Lelaind v. City and County of San Francisco

• Decision Date: 02 September 2008
• Docket Number: No. C 06-05870 MHP.,C 06-05870 MHP.
• Citation: 576 F.Supp.2d 1079
• Parties: Antia LELAIND, Plaintiff, v. CITY AND COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO, Public Utilities Commission; Dan Gilman, in his individual and official capacities; Chris Logia, in his individual and official capacities; Herb Dang, in his individual and official capacities; and Does 1 Through 50, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of California

Page 1079

576 F.Supp.2d 1079

Antia LELAIND, Plaintiff, v. CITY AND COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO, Public Utilities Commission; Dan Gilman, in his individual and official capacities; Chris Logia, in his individual and official capacities; Herb Dang, in his individual and official capacities; and Does 1 Through 50, Defendants.

No. C 06-05870 MHP.

United States District Court, N.D. California.

September 2, 2008.

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Fania E. Davis, Attorney at Law, Oakland, CA, for Plaintiff.

Rafal Ofierski, San Francisco City Attorney's Office, San Francisco, CA.

MEMORANDUM & ORDER

MARILYN HALL PATEL, District Judge.

Plaintiff Antia Lelaind ("Lelaind") brings this action against defendants the City and County of San Francisco ("City"), the Public Utilities Commission of the City and County of San Francisco ("PUC"), and three individuals employed by the PUC in supervisory and management capacities— Dan Gilman ("Gilman"), Chris Logia ("Logia"), and Herb Dang ("Dang"). She asserts nine causes of action under federal and state law for unlawful employment practices based on her race, color, national origin, gender, and age. Each defendant now moves for summary judgment as to each and every cause of action. Having considered the submissions of the parties and for the reasons stated below, the court enters this memorandum and order.

BACKGROUND¹

Plaintiff Antia Lelaind is a 59-year-old African-American woman of Choctaw and Chicasaw ancestry. Lelaind Dec. ¶ 2. She is presently employed as a Senior Stationary Engineer in the Wastewater Enterprises Division of the City and County of San Francisco Public Utilities Commission. Id. ¶ 1. Lelaind began her employment with the City PUC in 1985 and achieved the rank of Senior Stationary Engineer in 1993. Id. ¶¶ 5, 32. The PUC operates three waste water treatment plants. Dang Dec. ¶ 2. Lelaind was assigned to the Oceanside Plant at her request in June 2000. ¶ 40. She was later reassigned in July 2005 to the Southeast Plant. Id. ¶ 87.

The Wastewater Enterprises Division is managed by the Maintenance Manager ("Manager") who oversees a staff of approximately 150 employees, and in descending order of rank, includes the Superintendent of Maintenance ("Superintendent"), Chief Stationary Engineers ("Chief"), Senior Stationary Engineers ("Senior"), Stationary Engineers, and other lower ranked employees and crew members. Dang Dec. ¶ 2. Defendant Herb Dang replaced Kevin Lyons as Manager in August 2004. Id.; Lyons Dec. ¶ 1. Defendant Dan Gilman was the Superintendent from 2001 until he retired in July 2007. Gilman Dec. ¶ 1. At the Oceanside Plant, the Chief and Lelaind's immediate supervisor, was Ronald Chen. Id. ¶ 10. When Ronald Chen left, City employment in 2004, he was replaced by defendant Chris Logia. Id. As Chief of the Oceanside Plant, Ronald Chen, followed by Chris Logia, supervised two maintenance crews, one headed by Senior (and plaintiff) Antia Lelaind and the other headed by Senior Tom Cotter. Logia Dec. ¶ 2.

As Superintendent, Dan Gilman had the discretion to select an Acting Chief to serve on a temporary basis when the Chief was absent for reasons such as illness or vacation. Gilman Dec. ¶ 10. Lelaind had served as Acting Chief from time to time, with Gilman's approval. Id. In July 2001, while serving as Acting Chief at the Oceanside Plant, Lelaind appointed Carmi Johnson, an African-American female Stationary Engineer, as Acting Senior to fill the position Lelaind normally held. Lelaind Dec. ¶ 41. Bob Ward, a white male crew member, engaged in physically and verbally threatening behavior when Carmi Johnson gave him instructions to complete an assignment. Id. He lunged his whole body toward her and shouted in a loud voice, "I will do the f—job!" Id. Carmi Johnson reported the incident to Lelaind and both women issued a written reprimand. Id. ¶ 43. Bob Ward had been a member of Lelaind's crew since 2000 and Lelaind had never seen him or known him to engage in threatening conduct with male superiors or co-workers. Id. ¶ 42.

In July 2001, one month after Lelaind and Johnson reprimanded Bob Ward for his behavior, a hangman's noose was found in Lelaind's work area which she shared with Carmi Johnson. Id. ¶ 44. Lelaind took pictures of the noose and the noose was also observed by Ernie Valenzuela, one of Lelaind's crew members. Id.; Valenzuela Dec. ¶ 14. The hanging noose caused Lelaind to have flashbacks of lynchings that occurred during her childhood in Mississippi and for several months afterwards, she had recurring nightmares. Lelaind Dec. ¶ 45. Lelaind reported the incident up the chain of command to Superintendent Dan Gilman. Id.

In September 2001, on the day Carmi Johnson returned to work from medical leave, she and Ernie Valenzuela found another noose in their work area, in the same location as the noose hung in July 2001. Id. ¶ 46. In July 2002, a third noose was found on the back of Johnson's cart. Id. ¶ 51. Lelaind personally observed the noose in September 2001 and heard reports of the noose in July 2002. Id. ¶¶ 46, 51. Lelaind was shaken by the subsequent incidents, just as she had been by the first. Id. ¶¶ 47, 51. Between 2001 and 2002, after the first noose appeared, Lelaind heard from coworkers that nooses were found at other locations. Id. ¶ 55. And during 2003 or 2004, she learned that there was racist graffiti at yet another location. Id. ¶ 56. It said "Porch Monkey" which is a racial slur. Id.

Carmi Johnson filed a discrimination charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") as well as a civil lawsuit. Id. ¶¶ 52-53. Superintendent Gilman pressured Lelaind to write up a negative statement against Carmi Johnson to be used in the City's response to the EEOC charge, but Lelaind refused. Id. ¶ 52. Lelaind also gave deposition testimony in connection with Carmi Johnson's lawsuit. Id. ¶ 53. Lelaind was subpoenaed for her testimony in December 2002 and was served in a public area of the Oceanside Plant where she worked. Lelaind Supp. Dec. ¶¶ 3-4. At the same time and place Lelaind was served, her Chief, Roland Chen was also served. Id. Several weeks after Lelaind testified at her deposition, Kevin Lyons, who was Manager at the time, threatened Lelaind with being "AWOL" if Lelaind did not return to work, even though family leave have already been approved for Lelaind to care for her mother. Lelaind Dec. ¶ 54.

During early 2004, Lelaind supported a demonstration in which African-American female PUC employees marched against racism in the PUC on the steps of San Francisco City Hall. Id. ¶ 62. Additionally, in February of 2004 Lelaind attended a meeting that then PUC General Manager Pat Martel convened to discuss Martel's concerns about gender and race discrimination in the PUC. Id. ¶ 63. Martel was the only PUC officer present. She asked each person attending the meeting to tell their story and Lelaind told hers. Id.

When Chief Ronald Chen stepped down permanently in early 2004 as Chief of the Oceanside Plant, Superintendent Gilman had discretion to appoint an Acting Chief until a permanent Chief could be located. Gilman Dec. ¶ 10. Gilman appointed Lelaind as Co-Acting Chief together with Jose Cerdana. Id. Eventually, however, Gilman decided that a single Acting Chief was needed. Id. Lelaind made known her desire to take the position. Lelaind Dec. ¶ 61. Gilman ultimately appointed Walter Tan, an Asian-American man who was a Senior Stationary Engineer at another plant. Id.

After the appointment of Walter Tan as Acting Chief, Lelaind met again with Pat Martel. Martel told Lelaind that she heard Lelaind had refused the job, and she asked Lelaind for her reasons. Id. ¶ 64. Lelaind informed Martel that she never turned the job down, but instead Gilman, knowing that she wanted it, denied her the job and hired Tan. Id. ¶ 65. Walter Tan served as Acting Chief until late 2004 or early 2005 when defendant Chris Logia was reassigned from another plant to become the permanent Chief at the Oceanside Plant. Gilman Dec. ¶ 10. Chris Logia is a male Filipino. Lelaind Dec. ¶ 69.

On Logia's first day as Chief of the Oceanside Plant, in January 2005, he told Lelaind, "You are having problems," and "You don't know how to handle your crew." Id. ¶ 70. He announced that he had decided to remove Randy Winn from her crew because "you can't handle" him. Id. ¶ 71. Logia also criticized Lelaind for mishandling a crew member's request for a disability accommodation and for giving incorrect instructions to one of her crew members. Id. ¶¶ 72, 77-79. Moreover, from the time he became Chief and for the next few months thereafter, Logia bypassed Lelaind and undermined her authority on a number of occasions by rescheduling members of her crew without giving her notice. Id. ¶¶ 73-74. Also on a number of occasions, Logia unilaterally removed persons from her crew and reassigned them to the crew led by Tom Cotter, the other Senior Stationary Engineer at the Oceanside Plant. Id. ¶¶ 75-76. During regular work meetings with Lelaind's male counterpart Tom Cotter, Logia would routinely exclude her. Id. ¶ 80. When Logia's predecessor Ronald Chen was Chief, Lelaind was routinely included in staff meetings Chen held jointly with Lelaind and Cotter where they would discuss plant news, work and projects. Id. ¶ 81.

In June 2005, Logia prepared an annual performance evaluation for Lelaind covering the period July 2004 through June 2005. Id. ¶ 82; Logia Dec., Exh. B. But for one evaluation in the early 1990s, all of Lelaind's previous employment evaluations had rated her as having met or exceeded standards. Lelaind Dec. ¶ 83. Logia prepared Lelaind's evaluation on a standard form and in every category, Logia rated Lelaind as having "met objective[s]." On a scale of 1 through 9, Logia rated Lelaind's overall performance a 5, meaning that she met expectations. Logia also provided written comments. He made several positive...