Heywood v. Samaritan Health System

• Decision Date: 07 July 1995
• Docket Number: No. CIV-93-1809-PHX-ROS.,CIV-93-1809-PHX-ROS.
• Citation: 902 F. Supp. 1076
• Parties: Anna Marie HEYWOOD and Douglas A. Heywood, husband and wife, Plaintiffs, v. SAMARITAN HEALTH SYSTEM, an Arizona non-profit organization, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Arizona

902 F. Supp. 1076

Anna Marie HEYWOOD and Douglas A. Heywood, husband and wife, Plaintiffs, v. SAMARITAN HEALTH SYSTEM, an Arizona non-profit organization, Defendant.

No. CIV-93-1809-PHX-ROS.

United States District Court, D. Arizona.

July 7, 1995.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

David C. Larkin, Phoenix, AZ, for plaintiffs.

Lonnie J. Williams, Jr., Snell & Wilmer, Christopher David Payne, Moore McCoy & Payne, Phoenix, AZ, for defendant.

ORDER

SILVER, District Judge.

On September 12, 1993 Plaintiffs Anna Marie and Douglas A. Heywood filed with this Court a Complaint for retaliatory discrimination pursuant to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq. In this Complaint the Plaintiffs allege that Defendant Samaritan Health Systems discharged Anna Marie Heywood because she filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). On October 4, 1994, Samaritan filed Defendant's Motion to Dismiss or in the Alternative Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment. Plaintiffs responded and countered with their own Motion for Partial Summary Judgment raising the same issues.

FACTS

Plaintiff Anna Marie Heywood alleges in her Complaint that she was employed by Samaritan Health Center of Glendale for seven years eleven months, concluding her employment in the position of Respiratory Therapist III. She alleges that she filed a charge of discrimination with the EEOC on August 20, 1991 and was discharged on December 2, 1991. On December 3, 1992, Plaintiffs filed a complaint in Maricopa County Superior Court alleging that Samaritan discharged Plaintiff Anna Marie Heywood in retaliation for filing the charge of discrimination and that the firing violated the Arizona Civil Rights Act (ACRA), Ariz.Rev.Stat. § 41-1461 et seq, as well as constituting the tort of wrongful discharge in violation of public policy. The complaint was tried before a jury on April 5, 1994 and they returned a verdict in favor of the Defendants. Plaintiffs' motion for a new trial was denied.

On February 6, 1995, a hearing was held on the Motions and the parties were given the opportunity to supplement their pleadings regarding issues raised by the Court both before and at the hearing on these Motions. Both parties supplemented their pleadings on February 10, 1995.

STANDARD FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

In evaluating a summary judgment motion, the inquiry is whether, with respect to any dispositive issue, the pleadings and supporting materials show there is no genuine issue of material fact and, if not, whether viewing the evidence and inferences which may be drawn therefrom in a light most favorable to the nonmoving party, the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56; Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 587, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 1356, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986).

The moving party must produce evidence establishing the absence of a genuine issue of material fact. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 2553, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). The absence of a genuine issue of material fact may be demonstrated by pointing out to the district court that "there is an absence of evidence to support the nonmoving party's case" on issues where the nonmoving party bears the burden of proof. Id., 106 S.Ct. at 2554. Moreover, at the summary judgment stage, the court's function is not to weigh the evidence and determine the truth of the matter, but merely to determine whether there is a genuine issue for trial. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 249, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 2511, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986).

If the nonmoving party will bear the burden of proof at trial as to any element essential to its case, that party can withstand a motion for summary judgment only by making a showing sufficient to establish a genuine issue of fact regarding that element and a showing that the dispute properly may be resolved only by the fact-finder because it could reasonably be resolved in favor of either party. Celotex Corp., 477 U.S. at 321-25, 106 S.Ct. at 2552-53; Anderson, 477 U.S. at 249, 106 S.Ct. at 2511. In order to make such a showing, the party opposing the motion must present specific facts in support of its contentions and must support these facts by proper evidentiary material, which when coupled with undisputed background and contextual facts, show that the fact-finder could reasonably find in his favor; the nonmoving party cannot merely rest on his pleadings. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(e). See also T.W. Elec. Service, Inc. v. Pacific Elec. Contractors Ass'n, 809 F.2d 626, 631 (9th Cir. 1987).

Rules 56(a) & (b) allow, but do not require, the parties to file supporting affidavits with their motions. Rule 56(e) provides that the affidavits must be based on personal knowledge, set forth facts that would be admissible in evidence and show affirmatively that the affiant is competent to testify. The Ninth Circuit has held that affidavits made on information and belief rather than on personal knowledge cannot be considered. Conner v. Sakai, 15 F.3d 1463, 1471 (9th Cir.1993). Furthermore, "it is well established that unauthenticated documents cannot be considered in a motion for summary judgment." Hal Roach Studios, Inc. v. Richard Feiner & Co., Inc., 896 F.2d 1542, 1550 (9th Cir.1990). A plaintiff seeking summary judgment who has failed to produce admissible evidence sufficient to support a finding upon every element of its claim of relief "is no more entitled to judgment than is a plaintiff who has fully tried his case and who has neglected to offer evidence sufficient to support a finding on a material issue upon which it bears the burden of proof." United States v. Dibble, 429 F.2d 598, 601 (9th Cir. 1970). It is also accepted, however, that "if a party fails to move to strike an affidavit that is allegedly defective under Rule 56(e), he waives any objection to it." Allen v. Scribner, 812 F.2d 426, 435 n. 18 (9th Cir. 1987). However, the court can disregard inadmissible material sua sponte. United States v. Dibble, 429 F.2d 598, 603 (9th Cir. 1970).

DISCUSSION

Defendant moved for summary judgment claiming that the Complaint is barred by the doctrines of res judicata and collateral estoppel because the legal and factual issues were fully litigated in Maricopa County Superior Court. In addition, in their reply, the Defendant contests the Court's earlier decision not to dismiss the case although the Complaint was not served within the 120 days allowed by Rule 4(j) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Rules 12(g) & (h) require that motions for insufficiency of service of process must be filed along with any other motions to dismiss. Here the issue was first raised in the reply to the Plaintiffs' response to the Defendant's motion to dismiss. This was clearly too late for the Plaintiffs to respond. Hence, the motion is waived. Plaintiffs' Motion for Summary Judgment raises/responds to the issues of res judicata and collateral estoppel.

Res Judicata

The Defendant seeks this Court to dismiss this case pursuant to the doctrine of res judicata. There are two issues encompassed within this claim. First, is the issue of whether an action in a state court can act as res judicata for a case in federal court. As set forth below, the answer is yes. The second issue is whether the state court proceedings in this case were such that they legally constituted res judicata in the present federal case.

1. State Court Actions as Res Judicata in Federal Court Cases

In Kremer v. Chemical Construction Corp., 456 U.S. 461, 476, 102 S.Ct. 1883, 1895, 72 L.Ed.2d 262 (1982), the Supreme Court held that Title VII did not preempt 28 U.S.C. § 1738, and required that federal courts give the same preclusive effect to state court judgments that would be given in the courts of the state where the judgment was rendered. Id. at 466, 102 S.Ct. at 1889. See also Int'l Evangelical Church v. Church of the Soldiers, 54 F.3d 587, 590 (9th Cir. 1995) ("We therefore, look to the State law to determine the effect of the judgment against International Church entered by the Superior Court of Los Angeles County."). Concomitantly, federal courts do not have exclusive jurisdiction over civil rights actions brought under Title VII. Hence, it was proper to also institute this action in the Arizona State courts. Yellow Freight System. Inc. v. Donnelly, 494 U.S. 820, 821, 110 S.Ct. 1566, 1567, 108 L.Ed.2d 834 (1990).

The law in Arizona concerning res judicata has been summed up in a recent Arizona Court of Appeals case which states "two causes of action which arise out of the same transaction or occurrence are not the same for purposes of res judicata if proof of additional or different facts is required." E.C. Garcia & Co. v. Arizona State Dept. of Revenue, 178 Ariz. 510, 520, 875 P.2d 169, 179 (Ct.App.1993) (emphasis added). This test was reiterated in Bill v. Gossett, 132 Ariz. 518, 647 P.2d 649 (Ct.App.1982), where the court held that res judicata applied when the same critical facts must be proved in the first and second actions, and in Pierpont v. Hydro Manufacturing Co., Inc., 22 Ariz.App. 252, 526 P.2d 776, 778 (1974), where the court wrote "the true test of identity of causes of action, as the term is used in connection with the plea of res judicata, is the identity of the facts essential to their maintenance and such identity may appear from evidence in the two cases as well as from pleadings." (emphasis added)

The question is therefore whether the ACRA cause of action tried in Arizona State court and the present Title VII claim require proof of the same facts. The Ninth Circuit has held that the elements which must be proven to establish a prima facie case for retaliatory discharge are that (1) the plaintiff engaged in a protected activity; (2) the plaintiff was subject to an adverse employment action by her employer; and (3) that a causal link exists between the two. Cohen v. Fred Meyer, Inc., 686...