NOT RECOMMENDED FOR PUBLICATION File Name: 20a0011n.06 No. 18-2252 UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT FILED KYISHA JONES, ) Jan 09, 2020 ) DEBORAH S. HUNT, Clerk Plaintiff-Appellant, ) ) ON APPEAL FROM THE v. ) UNITED STATES DISTRICT JEH JOHNSON, Secretary, Department of ) COURT FOR THE EASTERN Homeland Security, ) DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN ) Defendant-Appellee. ) BEFORE: ROGERS, WHITE, and READLER, Circuit Judges. HELENE N. WHITE, Circuit Judge. Kyisha Jones appeals the district court’s grant of summary judgment to her employer, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), dismissing her Title VII failure-to-promote sex-discrimination claim after permitting only limited discovery. We VACATE and REMAND. I. Jones began working as an Immigration Maritime Inspector in June 2002. She was a Customs and Border Protection Officer (CBPO) from 2003 until April 2007, when she was awarded a position as CBP Enforcement Officer (CBPEO). The CBPEO unit is also known as the CBPEO Enforcement Cadre. CBPOEs, unlike CBPOs, focus on complex immigration violation work that requires knowledge of the Immigration and Nationalization Act. Case No. 18-2252 , Jones v. Johnson In 2011, Jones applied for promotion to Supervisory CBP Officer (SCBPO) (vacancy 382705). Roderick Blanchard, Port Director for Detroit CBP Field Operations since February 2008, recommended that four males and one female be promoted in the June 2011 round of promotions, and one male and one female in the August 2011 round of promotions. Christopher Perry, Blanchard’s superior, accepted Blanchard’s promotion recommendations; Jones was not promoted. All seven of those who received promotions were promoted under vacancy 382705 and were drawn from the same pool of applicants. Port Director Blanchard’s unsworn declaration, submitted to the EEOC in connection with its investigation of Jones’s sex-discrimination failure-to-promote complaint, stated that he was Jones’s fourth-line supervisor, he had met and talked with Jones “concerning operational/enforcement issues on numerous occasions over the past 3+ years,” and he did not consider Jones’s gender in the recommendation-for-promotion process. R. 21 PID 389. Blanchard stated that he conducted no interviews for the promotions and that Human Resources provided a list of qualified candidates, their resumes, and OF 612s, Optional Applications for Federal Employment. Blanchard’s declaration stated that he considered Jones for the SCBPO position but did not recommend her: Ms. Jones does not always work with her supervisors and is known to unnecessarily challenge them. While Ms. Jones possesses excellent knowledge, skills and ability for future nomination, her contentious nature cut against her in this nomination. However, she had indeed improved over the past few months. I anticipate she will develop and demonstrate leadership qualities in the future, and I will continue to watch her development as a candidate. .... [] Ms. Jones was suspended 5 days for failure to follow a supervisor’s order. This was not a technical violation. Being a leader requires that a person follow direction and contribute to an efficient operation. Ms. Jones’s actions at the time of her suspension demonstrated that she lacked this leadership quality. R. 21 PID 391-92. 2 ...
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