Douglas v. Wilson

774 P.2d 1356, 160 Ariz. 566, 35 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 36, 1989 Ariz. App. LEXIS 150, 50 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 97
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arizona
DecidedMay 25, 1989
Docket2 CA-CV 88-0359
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 774 P.2d 1356 (Douglas v. Wilson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Arizona primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Douglas v. Wilson, 774 P.2d 1356, 160 Ariz. 566, 35 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 36, 1989 Ariz. App. LEXIS 150, 50 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 97 (Ark. Ct. App. 1989).

Opinion

OPINION

FERNANDEZ, Judge.

Appellant Adele Douglas appeals from the trial court’s granting of summary judgment in favor of appellee Richard Wilson, the Director of Court Services at Pima County Juvenile Court, in her suit for violation of civil rights, wrongful discharge and breach of employment contract. Douglas contends that she presented a prima facie case and that material facts are in dispute, precluding entry of summary judgment. We agree as to her wrongful discharge claim and reverse on that count.

Douglas, who is black, worked at Pima County Juvenile Court from April through early June 1986 under a county temporary service program. On June 9 she was hired by the Juvenile Court as a file clerk. She then began a six-month probationary period which was to end December 6, 1986. Sometime in June, she was married but did not change her name or inform her coworkers of the marriage. Shortly after, she became pregnant. She contends that after her pregnancy began to show sometime in October, there were discussions and comments from her co-workers who believed she was unmarried.

On November 13, 1986, she met with her immediate supervisor Jackie Griffin and was told there were problems with her performance on the job. Griffin told her they would meet again in a week and gave Douglas a list of several jobs with deadlines she was to meet by November 28. On November 17, Douglas injured her back at work and was unable to work for several weeks. She subsequently filed a workers’ compensation claim for the injury. On November 21, Douglas’ probationary period was extended for 90 days. In early December Douglas’ doctor released her for light duty work. Douglas notified Griffin of that fact but was told there was no light duty work available. She never returned to work at the court. Instead, on December 22, she was terminated. The reason given for the termination was job performance problems.

Douglas filed suit in April 1987 against Wilson, Pima County and the Board of Supervisors. The county and the board of supervisors were dismissed from the suit after they filed a summary judgment motion. Wilson filed a summary judgment motion in July 1988, which was granted in August 1988. This appeal followed.

VIOLATION OF CIVIL RIGHTS CLAIM

Douglas’ first cause of action alleges violation of her civil rights in relation to her sex, racial origin and condition of pregnancy under both Arizona law and under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. She contends that she has established a prima facie case of discrimination. Wilson contends that because he submitted an affidavit in which he denied any discriminatory motives in discharging Douglas, she is now required to prove that his non-discriminatory' explanation was pretextual, citing Texas Department of Community Affairs v. Burdine, 450 U.S. 248, 101 S.Ct. 1089, 67 L.Ed.2d 207 (1981). Wilson argues that Douglas has failed to carry that burden.

*568 In the cases that have followed Burdine, the courts have indicated that the evidence establishing a prima facie case of discrimination may also be used to establish that the defendant’s explanation is pretextual. Miller v. Fairchild Industries, Inc., 797 F.2d 727 (9th Cir.1986); Lowe v. City of Monrovia, 775 F.2d 998 (9th Cir.1985). Both those cases involved appeals from the granting of summary judgment in favor of the defendants; in both, the courts found that factual issues existed so as to preclude entry of summary judgment. In both, however, the facts were far different than what Douglas has shown here. In Miller, two black women had filed race discrimination charges with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Their employer subsequently entered into agreements with them to provide training programs in exchange for their dropping of the charges. Less than two months later, both women were laid off. In Lowe, a black woman who had passed the written and oral examinations for an entry-level police officer vacancy was told that the city had no blacks' and no women and that she should apply in another city where the police department was “ ‘literally begging for minorities and especially females.’ ” 775 F.2d at 1002-03.

In this case, on the other hand, Douglas has produced little evidence to support her claim of prejudice. Much of her testimony revolved around her complaint that her coworkers would not invite her to lunch and that one of them was her supervisor’s “pet.” She has offered nothing else to support her claim of discrimination other than the fact that she is black, female and was pregnant at the time she was terminated. We agree with the trial court that Wilson was entitled to summary judgment on Douglas’ cause of action for violation of her civil rights.

BREACH OF EMPLOYMENT CONTRACT

Douglas’ third cause of action is for breach of an implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing. She contends that a fact issue exists concerning whether she was a probationary or permanent employee at the time she was terminated. She also contends there are fact issues as to the exact terms of the employment contract, such as, whether the Juvenile Court policies were part of the contract, whether the fact that she was given deadlines for improving her performance became part of the contract, and whether the extension of her probation period altered the terms of the contract.

We need not address those issues, however. Our supreme court in Wagenseller v. Scottsdale Memorial Hospital, 147 Ariz. 370, 710 P.2d 1025 (1985), made it clear that a claim for breach of an implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing will not lie if it involves only a claim for prospective employment. Even if Douglas was a permanent employee at the time of the termination, she had no promise of continued employment. Because she makes no claim for failure to pay any earned benefits, we find that the trial court correctly granted summary judgment on Douglas’ cause of action for breach of her employment contract.

WRONGFUL DISCHARGE CLAIM

Douglas’ second cause of action alleges that at the time she was terminated, she was disabled from a work-related injury and was pregnant. She alleges that while she was disabled, appellee caused her probation to be extended and then terminated her either because she was pregnant or because she had filed a workers’ compensation claim.

In his affidavit attached to his summary judgment motion, Wilson stated that he decided to terminate Douglas because of her poor job performance and that his decision was not based on her race, her gender, her condition of pregnancy or the fact that she had filed a claim for workers’ compensation. On appeal, Wilson contends that Douglas has failed to establish a causal relationship between the condition or circumstances and her termination, citing Wagner v. City of Globe, 150 Ariz. 82,

Related

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927 P.2d 781 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 1996)
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505 N.W.2d 781 (South Dakota Supreme Court, 1993)
Raul N. Moreno v. Allied-Signal, Inc.
960 F.2d 152 (Ninth Circuit, 1992)

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Bluebook (online)
774 P.2d 1356, 160 Ariz. 566, 35 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 36, 1989 Ariz. App. LEXIS 150, 50 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 97, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/douglas-v-wilson-arizctapp-1989.