State of Arizona Dep't of Law, Civil Rights Div. v. ASARCO, L.L.C.
| Decision Date | 13 July 2011 |
| Docket Number | No. CV 08–441 TUC–MWB.,CV 08–441 TUC–MWB. |
| Citation | 798 F.Supp.2d 1023 |
| Parties | The State of ARIZONA, DEPARTMENT OF LAW, CIVIL RIGHTS DIVISION, and Angela Aguilar, Plaintiffs, v. ASARCO, L.L.C., a Delaware limited liability company, Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Arizona |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Sandy Forbes of Waterfall, Economidis, Caldwell, Hanshaw and Villamana P.C., in Tucson, Arizona, for Angela Aguilar.
Ann Ruth Hobart, Office of the Attorney General, Phoenix, AZ, for Plaintiffs.
Eric Bowen Johnson, David T. Barton, Quarles & Brady LLP, Phoenix, AZ, for Defendant.
The Civil Rights Division of the Arizona Department of Law (ACRD) and individual plaintiff Angela Aguilar, a laborer at a mine operated by defendant ASARCO, L.L.C., alleged claims of hostile work environment sexual harassment and retaliation for complaining about sexual harassment in violation of state and federal law. Aguilar also alleged that she was constructively discharged from her job at the mine by harassment and retaliation. After an eight-day trial, the jury found for the plaintiffs on the sexual harassment claim, but for ASARCO on Aguilar's claim of retaliation and on her allegations that she had been constructively discharged either as the result of sexual harassment or retaliation. On the plaintiffs' sexual harassment claim, the jury awarded no compensatory damages for past or future emotional distress, and only $1.00 in nominal damages, but $868,750.00 in punitive damages.
This case was exceptionally well tried by all the lawyers. All counsel were superbly prepared. All counsel demonstrated extraordinary trial skills and exceptional zealous advocacy on behalf of their respective clients. More importantly, all of the lawyers, at every turn in the trial, displayed the utmost professionalism to each other, the opposing parties, the jury, and me.
In post-trial motions, the plaintiffs seek injunctive and equitable relief and ASARCO seeks judgment as a matter of law, or, in the alternative, a new trial. ASARCO asserts that neither the sexual harassment claim nor the prayer for punitive damages should have been submitted to the jury, but if I find that they were properly submitted, that the punitive damages award should be reduced, at the very least, to the applicable “cap” of $300,000 under Title VII, if not to $9 or less, on the ground that the punitive damages award is constitutionally excessive. The plaintiffs assert that the sexual harassment claim and prayer for punitive damages were properly submitted and that the punitive damages award should be reduced no lower than the statutory “cap.”
Angela Aguilar, the individual plaintiff in this case, was hired as a laborer by defendant ASARCO, L.L.C., at the North Mill of ASARCO's Mission Mine in December 2005. The parties agree that, at trial, the plaintiffs presented evidence of three instances of alleged sexual harassment of Aguilar, although they put very different “spins” on the evidence of these instances.
First, the plaintiffs presented evidence that Aguilar was sexually harassed by her immediate supervisor, Wayne Johnson, shortly after she began working as a car loader at the mine's filter plant on March 19, 2006. The plaintiffs' evidence was that Aguilar fended off Johnson's sexual advances for a couple of weeks, without evident effect, before she complained to the human resources manager, Lupe Gonzalez, but Gonzalez merely “coached” her about how to talk with Johnson. Because the harassment continued, Aguilar complained to Sam Lawrence, the Mission Mill manager on two occasions, but it was not until after she made the second complaint to Lawrence that Johnson stopped harassing her. Thereafter, Johnson not only stopped harassing Aguilar, but ceased speaking to her or training her for her job and complained about her work performance. Aguilar also presented evidence that, just months after Johnson stopped harassing her, he subjected another woman assigned to work with him as a car loader to unwelcome sexual advances. Johnson was not disciplined for his conduct toward either Aguilar or the other woman. ASARCO presented evidence that, in her written notes and her statements to Gonzalez, Aguilar described Johnson as a “perfect gentleman,” arguing that this evidence demonstrates that any supposed harassment by Johnson was neither severe nor pervasive. ASARCO also contends that the evidence shows that, after ASARCO took remedial action, Johnson's harassment of Aguilar stopped.
Second, the plaintiffs presented evidence that Aguilar's subsequent supervisor, Julio Esquivel, yelled at her and otherwise treated her poorly. Although ASARCO presented evidence that Esquivel treated all employees, male and female, poorly, the plaintiffs contend that the evidence showed that Esquivel treated Aguilar more rudely and roughly than he treated male employees and threatened her with reprimands and termination. Such differential treatment, they contend, included telling Aguilar that “your ass is mine,” that he would talk to her more than he talked to his “lady,” and that she would have to do everything that he told her to do in the way that he told her to do it, but there is no evidence that he treated male employees in this way. The plaintiffs also contend that they presented evidence that ASARCO failed to investigate Aguilar's complaints about Esquivel's conduct, and instead disciplined her, but suspended Esquivel for ten days without pay when male employees complained about his conduct.
Third, the plaintiffs presented evidence of pornographic graffiti, labeled with Aguilar's name, in the portable toilet that she was forced to use. The parties agree that this pornographic graffiti was eventually painted over, and ASARCO contends that no one other than Aguilar testified to having seen it, while Aguilar herself testified that she saw it on only about five occasions. The plaintiffs contend, however, that the evidence shows that Aguilar had no choice but to use the portable toilet on several occasions, that ASARCO was extremely dismissive of Aguilar's complaints about the pornographic graffiti and, worse, that there were other incidents of pornographic graffiti in restrooms at the mine, both before and after the incident involving Aguilar.
In this action, the Civil Rights Division of the Arizona Department of Law (ACRD) and Angela Aguilar allege claims of hostile work environment sexual harassment and retaliation for complaining about sexual harassment in violation of state and federal law.1 I was assigned the trial of this matter as a visiting judge. Although there is no right to a jury trial on the state-law claims, the parties agreed to be bound by the jury's verdict on the state-law claims as to whether or not discrimination or retaliation occurred, leaving only the appropriate equitable relief, if any, on the state-law claims for me to decide post-trial.
A jury trial began on April 4, 2011. At the trial, plaintiff ACRD was represented by Ann Hobart, Litigation Section Chief Counsel, Civil Rights Division, Office of the Attorney General, in Phoenix, Arizona. Plaintiff Angela Aguilar was represented by Sandy Forbes of Waterfall, Economidis, Caldwell, Hanshaw and Villamana P.C., in Tucson, Arizona. Defendant ASARCO, L.L.C., was represented by David T. Barton and Eric B. Johnson of Quarles & Brady L.L.P., in Phoenix,...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Kendel v. Local 17-A United Food & Commercial Workers
...on notice that it could be liable for punitive damages up to the statutory cap."; Arizona, Dept. of Law, Civil Rights Div. v. ASARCO, L.L.C., 798 F.Supp.2d 1023, 1039-40 (D.Ariz., 2011) ("As we see it, the combination of the statutory cap and high threshold of culpability for any award conf......