Mata v. Southern Pacific Transportation Co.

611 F. Supp. 330, 38 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1558, 1984 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 23617, 36 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 35,199
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. California
DecidedSeptember 13, 1984
DocketNo. C-82-3088 EFL
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 611 F. Supp. 330 (Mata v. Southern Pacific Transportation Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Mata v. Southern Pacific Transportation Co., 611 F. Supp. 330, 38 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1558, 1984 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 23617, 36 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 35,199 (N.D. Cal. 1984).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM DECISION

LYNCH, District Judge.

Plaintiff’s claim based on 42 U.S.C. § 1981 was tried by a jury which rendered its verdict in favor of the defendant. This Court tried plaintiff’s claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e, et seq., based on all the evidence presented to the jury. As to the Title VII action, this Court renders judgment in favor of the defendant for the reasons set out below.

The basis of plaintiff’s action is that the defendant terminated his employment because of plaintiff being of Hispanic origin and that such act and policy deprived him of equal employment opportunity in violation of federal law.

Law: To prove a prima facie case plaintiff has the burden of proving that (1) he belongs to a racial minority; (2) he was fired from his job; and (3) a non-minority person involved in the same conduct for which he was fired was treated differently. International Brotherhood of Teamsters v. United States, et al., 431 U.S. 324, 97 S.Ct. 1843, 52 L.Ed.2d 396 (1977); McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 93 S.Ct. 1817, 36 L.Ed.2d 668 (1973). If a prima facie case is established, defendant must establish a legitimate nondiscriminatory reason for its actions. McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, supra. If defendant so establishes a legitimate reason, then plaintiff must prove that the employer articulated nondiscriminatory reason for its action which was a pretext for discrimination. Texas Department of Community Affairs v. Burdine, 450 U.S. 248, 101 S.Ct. 1089, 67 L.Ed.2d 207 (1981).

The recent United States Supreme Court case of United States Postal Service v. Aikens, 460 U.S. 711, 103 S.Ct. 1478, 75 L.Ed.2d 403 (1983) reaffirmed the above stated law as long as the prima facie case method was not used in a mechanical or rigid manner.

The Court stated:

But when the defendant fails to persuade the district court to dismiss the action for a lack of a prima facie case, and responds to the plaintiff’s proof by offering evidence of the reason for plaintiff’s rejection, the fact finder must then decide whether the rejection was discriminatory within the meaning of Title VII. At this stage, the McDonnell-Burdine presumption “drops from the case,” and “the factual inquiry proceeds to a new level of specificity.” After Aikens presented his evidence to the district court in this case, the Postal Service’s witnesses testified that he was not promoted because he had turned down several lateral transfers that would have broadened his Postal Service experience. The district court was then in a position to decide the ultimate factual issue in the case.
The “factual inquiry” in a Title VII case is “whether the defendant intentionally discriminated against the plaintiff.” In other words, is “the employer ... treating ‘some people less favorably than [332]*332others because of their race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.’ ” The prima facie case method established in McDonnell Douglas was “never intended to be rigid, mechanized, or ritualistic. Rather it is merely a sensible, orderly way to evaluate the evidence in light of common experience as it bears on the critical question of discrimination.” Where the defendant has done everything that would be required of him if the plaintiff had properly made out a prima facie case, whether the plaintiff really did so is no longer relevant. The district court has before it all the evidence it needs to decide whether “the defendant intentionally discriminated against the plaintiff.”
On the state of the record at the close of the evidence, the District Court in this case should have proceeded to this specific question directly, just as district courts decide disputed questions of fact in other civil litigation. As we stated in Burdine:
“The plaintiff retains the burden of persuasion. [H]e may succeed in this either directly by persuading the court that a discriminatory reason more likely motivated the employer or indirectly by showing that the employer’s proffered explanation is unworthy of credence.”

The case of United States Postal Service v. Aikens, supra also reaffirms the rule that the alleged discrimination against plaintiff, did not have to show direct evidence of discrimination, the plaintiff could prove his case by circumstantial evidence of discrimination. In summary, the duty of the trier of fact is to determine whether the defendant intentionally discriminated against the plaintiff because of plaintiff’s national origin and to use all of the evidence in the case, both direct and circumstantial, to determine this issue.

Facts: Plaintiff was employed by the defendant on April 12, 1978, as a laborer and was terminated effective August 31, 1981, for insubordination.

On July 9, 1981, the plaintiff injured his hand while working for Southern Pacific. He claimed his hand was cut, bruised and bleeding. He immediately went to the Port Medical Center and saw a physician who gave him a tetanus shot, took X-rays, and bandaged the wound. He then proceeded back to the defendant’s yard and reported to his superintendent, L.R. Holsinger, to whom he gave the medical slip. The doctor’s slip indicated that he could go back to work on a full-time basis on Monday, July 13, and he could work on light duty the next day, Friday, July 10. The plaintiff testified that he told Holsinger that he was going to make an appointment to see his own personal physician. He agreed that Holsinger ordered him to come back to the office the next day (July 10) and fill out the accident report. Plaintiff claimed he could not fill out the accident report that day as his hand was sore. The plaintiff did not report to work to sign the accident report on July 10 and remained off work until Monday, July 20- Plaintiff contended this was on the advice of his own personal physician, Dr. Derr. Contrary to plaintiff’s statement, the Court finds that plaintiff clearly was able to come to work on Friday, July 10 to sign the accident report.

Holsinger’s testimony was that the accident happened to the plaintiff while he was working as a helper to another Southern Pacific employee, E.L. Johnson, who is white. He testified that the plaintiff’s cut did not look very serious, but the plaintiff said “I’ll take four or five days off for this injury and then everything will be lovely.”

Because of plaintiff’s failure to report to work the next day to sign the accident report, Holsinger initiated charges of insubordination against plaintiff.

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Bluebook (online)
611 F. Supp. 330, 38 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1558, 1984 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 23617, 36 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 35,199, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mata-v-southern-pacific-transportation-co-cand-1984.