Pineda v. United Parcel Service, Inc.

• Decision Date: 16 February 2004
• Docket Number: No. 03-50268.,03-50268.
• Parties: Lorenzo PINEDA, III, Plaintiff-Appellee. v. UNITED PARCEL SERVICE, INC., Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit

360 F.3d 483

Lorenzo PINEDA, III, Plaintiff-Appellee. v. UNITED PARCEL SERVICE, INC., Defendant-Appellant.

No. 03-50268.

United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit.

Filed February 16, 2004.

Rehearing Denied March 15, 2004.

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Robert Louis Blumenfeld, Mendel & Blumenfeld, El Paso, TX, for Plaintiff-Appellee.

Michael Vincent Galo, Jr., Christine Elaine Reinhard, David Montgomery Evans, Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, San Antonio, TX, for Defendant-Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas.

Before DAVIS and EMILIO M. GARZA, Circuit Judges, and LITTLE^*, District Judge.

EMILIO M. GARZA, Circuit Judge:

United Parcel Services' petition for rehearing is GRANTED. The opinion of the court issued on December 30, 2003, at 353 F.3d 414 (5th Cir.2003), is withdrawn, and the following is substituted:

Lorenzo Pineda III brought this retaliation suit under the Texas Commission on Human Rights Act alleging that United Parcel Services ("UPS") terminated his employment in retaliation for his engaging in certain protected activity. The jury found for Pineda. The district court denied UPS's motion for a judgment as a matter of law, but it remitted the jury's compensatory damages award. In this appeal, UPS challenges the jury verdict and seeks further remittitur of the damage award. In light of the Texas Supreme Court's recent decision in Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Canchola, 121 S.W.3d 735 (Tex.2003), we find there is insufficient evidence to support the jury's verdict.

I

Lorenzo Pineda worked as a business manager for UPS at its El Paso, Texas distribution center. Pineda suffers from diabetes and took a ten month medical leave of absence to treat his condition. While on leave, Pineda filed a charge of disability discrimination against UPS for allegedly delaying his return to work. Shortly thereafter he gave a deposition in a discrimination case brought by another UPS employee. Pineda was subsequently transferred to a UPS facility in Del Rio, Texas.

While Pineda was working at the Del Rio facility, UPS human resources manager Kenny Walker investigated charges that Pineda had threatened violence against three of his coworkers. Pineda denied making any such threats. Walker first suspended and later fired Pineda.

Pineda filed this retaliation suit under Texas law in state court and UPS removed to federal court. Pineda alleged he was fired because he had engaged in the protected activities of filing a discrimination charge and testifying in a discrimination case. When UPS countered that it fired Pineda pursuant to charges by Pineda's coworkers alleging that he had made threats of violence, Pineda asserted that the investigation was a pretext for UPS's retaliatory purpose. To support his contention, Pineda presented testimonial evidence that the alleged threats of violence never occurred and that UPS had not pursued similar charges of violence and threatened violence with similar vigor.

The jury found for Pineda and awarded damages, including $400,000 worth of compensatory damages. Following the jury verdict, UPS renewed its motion for a judgment as a matter of law and sought remittitur of the compensatory damages award. The district court refused to disturb the jury verdict but remitted the compensatory damage award to $202,500. UPS now seeks review of both rulings.

II

We review a district court's denial of a motion for judgment as a matter of law de novo. Thomas v. Texas Dep't of Criminal Justice, 220 F.3d 389, 392 (5th Cir.2000). A motion for judgment as a matter of law should be granted if "there is no legally sufficient evidentiary basis for a reasonable jury to find for a party." FED.R.CIV.P. 50(a). Thus, "if reasonable persons could differ in their interpretations of the evidence, then the motion should be denied." Thomas, 220 F.3d at 392 (citing Baltazor v. Holmes, 162 F.3d 368, 373 (5th Cir.1998)). "A post-judgment motion for judgment as a matter of law should only be granted when `the facts and inferences point so strongly in favor of the movant that a rational jury could not reach a contrary verdict.'" Id. (quoting Waymire v. Harris County, Texas, 86 F.3d 424, 427 (5th Cir.1996)). The jury's verdict is afforded great deference. Thus, when evaluating the sufficiency of the evidence, we view all evidence and draw all reasonable inferences in the light most favorable to the verdict. Id.

Pineda brought his retaliation claim under § 21.055 of the Texas Commission on Human Rights Act ("TCHRA").¹ See TEX. LAB.CODE § 21.055 (Vernon 1996) ("An employer commits an unlawful employment practice if the employer retaliates against a person who (1) opposes a discriminatory practice; (2) makes or files a charge; (3) files a complaint; or (4) testifies, assists, or participates in any manner in an investigation, proceeding, or hearing."). The purpose the TCHRA is to provide for the execution of the policies of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. TEX. LAB.CODE § 21.001(1) (Vernon 1996); Quantum Chem. Corp. v. Toennies, 47 S.W.3d 473, 476 (Tex.2001). Thus, "analogous federal statutes and the cases interpreting them guide" the reading of the statute. Quantum, 47 S.W.3d at 476.

In a retaliation case, the plaintiff must first make a prima facie showing: 1) that he is engaged in a protected activity; 2) that an adverse employment action occurred; and 3) that a causal link existed between the protected activity and the adverse action.² Gee v. Principi, 289 F.3d 342, 345 (5th Cir.2002). Once the plaintiff makes a prima facie case, "the burden then shifts to the defendant to demonstrate a legitimate nondiscriminatory purpose for the employment action." Id. If the defendant meets this burden, then the "the plaintiff must prove that the employer's stated reason for the adverse action was merely a pretext for the real, discriminatory purpose." Id. When there has been a trial on the merits, the evaluation process is streamlined and we proceed directly "to the ultimate question of whether the plaintiff presented enough evidence for a jury to find that discrimination occurred." Thomas, 220 F.3d at 393. To satisfy this burden, the plaintiff must offer "some evidence ... that permits the jury to infer that the proffered explanation was a pretext for discrimination. The trier of fact may not simply choose to disbelieve the employer's explanation in the absence of any evidence showing why it should do so." Swanson v. General Services Admin., 110 F.3d 1180, 1185 (5th Cir.1997).

We have consistently held that in retaliation cases where the defendant has proffered a nondiscriminatory purpose for the adverse employment action the plaintiff has the burden of proving that "but for" the discriminatory purpose he would not have been terminated. See Medina v. Ramsey Steel Co., Inc., 238 F.3d 674, 685 (5th Cir.2001) (Plaintiff "must demonstrate that he would not have been terminated `but for' engaging in the protected activity."); Long v. Eastfield College, 88 F.3d 300, 305 n. 4 (5th Cir.1996) ("[E]ven if a plaintiff's protected conduct is a substantial element in a defendant's decision to terminate an employee, no liability for unlawful retaliation arises if the employee would have been terminated even in the absence of the protected conduct.").

Relying on the Texas Supreme Court's decision in Quantum Chemical Corp. v. Toennies, Pineda argues that for employment discrimination cases brought under the TCHRA, and in contrast to similar cases brought under Title VII, "the employer commits an unlawful employment practice if discrimination was a motivating factor for [the] employment practice, even if other factors also motivated the practice." Quantum, 47 S.W.3d at 479-80 (internal quotations omitted). Thus, he argues, the applicable causation requirement under the TCHRA is the less stringent "motivating factor" test, rather than the more stringent "but for" test applicable under Title VII.³ Pineda incorrectly applies Quantum to this case.

In Quantum, the Texas Supreme Court sought to determine the proper standard of causation for both "pretext" and "mixed motive" employment discrimination suits brought under the TCHRA. See id. at 474. The Texas Supreme Court initially determined that "the proper standard of causation for [the plaintiff's] suit would be the `but for' test that courts originally used for pretext claims." Id. at 479. However, it further determined that § 21.125(a) of the TCHRA defines the causation requirement such that the discrimination need only be "a motivating factor" in the adverse employment decision to establish liability. Id. at 479-80; see TEX. LAB.CODE § 21.125(a) (Vernon 1996). Not finding "relevant textual restrictions on the applicability of this section to unlawful employment practices," it further found that "`a motivating factor' is the correct standard of causation ... in all TCHRA unlawful employment practice claims...."⁴ Quantum, 47 S.W.3d at 479-80.

This holding is not as broad as it first appears. Section 21.125(a) is not applicable in all employment discrimination cases under the TCHRA. Section 21.125(a) provides that "[e]xcept as otherwise provided by this chapter, an unlawful employment practice is established when the complainant demonstrates that race, color, sex, national origin, religion, age, or disability was a motivating factor for an employment practice...." TEX. LAB.CODE § 21.125(a) (emphasis added). Section 21.055 forbids employment discrimination based on certain protected conduct rather than on any of the protected characteristics outlined in § 21.125(a).⁵ See TEX. LAB.CODE § 21.055. Therefore, § 21.125(a) is inapplicable to employment discrimination cases brought under § 21.055 because § 21.125(a), by its own terms, is only applicable when the alleged discrimination is based on race, color, sex, national origin, religion, age, or disability. See TEX. LAB.CODE § 21.055; TEX. LAB.CODE § 21.125 (defining its purpose...