University of Texas v. Poindexter
| Decision Date | 03 July 2009 |
| Docket Number | No. 03-04-00806-CV.,03-04-00806-CV. |
| Citation | 306 SW 3d 798 |
| Parties | UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS and Ellen Wartella, Appellants, v. Paula POINDEXTER, Appellee. |
| Court | Texas Court of Appeals |
James Beau Eccles, Asst. Atty. Gen., Austin, TX, for Appellant.
Gary L. Bledsoe, Law Office of Gary L. Bledsoe, Austin, TX, for Appellee.
Before Chief Justice JONES, Justices PATTERSON and PURYEAR.
Paula Poindexter, appellee, sued the University of Texas at Austin and Ellen Wartella (collectively, "the University") for, among other things, employment discrimination based on disparate treatment, retaliation, and disparate impact. See Tex. Lab.Code Ann. §§ 21.051, .055, .122 (West 2006). The University filed a plea to the jurisdiction asserting in relevant part that Poindexter's retaliation and disparate-impact claims were barred because Poindexter had not timely raised them in an administrative complaint. See id. § 21.202(a). The plea also asserted that chapter 106 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code, which Poindexter had invoked as a basis for the trial court's jurisdiction, does not give trial courts jurisdiction over employment discrimination claims. The trial court granted the University's plea in part, but denied it as to Poindexter's retaliation, disparate-impact, and chapter 106 claims, and the University appealed. See Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code Ann. § 51.014(a)(8) (West 2008). We will reverse the portion of the trial court's order denying the plea as to retaliation, disparate impact, and chapter 106 jurisdiction and render judgment dismissing those claims.
Beginning in 1992, Poindexter, an African-American woman, worked for the University as a tenured associate professor of journalism. In 2000, Poindexter applied for promotion to full professor. The University reviewed Poindexter's application and denied it on December 18, 2000. Poindexter protested this denial within the University, and on May 2, 2001, she filed a letter of complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Poindexter's May 2 letter stated, in part:
I was recently denied a promotion to full professor because I am an African-American female and I wish to file a complaint with your office. In addition to denying my promotion, I have not received performance evaluations and merit increases commensurate with my performance. I have also been blocked from applying for and participating in professional and leadership opportunities. Finally, discriminatory tactics have been used to undermine my performance of professional responsibilities.
The EEOC responded to Poindexter's letter by requesting additional information, and on May 23, 2001, Poindexter sent the EEOC a follow-up letter.
On June 8, 2001, Poindexter perfected her complaint with the EEOC by submitting a verified charge form. See Labor Code § 21.201. The form prompted Poindexter to check boxes next to all bases of discrimination against her. Poindexter checked the box next to "Race" but did not check any of the boxes next to "Color," "Sex," "Retaliation," or "Other." The form also prompted Poindexter to fill in the earliest and latest dates of discrimination. Poindexter filled in "12/18/2000" for both and did not check the "Continuing Action" box to indicate that the discrimination against her was ongoing. Finally, in the field requesting a narrative of "Particulars," Poindexter wrote the following:
I have been denied a promotion. I have not received adequate pay increases. I have not been allowed to participate in professional and leadership opportunities. I believe I have been discriminated against because of my race, black, in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended.
The EEOC began investigating Poindexter's charge. As its internal Investigation Plan reveals, the EEOC believed that disparate treatment was Poindexter's only theory of discrimination.1 The EEOC investigated Poindexter's complaint during the second half of 2001 and the first half of 2002, during which time both Poindexter and the University provided the EEOC with related information. On March 25, 2002, the EEOC issued Poindexter a Notice of Right to Sue the University. See Labor Code § 21.252.
After Poindexter received her Notice of Right to Sue, she visited the EEOC office to review her case file. Poindexter claims that while doing so she first realized that, contrary to her intention, her June 8, 2001 charge form had not listed retaliation as a basis of discrimination against her. Poindexter informed the EEOC of this omission, and after she completed an affidavit explaining the situation,2 the EEOC allowed Poindexter to complete a second charge form.
Poindexter filed her second charge form with the EEOC on May 7, 2002. This form received a different charge number from the first, indicating that the EEOC treated it as a new and separate charge rather than as an amendment to the first charge.3 Like the first, the second charge form prompted Poindexter to check boxes next to all bases of discrimination against her. This time Poindexter checked only the box next to "Retaliation." Poindexter once again recorded December 18, 2000 as both the first and last date of discrimination against her, though she also checked the box next to "Continuing Action." Finally, in the field requesting a narrative of "Particulars," Poindexter wrote the following:
In or around 1996, I complained to the President of the University that I was being discriminated against because of my race. I was denied promotion to full professor on December 18, 2000. I was not given adequate pay increases, and was not allowed to participate in professional and leadership opportunities. I believe that these actions were taken against me in retaliation for complaining of racial discrimination, in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended.
On June 3, 2002, at Poindexter's request, the EEOC issued Poindexter a Notice of Right to Sue on her second complaint. Concomitantly, on June 25, 2002, the Texas Commission on Human Rights (TCHR) issued Poindexter a Notice of Right to File a Civil Action for each of her EEOC charges.4 Poindexter filed suit in August 2002 and amended her petition on October 25, 2004.
Poindexter's amended petition included causes of action for, among other things, disparate treatment on the basis of race, retaliation for her 1996 complaints about discrimination, and, unlike either of her EEOC charges, disparate impact of University policies on black employees. Poindexter asserted that the trial court had jurisdiction over these causes of action under both chapter 21 of the Texas Labor Code and chapter 106 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code.
In its plea to the jurisdiction, the University conceded that Poindexter had timely filed a disparate-treatment cause of action. It argued, however, that the only instance of disparate treatment properly before the court was Poindexter's December 18, 2000 promotion denial. The University also argued that Poindexter's retaliation and disparate-impact causes of action were time-barred because Poindexter had not filed them with the EEOC during the 180-day statutory time period. Finally, the University argued that, regardless of whether any causes of action were time-barred, Poindexter's invocation of chapter 106 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code was ineffective, as that chapter does not apply to (and therefore does not give trial courts jurisdiction over) employment discrimination claims.
The court granted the University's plea as to claims of discrimination that occurred before December 18, 2000 but denied the plea in all other respects. The court did not issue findings of fact or conclusions of law in conjunction with its order. On appeal, the University contends that the court erred by denying the University's plea regarding retaliation, disparate impact, and chapter 106.5
Whether a court has subject matter jurisdiction is a question of law. Texas Dep't of Parks & Wildlife v. Miranda, 133 S.W.3d 217, 226 (Tex.2004).
A plea to the jurisdiction often may be determined solely from the pleadings and sometimes must be. See Bland Indep. Sch. Dist. v. Blue, 34 S.W.3d 547, 554-55 (Tex.2000). Such a determination is reviewed de novo. Miranda, 133 S.W.3d at 226. When a plea to the jurisdiction challenges the existence of jurisdictional facts, however, a court should consider relevant evidence submitted by the parties when necessary to resolve the jurisdictional issues raised. Id. Such cases fall into two categories: (1) those in which the jurisdictional issue or facts do not substantially implicate the merits of the plaintiff's case, but rather are, for the most part, separate and distinct from the merits; and (2) those in which the jurisdictional issue or facts implicate the merits of the plaintiff's case. Courts treat these two categories of cases in markedly different ways.
Where the jurisdictional issue or facts do not implicate the merits of the case, and the facts are disputed, the court—not the jury—must make the necessary fact findings to resolve the jurisdictional issue. See id. () (quoting Cameron v. Children's Hosp. Med. Ctr., 131 F.3d 1167, 1170 (6th Cir.1997)). If, however, the facts relevant to jurisdiction are undisputed, the court should make the jurisdictional determination as a matter of law based solely on those undisputed facts. Id. at 228. Because a court should not proceed with a case over which it has no jurisdiction, it should make the jurisdictional determination as soon as practicable, but has discretion to defer the decision until the case has been more fully...
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...different standard applies when a challenge to a jurisdictional fact's existence does not implicate the merits. See University of Tex. v. Poindexter, 306 S.W.3d 798, 806-07 (Tex.App.-Austin 2009, no pet.). 5 See Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem.Code Ann. § 37.004(a) ("A person ... whose rights, status......