Galvan v. Dameron Hosp. Ass'n

250 Cal. Rptr. 3d 16, 37 Cal. App. 5th 549
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal, 5th District
DecidedJune 20, 2019
DocketC081092
StatusPublished
Cited by18 cases

This text of 250 Cal. Rptr. 3d 16 (Galvan v. Dameron Hosp. Ass'n) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal, 5th District primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Galvan v. Dameron Hosp. Ass'n, 250 Cal. Rptr. 3d 16, 37 Cal. App. 5th 549 (Cal. Ct. App. 2019).

Opinion

BLEASE, Acting P. J.

*20*553Plaintiff Shirley Galvan brings this employment discrimination case against her former employer Dameron Hospital Association (Dameron) and former supervisor Doreen Alvarez (collectively defendants), alleging that she was discriminated against and subjected to harassment based on her national origin (Filipino) and age (54) at the hands of Alvarez, and that Dameron failed to take action to prevent it in violation of the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (the FEHA) ( Gov. Code, § 12900 et seq. ).1 Galvan claims that she was forced to take a medical leave of absence and ultimately quit due to the intolerable working conditions created by Alvarez in order to accomplish Alvarez's goal of getting rid of older, Filipino employees, like Galvan, who, in Alvarez's words, "could not speak English," had "been there too long," and "ma[d]e too much money." The operative second amended complaint asserts causes of action for discrimination (§ 12940, subd. (a); against Dameron), harassment (§ 12940, subd. (j); against Dameron and Alvarez), failure to take all reasonable steps to prevent discrimination and harassment (§ 12940, subd. (k); against Dameron), wrongful termination in violation of public policy (against Dameron), declaratory relief (discrimination) (against Dameron), and injunctive relief ( Code Civ. Proc., § 526 ; against Dameron).2 The complaint also prays for punitive damages.

Defendants moved for summary judgment, or in the alternative summary adjudication. The trial court granted defendants' motion for summary judgment. The trial court found that Galvan could not make a prima facie *554showing of discrimination because she could not establish that she suffered an adverse employment action or that Dameron acted with a discriminatory motive. The trial court likewise found that she could not make a prima facie showing of harassment because she cannot show that any of the complained of conduct was based on her national origin or age. The trial court determined that the remaining causes of action and claims for injunctive and declaratory relief and punitive damages were derivative of the discrimination and harassment causes of action, and thus, could not survive summary judgment.3

Galvan appeals, arguing there are triable issues of material fact as to each of her causes of action and her claims for declaratory relief (discrimination), injunctive relief, and punitive damages. We agree in part. We will reverse the judgment and direct the trial court to vacate its order granting summary judgment and enter a new order granting summary adjudication of Galvan's retaliation and negligent supervision causes of action and her claims for declaratory relief (retaliation) and punitive damages, but denying summary adjudication of her discrimination, harassment, and failure to take necessary steps to prevent discrimination and harassment, and wrongful termination in violation of public policy causes of action, and her claims for declaratory relief (discrimination *21) and injunctive relief.4

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND5

The following facts are taken from the evidence set forth in the papers filed in connection with the summary judgment motion, except that to which objections were properly made and sustained. ( Yanowitz v. L'Oreal USA, Inc. (2005) 36 Cal.4th 1028, 1037, 32 Cal.Rptr.3d 436, 116 P.3d 1123.) Consistent with the applicable standard of review, we summarize the evidence in the light most favorable to Galvan, the party opposing summary judgment, resolving any doubts concerning the evidence in her favor. ( Ibid. )

Galvan is a registered nurse. She was born in the Philippines and immigrated to the United States. English is her second language, and she speaks it with a strong accent. At the time of the conduct complained of herein, Galvan *555was 54 years old and had been working at Dameron Hospital for approximately 25 years. During the last six years of her employment there, she held the position of unit coordinator in the medical-surgical department. As a unit coordinator, Galvan was required to attend all unit coordinator and staff meetings.

In mid-2011, Alvarez became the director of the medical-surgical and telemetry departments at Dameron Hospital and Galvan's supervisor. Like Galvan, the majority of unit coordinators in the medical-surgical and telemetry departments were Filipino.

Every time Alvarez met with the unit coordinators, she "insult[ed]," "degrade[ed]," and "humiliate[ed]" them. At her first meeting with the unit coordinators, Alvarez brought the unit coordinators' personnel files to the meeting and stated that she had found "horrible" and "disgusting" things in the files. She told them that she had already heard about them around the hospital, and that she was ready to "make a change." She also stated that "she ha[d] eyes around the hospital" and whatever they said about her would get back to her.

Alvarez singled out unit coordinators who spoke English as a second language for criticism and often focused her comments on their accents and their supposed poor English language skills. At one meeting, Alvarez told the unit coordinators, "I don't know how Dameron gets you guys. Your accents are thick. [You] don't know what [you're] doing." She read from performance evaluations drafted by unidentified unit coordinators and criticized the drafters' grammar. She stated that "those of you with a thick accent, those of you that cannot speak English ... need to go back to school and learn how to read and write grammar," and that her young son could write better than they could. She also advised them that she was there "to clean the house."

At another meeting, Alvarez introduced a new unit coordinator who was White, and told the other unit coordinators, "She speak[s] good English. She's well educated. She's going to do a better job [than] most of you guys here because you guys don't know how to speak English."

*22On more than one occasion, Alvarez told the unit coordinators that if they could not "handle it," they could "step up, step down or step out" and threw job openings in other departments on the table. She said that the unit coordinators were being paid "big bucks" and were not doing their jobs. She also told them that they did not know how to "formulate a sentence" or "how to put a comma or punctuation mark."

Alvarez's treatment of the unit coordinators got progressively "worse and worse and worse," and Galvan's "stress level [went] higher and higher."

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Akala v. L.A. Unified School Dist. CA2/2
California Court of Appeal, 2026
Avorh v. San Diego Community College Dist. CA4/1
California Court of Appeal, 2025
Baykhurazov v. FriendFinder Networks CA6
California Court of Appeal, 2024
Redondo v. County of Los Angeles CA2/2
California Court of Appeal, 2023
Melendrez v. All Kids Academy
S.D. California, 2023
Robinson v. City of Vallejo CA1/1
California Court of Appeal, 2023
Kasparian v. Edge Systems CA2/3
California Court of Appeal, 2023
Rodriguez v. County of Los Angeles CA2/5
California Court of Appeal, 2022
Marcellus Clark v. Walgreens
N.D. California, 2022
Datomi v. Huntington Memorial Hospital CA2/1
California Court of Appeal, 2021
Kuigoua v. Cal. Corrections Health etc. CA2/5
California Court of Appeal, 2020

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
250 Cal. Rptr. 3d 16, 37 Cal. App. 5th 549, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/galvan-v-dameron-hosp-assn-calctapp5d-2019.