Xodus v. Wackenhut Corp.Xodus v. Wackenhut Corp.
Lord Osunfarian Xodus appeals the district court’s judgment that Wackenhut did not engage in religious discrimination when it refused to hire him on account of his dreadlocked hairstyle. Specifically, Xodus disputes the court’s conclusion that he never brought his religious beliefs to Wackenhut’s attention. We affirm.
I. BACKGROUND
A dreadlock is a “ropelike strand of hair formed by matting or braiding.” Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary 352 (10th ed.1986). Rastafarians believe dreadlocks symbolize a bond with God, citing this passage in the Bible: “[N]o razor shall come upon his head; ... and he shall let the locks of hair of his head grow long.” Numbers 6:5 (Revised Standard Version). Xodus, a Rastafarian and Hebrew Israelite adherent, sued Wackenhut, claiming it viоlated Title VII when it did not hire him as a security guard because he would not cut his dreadlocks.
A few days before Xodus interviewed for a job with Wackenhut, Securitas, another security firm, fired him because he refused to cut his hair to comрly with the company’s grooming policy. On July 7, 2004, the morning of his Wackenhut interview, Xo-dus was refused a security position at Allied Security because he told them he would not cut his dreadlocks. Then he went to Wackenhut where he interviewed with mаnager Clarence McCuller.
Before trial, the district court denied Wackenhut’s motion for summary judgment on liability, holding that a genuine issue of fact existed as to whether Xodus informed McCuller of his religious beliefs. But the court granted the company’s motion for summary judgment on damages, holding that Xodus failed to mitigate his damages by exercising reasonable diligence to find alternative employment, and that he failed to support his request for punitive damages by establishing that Wackenhut acted recklessly or with malice.
Xodus and McCuller testified differently about whether religion was discussed during the interview. According to Xodus, McCuller first told him about Wackenhut and the position for which they were hiring, its pay and benefits. McCuller then asked Xodus about his prior work history, state certification, name change, role at Securitas and the reason he was fired. Xodus testified that he told McCuller Sec-uritas fired him because he wore dreadlocks and refused to cut them because of his religion. McCuller told him that Wackenhut had a similar grooming policy and that he would have to cut his hair to gain employment. McCuller sаid he could hire him to work security in a shipping warehouse, but that none of those positions were available at that time. According to Xodus, McCuller told him that Wackenhut could not offer him a job at that time, shook his hand, and walked him to the door.
McCuller testified that he noticed Xo-dus’ dreadlocks as soon as the two met and he immediately initiated the discussion of Wackenhut’s grooming policy. According to McCuller, he told Xodus he would not be hired unless he cut his hair. Xodus then got up, began to walk out of the room and said, “That’s why I’m suing Securitas ... its against my belief.” McCuller testified that he was not aware of the Rastafarian religion and did not equate Xodus’ use of the word “belief’ with religion. He said he told Xodus as he left that he could always reapply if he “took out his braids.”
In addition to the witness testimony, Xodus introduced a copy of an email McCuller sent to his boss, Robert Krol, in December 2004, briefly describing the interview. McCuller told Krol thаt he had immediately informed Xodus about Wack-enhut’s grooming policy, and when Xodus said he would not cut his hair, McCuller says he told Xodus he could not offer him employment but that he was welcome to reapply if he took out the brаids. Xodus also placed into evidence a memo Krol wrote to his superiors at Wackenhut summarizing his investigation into the incident. The memo says Xodus told McCuller that cutting his hair was “against my belief’ and then got up and left the office.
Wackenhut also introduced EEOC charges Xodus signed and filed against Wackenhut and four other security firms, in an attempt to impeach his testimony. While four of the charges say that Xodus brought his religious belief to the interviewer’s attention, only thе Wackenhut charge does not. The judge then prohibited Xodus from testifying that he had
told
the EEOC worker who typed the charge that he brought his religion to McCuller’s attention but the worker, and not Xodus, had actually typed the charge document and omitted the statement. The court also excluded the EEOC worker’s notes, citing
Novitsky v. American Consulting Engineers, L.L.C.,
At the end of the trial, the court found in favor of Wackenhut, finding that Xodus failed to bring his religious belief to its аttention during the interview. The opinion recounted the testimony and other evidence and indicated that, faced with the two contradicting stories, the judge found McCuller more credible than Xodus; he found McCuller’s testimony internally consistent and corroborated by both the email and the memo. In light of the fact that his dreadlocks cost him two security positions that week, the judge did not believe Xodus’ testimony that the interview ended amicably and that he did not get up аnd walk out of the interview. The court cited the EEOC charges as additional corroboration for McCuller’s version of events.
Xodus timely appealed.
II. DISCUSSION
We first address Xodus’ challenge to the finding that Wackenhut was not aware of his religion. Because this asрect of the court’s decision is a factual finding, we review it for clear error, with a great deal of deference to the trial judge’s opportunity to judge the witnesses’ credibility.
In part to enable appellate review of these findings,
Xodus claims that his use of the word “belief’ and the dreadlocks themselves sufficed to notify McCuller of the religious nature of his hairstyle. But unlike race or sex, a person’s religion is not always readily apparent.
Reed v. Great Lakes Cos., Inc.,
McCuller testified that he was not familiar with the Rastafarian faith and did not associate Xodus’ statement of “belief’ with religion. The district court concluded that McCuller did not know that Xodus wore his dreadlocks for religious reasons, and that finding is not clearly erroneous. Nor does the fact that Xodus’ name begins with the word “Lord” persuade us that McCuller knew the dreadlocks were religious.
The court’s decision to credit McCuller’s testimony that Xodus never informеd him that religious belief required him to wear dreadlocks is both plausible from the evidence and sufficiently explained in the opinion. While Xodus argues that McCul-ler’s testimony was in “clear conflict” with McCuller’s email and Krol’s memo regarding the interview, both documents in fact corroborate McCuller’s trial testimony. Xodus places significance on McCuller’s testimony that he told Xodus he could reapply for the position, claiming that it is unreasonable to believe that MeCuller actually made such a statement if the interview ended abruptly. We fail to see the inconsistency; the statement might have been McCuller’s effort to be polite when the interview ended. The offer actually substantiates the finding that MeCuller was unaware that Xodus wore dreadlocks as a religious observance.
That the court’s credibility determination rested on the above subsidiary facts is clear from the opinion. Though brief, the court’s explanation provides sufficient detail to comply with
Xodus argues on appeal that the district court erred by preventing him from testifying about his EEOC intake questionnaire, in which he says he informed MeCuller of his religious beliefs, as еvidence of prior consistent statements to bolster his credibility. The case upon which the district court relied,
Novitsky v. American Consulting Engineers, L.L.C.,
Finally, Xodus claims the district court erred when it granted summary judgment
III. CONCLUSION
The district court’s conclusion that Wackenhut did not discriminate against Xodus was not implausible based on the evidence. We Affirm.