E.E.O.C. v. Hacienda Hotel

• Decision Date: 10 August 1989
• Docket Number: No. 88-5563,88-5563
• Parties: 50 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. 877, 51 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 39,250, 58 USLW 2163 EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. HACIENDA HOTEL, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit

Page 1504

881 F.2d 1504

50 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. 877,

51 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 39,250, 58 USLW 2163

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. HACIENDA HOTEL, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 88-5563.

United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit.

Argued and Submitted Dec. 8, 1988.

Decided Aug. 10, 1989.

Myron E. Harpole, Witter and Harpole, Los Angeles, Cal., for defendant-appellant.

Donna J. Brusoski, E.E.O.C., Washington, D.C., for plaintiff-appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of California.

Before HALL, WIGGINS and THOMPSON, Circuit Judges.

CYNTHIA HOLCOMB HALL, Circuit Judge:

On May 30, 1986, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC" or "the Commission") initiated this employment discrimination action against appellant Hacienda Hotel ("Hacienda" or "the Hotel"), an establishment operated by Las Freres Hacienda in El Segundo, California, pursuant to 42 U.S.C. Sec. 2000e-5(f)(1)(1982). The Commission alleged that the Hacienda, its General Manager (Frank Godoy), its Executive Housekeeper (Alicia Castro), and its Chief of Engineering (William Nusbaum), had engaged in unlawful employment practices against female employees in the Hacienda housekeeping department by sexually harassing them, terminating them when they became pregnant, failing to accommodate their religious beliefs, and retaliating against them for opposing Hacienda's discriminatory practices. Relief was sought and obtained on behalf of five current and former Hacienda maids, all but one of whom were undocumented aliens, who were alleged to have been victims of appellant's discriminatory employment practices during 1982 and 1983. We affirm.

I

The Hotel hired Teodora Castro in June 1980. Teodora became pregnant in late 1981 and continued to work for defendant. During the course of her pregnancy, both Alicia Castro and Nusbaum made numerous crude and disparaging remarks regarding her pregnancy. Nusbaum, for example, told Teodora that "that's what you get for sleeping without your underwear,"; he also asked why she was pregnant by another man and made comments about her "ass." Nusbaum often subjected her to sexually offensive remarks in the presence of Alicia Castro, who merely laughed. Alicia Castro herself told Teodora that she did not like "stupid women who have kids," and on many occasions called her a "dog" or a "whore" or a "slut."

In late 1981 and early 1982, Teodora Castro complained to Frank Godoy and Jose Ortiz, the union representative, about Nusbaum's and Alicia Castro's comments, but the situation did not improve. On June 30, 1982, Teodora Castro was terminated, as Alicia Castro admitted in her deposition and at trial, because of her pregnancy. She was rehired in November 1982, following the birth of her child.

Teodora Castro is also a Seventh Day Adventist who observes the Sabbath on Saturdays. Prior to her termination, she had been given Saturdays off. After she was rehired in November 1982, however, Alicia Castro informed her that she would have to work Saturdays. Teodora reminded the Executive Housekeeper that she needed Saturdays off in order to observe her Sabbath, but Alicia Castro denied her request. On December 17, 1982, Alicia Castro terminated Teodora for refusing to work on her Sabbath. During this time period, another maid in the Housekeeping Department, who was less senior than Teodora, was permitted to have both Saturdays and Sundays off after she had been attacked on the way home from work while waiting for public transportation, which was inadequate on weekends.

Following her termination, Teodora immediately sought employment. After another pregnancy, followed by childbirth in December of 1983, she finally secured new employment at another hotel in the vicinity of the Los Angeles International Airport in May, 1984. Between May 1984 and the date of trial, Teodora Castro earned less than she would have earned had she remained employed by the Hacienda.

Maria Elena Gonzalez was a maid in the Hacienda Housekeeping Department from October 27, 1980, to September 21, 1983. Gonzalez is a Jehovah's Witness and observes her Sabbath on Sundays. In early September, 1982, Gonzalez requested that she be given Sundays off in order to observe the Sabbath. Alicia Castro initially granted Gonzalez's request; two days later she changed her mind and told Gonzalez that she had to work Sundays or quit.

Gonzalez filed a union grievance complaining of Castro's refusal to accommodate her religious beliefs. Gonzalez also informed the General Manager of the Hacienda Hotel, Frank Godoy, of Alicia Castro's refusal to adjust her schedule. Godoy told Gonzalez that he would speak with Castro regarding her request. Alicia Castro subsequently told Gonzalez that because she had complained to Godoy, she would never have Sundays off and that she should be grateful that she had a job. Castro also told Gonzalez that she was going to "make life so difficult for her that she would not know her head from her feet."

During the month of September, 1982, Castro issued four disciplinary warnings to Gonzalez and terminated her on September 21, 1982. Following her termination, Gonzalez sought other comparable employment until the end of December, 1984.

The Hotel hired Flora Villalobos in April of 1980. After she became pregnant in early 1982, she was regularly subjected to sexually offensive remarks from Alicia Castro and Nusbaum. Castro often called her a "dog" or a "whore," and Nusbaum told her that women "get pregnant because they like to suck men's dicks." On many occasions, Nusbaum threatened to have her fired if she did not submit to his sexual advances. Castro witnessed some of Nusbaum's behavior and laughed at his sexual remarks. On October 31, 1982, when Villalobos was approximately seven months pregnant and still able and willing to work, Castro terminated her employment because of her pregnancy. Villalobos had obtained a statement from her doctor indicating that she was able to continue working until two or three weeks before her estimated delivery date of December 28, 1982.

On February 9, 1983, Villalobos provided Castro a written statement from her doctor indicating that she was able to return to work immediately. Villalobos was not rehired until April 8, 1983. The Hotel hired two maids, one rehire and one new employee, while Villalobos was awaiting rehire.

Leticia Cardona was employed by the Hotel from May 15, 1981, to September 28, 1982. After she became pregnant in early 1982, she was subjected to sexually offensive comments by Alicia Castro and Nusbaum. In September 1982, when Cardona was six months pregnant, Castro told her that she was too fat to clean rooms and fired her on September 28, 1982. Although at trial Castro testified that Cardona was terminated for poor work performance. Castro had previously admitted in a deposition that she terminated Cardona pursuant to her practice of terminating pregnant employees. Cardona's notice of termination form, which was completed by Castro, states that she was terminated because of her pregnancy.

In December 1982, after the birth of her baby, Cardona returned to the Hotel and requested her job back, but Castro refused. Castro testified that Cardona was not rehired because she was a poor worker.

Throughout her term of employment from October 8, 1978, to March 10, 1983, William Nusbaum made sexual advances and offensive sexual comments to Mercedes Flores. Nusbaum regularly offered, for example, to give her money from his paycheck and an apartment to live in if she would "give him [her] body." He also assured her that she would never be fired if she would have sex with him. Flores claimed to have heard Nusbaum make offensive sexual comments to other maids, including complainants Cardona, Castro, and Villalobos. On one occasion, for example, she heard him say to Villalobos: "You have such a fine ass. It's a nice ass to stick a nice dick into. How many dicks have you eaten?"

Each of the five complainants, on whose behalf the EEOC sought relief, filed a charge with the Commission within 300 days of the unlawful employment practice to which they claimed to have been subjected. All but Teodora Castro's pregnancy and sexual harassment claims were filed with the EEOC within 240 days of the alleged unlawful employment practice. None of the complainants filed a charge directly with the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing ("DFEH"). Under the terms of a worksharing agreement, however, the EEOC and DFEH have each designated the other as the other's agent for the purpose of receiving charges. Pursuant to the same worksharing agreement, the EEOC referred each of the charges to DFEH who then notified appellant that the EEOC would be handling the investigation into the employees' allegations.

On February 17, 1987, the district court heard the EEOC's motion for partial summary judgment on the issue of appellant's liability for pregnancy discrimination. The district court concluded that the Hacienda's practice of terminating pregnant employees, while granting leaves of absence and reinstatement upon recovery to other "temporarily disabled" employees, violated Sec. 703(a) of Title VII, 42 U.S.C. Sec. 2000e-2(a). The court entered partial summary judgment in favor of the Commission with respect to Castro's, Cardona's, and Villalobos' pregnancy claims on March 2, 1987.

The remaining issues were tried before the court from September 21 to 25, 1987. After trial, the district court entered judgment for the EEOC, based on the following findings and conclusions. The court first rejected Hacienda's defense that the charges were not timely filed. On the merits, the court held that Castro's and Gonzalez' religious discrimination claims, and Gonzalez' retaliation claims had been established by a preponderance of the evidence. The court also found the sexual harassment claims supported by the evidence and concluded that the Hacienda...