Haro, III v. Thomas Keller Restaurant Group

District Court, D. Nevada·Decided March 30, 2022·No. 2:20-cv-02113·Unknown

Opinion

1 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 2 DISTRICT OF NEVADA 3 FERNANDO HARO III, Case No.: 2:20-cv-02113-APG-DJA

4 Plaintiff Order Granting in Part the Defendants’ Motions to Dismiss 5 v. [ECF Nos. 26, 27] 6 KRM, INC. AND KVP, LP,

7 Defendants 8

9 Plaintiff Fernando Haro III sues defendants KRM, Inc., doing business as the Thomas 10 Keller Restaurant Group (TKRG), and KVP, LP, doing business as Bouchon at the Venetian 11 (Bouchon). Haro worked at Bouchon’s bakery, mostly making macrons. In relation to his 12 employment, he filed two EEOC complaints, filed and settled a federal lawsuit, assisted another 13 employee in filing a complaint with the Nevada Equal Rights Commission, and submitted a 14 witness statement on behalf of another employee. Haro also filed two workers’ compensation 15 claims for carpal tunnel syndrome and epicondylitis, which he contended were caused by the 16 repetitive nature of piping macron shells at the bakery. He alleges that TKRG and Bouchon 17 undermined his workers’ compensation claims by providing false testimony during the 18 administrative proceedings that resulted in the denial of his claims. He asserts the defendants did 19 so in retaliation for his protected activity. 20 Haro asserts claims for: (1) discrimination and retaliation under Title VII, the Americans 21 with Disabilities Act (ADA), and the ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (ADAAA); (2) negligent 22 and intentional infliction of emotional distress, and (3) negligent hiring, retention, or supervision. 23 ECF No. 22. The defendants separately filed motions to dismiss. Both defendants present anti- 1 SLAPP arguments, asserting that the employees’ testimony during the workers’ compensation 2 proceeding were good faith communications in direct connection with an issue under 3 consideration by administrative and judicial bodies. Alternatively, they argue Haro’s claims fail 4 on the merits because Haro was not an employee at the time of the acts he complains about, so he 5 could not have suffered an adverse employment action. They also contend that the defendants’

6 actions were not outrageous and Haro did not allege extreme emotional distress. They argue 7 there are no allegations that the employees who testified were unfit, untrained, or behaved 8 wrongfully. And they contend that the issue of whether the employees testified falsely has been 9 resolved by the administrative proceeding and related appeals in Nevada state court, so Haro’s 10 claims are issue-precluded. TKRG separately contends that it was not Haro’s employer, and 11 Haro did not exhaust his Title VII administrative remedies as to it. 12 Haro responds that Nevada’s anti-SLAPP statute does not apply to his federal claims. He 13 also contends that the defendants have not shown that their employees’ testimony was in good 14 faith, and that the testimony did not involve a matter of public concern. He asserts that Title VII

15 can apply to former employees and that he has adequately alleged the defendants retaliated 16 against him for engaging in protected activity. He contends that the defendants’ course of 17 conduct in preventing him from receiving benefits for his occupational injuries was extreme and 18 outrageous and caused him mental distress. He asserts that he adequately alleged that the 19 defendants knew or should have known that its employees had reputations for harassment and 20 retaliation, and the defendants knowingly allowed that conduct to interfere with his workers’ 21 compensation claims after he had complained about these employees. He contends issue 22 preclusion does not apply because there is no final ruling on his workers’ compensation claim. 23 Finally, he states that both defendants were his employers. He contends that he exhausted his 1 Title VII administrative remedies because he mentioned both Bouchon and TKRG in his charge, 2 and TKRG employees were aware of the retaliatory conduct. 3 The parties are familiar with the facts, so I repeat them here only as necessary to resolve 4 the pending motions. I grant in part and deny in part the defendants’ motions to dismiss. 5 I. ANALYSIS

6 A. Anti-SLAPP 7 Under Nevada’s anti-SLAPP statute, a “person who engages in a good faith 8 communication in furtherance of the right to petition or the right to free speech in direct 9 connection with an issue of public concern is immune from any civil action for claims based 10 upon the communication.” Nev. Rev. Stat. § 41.650. A defendant may file a special motion to 11 dismiss if the defendant can show “by a preponderance of the evidence, that the claim is based 12 upon a good faith communication in furtherance of the right to petition or the right to free speech 13 in direct connection with an issue of public concern.” Id. § 41.660(3)(a). As relevant here, a 14 good faith communication in furtherance of the right to petition means: “[a w]ritten or oral

15 statement made in direct connection with an issue under consideration by a legislative, executive 16 or judicial body, or any other official proceeding authorized by law . . . which is truthful or is 17 made without knowledge of its falsehood.” Id. §§ 41.637(3)-(4). If the defendant makes this 18 initial showing, the burden shifts to the plaintiff to show “with prima facie evidence a probability 19 of prevailing on the claim.” Id. § 41.660(3)(b). 20 The defendants have not shown by a preponderance of the evidence that the employees 21 made good faith communications that were truthful or without knowledge of falsehood. None of 22 the evidence attached to the motions supports a finding of good faith. All but one of the exhibits 23 attached to the motions are court orders or filings by Haro. None of them supports a finding that 1 the employees (whom Haro contends are lying) made good faith communications. ECF Nos. 26- 2 1 through 26-3; 26-5 through 26-7; 27-1 through 27-3; 27-5 through 27-7. The only other 3 exhibit is the defendants’ brief before the Supreme Court of Nevada. ECF Nos. 26-4; 27-4. 4 Attorney argument does not constitute evidence. The defendants do not present, for example, 5 affidavits from the employees stating that they testified truthfully or without knowledge of

6 falsehood. 7 Because the defendants have not met their initial burden by a preponderance of the 8 evidence, I deny their motions under Nevada’s anti-SLAPP statute. I deny Haro’s request for 9 attorney’s fees because he has not incurred any as a pro se litigant. I also deny his request for 10 statutory damages under Nevada Revised Statutes § 41.670(3)(a) because I do not find the need 11 to do so to deter the filing of frivolous or vexatious anti-SLAPP motions. 12 B. Issue Preclusion 13 I deny the defendants’ motions to dismiss based on issue preclusion because they have 14 not met their burden of showing that there was a final ruling on the merits. See Alcantara ex rel.

15 Alcantara v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 321 P.3d 912, 916 (Nev. 2014) (for issue preclusion to apply, 16 there must be a final ruling on the merits); Bower v. Harrah’s Laughlin, Inc., 215 P.3d 709, 717 17 (Nev. 2009) (the party asserting issue preclusion bears the burden of showing it applies). The 18 defendants’ own evidence shows that the Nevada Court of Appeals reversed the hearing officer’s 19 decision and ordered a new administrative hearing. ECF No. 26-5 at 7, 18-19. I decline to 20 consider the defendants’ argument, raised for the first time in reply,1 that Haro did not appeal the 21 hearing officer’s credibility determinations, making those findings final. See ECF No. 40 at 13. 22

23 1 “The district court need not consider arguments raised for the first time in a reply brief.” Zamani v. Carnes, 491 F.3d 990, 997 (9th Cir. 2007).

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