Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Canchola

• Decision Date: 29 November 2001
• Docket Number: No. 13-00-095-CV.,13-00-095-CV.
• Citation: 64 S.W.3d 524
• Parties: WAL-MART STORES, INC., Appellant, v. Luis A. CANCHOLA, Appellee.
• Court: Texas Court of Appeals

64 S.W.3d 524

WAL-MART STORES, INC., Appellant, v. Luis A. CANCHOLA, Appellee.

No. 13-00-095-CV.

Court of Appeals of Texas, Corpus Christi.

November 29, 2001.

Rehearing Overruled January 31, 2002.

Amy E. Lee, Douglas W. Alexander, Scott, Douglas & McConnico, Austin, Jaime A. Drabek, Shirley J. Gray, Drabek & Associates, Harlingen, for Appellant.

Ruben R. Pena, Law Offices of Ruben R. Pena, P.C., Harlingen, for Appellee.

Before Chief Justice VALDEZ and Justices HINOJOSA and RODRIGUEZ.

OPINION

VALDEZ, Chief Justice.

Luis A. Canchola brought suit against Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. ("Wal-Mart"), his former employer, for disability discrimination and intentional infliction of emotional distress. According to Wal-Mart, Canchola was terminated for violating the company's policy on sexual harassment. After trial, the jury found in favor of Canchola and awarded actual damages, attorney's fees, and costs. The trial court entered judgment on the verdict and awarded prejudgment and postjudgment interest. Wal-Mart appeals this judgment by three issues. We affirm.

Background

Canchola was employed as a deli manager at the Wal-Mart store in Mission, Texas. According to his supervisors, Canchola was an excellent employee and the deli department ran very smoothly under his management. In July of 1993, Canchola experienced chest pains, and underwent bypass surgery on six arteries. Following surgery, Canchola missed work for thirteen weeks, then was allowed to return to work for four hours daily with restrictions that he forego heavy lifting and handle only paperwork. Canchola gradually began increasing the hours he worked. In April of 1994, Canchola again suffered chest pains when a bypassed artery became occluded. Following treatment, Canchola remained at home for a month, then returned to work, again at a reduced schedule of four hours daily. According to Canchola, Wal-Mart's management was very supportive during the period of time while Jessie Frias was store director.

However, in July of 1994, David Drastrata replaced Frias as store director of the Mission Wal-Mart. Canchola testified that Drastrata's attitude toward him was hostile. Drastrata expressed dissatisfaction to Canchola that he was not present for store managers' meetings, and asked Canchola to change his hours in order to attend the meetings. According to Canchola, Drastrata also took unusual steps with regard to inspection and organization of the deli department. In fact, Donald E. Light, the assistant store manager, told Canchola that someone was "out to get him" with regard to Drastrata's inspection of the deli.

Drastrata testified that Canchola was fabricating a negative attitude on his part, and denied telling him that he was unhappy that Canchola had been missing managers' meetings. When Drastrata took over the store, he was aware that Canchola had a condition that precluded full-time employment; Drastrata did not recall when he learned that it was a heart condition. The same month that Drastrata took over the Mission store, Drastrata's investigation of sexual harassment charges against Canchola resulted in Canchola's termination.

Carmen Gonzalez, a part-time worker in the deli department under Canchola's supervision, initiated the complaint against Canchola. Gonzalez and her family had been next door neighbors of Canchola and his family for approximately fifteen years. Gonzalez testified that Canchola's sexual harassment of her began before she started working at Wal-Mart. Gonzalez nevertheless approached Canchola for his assistance in procuring a job with Wal-Mart, and Canchola helped her obtain a position in Wal-Mart's deli department. After working for Wal-Mart for an unspecified time, Gonzalez quit, then returned to Wal-Mart some months later, again seeking and obtaining Canchola's assistance.

During Gonzalez's second period of employment with Wal-Mart, Irene Flores, a support manager in the clothing department, witnessed Canchola approach Gonzalez, stand close to her, and appear to be whispering in her ear. Flores reprimanded Gonzalez for her "unprofessional" and "unladylike" behavior. In response, Gonzalez told Flores that Canchola had been making advances toward her. Flores took Gonzalez to report her allegations to Drastrata.

Gonzalez told Drastrata that Canchola frequently asked her out and requested sexual favors in return for full-time employment in the deli department. At trial, Gonzalez testified that Canchola told her he would give her a full-time position if she gave him something in return, and that the terminology he used could be interpreted in different ways. However, Donald E. Light, the assistant store manager, testified that, during the month before Gonzalez's accusation against Canchola, Light had offered Gonzalez full-time work in the men's department, but Gonzalez declined the position on grounds she did not want to leave the deli. According to Light, a full-time position in his department offered more benefits than a similar job in the deli department.

Gonzalez told Drastrata that Canchola also harassed Katherine and Graciela Solis, two sisters who worked in the "demo" department providing samples of various products to shoppers. The Solis sisters accused Canchola of hugging them or kissing them, and telling them that he would marry them if he were twenty years younger.

Following Drastrata's interview with Gonzalez, Drastrata and Mike Hawks, the assistant store manager, met with Canchola and told him that he had been accused of harassment. Canchola was "totally shocked," denied any harassing behavior, and proffered potential reasons for the accusations against him. Drastrata told Canchola he was going to investigate the charges, suspended Canchola until further notice, and escorted him from the store.

Drastrata testified that he was familiar with Wal-Mart's policy on sexual harassment and had received training on conducting a sexual harassment investigation. According to Drastrata, his investigation into the charges against Canchola complied with company policy. Drastrata interviewed the Solis sisters and a number of other individuals. Drastrata did not recall the names of those he interviewed, how many female associates he talked to, or how many associates he interviewed that worked in the deli department. Drastrata did not take any written notes documenting his investigation. Drastrata testified that he did not procure statements from individuals who had no knowledge of harassment. According to Drastrata, they had "nothing to offer." Drastrata obtained written statements from Carmen Gonzalez, Irene Flores, Graciela and Katherine Solis, and Antonia "Toni" Cobios, a female subordinate of Canchola's who worked in the deli department.

These statements were the key to Wal-Mart's claim that it terminated Canchola for non-discriminatory reasons. At trial, however, Cobios testified that Drastrata pressured her to provide a written statement. According to Cobios, Drastrata instructed her to include specific factual allegations against Canchola in her statement despite her protestation that she knew nothing about the matters he wanted her to include. Cobios subsequently wrote a letter to the president of Wal-Mart explaining that she was pressured into providing a statement including false claims against Canchola. A copy of her letter, introduced at trial, states that Canchola was a "very respectable" supervisor who gave his subordinates "space and respect." Cobios testified that the president of Wal-Mart replied to her letter, informing her that the company would investigate the incident. Cobios ultimately testified that she thought the investigation against Canchola occurred "because they wanted to fire Mr. Canchola."

Drastrata testified that Cobios was lying when she said that he told her what to put in her statement. Both Drastrata and Hawks testified that no one told any of the witnesses what to include in their statements.

Cross-examination at trial revealed various weaknesses in Wal-Mart's investigation of the charges against Canchola. Drastrata did not know that Gonzalez had quit working at Wal-Mart for a period of time, then returned to work under Canchola despite allegedly suffering harassment both prior to working at Wal-Mart and during each period of employment with Wal-Mart. Drastrata was unaware that Gonzalez had been offered full-time employment in other departments. Drastrata was also unaware of personal and professional conflicts, unrelated to sexual harassment, between Canchola and the Solis sisters. At trial, Hawks conceded that the written statements obtained during the investigation lacked basic information as described in Wal-Mart's policies.

Moreover, as described at trial, Wal-Mart's investigation apparently failed to incorporate exculpatory evidence. During the investigation, Esmerelda Martinez, Graciela and Katherine Solis's supervisor, told Hawks that she had very little faith or belief in the Solis sisters' accusations against Canchola. Similarly, Estela Guerra Perez, who served as Canchola's assistant manager and worked with him on a regular basis, told Drastrata that she never observed Canchola do anything that she considered harassing. Perez also testified that she served as a mediator for the employees, but none of the women that accused Canchola of harassment ever approached her with complaints about Canchola.

The day following Gonzalez's complaint, Drastrata terminated Canchola. According to Drastrata, Wal-Mart's legal department made the decision to terminate Canchola. However, in Hawks's words, they called Arkansas to "get approval" to terminate Canchola.

According to Wal-Mart's written policies, harassment "will not be tolerated" and "confidentiality will be maintained" to the extent practicable. Any harassing behavior "will result in disciplinary action including up to termination of employment." Under the policy, if the objectionable conduct is harassment, "depending on the...