Luce v. Dalton

166 F.R.D. 457, 1996 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12266, 1996 WL 189733
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. California
DecidedApril 1, 1996
DocketCivil No. 93-1687-BTM
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 166 F.R.D. 457 (Luce v. Dalton) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Luce v. Dalton, 166 F.R.D. 457, 1996 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12266, 1996 WL 189733 (S.D. Cal. 1996).

Opinion

BATTAGLIA United States Magistrate Judge.

Plaintiff moves to amend the complaint to add new theories of age discrimination.1 Specifically, Plaintiff seeks to allege that he was wrongfully terminated because of his age, because of his age plus his religion, because of his age plus being a non-Mormon, and/or because of his age plus his hearing disability (i.e. Plaintiff seeks to allege “age-plus” theories of discrimination). Counsel for Defendant argues that the motion to amend should be denied because these claims are time-barred and, therefore, any amendment would be futile.

By Order of February 21, 1996, Counsel were to submit supplemental briefing regarding (1) whether there exists in the law a viable “age-plus” theory of liability; and (2) whether a time-barred cause of action may be used as a “plus” in an “age-plus” theory of discrimination under the ADEA The Court found this matter appropriate for submission on the papers without oral argument pursuant to Local Rule 7.1(d)(1).

Upon review of all the papers submitted by both parties, and for the reasons set forth below, Plaintiffs Motion to Amend the Complaint is hereby DENIED.

DÍ8CU88ÍOII

1. Legal Standard for Determining a Motion to Amend

Rule 15(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure provides that leave to amend “shall be freely given when justice so requires.” This policy favoring amendments of the pleadings is to be applied “with extraordinary liberality.” Morongo Band of Mission Indians v. Rose, 893 F.2d 1074, 1079 (9th Cir.1990). Reasons justifying denial of a motion to amend under Rule 15(a) include undue delay, bad faith or dilatory motive, futility of amendment, and prejudice. Moore v. Kayport Package Express, 885 F.2d 531, 538 (9th Cir.1989).

[459]*459In opposition to the motion to amend, Defendant appears to argue that the amendment would be futile as the claims for religious and disability discrimination are time-barred. A proposed amendment is futile for purposes of denying a motion to amend where no set of facts may be proven under the amendment to the pleadings that would constitute a valid and sufficient claim or defense. Miller v. Rykoff-Sexton, Inc., 845 F.2d 209, 214 (9th Cir.1988). As such, the standard for determining whether an amended complaint is legally sufficient to overcome an argument that amendment would be futile is the same as determining the legal sufficiency of a complaint under Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6). Id.

2. Age-Plus Discrimination

Plaintiff here proposes to amend his complaint to add “age-plus-disability” and “age-plus-religion” causes of action. It is important to noté that Plaintiffs claim for religious discrimination has already implicitly been held by this Court to be time-barred. In addition, Plaintiff has never exhausted his administrative remedies with regard to his claim of disability discrimination, such that any disability claim is also time-barred. Plaintiff has clarified that the claim of disability discrimination is not necessarily one which would even rise to the level of protections under the Rehabilitation Act or Americans with Disabilities Act.2 Therefore, Plaintiff cannot bring his claims of employment discrimination based upon religious or disability discrimination as separate causes of action before this Court.

The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (“ADEA”) 29 U.S.C. § 621 et seq. prohibits employers and labor organizations from discriminating against older workers with regard to the scope, terms, and conditions of employment. 29 U.S.C. § 623. The ADEA became law due to the rising numbers of long-term unemployment among older workers, resulting from arbitrary age limitations set by employers. 29 U.S.C. § 621. Plaintiffs case is currently plead as only one for age discrimination under the ADEA However, Plaintiff seeks to amend his Complaint to add causes of action based upon “age-plus” theories of liability.

Plaintiff’s proposed “age-plus” theories of liability derive from a line of cases which provide protection, under Title VII, to discreet subclasses such as African-American or Asian women. The “sex-plus” theory of liability is said to have been first recognized by the Supreme Court in Phillips v. Martin Marietta Corp., 400 U.S. 542, 91 S.Ct. 496, 27 L.Ed.2d 613 (1971). In Phillips, the defendant employer obtained summary judgment on plaintiffs claim that she was discriminated against on the basis of her sex. Specifically, the facts presented at the trial court were as follows: (1) in 1966 defendant informed plaintiff that it was not accepting job applications from women with pre-school-age children; (2) as of the time of the summary judgment motion, defendant employed men with pre-school-age children; and (3) at the time plaintiff applied for employment with defendant, 70-75% of the applicants for the position she sought were women, and 75-80% of those hired for the position she sought were women. Based upon these facts, the trial court concluded that plaintiff presented no question of bias as against women. Upon review the Supreme Court held that the trial court erred in permitting one hiring policy for women and another for men, each of whom have pre-school-age children.

The theory of “sex-plus” discrimination was further explained by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in Jefferies v. Harris County Community Action Ass’n, 615 F.2d 1025 (5th Cir.1980). In Jefferies, the court, based upon both the language of Title VII and the Supreme Court’s decision in Phillips, recognized black women as a distinct subclass for purposes of Title VII protection. Id. at 1034. Title VII provides a remedy against employment discrimination based upon an employee’s “race, color, religion, sex or national origin.” 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2(a). The court found that the use of the word “or” within the language of Title VII “evidences Congress’ intent to prohibit employment discrim¡nation based on any or all of the listed [460]*460characteristics.” Id. at 1032. As such, the court reasoned that

In the absence of a clear expression by Congress that it did not intend to provide protection against discrimination directed especially toward black women as a class separate and distinct from the class of women and the class of blacks, we cannot condone a result which leaves black women without a viable Title VII remedy.

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Bluebook (online)
166 F.R.D. 457, 1996 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12266, 1996 WL 189733, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/luce-v-dalton-casd-1996.