Zuniga v. Bernalillo Cnty.
| Decision Date | 25 October 2016 |
| Docket Number | No. CIV 11-0877 JB/LAM,CIV 11-0877 JB/LAM |
| Parties | MARIA ZUNIGA, EMILY HERNANDEZ, JENNIFER GALLEGOS, CASSANDRA GUTIERREZ, PRISCILLA GUTIERREZ, STEPHANIE MANZANARES, PAT VIGIL, MINDY HOERTER, and DEANNA MIGLIO, on behalf of themselves and all others similarly situated, Plaintiffs, v. BERNALILLO COUNTY, JULIAN BARELA, and DAN MAYFIELD, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of New Mexico |
THIS MATTER comes before the Court on the Plaintiffs' Motion and Supporting Memorandum of Law in Support of Motion of Class Certification, filed June 13, 2014 (Doc. 136)("Motion"). The Court held a class certification hearing on February 4, 2015.1 See Transcript of Motion for Class Certification Hearing held on February 4, 2015 ("Tr.").
The primary issues are: (i) whether variations in department, managerial practices, and role among the proposed plaintiff class defeats commonality and predominance under rule 23; and (ii) whether rule 23(a)'s requirements -- numerosity, commonality, typicality, and adequacy -- and rule 23(b)(3)'s requirements -- predominance and superiority -- are otherwise met with regard to the proposed class. First, the central issue in this case -- how the Defendant should have compensated and selected the Plaintiffs -- varies among departments and position. Whenconsidered alongside the individual compensation issues, these variations among departments, titles, roles, and job functions, defeats commonality and predominance. This proposed class action therefore satisfies the rule 23(a) prerequisite of numerosity and the rule 23(b) superiority requirement, but it fails rule 23(a)'s commonality, typicality, and adequacy requirements as well as rule 23(b)'s predominance requirement. The Court thus denies the Motion.
Both the Plaintiffs and the Defendants have submitted briefings on the Plaintiffs' Motion. See Plaintiffs' Motion and Supporting Memorandum of Law in Support of Motion for Class Certification, filed on June 13, 2014 (Doc. 136)("Motion"); Defendants' Response in Opposition to Plaintiffs' Motion for Class Certification, filed on August 29, 2014 (Doc. 142)("Response"); and Plaintiffs' Reply to Defendant's Opposition to Their Motion for Class Certification, filed on November 3, 2014 (Doc. 151)("Reply"). The Court has carefully considered all factual assertions, and accepts some of them, rejects others, and finds some facts that no party brought to its attention.2 The Court also liberally judicially notices background facts. See Fed. R. Evid. 201. All of these findings of fact are authoritative only on the question of class certification, and the parties may relitigate any of them at the merits stage. See Abbott v. Lockheed Martin Corp., 725 F.3d 803, 810 (7th Cir. 2013); In re Hydrogen Peroxide Antitrust Litig., 552 F.3d 305, 313 (3rd Cir. 2008); Gariety v. Grant Thornton, LLP, 368 F.3d 356, 366 (4th Cir. 2004). The Court applied the Federal Rules of Evidence at the class certification hearing, ruled on severalevidentiary objections, and considered only admissible evidence in finding these facts.
1. The Plaintiffs.
2. The Plaintiffs seek to represent a County-wide class consisting of "[a]ll female employees grace C through H who are, were, or will be employed by the County of Bernalillo at any time between June 18, 2008 and the present." See Complaint ¶ 42, at 9.
3. As of February 6, 2015, seven of the nine named Plaintiffs were employees in the Finance Division's Budget Department of Bernalillo County. Four were no longer Bernalillo County employees at the time of the Class Certification hearing.
4. Plaintiff Maria Zuniga is a manager and supervisor within her department, and has served as the Budget and Business Improvement Administrator for Bernalillo County since September, 2012. See Response at 7.
5. Plaintiff Jennifer Gallegos is a supervisor and manager in the Budget Department and serves as Financial Project Coordinator. See Response at 7. Cassandra Gutierrez was employed in the Budget Department as a Financial Services Administrator I ("FSA") until she was promoted to FSA II. See Response at 7.
6. The Plaintiffs who worked in Bernalillo County's Budget Department who are no longer employees include: (i) Emily Hernandez, who was employed as a FSA I and II from August, 2006, to June, 2012; (ii) Stephanie Manzanares, who was employed as a FSA II and then a FSA III from March, 2008, until September, 2011; (iii) Pat Vigil, who was employed as a FSA II and then FSA III from September, 2008, until March, 2011; and (iv) Priscilla Gutierrez, whowas employed as a FSA IV from January, 1997, until she retired in March, 2013. See Response at 7.
7. The two remaining named Plaintiffs worked in other departments during the class period: (i) Deanna Miglio, who has been the Right of Way Manager in the Public Works Department since June, 2009, where she has discretionary authority to request and make employment decisions similar to those challenged by the Plaintiffs' lawsuit about employees in the Public Works Department, and has exercised that discretion; and (ii) Mindy Hoerter, who was a Systems Administrator in the Information Technology ("IT") department from December, 2009, until December, 2011, when she left her employment with the Bernalillo County. See Response at 7-8.
8. Employees who are member of a collective bargaining unit are not part of this case. See Motion at 8-9.
9. Bernalillo County is the government agency responsible for administering and coordinating government services in Bernalillo County. See "The Manager's Role" http://www.bernco.gov/county-manager/the-managers-role.aspx, (last accessed September 27, 2016).
10. Bernalillo County is a public entity and an employer as defined by Title VII and the NMHRA. See Complaint ¶5, at 2.
11. Julian Barela serves in a supervisory capacity over the Plaintiffs by Bernalillo County. See Complaint ¶ 7, at 2.
12. Dan Mayfield was employed as a Deputy County Manager for Budget and Finance by Bernalillo County. See Complaint ¶ 8, at 3. 13. Bernalillo County is divided into four divisions: Community Services, Finance, Public Works, and Public Safety; a Deputy County Manager and a director leads each one. See Torres Dec ¶ 3, at 1-2. The Human Resources Department ("HR"), Information Technology Department, and Public Information Office each report directly to the County Manager; the Legal Department reports to the Board of Commissioners; and all other Department Directors report to the Division Deputy County Manager. See Torres Dec ¶ 3, at 1-2.
14. The Bernalillo County Manager is appointed by and reports to the Board of County commissioners, and sits at the top of the County's organizational structure. See Report of Richard F. Martell at 42, filed on June 13, 2014 (Doc. 136-4)("Martell Report").
15. Deputy County Managers are assigned to each division and report directly to the County Manager. See Martel Report at 7. Deputy County Managers supervise Department Directors who report to the Deputy County Managers and the County HR Director, who also reports directly to the County Manager. See Martel Report at 7.
16. In addition to the County HR Director, Bernalillo County has a Compensation Manager and the Employment Manager, both of whom report directly the HR Director. See Martel Report at 7.
17. Within each department, there are supervisors, managers, and administrators who perform management-type functions. See Martel Report at 7.
18. Bernalillo County employs approximately 2,560 people, in many hundreds of different positions, for variable lengths of time. See Renetta Torres Depo. 38:18-24 (taken April 1, 2013)(Doc. 142-23)("RT Depo."). Approximately 156 people have the discretionary authority to request hires, give promotions, grant reclassifications, make transfers, approve pay increases, and make selections for hire and promotion; of these, the vast majority are departmentalsupervisors and managers below the level of Department Director. See Torres Dec. ¶ 5, at 2. The numbers were roughly the same during the class period as the current period. See Torres Dec. ¶ 5, at 2.
19. Bernalillo County's employment policy manual for non-union employees is found in the Employment Relations Rules and Regulations for Bernalillo County ("Rules & Regs"). The Rules & Regs' stated purpose "is to establish consistent basic policies and practices governing relations between the County of Bernalillo and its employees." See Rules & Regs at 2.
20. The employment practices and policies apply to all class members and their male comparators. See Employment Relations Rules & Regs.
21. The County Manager is responsible for administration of the Employment Relations System, Article Ill, Division 3, Section 2-91 of the Bernalillo County Code, the Rules and Regulations, and all approved policies, directives and procedures. See Rules & Regs §101 (A).
22. The County Manager is responsible for recommending changes to the employment relations rules and regulations, administrative instructions, procedures and directives for administering the employment relations system. See Rules & Regs, §101 (B).
23. The County Manager is responsible for establishing a continuing program for the Recruitment, Compensation, Promotion, Training and Discipline of County employees, and related aspects of employment relations in compliance with the provision of the Bernalillo County Code, state and federal laws, the Rules and Regulations, and all policies adopted by the Bernalillo County Commission. See Rules & Regs § 101 (B).
24. With regard to employee compensation, the County Manager maintains the classification and comprehensive pay plan for classified employees of the County as established by the Board of County...
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