Gonzales v. Cnty. of Taos & Taos Cnty. Bd. of Comm'rs
| Decision Date | 01 August 2018 |
| Docket Number | Case No: 17-CV-582-F |
| Parties | JOHNA GONZALES, Plaintiff, v. COUNTY OF TAOS and TAOS COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of New Mexico |
This matter is before the Court on the Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment. The Court has reviewed the motion, the response, heard oral argument, and is fully informed in the premises.
Plaintiff Johna Gonzales ("Gonzales") worked as the Detention Director for the Taos County Juvenile Detention Center from 2011 to 2013 and as the Director of Detentions (including both Adult and Juvenile Detentions) from August 21, 2013 to January 8, 2016, when she was terminated. In 2013, when she was hired as the Director of Detentions, the County paid Gonzales an hourly rate of $32.61. Prior to taking that position, Gonzales worked at McKinley County from 1995 to 2011, serving in various positions, but served as director for the Juvenile Detention Center for six years. In 2011, Gonzales took the position of Juvenile Detention Director for Taos County. As previously noted, in 2013 she became director of both the adult and juvenile detention centers as part of a reorganization plan.
On March 6, 2015, Taos County Facilities Management Director Mark Flores reported to Taos County Human Resource Manager, Renee Weber, that Gonzales received an inappropriate text message from one of his employees. Gonzales did not report this text to HR, but reported it to Mr. Flores, the employee's supervisor.
Ms. Weber contacted Gonzales about the incident. Gonzalez confirmed the incident occurred and Ms. Weber investigated. The County disciplined the employee with a 30-day suspension and after his suspension ended he did not return to work.
On October 15, 2015, Leonardo Cordova became the Taos County Manager, replacing former manager Stephen Archuleta, who retired. On October 27, 2015, Cordova sent Gonzales a "Letter of Expectations" and also asked her to review and sign her position description. Gonzales signed her job description for Cordova, confirming that she was classified as Exempt and at a Pay Grade E5 on the Taos County pay scale, which was $32.61 per hour, or $68,828.00 per year.
On December 18, 2015 there was an incident in the detention center. Prior to this time, Gonzales had implemented "tier time" at the Adult Detention Center (ADC). Tier time allowed inmates on each of the two floors out of their cells at different times, but required them to be in their cells when the other floor was out. Gonzales implemented tier time based on safety concerns for officers and inmates because the facility was significantly understaffed. Prior to December 18, 2015, inmates were agitated about the use of tier time. On December 18, 2015, Detention Officer Matt Tafoya called a Code 1at approximately 12:45 p.m. after discovering inmate Espejo's face was covered in blood. Tafoya called for the inmates in A pod to go on lockdown, but they refused. Lt. Brenda Zamora arrived to find the inmates yelling and saying they were not going to do tier time anymore. Both Lt. Zamora and Tafoya questioned Espejo, who claimed he had slipped and fell. An unidentified officer informed Gonzales that the inmates were refusing to go into lockdown and wanted to speak with her in the pod. Gonzales took 15-30 minutes to go back to speak to the inmates. When she arrived, the inmates were calm and quiet. Gonzales spoke to the inmates and agreed to abolish tier time.
On December 23, 2015, inmate Jonathan Lopez was assaulted and was transported to the hospital for treatment. Gonzales learned of the assault five days after it occurred, on December 28, 2015, when she returned to work after Christmas vacation.
Gonzales met with County Manager Cordova and Deputy County Manager Brent Jaramillo to discuss these issues on January 4, 2016. On January 8, 2016, Cordova terminated Gonzales. After her termination, Gonzales brought a complaint alleging several claims. Specifically, Gonzalez claims Retaliation in Violation of Title VII - Count One; Violation of New Mexico Human Rights Act -Count Two; 42 U.S.C. § 1983 Due Process Violation - Count Three; Title VII - Disparate Treatment - Count Four; Title VII - Hostile Work Environment- Count Five; Municipal Liability - Count Six; Breach of Employment Contract - Count Seven; Violation for the Fair Pay for Women Act - Count Eight; and Violation of the Equal Pay Act - Count Nine.
Defendants seek to dismiss all of Gonzales's claims. The Court will consider the claims in the order they were raised in the Defendants' Motion.
Summary judgment is appropriate where the movant has demonstrated that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and it is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a); Johnson v. Weld County, Colo., 594 F.3d 1202, 1207-08 (10th Cir. 2010). As a general matter, the summary judgment movant has the burden to produce evidence supporting its claims. Kannady v. City of Kiowa, 590 F.3d 1161, 1169 (10th Cir. 2010). If the movant does so, the burden of production shifts to the party opposing summary judgment to demonstrate a genuine issue of material fact exists. Id. At all times the Court must view the evidence in the light most favorable to the party opposing summary judgment. Id. at 1168. There is a genuine issue of material fact if a reasonable jury could find in favor of the non-moving party. Id. at 1169. In addition, the Court may only consider evidence that is admissible at trial, inadmissible evidence should be disregarded. Johnson, 594 F.3d at 1209. "It is well settled in this circuit that we can consider only admissible evidence in reviewing an order granting summary judgment." Gross v. Burggraf Const. Co., 52 F.3d 1531, 1541 (10th Cir. 1995) (citations omitted).
Defendants claim Gonzales cannot prove her breach of contract claim because her employment was at will. Gonzales responds that she had an implied employment contract. This issue is governed by New Mexico law.
"The general rule in New Mexico is that an employment contract is for an indefinite period and is terminable at the will of either party." Hartbarger v. FrankPaxton Co., 857 P.2d 776, 779 (1993) (internal citation omitted). Either party can terminate an at-will employment relationship "at any time for any reason or no reason, without liability." Id. at 779 (internal citation omitted). An exception to this general rule exists where there is an implied contract. Id.
This Court has upheld findings of an implied employment contract provision that restricted the employer's power to discharge where the facts showed that the employer either has made a direct or indirect reference that termination would be only for just cause or has established procedures for termination that include elements such as a probationary period, warnings for proscribed conduct, or procedures for employees to air grievances. See Newberry v. Allied Stores, Inc., 108 N.M. 424, 427, 773 P.2d 1231, 1234 (1989) (); Kestenbaum v. Pennzoil Co., 108 N.M. 20, 24-26, 766 P.2d 280, 284-86 (1988) (), cert. denied, 490 U.S. 1109, 109 S.Ct. 3163, 104 L.Ed.2d 1026 (1989); Lukoski v. Sandia Indian Management Co., 106 N.M. 664, 667, 748 P.2d 507-510 (1988) (); Forrester v. Parker, 93 N.M. 781, 782, 606 P.2d 191, 192 (1980) (). We have upheld findings that there was no implied contract in cases where the alleged promise by the employer was not sufficiently explicit. See Shull v. New Mexico Potash Corp., 111 N.M. 132, 135, 802 P.2d 641, 644 (1990) (); Sanchez v. The New Mexican, 106 N.M. 76, 79, 738 P.2d 1321, 1324 (1987) ().
"Whether an employer's words and conduct support a reasonable expectation on the part of employees that they will be dismissed only in accordance with specified procedures or for specified reasons generally is a question of fact for the jury." Mealandv. E.N.M. Med. Ctr., 33 P.3d 285, 289 (2001). "[B]ecause an employee's expectation based on an employer's words or conduct must meet a certain threshold of objectivity, an employer may be entitled to judgment as a matter of law if the employee's expectations are not objectively reasonable." West v. Wash. Tru Solutions, LLC, 224 P.3d 651, 653 (Ct.App.2009). "In examining implied employment contract cases, we always have required that the promise that is claimed to have altered the presumed at-will term be sufficiently explicit to give rise to reasonable expectations of termination for good cause only." Hartbarger, 857 P.2d at 783.
In her response, Gonzales points to Taos County's policy of disciplining its non-classified employees prior to demotion or other adverse employment action and also claims City Manager Cordova believed that "at-will" Directors could only be demoted for cause. Missing from Gonzales's response is any specific statements to her or declarations in handbooks that she was provided indicating a promise by Taos County that she could only be terminated for cause. The only specific item Gonzales points to is the October 27, 2015 Letter of...
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