Hernandez v. Valley View Hospital Ass'n

684 F.3d 950, 82 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 1197, 2012 WL 2384265, 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 13070, 95 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 44,540, 115 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 592
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
DecidedJune 26, 2012
Docket11-1244
StatusPublished
Cited by134 cases

This text of 684 F.3d 950 (Hernandez v. Valley View Hospital Ass'n) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

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Hernandez v. Valley View Hospital Ass'n, 684 F.3d 950, 82 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 1197, 2012 WL 2384265, 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 13070, 95 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 44,540, 115 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 592 (10th Cir. 2012).

Opinion

MATHESON, Circuit Judge.

Teresa Hernandez sued Valley View Hospital Association for race and national origin discrimination in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000e to 20006-17. 1 The district court granted summary judgment for Valley View on Ms. Hernandez’s claims for hostile work environment and constructive discharge, and dismissed her retaliation claim as time-barred.

Exercising jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291, we reverse on the hostile work environment and constructive discharge claims and affirm on the retaliation claim.

I. BACKGROUND

A. Factual History 2

Ms. Hernandez, a Latina of Mexican origin, began working in 2001 at Valley View in the food services department. Marc Lillis and Nicholas Stillahn started supervising her in November 2004 and March 2005, respectively. Ms. Hernandez transferred out of food services in June 2005, but returned in October 2006. As discussed in detail below, Ms. Hernandez alleges that during the time Mr. Lillis and Mr. Stillahn supervised her, they frequently made racially derogatory jokes and comments about Latinos and Mexicans, and continued to do so despite her complaints to them that their remarks were offensive.

*954 Ms. Hernandez provided the following examples in her discovery responses and at her deposition:

• Although Ms. Hernandez was not able to recall some dates, the racial joke Mr. Lillis repeated most often was to ask Mr. Stillahn, “[D]o you know why Mexicans don’t BBQ?,” and when Mr. Stillahn asked “[W]hy[?],” Mr. Lillis answered, “[Bjecause the beans go through the grill.” Aplt. App. at 298, 427.
• Mr. Lillis and Mr. Stillahn repeated another racial joke several times, once in December 2006: “[D]o you know why Mexicans and Latinos make tamales for Christmas? So they can have something to unwrap.” Id. at 298, 427.
• Her supervisors repeated these and other racial jokes before and after her transfer. Id. at 299 (testifying Mr. Lillis made the barbeque joke three to five times); 302-03 (made the tamale joke three or four times); 427 (listing these as examples of the racial jokes). Ms. Hernandez repeatedly complained to Mr. Lillis and Mr. Stillahn that these jokes and comments were racist, inappropriate, and not nice. Id. at 301-03, 305-07.
• In June 2005, Barbara, a non-Latina co-worker, told the other employees, in front of Mr. Lillis, to “put ice in the cups. You’re not in Mexico anymore.” Id. at 300-01, 332. Ms. Hernandez told Mr. Lillis this remark was racist and that she was offended by it because she was from Mexico. Id. at 302. He laughed and said, “She’s not talking about you. She’s talking about a country.” Id. Ms. Hernandez replied that she came from that country; Mr. Lillis answered, “Well, you’re a citizen of the United States.” Id.
• In August 2006, Mr. Lillis laughed at Ms. Hernandez’s son’s prom photo and said that only a Latino would wear tennis shoes to a prom. Id. at 303.
• In December 2006, Mr. Stillahn complained about having to work Christmas Day when Latino workers were going to be off, saying “Of course. My hair is not dark.” Id. at 232. When Ms. Hernandez asked what he meant, he said, “I’m not a Latino.” Id. She complained about this remark to Paul Tapia, another supervisor, who told her the remark was not racist. Id.
• In March 2007, when Ms. Hernandez’s family members joined her for lunch, Mr. Stillahn asked her if they had paid for their lunches. When she said “yes,” he challenged her because he had not seen her at the register. Id. at 233, 327. She told Mr. Stillahn that she thought he was being racist because some of her family are African-American, and she told him he could check the camera at the register.
• Every time he saw a Latino worker get a drink, Mr. Stillahn asked if they had paid for it, but he never asked that of a non-Latino worker. Id. at 234. Ms. Hernandez repeatedly complained to Mr. Lillis about this, but he never responded. Id. at 235.
• Mr. Stillahn chastised a Latino worker for wearing non-conforming shoes, but he said nothing to a white employee who did the same. Id. at 235-36.
• One day in June 2007, Mr. Lillis repeatedly asked Ms. Hernandez if, or made the accusation that, an accused murderer in the news with the Hernandez surname was her son or brother. Id. at 230-31. He asked this question every time he walked by her, at least five times, in front of others. Id. at 230-31, 428. She told Mr. Lillis she was unrelated to the murderer and *955 that “[j]ust because my name is Hernandez and just because I’m a Latino doesn’t mean my son murdered that guy.” She repeatedly told him that his remark upset her, made her uncomfortable, and was racist. Id.

Ms. Hernandez testified that on July 20, 2007, Mr. Stillahn angrily yelled at her that the cafeteria had “looked like shit” the day before and then “started screaming.” Aplt. App. at 238. Ms. Hernandez responded, “Well, maybe I’m not white enough.” Id. She said Mr. Stillahn “got even more upset” and pushed a cart and kicked a door. Id. When she confirmed to Mr. Lillis that she had made that remark, he told her to go home.

That afternoon, Nikki Norton, Valley View’s Human Resources Coordinator, told Ms. Hernandez she was being suspended for making the “not white enough” comment. Ms. Hernandez asked Ms. Norton why she was being suspended for her comment when a non-Latina co-worker, Barbara, was not disciplined for making a remark Ms. Hernandez had complained at the time was racist and offensive to Mexicans. Id. at 317, 303-02. Ms. Hernandez told Ms. Norton about the racist jokes and comments that Mr. Lillis and Mr. Stillahn often made. Id.

That same day, Ms. Norton sent an email to Valley View’s Administrative Director of Human Resources, Daniel Biggs, stating that Mr. Lillis and Mr. Tapia wanted to fire Ms. Hernandez because they “didn’t want that type of person working here.” Id. at 573. She told Mr. Biggs that she agreed Ms. Hernandez should be fired and told Mr. Lillis he first had to “get his ducks in a row’ and write [Ms. Hernandez] up for job performance issues.” Id. Ms. Norton further stated she would pull Ms. Hernandez’s personnel file to see if there were other write-ups. Id. at 574.

Ms. Hernandez met with Mr. Lillis and Mr.

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684 F.3d 950, 82 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 1197, 2012 WL 2384265, 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 13070, 95 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 44,540, 115 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 592, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hernandez-v-valley-view-hospital-assn-ca10-2012.