No. 22-1137

HENRY DIAZ,

Plaintiff, Appellant,

v.

CITY OF SOMERVILLE,

Defendant, Appellee.

APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS

[Hon. Jennifer C. Boal, U.S. Magistrate Judge]

Before

Barron, Chief Judge, Selya and Kayatta, Circuit Judges.

James J. Heggie on brief for appellant. Leonard H. Kesten, Michael Stefanilo, Jr., Deidre Brennan Regan, and Brody, Hardoon, Perkins & Kesten, LLP on brief for appellee.

February 1, 2023 SELYA, Circuit Judge. Police officers occupy positions of trust and authority and, thus, are understandably held to high standards of conduct. Notwithstanding those standards, plaintiff- appellant Henry Diaz, a police officer, contends that the City of Somerville (the City) wrongfully discharged him after he was involved in an off-duty altercation with a civilian and lied about the altercation during an internal investigation. Diaz, who is both Black and Hispanic, contends that his discharge was based on his race in violation of Title VII and Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 151B. The district court concluded that Diaz's contentions were unsupported and entered summary judgment in favor of the City. We affirm.

I

We draw the relevant facts from the summary judgment record, construing all disputed facts and reasonable inferences therefrom "in the light most flattering to the party against whom summary judgment was entered" (here, Diaz). Pleasantdale Condos., LLC v. Wakefield, 37 F.4th 728, 730 (1st Cir. 2022).

In the early morning hours of June 30, 2017, Diaz (an off-duty Somerville police officer) was driving through East Boston when he was forced to stop because a pedestrian stepped in front of his car. A confrontation ensued, during which Diaz got out of his car and repeatedly punched the pedestrian before driving away. The pedestrian reported the incident to the authorities in

- 2 - East Boston but did not appear at the subsequent hearing on the matter. As a result, the case was dismissed without prejudice.

The Somerville Police Department was apprised of the incident and conducted its own internal investigation. During this investigation, Diaz maintained that he had merely defended himself out of fear for his own safety. Withal, the East Boston police report, a video of the incident, and witness interviews suggested otherwise. The Somerville Police Department investigation concluded that Diaz had been the aggressor and that the incident manifested conduct unbecoming an officer. That investigation also concluded that Diaz had not been truthful during the course of the probe. And after reviewing the report of the investigation, the City's police chief recommended disciplinary action up to and including dismissal.

In November of 2017, the City held a hearing to review the police department's findings and to present a disciplinary recommendation to the mayor. Diaz was given notice of the hearing and was represented by counsel. After considering evidence presented by both the police department and Diaz, the hearing officer concurred with the police department's findings and determined that just cause existed to terminate Diaz's employment. The mayor adopted the findings of the hearing officer and fired Diaz.

- 3 - Diaz appealed the termination of his employment to the Massachusetts Civil Service Commission (the Commissio