Macias v. Southwest Cheese Co.

181 F. Supp. 3d 883, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 78523, 2016 WL 3212492
CourtDistrict Court, D. New Mexico
DecidedJanuary 8, 2016
DocketNo. CIV 12-350 JAP/WPL
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 181 F. Supp. 3d 883 (Macias v. Southwest Cheese Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. New Mexico primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Macias v. Southwest Cheese Co., 181 F. Supp. 3d 883, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 78523, 2016 WL 3212492 (D.N.M. 2016).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

JAMES A. PARKER, SENIOR UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

In this lawsuit, Plaintiff Yvonne Macias, a former employee of Defendant Southwest Cheese Company, LLC, asserts, inter alia, a hostile work environment claim premised on the contention that she was sexually harassed by two male coworkers—Cody Stewart and Jose Borjas—dur-ing the course of her employment. Plaintiff brings this claim under both Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title VII”), 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq., and the New Mexico "Human Rights Act (the “NMHRA”), N.M. Stat. Ann. § 28-1-7. On November 30, 2015, Defendant filed DEFENDANT SOUTHWEST CHEESE COMPANY’S MOTION FOR PARTIAL SUMMARY JUDGMENT AND BRIEF IN SUPPORT (Doc. No. 122) (“Defendant’s MPSJ”) asking the Court to dismiss Plaintiff’s hostile work environment claim with regard to Mr. Borjas. Plaintiff opposes Defendant’s motion for partial summary judgment as procedurally and substantively inadequate. See PLAINTIFF YVONNE MACIAS’S RESPONSE TO “DEFENDANT SOUTHWEST CHEESE COMPANY’S MOTION FOR PARTIAL SUMMARY JUDGMENT AND BRIEF IN SUPPORT”. (Doc. No. 130) (“Response”). Having carefully considered the evidence, briefing, including. DEFENDANT SOUTHWEST CHEESE COMPANY’S REPLY IN SUPPORT OF MOTION FOR PARTIAL SUMMARY JUDGMENT (Doc. No. 138) (“Reply”), and controlling law, the Court agrees that Southwest Cheese is , entitled to summary judgment on Plaintiffs hostile work environment claim related to conduct of Mr. Borjas. The Court will, therefore, grant Defendant’s motion.

[886]*886BACKGROUND

I. Plaintiffs Employment with Southwest Cheese

Plaintiff Yvonne Macias began working for Defendant Southwest Cheese Company, LLC in February 2009. Plaintiffs Affidavit, Exhibit 1 to PLAINTIFF YVONNE MACIAS’ RESPONSE TO “DEFENDANT SOUTHWEST CHEESE COMPANY’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT AND BRIEF IN SUPPORT” (Doc. No. 47) (Doc. No. 47-1) (“Plaintiffs Affidavit”) ¶2. Southwest Cheese terminated her employment in February of 2011. Id. ¶20. Ms. Macias maintains that two male Southwest Cheese employees sexually harassed her during her two years of employment. First, in June 2009, Cody Stewart—a Southwest Cheese Assistant Team Leader—allegedly exposed his genitals to Ms. Macias and another female employee. Id. ¶ 6. Ms. Macias contends that she reported this incident to a shift supervisor, but nothing was done. Id. ¶¶ 6, 21. Mr. Stewart remained employed by Southwest Cheese and would leer at Ms. Macias in a sexual manner while at work. Id. ¶ 7.

Second, according to Ms. Macias, starting in January 2011, after Ms. Macias moved to the day shift, Jose Borjas, a Southwest Cheese shift supervisor, started acting obsessively towards her. Id. ¶ 8. When Ms. Macias failed to reciprocate his attentions, Mr. Borjas allegedly began calling Ms. Macias to his office without cause, standing close to her, and staring at her in a provocative manner. Id. Although Plaintiff maintains she complained to various management employees that she was tired of Mr. Borjas and that he was making her miserable, Plaintiff never told Southwest Cheese management that Mr. Borjas was sexually harassing her. Deposition of Yvonne Macias, Exhibit C to DEFENDANT’S .MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT (Doc. No. 45-1 at 111:9-17, 113:21-23, 115:3-10, 117:6-20, 118:1-3, 118:20-25, 119:3, 119:17-25, 120:18-25). On February 8, 2011, Southwest Cheese discharged Ms. Macias after she had accumulated twelve disciplinary actions. Plaintiffs Affidavit ¶ 20; Affidavit of Brenda Miller, Exhibit B to DEFENDANT SOUTHWEST CHEESE COMPANY’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT AND BRIEF IN SUPPORT (Doc. No. 45) (Doc. No. 45-1) ¶ 7. The prior court rulings contain additional details regarding Ms. Macias’s employment with Southwest Cheese and the alleged harassment. See MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER (Doc. No. 61); Macias v. Southwest Cheese Co., LLC, 624 Fed.Appx. 628 (10th Cir.2015) (unpublished). The Court adopts, by reference, the facts set out in these opinions for the purpose of ruling on Defendant’s MPSJ.

II. Procedural History

In Plaintiffs FIRST AMENDED CIVIL COMPLAINT (Doc. No. 8), Plaintiff asserted seven claims against Defendant: (1) a 42 U.S.C. § 1981 racial discrimination claim, (2) a Title VII and NMHRA hostile work environment claim, (3) a Title VII quid pro quo sexual harassment claim, (4) a NMHRA retaliation claim, (5) a breach of contract claim, (6) an intentional infliction of emotional distress claim, and (7) a negligent supervision and retention claim. On December 12, 2012, the Court dismissed Plaintiffs § 1981 claim under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). See MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER (Doc. No. 19). Approximately nine months later, after the close of discovery, Defendant moved for summary judgment on Plaintiffs remaining claims, including Plaintiffs hostile work environment claim. See DEFENDANT SOUTHWEST CHEESE COMPANY’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT AND BRIEF IN SUPPORT (Doc. No. 45). The Court [887]*887construed Plaintiffs hostile work environment claim as. based on the alleged misconduct of both Mr. Borjas and Mr. Stewart. MEMORANDUM OPINION AND . ORDER (Doc. No. 61 at 11).

Because the Court determined that Mr. Borjas’s attempted flirtation and Mr. Stewart’s leering and act .of exposing himself were not severe enough to have altered the conditions of Plaintiffs employment, the Court granted Defendant’s motion for summary judgment on Plaintiffs hostile work environment claim. Id. at 19-24. The Court also dismissed Plaintiffs quid pro quo and retaliation claims, which were premised upon Plaintiffs factually unsupported assertion that Defendant fired her for refusing to engage in a flirtation with Mr. Borjas. Id. at 24-80. Plaintiff appealed. See NOTICE OF APPEAL (Doc. No. 63). On August 24, 2015, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals entered an ORDER AND JUDGMENT (1) reversing the dismissal of Plaintiffs hostile work environment claim, (2) affirming the dismissal of Plaintiffs quid pro quo and retaliation claims, and (3) vacating the remand of Plaintiffs remaining state law claims. See Macias, 624 Fed.Appx. 628. Because the scope of these rulings bears upon Defendant’s MPSJ, the Court will outline the rulings in detail.

The Court of Appeals turned to the merits of Plaintiffs hostile work environment claim almost exactly halfway through its opinion, after resolving various evidentiary and procedural disputes. Id. 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 14832 at *13. After summarizing the pertinent legal standards, the Court of Appeals considered and rejected this Court’s determination that the combined conduct of Mr. Borjas and Mr. Stewart did not rise to the level of objective hostility required to support an actionable discrimination claim. Id. at 636. In reaching this conclusion, the Court of Appeals focused primarily on the alleged misconduct of Mr. Stewart, which it described as criminal and “physically threatening and humiliating.” Id. at 636. Contrary to this Court’s determination, the Court of Appeals reasoned that Mr. Stewart’s act of exposing himself to Plaintiff and other female Southwest Cheese employees was serious enough to be considered objectively hostile.

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Bluebook (online)
181 F. Supp. 3d 883, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 78523, 2016 WL 3212492, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/macias-v-southwest-cheese-co-nmd-2016.