Autozone, Inc. v. Reyes

• Decision Date: 29 December 2006
• Docket Number: No. 13-03-338-CV.,13-03-338-CV.
• Parties: AUTOZONE, INC., Appellant, v. Salvador REYES, Appellee.
• Court: Texas Court of Appeals

272 S.W.3d 644

AUTOZONE, INC., Appellant, v. Salvador REYES, Appellee.

No. 13-03-338-CV.

Court of Appeals of Texas, Corpus Christi-Edinburg.

December 29, 2006.

Rehearing Overruled August 23, 2007.

Walter Christy, George Ditta, Tracy K. Hidalgo, James Waldron, Frilot, Partridge, Kohnke & Clements, New Orleans, LA, Roger W. Hughes, Tom Lockhart, Adams & Graham, Harlingen, Miguel Salinas, Brownsville, for appellant.

Miguel Salinas, Rene B. Gonzalez, Brownsville, Ricardo J. Navarro, Denton Navarro Rocha & Bernal, Harlingen, for appellee.

Before Justices HINOJOSA, YAÑEZ, and GARZA.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Memorandum Opinion by Justice GARZA.

Appellee, Salvador Reyes, sued his former employer, AutoZone, Inc., for age discrimination after his employment was terminated. TEX. LAB.CODE ANN. § 21.051 (Vernon 2006). According to AutoZone, Reyes was discharged for violating the company's sexual harassment policy. A jury found in favor of Reyes and awarded him $61,440 in back pay, $211,800 in compensatory damages, and $1,500,000 in exemplary damages. The trial court found the award of $1,773,240 in damages awarded by the jury exceeded the statutory limits imposed by law, found that Reyes was not entitled to front pay, and reduced the award to $300,000 in damages, $39,615 in attorney's fees and costs in the amount of $2,966.76. The judgment of the trial court is modified to reduce the award of back pay and to delete the award of punitive damages. Otherwise the judgment is affirmed as modified.

BACKGROUND

Reyes was employed by AutoZone in January of 1984. Reyes began his employment as a counter person and worked his way up to parts service manager. In March of 2000, AutoZone employee Irma Knowles filed sexual harassment complaints against Reyes and another employee, Jim Alvarado. The investigation of both complaints resulted in the discharge of Reyes and the transfer of Alvarado. Reyes conceded that he would greet Knowles and other male and female co-workers with a "beso y abrazo" (kiss and hug) as is customary in South Texas, but denied sexually harassing her. Reyes was 62 years old at the time of the discharge.

I. LEGAL SUFFICIENCY

In its first issue, AutoZone argues that the evidence is legally insufficient to support the jury's finding that Reyes' age was a motivating factor in its decision to discharge him. AutoZone maintains that Reyes was discharged because he admitted to violating the company's sexual harassment policy.

Standard of Review

In conducting a legal sufficiency review, we "view the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict, crediting favorable evidence if reasonable jurors could, and disregarding contrary evidence unless reasonable jurors could not." City of Keller v. Wilson, 168 S.W.3d 802, 827 (Tex.2005); Ysleta Indep. Sch. Dist. v. Monarrez, 177 S.W.3d 915, 917 (Tex.2005); Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Canchola, 121 S.W.3d 735, 739 (Tex.2003). A no-evidence challenge fails if more than a scintilla of evidence supports the challenged finding. City of Keller, 168 S.W.3d at 810; Canchola, 121 S.W.3d at 739. More than a scintilla of evidence exists if the evidence rises to a level that would enable reasonable and fair-minded people to differ in their conclusions. Ford Motor Co. v. Ridgway, 135 S.W.3d 598, 601 (Tex.2004) (citing Merrell Dow Pharm., Inc. v. Havner, 953 S.W.2d 706, 711 (Tex.1997)). Evidence that creates a mere surmise or suspicion of the existence of a vital fact is not legally sufficient. Id. (citing Kindred v. Con/Chem, Inc., 650 S.W.2d 61, 63 (Tex.1983)). A no-evidence point must be sustained only when the record presents one of the following situations: (1) a complete absence of evidence of a vital fact; (2) the court is barred by rules of law or of evidence from giving weight to the only evidence offered to prove a vital fact; (3) the evidence offered to prove a vital fact is no more than a mere scintilla; or (4) the evidence establishes conclusively the opposite of the vital fact. City of Keller, 168 S.W.3d at 810 (citations omitted).

We emphasize that jurors are the sole judges of the credibility of the witnesses and the weight to be given their testimony. Id. at 819. When there is conflicting evidence, it is the province of the jury to resolve such conflicts. Id. at 820. If conflicting inferences can be drawn from the evidence, we assume jurors made all inferences in favor of their verdict if reasonable minds could, and disregard all other inferences. Id. at 821. But if the evidence allows only one inference, we may not disregard it. See id. Thus, so long as the evidence falls within a zone of reasonable disagreement, we cannot substitute our judgment for that of the trier-of-fact. Id. at 822.

Applicable Law

Section 21.051 of the Texas Labor Code, a provision of the Texas Commission on Human Rights Act (TCHRA), prohibits an employer from discharging or in any other way discriminating against an employee because of the employee's age. See TEX. LAB.CODE ANN. § 21.051.¹ In discrimination cases that have not been fully tried on the merits, Texas courts apply the burden-shifting analysis established by the United States Supreme Court. See Canchola, 121 S.W.3d at 739 (citing Reeves v. Sanderson Plumbing Prods., Inc., 530 U.S. 133, 142-43, 120 S.Ct. 2097, 147 L.Ed.2d 105 (2000); St. Mary's Honor Ctr. v. Hicks, 509 U.S. 502, 506-07, 113 S.Ct. 2742, 125 L.Ed.2d 407 (1993); Tex. Dep't of Cmty. Affairs v. Burdine, 450 U.S. 248, 252-53, 101 S.Ct. 1089, 67 L.Ed.2d 207 (1981); McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 802-03, 93 S.Ct. 1817, 36 L.Ed.2d 668 (1973); M.D. Anderson Hosp. v. Willrich, 28 S.W.3d 22, 24 (Tex. 2000)). Under this burden-shifting analysis, the plaintiff has the initial burden of proving a prima facie case of discrimination by a preponderance of the evidence. Stanley Stores Inc. v. Chavana, 909 S.W.2d 554, 559 (Tex.App.-Corpus Christi 1995, writ denied).² Discrimination can by proven by direct or circumstantial evidence. Quantum Chem. Corp. v. Toennies, 47 S.W.3d 473, 476 (Tex.2001); Garcia v. Allen, 28 S.W.3d 587, 600 (Tex.App.-Corpus Christi 2000, pet. denied).

However, when, as here, a discrimination case has been fully tried on its merits a reviewing court does not engage in a burden-shifting analysis. See Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., v. Canchola, 121 S.W.3d 735, 739 (Tex.2003) (citing Rubinstein v. Adm'rs of the Tulane Educ. Fund, 218 F.3d 392, 402 (5th Cir.2000); City of Austin Police Dep't v. Brown, 96 S.W.3d 588, 599 n. 4 (Tex.App.-Austin 2002, pet. dism'd); see also Travis v. Board of Regents of Univ. of Texas, 122 F.3d 259, 263 (5th Cir.1997).³ Instead, the evaluation process is streamlined and we proceed directly to whether the plaintiff submitted legally sufficient evidence to support the jury's ultimate finding. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 121 S.W.3d at 739 (citing Rutherford v. Harris County, Texas, 197 F.3d 173, 180-81 (5th Cir.1999) (stating "We need not parse the evidence into discrete segments corresponding to a prima facie, an articulation of a legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for the employer's decision, and a showing of pretext.")); see also City of Austin Police Dep't., 96 S.W.3d at 596 (stating "an affirmative finding will be reviewed on appeal on the basis of whether the plaintiff produced sufficient evidence for the jury to find discrimination had occurred."). At trial, it was Reyes' burden to prove that age was a motivating factor in AutoZone's decision to discriminate against or discharge him. See Canchola, 121 S.W.3d at 739; Quantum Chem. Corp. v. Toennies, 47 S.W.3d 473, 480 (Tex.2001) (stating that a motivating factor is the standard of causation regardless of how many factors influenced the employment decision); see also Rutherford, 197 F.3d at 180-81.

Thus, in discussing AutoZone's first issue, we inquire whether the evidence is legally sufficient to support the jury's finding that age was a motivating factor in AutoZone's decision to discriminate against or discharge Reyes. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 121 S.W.3d at 739.

Analysis

Reyes gave the following testimony as his reasons for believing that he was discharged because of his age. Co-workers, Alvarado and Guadalupe Garcia made comments such as "you are getting too old" and "you need to be faster." Reyes felt pressured because of his inability to stay up to date with the increasingly difficult computer programs. Alvarado told Reyes that Jesse Villarreal, a manager at AutoZone, stated that Reyes had been discharged due to his age. AutoZone gave preferential treatment to younger employees by not firing them after similar complaints were lodged against them. For instance, Alvarado, who was younger than Reyes, was not discharged as a result of Knowles' sexual harassment complaint, simply because Alvarado denied harassing Knowles. Additionally, three employees, a female in her twenties (Anne Beaty), a male in his twenties (Alex Parga), and a male in his thirties (John Parrack), who were discharged due to violations of AutoZone's sexual harassment policy were made eligible for rehire with "provision" or "with reservation" while Reyes was not. In addition, a forty-year-old San Antonio employee (Elroy Harrison), who was discharged for violating AutoZone's sexual harassment policy, was first given a reprimand for the "same type of behavior," then upon the employee's continued violation, was discharged.

Jim Alvarado, a manager at the store for a period of two to three months, testified that Villarreal told him that Reyes, the oldest employee at the store, had been terminated because of his age. After learning Reyes had been terminated, Alvarado approached Villarreal to turn in his keys and told Villarreal that he preferred quitting to being fired for sexual harassment. Villarreal responded by stating "whoever needs to be punished has been punished. AutoZone is just trying to get rid of the old people." Alvarado explained that Villarreal elaborated that the "old ones" have a certain way...