Grant v. Joe Myers Toyota, Inc.

11 S.W.3d 419, 2000 Tex. App. LEXIS 413, 77 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 46,235, 81 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1284, 2000 WL 38882
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJanuary 20, 2000
Docket14-98-01210-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 11 S.W.3d 419 (Grant v. Joe Myers Toyota, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

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Grant v. Joe Myers Toyota, Inc., 11 S.W.3d 419, 2000 Tex. App. LEXIS 413, 77 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 46,235, 81 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1284, 2000 WL 38882 (Tex. Ct. App. 2000).

Opinions

MAJORITY OPINION

PAUL C. MURPHY, Chief Justice.

After appellant Bobbie Grant (Grant) filed suit against Joe Myers Toyota, Inc. (Joe Myers) alleging religious discrimination, Joe Myers moved for a no-evidence summary judgment. The trial court granted this motion. Grant now appeals, claiming this ruling was in error. We reverse the judgment of the trial court as it pertains to Grant’s religious discrimination claims, affirm the judgment of the trial court as to the other claims raised in Grant’s petition, and remand the case for further proceedings.

Factual and ProceduRal History

Grant went to Joe Myers to seek clerical employment. She was informed by the secretary that no clerical positions were open, but there were openings in sales. Since Grant had no training, the receptionist provided her with the name of the organization providing sales training for Joe Myers, Automotive Sales Training (AST). Grant called AST from Joe Myers and arranged to attend a two-week training class. The class was to be taught by Dick Smouse, the owner and operator of AST.

When Grant went to the class, she paid a registration fee and received the class materials. Included in these materials was a copy of Og Mandino’s book, The Greatest Salesman in the World. Smouse read two paragraphs to Grant and the others in the class and asked them to memorize these paragraphs. He also asked them to recite the passage morning, noon, and night. Grant, however, found some of the ideas in the two paragraphs antithetical to her religious beliefs and refused to read more of the book because she felt Smouse was asking her to replace her religious beliefs with the ideas espoused in the book.

On the second day of class, Grant expressed her problems with the book to Smouse, telling Smouse that she could not read the book. When Smouse informed her that she had to read the book to complete the class, she told Smouse that it was against her beliefs as a Christian to read the book. Smouse then dismissed Grant from the class.

Grant went home and called Jerry Rocco, a sales manager at Joe Myers. She informed Rocco of the problems she was experiencing in Smouse’s class. She also informed him that she was a Christian and the required book “was against everything she believed as a Christian.” Rocco informed her that she would have to read the book if she wanted to take the class and must take the class to be hired.

Grant did not return to the class and was not hired. She subsequently filed a claim against Joe Myers with the Equal [422]*422Employment Opportunities Commission (EEOC) and the Texas Commission on Human Rights and, after exhausting her administrative remedies, instituted this suit alleging religious discrimination, retaliatory discharge, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

After Grant’s deposition had been taken and other discovery conducted, Joe Myers filed a no-evidence motion for summary judgment. The trial court granted this motion, and Grant appealed addressing only the issue of religious discrimination.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

When reviewing a no-evidence summary judgment, we apply the same legal sufficiency standard that we apply in reviewing a directed verdict. Moore v. K Mart Corp., 981 S.W.2d 266, 269 (Tex.App.-San Antonio 1998, pet. denied); Judge David Hittner & Lynne Liberato, No-Evidence Summary Judgments Under the New Rule, in State Bar of Texas Prof. Dev. Program, 20 Advanced Civil Trial Course D, D-5 (1997). We look at the proof in the light most favorable to the non-movant, disregarding all contrary proof and inferences. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc. v. Havner, 953 S.W.2d 706, 711 (Tex.1997), cert. denied, 523 U.S. 1119, 118 S.Ct. 1799, 140 L.Ed.2d 939 (1998); Lampasas v. Spring Center, Inc., 988 S.W.2d 428, 432 (Tex.App.-Houston [14 th Dist.] 1999, no pet.). A trial court cannot grant a no-evidence summary judgment if the respondent brings forth more than a scintilla of proof to raise a genuine issue of material fact. Moore, 981 S.W.2d at 269; Tex.R. Civ. P. 166a(i). Proof that is so weak that it only creates a mere surmise or suspicion of a fact is less than a scintilla. Kindred v. Con/Chem, Inc., 650 S.W.2d 61, 63 (Tex.1983). On the other hand, when the proof “rises to a level that would enable reasonable and fair-minded people to differ in their conclusions,” the respondent has provided more than a scintilla of proof and survives summary judgment. See Havner, 953 S.W.2d at 711.

Religious Accommodation Under the TCHRA

Although the issue is not raised by either party, it is important to note that the Texas Commission on Human Rights Act allows both employees and job applicants to bring claims under the Act. The TCHRA states that an employer commits an unlawful act when the employer “fails or refuses to hire an individual, discharges an individual, or discriminates in any other manner against an individual” on the basis of “race, color disability, religion, sex, national origin or age.” Tex. Labor Code Ann. § 21.051(a) (Vernon 1996).1 The TCHRA, therefore, applies not only to employees, but job applicants as well. Here, even though Grant had not been hired by Joe Myers at the time she alleges the employment discrimination occurred, the company could not discriminate against her on the basis of her religion under the statute since she had applied for a job with the company.

In this case, Grant alleged accommodation-type religious discrimination. Under both Title VII and the TCHRA, employers must accommodate religious beliefs once they are informed of them. 42 U.S.C. § 2000e(j) (1994); Tex. Labor Code Ann. § 21.108 (Vernon 1996). Under Title VII, an employee establishes a prima facie religious accommodation case by showing [423]*423that: (1) he or she has a bona fide religious belief that conflicts with an employment requirement; (2) he or she informed the employer of this belief; and (3) he or she suffered an adverse consequence for failure to comply with the conflicting employment requirement. See Ansonia Bd. of Educ. v. Philbrook, 479 U.S. 60, 73, 107 S.Ct. 367, 93 L.Ed.2d 305 (1986); see also Turpen v. Missouri-Kansas-Texas R.R. Co., 736 F.2d 1022 (5 th Cir.1984). Once this is established, the burden then shifts to the employer to show that it could not accommodate the plaintiffs religious beliefs without undue hardship. Id.

Due to the dearth of case law interpreting the TCHRA, the Texas Supreme Court has directed Texas courts to seek guidance from federal interpretations of Title VII when construing the TCHRA. See Speer v. Presbyterian Children’s Home & Set-v. Agency, 847 S.W.2d 227, 232 (Tex.1993).

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Grant v. Joe Myers Toyota, Inc.
11 S.W.3d 419 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2000)

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11 S.W.3d 419, 2000 Tex. App. LEXIS 413, 77 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 46,235, 81 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1284, 2000 WL 38882, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/grant-v-joe-myers-toyota-inc-texapp-2000.