Stoll v. Runyon
| Decision Date | 22 March 1999 |
| Docket Number | No. 97-17398,97-17398 |
| Citation | 165 F.3d 1238 |
| Parties | 78 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. (BNA) 1312, 75 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 45,781, 99 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 474, 1999 Daily Journal D.A.R. 2630, 99 Daily Journal D.A.R. 553 Cynthia STOLL, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Marvin RUNYON, Defendant-Appellee. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit |
Elaine W. Wallace, Oakland, California, for the plaintiff-appellant.
Scott H. Park and Joseph E. Maloney, Assistant United States Attorneys, Sacramento, California, for defendant-appellee Marvin Runyon, Postmaster General.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California Lawrence K. Karlton, District Judge, Presiding. D.C. No. CV-97-00680-LKK.
Before: JEROME FARRIS, STEPHEN REINHARDT, and MICHAEL DALY HAWKINS, Circuit Judges.
Cynthia Stoll, a single mother of three boys, went to work at the Sacramento Post Office in March, 1984, as a letter-sorting machine operator. She remained in that position for six years, until June 22, 1990, when she literally fled the workplace to escape the extreme sexual harassment she was experiencing. Following her departure, Stoll filed a complaint with the EEOC requesting back and front pay as well as attorneys' fees. An extensive hearing before an EEOC administrative law judge ("ALJ") was completed in 1994. The gruesome facts of this case, as found by the ALJ and admitted by the Post Office, are briefly summarized below.
The ALJ found that Stoll "was subjected to persistent and pervasive hostile environment sexual harassment from a blur of men." Numerous male coworkers and supervisors asked Stoll to perform oral sex on them, commented on her body, shot rubber bands at her backside, asked her to wear lacy black underwear for them, bumped and rubbed up against her from behind, pressed their erect penises into her back while she was sorting mail and unable to get away, followed her into the women's bathroom, asked her to go on vacations, "stalked her throughout the postal facility," and fondled her body.
The ALJ found that much of the sexual harassment was perpetrated by supervisors. Moreover, Stoll's immediate supervisor, Victor Almendarez "fostered much of the sexual harassment," because he "unreasonably intimidated" Stoll, who was described by witnesses as fairly shy. The ALJ noted the testimony of several witnesses that Almendarez seemed to take sadistic pleasure in screaming at and otherwise tormenting Stoll because she was quiet and pretty, "to the extent that she was afraid of him and could not approach him about the sexual harassment she experienced." For example, on two occasions, Almendarez refused Stoll's request to leave her workstation to go to the ladies' room because she was menstruating heavily. Instead, he forced her to remain at her letter-sorting console and bleed all over herself. She then had to go to the nurse's office covered in menstrual blood. The ALJ found Almendarez's "unsympathetic attitude toward her female health needs" particularly revolting and abusive.
Another supervisor, John Garrard, intervened on Stoll's behalf with Almendarez and did other unsolicited "favors" for Stoll and then demanded sexual services from her as a quid pro quo. Garrard often approached Stoll in the workplace and asked her if she "wanted something to suck on." He also frequently told her that he wanted to "fuck" her and asked her if she "fucked as good as she looked." When Stoll declined Garrard's advances, he raped her repeatedly. Although Stoll was too frightened and ashamed to report the first rape to the police, she did report the subsequent assaults, and Garrard was eventually ordered to stay away from her.
Garrard, predictably, claimed that Stoll was his "girlfriend." The ALJ found this assertion ludicrous, and concluded that "there was absolutely no evidence presented to indicate that the complainant and Garrard were romantically involved at any time during complainant's employment." Witnesses and coworkers testified that Garrard was "obsessed with Stoll" but that she did not like him, did everything possible to avoid him, refused to socialize with him, and was visibly afraid of him. The ALJ found that all of the advances and assaults visited upon Stoll were totally unsolicited and that she repeatedly and consistently made it clear that she had no interest in any of her attackers. He further found that Stoll was "by far the most compelling of any witness that has ever appeared before me."
The working conditions not just for Stoll but for all women at the Sacramento Post Office during that time period were characterized by the ALJ as "a glaring situation no one should have to endure." The terms and conditions of Stoll's employment were obviously negatively affected by the abusive atmosphere in which she was forced to work, an environment the ALJ concluded "was so intolerable that [Stoll] was forced to sever her employment relationship with the agency in June, 1990, and that she may never be able to work again, as a result thereof."
The ALJ further found that Stoll, understandably, suffered severe psychological damage as a result of her experiences. Stoll's psychiatrist, Dr. Weber, testified that she might never recover from the abuse and might never work again. A clinical psychologist confirmed Dr. Weber's view. The ALJ found that Stoll was "obviously scarred for life" by her work at the Post Office, that her experience had "a profound detrimental effect on her health and well being" and that she might never be able to return to work.
Stoll suffers from severe major depression and severe generalized anxiety disorder, as well as somatic form pain disorder. She is unable to attend to paperwork concerning the case due to her anxiety disorder, and cannot open her mail without experiencing a panic attack. She cannot concentrate well enough to read. She is currently considered totally psychiatrically disabled and receives federal occupational benefits. By the time of the administrative hearing in April, 1994, Stoll had attempted suicide four times, most recently just days before the hearing was set to begin, by taking 70 Valiums, Tylenol, and other anti-depressants. Stoll's anxiety, according to Dr. Weber, is particularly acute when an issue arises involving her experience at the Post Office and the subsequent proceedings, and when she is required to have any form of contact, even non-physical, with males, including, tragically, her own sons. Dr. Weber testified that Stoll is so anxious around men that she refused to sit in his office during psychiatric treatment, and instead stood in the corner as far from him as possible.
At a deposition taken in the instant lawsuit, Dr. Weber stated that because of her anxiety and fear of anything to do with the Post Office, Stoll was unable to communicate directly with the lawyer who represented her in the EEOC proceeding. Instead, her attorney sent all correspondence concerning the case to Dr. Weber's office, where his receptionist would open it and explain it to Stoll. Stoll's attorney would also call the receptionist on the phone in order to communicate about the case. According to Dr. Weber, this arrangement was established because Stoll was so anxious and depressed that she could not open her mail. Stoll would instead bring large stacks of unopened correspondence regarding the Post Office litigation to Dr. Weber because she was too traumatized to open it alone. Dr. Weber testified that a further problem in Stoll's relationship with her attorneys was that they were men, and she feared dealing with them directly.
According to Dr. Weber, Stoll has been unable to understand her legal rights and act on them from the time he began treating her in December, 1990. She is heavily medicated on Valium and Vicodan. Valium is a barbiturate, and Vicodan is a narcotic. She takes "a large amount" daily and "if she didn't have the Valium, she'd might well kill herself." Dr. Weber also testified that Stoll would probably continue to try to commit suicide and that he was trying to keep her alive.
The ALJ issued his recommended decision on April 28, 1994. As described above, he found that Stoll was the victim of both quid pro quo and hostile environment sexual harassment. He also found that Stoll suffered extreme psychological trauma as a result of the abuse. As remedies, he recommended that Stoll receive both back pay with interest and front pay until her normal retirement age, as well as the payment of her attorney's fees, and furthermore expressed profound regret that he was unable to assess damages against the Post Office under Title VII as it existed at the time the incidents occurred. In June, 1994, the Post Office issued a final agency decision adopting all of the ALJ's factual findings and recommendations except for the award of front pay. Stoll...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Garcia v. Wachovia Mortg. Corp.
...for filing suit until the plaintiff can gather what information he needs." Santa Maria, 202 F.3d at 1178; see also Stoll v. Runyon, 165 F.3d 1238, 1242 (9th Cir.1999) ("Equitable tolling applies when the plaintiff is prevented from asserting a claim by wrongful conduct on the part of the de......
-
Rosal v. First Federal Bank of California
...the statute of limitations for filing suit until the plaintiff can gather what information he needs." Id.; see also Stoll v. Runyon, 165 F.3d 1238, 1242 (9th Cir.1999) ("Equitable tolling applies when the plaintiff is prevented from asserting a claim by wrongful conduct on the part of the d......
-
Mendoza v. Borden Inc.
...Int'l Union, AFL-CIO, 171 F.3d 971, 973 (4th Cir. 1999) ("stare at her for periods of ten to twenty minutes"); Stoll v. Runyon, 165 F.3d 1238, 1239 (9th Cir. 1999) ("stalked her throughout the postal facility"); Kimzey v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 107 F.3d 568, 571 (8th Cir. 1997) ("following ......
-
Johnson v. Lucent Technologies Inc.
...administrative deadlines if a plaintiff meets a two-part test. Bills v. Clark, 628 F.3d 1092, 1099 (9th Cir.2010); Stoll v. Runyon, 165 F.3d 1238, 1242 (9th Cir.1999). First, a plaintiff “must show his mental impairment was an ‘extraordinary circumstance’ beyond his control” by demonstratin......
-
Deposing & examining the plaintiff
...conduct; or (2) extraordinary circumstances beyond a plaintiff’s control make it impossible to file a claim on time. Stoll v. Runyon , 165 F.3d 1238, 1242 (9th Cir. 1999). Courts have held that where, as here, Plaintiffs have actively pursued their rights, a request for equitable tolling sh......