MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER
TANYA
S. CHUTKAN, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
In this
employment discrimination action filed pro se,
Plaintiff alleges that Defendant American University (âAUâ)
terminated his employment because of his race and gender. AU
has moved to dismiss Plaintiff's Complaint under Rule
12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. For the
reasons explained below, Defendant's motion will be
GRANTED in part and DENIED in part.
I.
BACKGROUND
A.
Work Environment and Termination
Cooper
alleges the following facts, which for current purposes are
accepted as true. Cooper is a 26-year-old African American
male who, on July 28, 2017, was terminated from his job as an
AU police dispatcher. Cooper's firing followed a sexual
harassment investigation of him “by Police Director
Philip Morse and Human Resource Investigator Santo
Scremintti[.]” Compl. at 2.[1]
Cooper
claims that AU police officers and supporting staff were
permitted to participate in an “exercise program . . .
known as (LAWFIT), ” where they were “given 1
hour 2 days a week” to exercise “during their
work day.” Id. Cooper “chose swimming in
the AU indoor pool.” Id. In May 2017, he met
with AU Police Captain Kevin Barrett on several occasions to
discuss his activity at the pool and “some complaints
about [him] from the pool.” Compl. at 3-4. On May 23,
2017, Barrett “notice[d]” Cooper's tattoo,
shared that he had a tattoo as well, and stated: “Maybe
somebody at the pool saw that you had a tattoo and was
alarmed by that.” Id. at 3. Barrett suggested
“nonchalantly” that Cooper “shouldn't
go to the pool until things blow over.” Id.
Barrett also told Cooper that he would let “AU Police
Sgt. Salaazar and Lt. Greenlee” know “about our
conversation and bring them up to date about what was going
on[.]” Id.
Baffled
by Barrett's repeated questions regarding whether
“anyone” had reached out to him about the
complaints at the pool, Cooper “took it upon”
himself “to refrain from going to the pool for 30 days.
During that time, he reported to work, “business as
usual.” Id. at 4. He did not receive a
“written memo” from his supervisors or the Human
Resources department “directing” him “not
to go to the pool [or] concerning the substance of the
complaint” Barrett had referenced. Cooper found out
that “the AU gym fee was still being deducted”
from his paycheck, so he returned to the pool on June 27,
2017. The next day, Cooper's supervisor directed him to
Morse's office, where Morse “slammed a memo on the
table” and demanded that Cooper read and sign it,
“stating you were ordered not to go to the pool.”
Id. at 4. Cooper was placed on administrative leave
and escorted off AU's property. He was “ordered to
. . . hand over” his employee ID and told that he was
“not allowed back on [AU] property.” Id.
After
his termination, Cooper learned from Morse “that a
white female life guard had filed a complaint with the AU
Human Resource Department, ” claiming that Cooper
“had commented to her that she was pretty” and
“resembled a bay watch model, ” and “asked
. . . if she had a social media account” and if
“her boyfriend [was] black[.]” Compl. at 2. Morse
told Cooper that he “had committed sexual harassment
during [his] exercise break while swimming in the American
University indoor pool.” Id.
The
termination letter, dated July 28, 2017, is based on
“the findings of Human Resources investigation into
allegations of inappropriate conduct.” It lists four
specific allegations made by a student worker at the Reeves
Aquatics Center and mentions “additional allegations of
inappropriate comments and behavior” by “four
other individuals” discovered during “the course
of investigating” the initial complaint. Compl.
Attachment, ECF No. 1 at 8. In a written response, Cooper
refuted the specific allegations and claims he did not know
about “the unknown white female['s]
complaint” prior to his termination. Id. at
10.
B.
EEO Activity and Commencement of Lawsuit
At some
point, Cooper filed charges with the U.S. Equal Employment
Commission (EEOC), which mailed Cooper a Dismissal and Notice
of Rights on May 25, 2018. Compl. Attachment, ECF No. 1-1.
The EEOC was “unable to conclude that the information
obtained establishes violations of the statute.”
Id. at 1. Cooper filed this action on August 23,
2018. His five causes of action are captioned in the
Complaint as follows:
Count 1, Race Discrimination in Violation of Title VII
Count 2, Sex Discrimination in Violation of Title VII
Count 3, Disparate Treatment in Violation of ...