E.E.O.C. v. Nalbandian Sales, Inc.

• Decision Date: 20 April 1998
• Docket Number: No. CIV-F98-5047 OWW DLB.,CIV-F98-5047 OWW DLB.
• Citation: 36 F.Supp.2d 1206
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of California
• Parties: EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION, Plaintiff, v. NALBANDIAN SALES, INC., Defendant.

36 F.Supp.2d 1206

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION, Plaintiff, v. NALBANDIAN SALES, INC., Defendant.

No. CIV-F98-5047 OWW DLB.

United States District Court, E.D. California.

April 20, 1998.

Francisco Cancino, U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, San Francisco, CA, for plaintiff.

Robert J. Noriega, Noriega & Alexander, Bakersfield, CA, for defendant.

MEMORANDUM OPINION RE: DEFENDANT'S MOTION TO DISMISS PURSUANT TO FED.R.CIV.P. 12(b)(6)

WANGER, District Judge.

I. INTRODUCTION

Plaintiff Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") commenced this lawsuit against Defendant Nalbandian Sales, Inc., alleging Defendant impermissibly "retaliated" against a former employee (the charging party) in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-3(a).

Defendant moves to dismiss the Plaintiff's complaint pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). Plaintiff opposes the pending motion. For the reasons set forth in this opinion, Defendant's motion to dismiss the complaint is DENIED.

II. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

Mr. Roger Benavidez, the charging party, had been employed by Defendant since 1983 ostensibly on a "seasonal" basis. His last position with Defendant was as a forklift driver. In January of 1995 Mr. Benavidez's sister, Maria Benavidez Pierce, a former employee of Defendant, filed a charge of discrimination against Defendant with the California State Department of Fair Employment and Housing ("DFEH") and the EEOC.

Mr. Benavidez solicited a position with the Defendant for the 1995 season, but was not "hired" or "rehired." Plaintiff alleges that Defendant unlawfully retaliated against Mr. Benavidez "and other similarly situated persons because of their association with or relationship" to Ms. Benavidez Pierce, who had formally complained about Defendant's unlawful employment practices. Pl.'s Complaint at ¶ 7; see also Declaration of F. Cancino in Supp. of Pl.'s Opp. to Def.'s Mot. to Dismiss, at Ex. B (In his pre-complaint questionnaire, Mr. Benavidez stated that Chris Aaron, a Nalbandian supervisor, told him that "Jon [Waters] said, [Mr. Benavidez] `cannot be hired back because his family member has a lawsuit against me.'"). The complaint alleges that Mr. Benavidez and other "similarly situated employees have been deprived of equal employment opportunities because of their association and/or relationship to a person who engaged in protected activity" within the meaning of Title VII. Id. at ¶ 8.

Mr. Benavidez filed a charge and precomplaint questionnaire against Defendant with the DFEH and the EEOC alleging a third-party retaliation claim. The EEOC issued a "Letter of Determination of Reasonable Cause" dated September 9, 1997, wherein the EEOC stated that "there is reasonable cause to believe that [Defendant] violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, by retaliating against [Mr. Benavidez] and members of his family for the protected activity taken by his sister." Declaration of F. Cancino in Supp. of Pl.'s Opp. to Def.'s Mot. to Dismiss, at Ex. C. The EEOC then filed this suit on January 13, 1998 on behalf of Mr. Benavidez and "other similarly situated persons."

III. Legal Standard

A motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim under Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6) is disfavored and rarely granted: "a complaint should not be dismissed for failure to state a claim unless it appears beyond a doubt that the Plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of his claim which would entitle him to relief." Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 45-46, 78 S.Ct. 99, 2 L.Ed.2d 80 (1957). In deciding a motion to dismiss, the court "must accept as true all material allegations in the complaint and construe them in the light most favorable to" the plaintiff. NL Indus. v. Kaplan, 792 F.2d 896, 898 (9th Cir.1986). Conclusions of law, however, are not presumed true. Western Mining Council v. Watt, 643 F.2d 618, 624 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 454 U.S. 1031, 102 S.Ct. 567, 70 L.Ed.2d 474 (1981).

The court need not accept as true allegations that contradict facts which may be judicially noticed. Mullis v. United States Bankruptcy Ct., 828 F.2d 1385, 1388 (9th Cir.1987), cert. denied, 486 U.S. 1040, 108 S.Ct. 2031, 100 L.Ed.2d 616 (1988). For example, matters of public record may be considered, including pleadings, orders, and other papers filed with the court or records of administrative bodies, Mack v. South Bay Beer Distributors, 798 F.2d 1279, 1282 (9th Cir.1986), conclusory allegations, unreasonable inferences, or unwarranted deductions of fact need not be accepted, Western Mining Council, 643 F.2d at 624, and allegations in the complaint may be disregarded if contradicted by facts established by exhibits attached to the complaint, Durning v. First Boston Corp., 815 F.2d 1265, 1267 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 484 U.S. 944, 108 S.Ct. 330, 98 L.Ed.2d 358 (1987).

IV. ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION

Defendant argues that Plaintiff's complaint fails to state a claim upon which relief can be granted because the EEOC lacks standing to sue¹ given the retaliatory claim asserted and the complaint does not allege "causation" as prescribed by 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-3(a). The dispositive issue is whether the anti-retaliation provision of Title VII provides a cause of action for retaliation against an employee arising out of the protected activity engaged in by the employee's friend or relative. A statutory analysis is required. The Defendant suggests the Ninth Circuit has not decided the issue whether a third-party retaliation claim is cognizable under Title VII.

A. Plain Meaning of the Statutory Language

Section 2000e-3(a) provides:

It shall be an unlawful employment practice for an employer to discriminate against any of his employees or applicants for employment, for an employment agency, or joint labor-management committee controlling apprenticeship or other training or retraining, including on-the-job training programs, to discriminate against any individual, or for a labor organization to discriminate against any member thereof or applicant for membership, because he has opposed any practice made an unlawful employment practice by this subchapter, or because he has made a charge, testified, assisted, or participated in any manner in an investigation, proceeding, or hearing under this subchapter.

42 U.S.C. § 2000e-3(a).

By its plain terms, § 2000e-3(a) recognizes two types of retaliation: an employer who discriminates against an employee or job applicant because the individual has (1) opposed an unlawful employment practice (the "opposition" clause) or (2) has made a charge, testified, assisted, or participated in any manner in an investigation, proceeding, or hearing concerning alleged unlawful employment practices (the "participation clause"). Id.; see also Mandia v. ARCO Chemical Co., 618 F.Supp. 1248, 1249 (W.D.Pa.1985).

Here, it is undisputed that Mr. Benavidez did not engage in any "protected activity" within the meaning of Title VII. Rather, the EEOC alleges that Defendant impermissibly retaliated against Mr. Benavidez because his sister filed a discrimination charge against Defendant. A rigid, literal reading of § 2000e-3(a) would not encompass Plaintiff's claim because the statute contains no express language "extending the anti-retaliation protection to persons merely associated with or related to a person who engaged in protected activity." Defendant thus argues that Plaintiff has failed to state an actionable claim under § 2000e-3(a).

Defendant believes the plain terms of the statute should govern Plaintiff's claims because the disputed statutory language is unambiguous. Given the purported clarity of the statutory language, Defendant contends it is unnecessary and inappropriate to consider additional information and factors in ascertaining Congressional intent underlying the statute at issue. Defendant errs in asserting the statutory language is unambiguous.

B. Is Section 2000e-3(a) Ambiguous?

The first step in statutory interpretation is to determine whether the disputed language is plain and unambiguous with regard to the particular issue in dispute. Robinson v. Shell Oil Co., 519 U.S. 337, 340-42, 117 S.Ct. 843, 846, 136 L.Ed.2d 808 (1997). The court's inquiry ceases "if the statutory language is unambiguous and `the statutory scheme is coherent and consistent.'" Id. (quoting United States v. Ron Pair Enterprises, Inc., 489 U.S. 235, 240, 109 S.Ct. 1026, 1030, 103 L.Ed.2d 290 (1989)). "The plainness or ambiguity of statutory language is determined by reference to the language itself, the specific context in which that language is used, and the broader context of the statute as a whole." Id. (emphasis added) (citing Estate of Cowart v. Nicklos Drilling Co., 505 U.S. 469, 477, 112 S.Ct. 2589, 2594-2595, 120 L.Ed.2d 379 (1992); McCarthy v. Bronson, 500 U.S. 136, 139, 111 S.Ct. 1737, 1740, 114 L.Ed.2d 194 (1991)).

In concluding the statutory language is unambiguous, Defendant narrowly construes the literal terms of the statute in contravention of accepted standards of statutory construction. Defendant's analysis altogether ignores the textual context of the statutory language and the broad remedial policies underpinning Title VII. See Shell Oil Co., 117 S.Ct. at 846; Holt v. JTM Indus., Inc., 89 F.3d 1224, 1231 (Dennis, C.J., dissenting) ("It is a well-established canon of statutory construction that a court should go beyond the literal language of a statute if reliance on that language would defeat the plain purpose of the statute.").

The overarching aims of Title VII and the textual context of § 2000e-3(a) strongly counsel in favor of broadly construing § 2000e-(3) to include third-party reprisal claims. Moyo v. Gomez, 40 F.3d 982, 985 (9th Cir.1994) (it is well established that Title VII is remedial legislation which must be construed broadly) (citing Davis v. Valley Distributing Co., 522 F.2d 827 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 429 U.S. 1090, 97 S.Ct. 1099, 51...