERGUSON, Chief of Police of the City of Framingham,
Defendants, Appellees.
APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS
[Hon. Indira Talwani, U.S. District Judge]
Before
Lynch and Kayatta, Circuit Judges,
and McElroy,* District Judge.
Richard D. Grundy for appellant.
John J. Cloherty III, with whom Pierce, Davis & Perritano,
LLP, was on brief, for appellees.
April 16, 2021
* Of the District of Rhode Island, sitting by designation.
LYNCH, Circuit Judge. The district court granted
summary judgment in favor of defendants City of Framingham and
Chief of the Framingham Police Department ("FPD"), Kenneth
Ferguson, in this Garcetti speech-retaliation and Massachusetts
Whistleblower Act lawsuit, brought by FPD detective Matthew
Gutwill. Gutwill v. City of Framingham, No. 1:16-CV-12191-IT,
2020 WL 360486, at *1 (D. Mass. Jan. 22, 2020); see also Garcetti
v. Ceballos, 547 U.S. 410 (2006); Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 149,
§ 185(b)(1). The allegedly retaliatory employment actions
challenged in this appeal are Gutwill's five-day suspension (after
an outside investigator and an outside hearing officer each
concluded he was untruthful and in violation of FPD rules) and his
being put on paid administrative leave during an investigation.
He also asserts that the very appointment of the outside
investigator was "an adverse employment action."
We affirm the district court's grant of summary
judgment. The district court correctly held that the defendants
have met their burden to show that the adverse employment decisions
would have occurred regardless of Gutwill's protected speech.1 See
1 Some of the individuals in this case were involved in
this court's decision in Stuart v. City of Framingham, 989 F.3d 29(1st Cir. 2021).
The district court also granted summary judgment in a
third case against FPD alleging Garcetti speech-retaliation and
Massachusetts Whistleblower Act claims, along with other causes of
action. Among other things, Deputy Chief Kevin Slattery alleged
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Stuart v. City of Framingham, 989 F.3d 29, 31 (1st Cir. 2021)
(first citing Mt. Healthy City Sch. Dist. Bd. of Educ. v. Doyle,
429 U.S. 274, 287 (1977) ("Mt. Healthy"); then citing Garcetti,
547 U.S. at 417-18).
I.
The key events in this convoluted story go first to an
outside investigator's conclusion that the actions said to be
related to protected speech were undertaken for reasons unrelated
to protected speech, and second to the similar conclusions reached
by a later independent hearing officer.
Plaintiff Matthew Gutwill joined the FPD in 2004 as a
patrol officer and was promoted to detective in the narcotics
division shortly afterwards. Gutwill, 2020 WL 360486, at *1. From
2008 to 2016 he served as one of two Task Force Officers who were
assigned to work with the federal Drug Enforcement Administration
("DEA"). The other was Sergeant Scott Brown.
On September 29, 2015, Gutwill filed a complaint against
his fellow officer Joseph Godino, alleging that Godino had given
false testimony at a suppression hearing, and had been untruthful
to prosecutors in that case. FPD concluded that Gutwill had "good
that his involuntary resignation from the FPD was retaliation for
a complaint he made against Gutwill's former partner on the DEA
taskforce, Scott Brown. Slattery v. Town of Framingham, No. 17-
CV-11187-IT, 2020 WL 6566553, at *1 (D. Mass. Nov. 9, 2020).
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cause" to make that complaint, but that the allegations were
ultimately unsubstantiated.
In January, 2016, Gutwill learned that FPD intended to
rotate him out of the DEA taskforce position. FPD also made other
policy changes that affected Gutwill's overtime and privileges he
previously enjoyed in the narcotics department.
On February 4, 2016 Gutwill complained to the head of
the narcotics department, Sean Riley, about the FPD policy changes.
Riley states that Gutwill told him: (1) "You know me, Sean. I
leave places in shambles;" (2) that he (Gutwill) was "[l]ike a
tornado" and; (3) that he would turn the department "[u]pside
down." Gutwill recalls telling Riley that his dispute with the
FPD would lead to "a trail of destruction where nobody wins."
Gutwill also told Riley to expect outside agencies to begin an
investigation into the narcotics department.
On February 5, 2016, Gutwill called Chief Ferguson.
Chief Ferguson recounts two different categories of statements
that led to the investigation of Gutwill. The first category was
Gutwill's threat that he would "turn the place upside down" or
"blow the place up" or "something to that effect." The second
category was that Gutwill revealed confidential information he
obtained from federal agents about Deputy Chief Brandolini.
Gutwill claimed federal agents had recorded Brandolini on a wiretap
as part of a drug investigation. Chief Ferguson took notes about
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the conversation directly after the call and prepared a written
summary of those notes. The notes and the summary were conveyed
to both the independent investigator and the hearing officer.
Gutwill denies making the specific statements that Chief
Ferguson recorded in his notes, but concedes he made similar
comments. Gutwill testified, "I did not say 'turn the place upside
down.' I did not say 'blow the place up.' But I did say something
to that effect." He says he told Chief Ferguson that he had "been
through this before; it leaves a wake of destruction."2 Gutwill
and Chief Ferguson agree that during the call Gutwill told Chief
Ferguson that he felt Deputy Chief Slattery was retaliating against
him by contacting Special Agent Ferguson at the DEA about Gutwill's
pending removal from the DEA task force. Gutwill and Chief
Ferguson also agree that Gutwill told Chief Ferguson that he had
reported his concerns to the FBI. This is the basis for the claim
that the FPD retaliated against him for his protected speech.
Gutwill also accused Chief Ferguson and the administration of
retaliating against him.
A. City appoints Julie Moore to be an independent
investigator.
Chief Ferguson reported the February 5th call to
Framingham Human Resources Director Dolores Hamilton, who decided
2 Gutwill states that he was involved in an employment
dispute with his prior employer, the Ashland Police Department,
and he was referring to that experience here.
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to appoint an outside investigator. Deputy Chiefs Slattery and
Brandolini also submitted cross-complaints against Gutwill.
Framingham then retained Julie Moore to investigate Gutwill's
claims against FPD.3
Moore is a lawyer who works at a private legal and human
resources consulting firm specializing in employment matters.
"The bulk" of her work consists of internal investigations on
behalf of an employer or a law firm. She stated she has conducted
investigations at a wide variety of employers, including public
entities, nonprofits, "tiny six-employee companies," and "Fortune
50 companies." Moore also consults with employers to prepare
employee handbooks and training materials. Moore has represented
employees in severance agreements and before the Massachusetts
Commission Against Discrimination and the New Hampshire Commission
for Human Rights. Moore also provides non-litigation advice and
counsel to employers. She has served as an expert witness on
workplace practices on behalf of both employees and employers.
She estimated that at the time of the Gutwill case she had
performed somewhere between 100 and 200 internal investigations
3 Moore later discussed conducting a further investigation
of Godino.
Moore was also later retained by the City to investigate
a complaint by Gutwill's former partner, Brown, against Slattery.
In that case Moore concluded that Brown's allegations were
substantiated and Slattery was disciplined. Slattery, 2020 WL
6566553, at *5.
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during the course of her career, including several investigations
involving municipalities and police departments.
Moore's retention letter, dated February 23, 2016, and
addressed to Chief Ferguson and HR Director Hamilton, stated
"[t]his [letter] will confirm that you, on behalf of the Town of
Framingham . . . have retained me to conduct an investigation into
concerns expressed by Detective Matthew J. Gutwill. He has claimed
that the Police Department engaged in retaliation when it advised
him that he would be rotated off the DEA Taskforce and placed him
back in the Detective's Bureau shortly after he complained that
Detective Joseph Godin[o] testified untruthfully in a trial."
Moore began her investigation immediately after she was
retained. She interviewed Chief Ferguson that same day, and met
with Gutwill and his counsel one week later. Moore met with
Gutwill six times between March 1, 2016 and May 17, 2016. She
also interviewed Chief Ferguson six times between February 23,
2016 and May 9, 2016. In total, Moore interviewed thirteen
witnesses and conducted thirty-four interviews.
The initial focus of Moore's investigation was Gutwill's
claim that the FPD was retaliating against him for his complaints
against Godino. On March 2, 2016, after Moore had already
interviewed Chief Ferguson and Gutwill, FPD announced they
intended to investigate whether Gutwill had committed misconduct
during his February 5th call with Chief Ferguson. FPD issued a
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Notice of Investigation to Gutwill informing him of that fact. HR
Director Hamilton and Moore agreed that Moore would investigate
those complaints as well. That investigation is one of the
complained of employment actions in this suit.
Moore separately and sequentially considered each of the
issues she was retained to investigate. She first prepared a final
report on Gutwill's retaliation claim. Moore then turned to the
first category of statements that Chief Ferguson asserted Gutwill
made during the February 5th call and issued a separate report.
She then turned to the second category of comments that Chief
Ferguson alleged that Gutwill made on that call and issued a third
report. Moore also discussed with HR Director Hamilton
investigating other issues relating to the Godino and Gutwill
complaints but did not do so.
a. Moore's first report.
Moore issued three separate reports. On July 15, 2016,
Moore produced a 179-page report addressing Gutwill's retaliation
claims against the department. Moore concluded that FPD had a
legitimate, non-discriminatory reason for each action asserted by
Gutwill to be retaliatory. Moore's conclusions in that report are
not at issue in this litigation.
b. Moore's second report.
On August 15, 2016 Moore produced a second report, which
concluded that Chief Ferguson's account of the February 5, 2016
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conversation was credible, and that Gutwill had not been truthful
by denying that he told Chief Ferguson he would "turn the place
upside down" or "blow the place up." Immediately after Moore's
second report FPD placed Gutwill on paid administrative leave
pending the completion of the investigation. That leave is another
of the complained of employment actions in this suit.
c. Moore's third report.
On September 15, 2016 Moore produced a third report, which
concluded that:
Detective Matthew Gutwill violated polices of
the [FPD] relevant to appropriate workplace
behavior, including telling the truth, in two
respects: (1) by making the comment to [Chief
Ferguson] on February 5 about Brandolini being
"on a wire" and failing to be honest and
forthcoming in this investigation with regard
to what he said;[] and (2) by failing to be
honest in this investigation about having
disclosed to Brandolini several years ago that
his name had come up on a [federal narcotics]
wire[tap].
Moore did not recommend any specific discipline.
On December 12, 2016, Chief Ferguson suspended Gutwill
for five days without pay for violations of FPD Rules and
Regulations 4.7, Truthfulness, and 1.02, Conduct Unbecoming a
Police Officer, based on Moore's findings of dishonesty. Rule 4.7
states, "[e]mployees shall speak the truth at all times when on
duty or when discussing a matter arising out of or related to the
officers [sic] duties or the operation, organization or business
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of the department." Rule 1.02 states, "[e]mployees shall not
commit any specific act or acts of improper, unlawful, disorderly,
or intemperate conduct, whether on or off duty, which reflect(s)
discredit or reflect(s) unfavorably upon the officer, upon other
employees[,] or upon the police department." That five-day
suspension is also a subject of this suit. Gutwill returned to
work in the patrol division after his suspension.
B. Conclusions of the Independent Hearing Officer Steven
Torres.
Gutwill protested his suspension. Framingham then
appointed attorney Steven A. Torres, a lawyer in private practice
in Framingham, to conduct a hearing to review Gutwill's five-day
suspension and paid leave. Torres heard testimony from witnesses
and allowed counsel for Gutwill and the City to present argument.
After the hearing he issued a 10-page report, concluding
"[d]etective Gutwill made both of the disputed statements to Chief
Ferguson in the February 5, 2016 phone conversation . . . [and]
[d]etective Gutwill denied making those statements while
testifying before the Town's appointed investigator." Torres
found that this was a violation of FPD Rules and Regulations 4.7,
Truthfulness, and Rule 1.02, Conduct Unbecoming a Police Officer
that would have justified "a penalty as severe as termination."
At the hearing, Chief Ferguson and independent investigator Moore
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testified. Torres gave Gutwill the opportunity to testify, but
Gutwill elected not to do so.
Gutwill appealed Torres's decision to the Massachusetts
civil service board but later withdrew his appeal and proceeded
with his federal lawsuit.4
II.
On October 28, 2016, before FPD had reached any final
decision as to his discipline, Gutwill brought this suit in
Massachusetts federal district court. The district court granted
summary judgment in favor of the defendants in a carefully reasoned
decision on January 22, 2020. Gutwill, 2020 WL 360486 at *1. It
found that a reasonable jury could find that Gutwill had engaged
in protected speech in his complaints against Godino. Id. at *8.
The court further stated that a reasonable jury could find that
his paid administrative leave and five-day unpaid suspension were
adverse employment actions. Id. at *8-9. The court also found
that there was a jury question as to whether the internal
investigation was an adverse employment action. Id. at *9.5 The
district court concluded, "[d]efendants have carried their burden
4 Gutwill never amended his original complaint to include
allegations about his suspension, but both parties took discovery
about the suspension, and the district court allowed Gutwill to
proceed with those claims at summary judgment.
5 Gutwill does not claim that his transfer to the patrol
division was an adverse employment action.
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of showing they would have suspended Gutwill for [his] conduct
even if he had not engaged in protected speech." Id. at *10. Even
crediting Gutwill's version of his February 5th conversation with
Chief Ferguson, the district court found "Gutwill has not proffered
evidence from which a jury could discount Chief Ferguson's
understanding that Gutwill made threatening comments." Id. The
district court granted summary judgment on the Massachusetts
Whistleblower Act claims for the same reasons. Id. at *11.
III.
"We review an order for summary judgment de novo,
evaluating the facts and all reasonable inferences therefrom in
the light most flattering to the nonmoving party." Nieves-Romero
v. United States, 715 F.3d 375, 378 (1st Cir. 2013).
A plaintiff in a speech-retaliation claim must
demonstrate two elements: (1) that the plaintiff's speech "related
to a 'matter[] of public concern,'" Stuart, 989 F.3d at 35 (quoting
Garcetti, 547 U.S. at 417); and (2) that the protected speech "was
a 'substantial or motivating factor' in [an] adverse employment
consequence," id. (quoting McGunigle v. City of Quincy, 835 F.3d
192, 202 (1st Cir. 2016) (alteration in original)). For purposes
of speech retaliation an "adverse employment consequence" includes
an action the employer takes that would "deter 'a reasonably hardy
individual[]' from exercising his constitutional rights." Barton
v. Clancy, 632 F.3d 9, 29 (1st Cir. 2011) (quoting Agosto-de-
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Feliciano v. Aponte-Roque, 889 F.2d 1209, 1217 (1st Cir. 1989) (en
banc) (alteration in original)).
A prima facie showing on these elements shifts the burden
to the defendant to prove that "it would have reached the same
decision . . . [regarding the adverse employment event] even in
the absence of the protected conduct." Stuart, 989 F.3d at 35
(quoting Mt. Healthy, 429 U.S. at 287 (alteration in original)).
The plaintiff may rebut defendant's Mt. Healthy defense with
evidence that it is in fact more likely than not that
discrimination was a substantial or motivating factor in the
adverse employment outcome. Id. (citing Reyes-Pérez v. State Ins.
Fund Corp., 755 F.3d 49, 55 (1st Cir. 2014)); see also Padilla-
García v. Guillermo Rodríguez, 212 F.3d 69, 77 (1st Cir. 2000).
The standard is the same for claims under the
Massachusetts Whistleblower Act. Id. (first citing Pierce v.
Cotuit Fire Dist., 741 F.3d 295, 303 (1st Cir. 2014); then citing
Antonellis v. Dep't of Elder Affs., 152 N.E.3d 798, 811 (Mass.
App. Ct. 2020)).
The issues Gutwill raises on appeal are whether the
district court erred in concluding that he had not shown pretext
in his claims that FPD retaliated by: (1) appointing an independent
investigator to investigate Gutwill's complaint and Chief
Ferguson's allegations about the February 5th call; (2) placing
Gutwill on paid administrative leave after Moore concluded that
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Gutwill, during Moore's investigation, had violated the
department's policies on honesty; or (3) suspending Gutwill
without pay for five days for violating the department's policy
against dishonesty.6 Gutwill further argues that the district
court erred in relying on Mt. Healthy because the independent
investigator Moore was not truly independent from the FPD.7
Gutwill's brief spends little time on the hearing officer Torres,
but suggests that his conclusions were derivative of Moore's. None
of these arguments have merit.
As the district court found, Gutwill fails to raise any
dispute of material fact as to whether Ferguson's initial decision
to report the February 5th conversation to Human Resources Director
Hamilton was retaliation for Gutwill's complaint against Godino.
Crediting Gutwill's account of the conversation, Chief Ferguson
had good cause to report the call. Gutwill denies making the
6 Gutwill has waived any argument that the staffing
changes he complained about in his February 5th oral complaint
were retaliation. See Universal Ins. Co. v. Off. of Ins. Comm'r,
755 F.3d 34, 39 (1st Cir. 2014) (citing United States v. Zannino,
895 F.2d 1, 17 (1st Cir. 1990)).
7 Gutwill also takes issue with the trial judge's language
in holding him to a showing that the protected conduct was "the"
substantial or motivating factor in the adverse employment
actions, instead of "a" factor. While this was likely a slip of
the pen at the conclusion of an otherwise thorough decision, the
correct language was used every other place the standard was
recited in its decision. We have reviewed the decision carefully
and are convinced the trial judge applied the correct legal
standard. Gutwill's claim to the contrary is without merit.
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specific comments that Chief Ferguson alleges he made, but he
concedes he said "something to that effect." As the district court
cogently noted, Gutwill admitted he told Chief Ferguson he would
leave a "wake of destruction." Gutwill, 2020 WL 360486, at *10.
Chief Ferguson also knew that days earlier Gutwill had made similar
comments to Riley. These statements plainly raise a question as
to whether Gutwill had violated FPD Rule 1.02, Conduct Unbecoming
a Police Officer. There was no error in the district court's
conclusion that "[d]efendants have 'met their burden to show that
they would have taken the same adverse employment actions
regardless of [Gutwill's] . . . speech.'" Id. (quoting McGunigle,
835 F.3d at 205).
As to his remaining challenges, Gutwill fails to rebut
Framingham's showing that Gutwill would have been disciplined
whether or not he engaged in protected speech. Independent hearing
officer Torres' conclusion that Gutwill violated FPD Rules 4.7 and
1.02 is an adequate, non-retaliatory basis for Gutwill's
discipline. Gutwill has presented no developed argument that the
defendants' reliance on the Torres report does not satisfy the Mt.
Healthy requirements.
Moreover, the Moore investigation is a second
independent grounds for Gutwill's paid leave and suspension. Moore
found that Gutwill was untruthful during his interviews with her.
Moore's finding that Gutwill was dishonest during her
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investigation provides a basis for FPD to have disciplined Gutwill
"even in the absence of the protected conduct." Mt. Healthy, 429
U.S. at 287.
Gutwill argues in response that Moore was not truly
independent from the FPD. He says Moore lacked independence
because (1) she was paid $176,000 to investigate the Gutwill
matters; (2) she communicated frequently with Chief Ferguson and
Hamilton throughout the investigation and shared interim results
and impressions with Hamilton; and (3) FPD was able to direct her
investigation by prioritizing which investigations Moore conducted
first, and which were conduct internally. These arguments fail to
raise a material issue of fact. Merely receiving a standard fee
for the investigation, discussing the status of the investigation,
and taking direction from a client about how to prioritize
multiple, overlapping investigations does not support an inference
of lack of independence.
We add that Gutwill has provided no evidence that the
conclusion in the outside investigator's report and the hearing
officer's findings do not have an adequate factual basis. As to
the allegations against Gutwill, Moore found that Chief Ferguson's
recollection of the February 5th call was supported by his near-
contemporaneous notes and Riley's recollection of a similar
conversation with Gutwill the day before.
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Under Mt. Healthy and Garcetti, the defendants have met
their burden to prove an independent non-retaliatory basis for
Gutwill's discipline because they would have taken these actions
anyway and Gutwill has provided no evidence of pretext.8 Mt.
Healthy, 429 U.S. at 287; Garcetti, 547 U.S. at 417-18. For the
same reasons, Gutwill's Massachusetts Whistleblower Act claims
fail. Pierce, 741 F.3d at 303.
IV.
The judgment of the district court is affirmed.
8 The district court stated: "Gutwill has failed to
'discredit the proffered [non-retaliatory] reason . . .' [for his
discipline] by developing evidence of relevant comparators or of
the department's inconsistent use of investigations that rebuts
Defendants’ stated intent for initiating investigations."
Gutwill, 2020 WL 360486, at *10 (quoting Cepero-Rivera v. Fagundo,
414 F.3d 124, 133 (1st Cir. 2005) (alterations in original)). In
this appeal Gutwill again fails to present any evidence of
disparate treatment of similarly situated comparators, or other
evidence of pretext.
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