UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA ERNESTO RODRIGUEZ, Plaintiff, v. Civil Action No. 19-3710 (JEB) WASHINGTON METROPOLITAN AREA TRANSIT AUTHORITY, Defendant. MEMORANDUM OPINION Plaintiff Ernesto Rodriguez is a successful boxing coach. The problem, according to his former employer, Defendant Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, is that he should not have been coaching while out on workers’-compensation leave. When WMATA discharged him, pointing to this work and his untruthfulness about it in an administrative investigation, Rodriguez sued. He alleges that this termination was actually motivated by his race, color, and national origin, thereby constituting unlawful discrimination. Both parties now cross-move for summary judgment. Believing that WMATA generally has the stronger position, the Court will grant its Motion on the bulk of Plaintiff’s claims, but not as to race discrimination. The Court will also deny Plaintiff’s Motion in its entirety, meaning that this fight will go another round. 1 I. Background A. Factual Background Because the Court is focusing on Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment, it will construe the facts in the light most favorable to Plaintiff. See Talavera v. Shah, 638 F.3d 303, 308 (D.C. Cir. 2011). Rodriguez worked as a Metro Transit Police Department officer at WMATA from 2009 until January 2019, when he was discharged. See ECF No. 13-2 (Pl. Resp. to Def. SMF), ¶¶ 1, 35. He identifies his national origin as Panamanian, his color as Black, and his race as Black and Hispanic. Id., ¶ 3. Rodriguez was on leave due to injury and received workers’ compensation from January to March 2018, and again from July 2018 to January 2019. Id., ¶¶ 4, 12; see also ECF No. 1 (Compl.), ¶¶ 11, 27, 29; ECF No. 13-4, Exh. B (Office of Professional Responsibility and Inspections (OPRI) Report) at 163. In 2018, MTPD’s OPRI conducted an audit of the ten MTPD officers on workers’- compensation leave at the time. See Pl. Resp. to Def. SMF, ¶¶ 4, 7. Sergeant Daniel Alvarez and Captain Gregory Hanna were in charge. Id., ¶ 6. As part of the audit, Alvarez discovered that Plaintiff was training a professional boxer, Jarrett Hurd. Id., ¶ 9. Alvarez viewed multiple photos and videos on social media of Rodriguez and Hurd training together, some of which were taken after Plaintiff went on leave in July 2018. Id., ¶¶ 9–10. Alvarez and Hanna thus requested that Rodriguez meet with them for an administrative interview on January 4, 2019, shortly after Plaintiff was scheduled to return to work. Id., ¶¶ 11–13. In the recorded interview, Alvarez asked Plaintiff if he was working in any off-duty secondary employment. Id., ¶ 13. Rodriguez responded that he had been volunteering as a boxing coach since 2000. Id., ¶ 14. Alvarez then asked him if he was familiar with MTPD 2 General Order 245, which requires officers to seek approval from the MTPD Chief for any off- duty employment. Id., ¶ 17. General Order 245 also lists an additional level of required approval from the MTPD Chief for any …
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