Sandoval v. Am. Bldg. Maint. Indus. Inc.
| Citation | 765 F.Supp.2d 1138,111 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. (BNA) 105 |
| Decision Date | 21 December 2010 |
| Docket Number | Civil No. 06–1772 (JRT/JSM). |
| Parties | Francisca SANDOVAL, Ines Hernandez, Miriam Pacheco, Eva Reyes, Arminda Gomez, Nidia Guerrero, Lucila Marquez, Maria Perez, Azucena Garcia, Estela Laureano, and Marlene Giron, Plaintiffs,v.AMERICAN BUILDING MAINTENANCE INDUSTRIES, Inc., also known as ABM Industries, Incorporated d/b/a ABM Janitorial Services, and American Building Maintenance Co. of Kentucky, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Minnesota |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Justin D. Cummins, Brendan D. Cummins, Kelly A. Jeanetta, M. William O'Brien, and Francis P. Rojas, Miller O'Brien Cummins, PLLP, Minneapolis, MN, for plaintiffs.Kathryn Mrkonich Wilson and Holly M. Robbins, Littler Mendelson, PC and Joel D. O'Malley and Robert R. Reinhart, Dorsey & Whitney LLP, Minneapolis, MN, for defendants.
This case is before the Court on remand from the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. Plaintiffs and defendants have filed motions for summary judgment on the remaining issues in the case. For the reasons set forth below, the Court denies plaintiffs' motion and grants defendants' motion in its entirety.
On May 12, 2006, plaintiffs Francisca Sandoval, Ines Hernandez, Miriam Pacheco, Eva Reyes, Arminda Gomez, Nidia Guerrero, Lucila Marquez, and Maria Perez (collectively, the “original plaintiffs”) brought this action against American Building Maintenance Industries, Inc. (“ABMI”), alleging claims for sexual harassment, sex discrimination, and retaliation under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title VII”), 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000e et seq., and the Minnesota Human Rights Act (the “MHRA”), Minn.Stat. §§ 363A.01 to 363A.41. (Compl. ¶ 1, Docket No. 1.) On June 29, 2006, ABMI notified the original plaintiffs that American Building Maintenance Co. of Kentucky (“ABMK”) was plaintiffs' employer, not ABMI. (Brasel Aff. Ex. C, Docket No. 42.) The parties proposed stipulations that would amend the complaint to add ABMK, but did not finalize an agreement to a stipulation. (Brasel Aff. Ex. E, Docket No. 42.) Plaintiffs also intended to amend their complaint to add three plaintiffs: Azucena Garcia, Estela Laureano, and Marlene Giron (collectively, the “timely plaintiffs”).1 (Brasel Aff. Ex. H, Docket No. 42.) On September 15, 2006—more than one month after the deadline for the original plaintiffs to amend their complaint had passed—plaintiffs filed an amended complaint adding the timely plaintiffs and adding ABMK as a defendant. (Am. Compl., Docket No. 25.)
ABMK filed a motion to dismiss the original plaintiffs. (Mot. to Dismiss or in the Alternative for Summ. J., Docket No. 35.) ABMK argued that the initial complaint against ABMK was untimely and that the relation-back doctrine under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 15 did not permit plaintiffs to amend their complaint. (Defs.' Mem. in Supp. of Mot. to Dismiss or in the Alternative for Summ. J. at 7–8, Docket No. 41.) The district court granted ABMK's motion to dismiss the original plaintiffs' claims against ABMK, finding that the relation-back doctrine did not save the untimely amendment and that equitable tolling did not apply. (Order, Docket No. 76.)
ABMI and ABMK (collectively, “defendants”) filed a motion for summary judgment on plaintiffs' Title VII quid pro quo sexual harassment, hostile work environment, sex discrimination, and retaliation claims. (Mot. for Summ. J., Docket No. 147.) ABMI moved for summary judgment on the issue of whether it was plaintiffs' employer for Title VII purposes. ( Id.) ABMK moved for summary judgment on the merits of plaintiffs' claims. ( Id.) The district court granted ABMI's motion as to the original plaintiffs, concluding ABMI and ABMK were not an “integrated enterprise,” and, therefore, plaintiffs could not allege a Title VII claim against ABMI as the parent company of plaintiffs' actual employer, ABMK. Sandoval v. American Bldg. Maint. Indus., Inc. (Sandoval I), 552 F.Supp.2d 867, 891–92 (D.Minn.2008). The district court also granted defendants' motion as to the merits of the timely plaintiffs' claims. Id. at 916. The district court did not address the merits of the original plaintiffs' claims, because the original plaintiffs did not timely file claims against ABMK, and because the court concluded ABMI was not plaintiffs' employer and therefore was not liable. Id. at 892.
Plaintiffs appealed the district court's orders on the motion to dismiss and on the motion for summary judgment. The Eighth Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part. Sandoval v. American Bldg. Maint. Indus., Inc. (Sandoval II), 578 F.3d 787 (8th Cir.2009). The Eighth Circuit affirmed the district court's order denying plaintiffs' motion to amend, concluding that neither equitable tolling nor the relation-back doctrine permitted plaintiffs to amend their complaint after the deadline for amendment had passed. Id. at 792. The Eighth Circuit also affirmed the district court's grant of summary judgment on the merits of the timely plaintiffs' quid pro quo sexual harassment, retaliation, and sex discrimination claims, and on the merits of timely plaintiff Garcia's hostile work environment claim. Id. at 800. The Eighth Circuit reversed the district court's ruling that there was no genuine issue of material fact that ABMI and ABMK acted as an integrated enterprise for the purposes of establishing an employer-employee relationship between the original plaintiffs and ABMI. Id. The Eighth Circuit remanded “for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.” Id. at 801. The Eighth Circuit also reversed and remanded the district court's grant of summary judgment on Laureano and Giron's hostile work environment claims “with instructions to consider the [plaintiffs'] evidence of widespread sexual harassment” in determining whether Laureano and Giron's work environment was objectively hostile and whether ABMK had constructive notice of plaintiffs' harassment. Id. at 803.
On remand, plaintiffs filed a motion for summary judgment arguing that the undisputed facts demonstrate that ABMI and ABMK are an integrated enterprise, and that ABMI was the original plaintiffs' employer. (Pls.' Mot. for Summ. J., Docket No. 221.) Defendants filed a motion for summary judgment on the merits of the original plaintiffs' claims and on the merits of Laureano and Giron's hostile work environment claims. (Defs.' Mot. for Summ. J., Docket No. 225.) The Court first considers plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment on the integrated enterprise issue and then addresses defendants' motion for summary judgment on plaintiffs' remaining claims.
Summary judgment is appropriate where there are no genuine issues of material fact and the moving party can demonstrate it is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). A fact is material if it might affect the outcome of the suit, and a dispute is genuine if the evidence is such that it could lead a reasonable jury to return a verdict for either party. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 247, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). A court considering a motion for summary judgment must view the facts in the light most favorable to the non-moving party and give that party the benefit of all reasonable inferences that can be drawn from those facts. Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 587, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986).
Plaintiffs argue that there is no genuine dispute of fact that ABMI was plaintiffs' employer. Plaintiffs assert that on appeal, the Eighth Circuit declared ABMI to be plaintiffs' employer, (; that ABMI has conceded it is plaintiffs' employer, ( id. at 2–3); and that undisputed facts show that ABMI dominated plaintiffs' workplace throughout plaintiffs' employment, ( id. at 3).
As an initial matter, the Court disagrees with plaintiffs' characterization of the Eighth Circuit's decision in Sandoval II. Although the Eighth Circuit stated, “ABMI is the [plaintiffs'] employer,” Sandoval II, 578 F.3d at 796, the Eighth Circuit reviewed the facts in a light most favorable to plaintiffs, the non-moving party in the initial motion for summary judgment before the district court. See, e.g., Merriam v. Nat'l Union Fire Ins. Co., 572 F.3d 579, 583 (8th Cir.2009). Contrary to plaintiffs' argument, the Eighth Circuit expressly held that the “descriptions of ABMI's involvement in the operations of its subsidiaries, and in particular ABMK's, are sufficient to create a genuine issue of material fact with respect to whether ABMI and ABMK are an integrated enterprise.” Sandoval II, 578 F.3d at 800 (emphasis added); see also id. at 803 (Gruender, J., concurring in part and dissenting in part) ().
Here, the Court views the facts in a light most favorable to defendants, the nonmovants, and concludes that there is a genuine fact dispute with respect to whether ABMI and ABMK are an integrated enterprise for the purposes of imposing liability on ABMI under Title VII and the MHRA.
Under Title VII, “separate entities that form an integrated enterprise are treated as a single employer for the purposes of both coverage and liability and relief can be obtained from any of the entities that form part of the integrated enterprise.” See generally Sandoval II, 578 F.3d at 793 (internal quotation marks omitted). However, there is a “strong presumption...
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