Rivas v. Caesars Enterprise Services, LLC

District Court, D. Nevada·Decided March 23, 2022·No. 2:19-cv-01637·Unknown

Opinion

GABROY LAW OFFICES 170 S. GREEN VALLEY PARKWAY, SUITE 280 HENDERSON, NV 89102 TELEPHONE: (702) 259-7777 FACSIMILE: (702) 259-7704 CHURCH STATE COUNCIL 2686 TOWNSGATE RD WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CA 91361 TELEPHONE: (805) 413-7396 FACSIMILE: (805) 497-3828 ATTORNEYS FOR PLAINTIFF DANIELA RIVAS DISTRICT OF NEVADA DANIELA RIVAS, Case No.: 2:19-CV-01637-KJD-DJA Plaintiff, v. JOINT PRETRIAL ORDER LLC, and DESERT PALACE, LLC Defendants. After pretrial proceedings in this case, IT IS SO ORDERED: I. STATEMENT OF THE NATURE OF THE ACTION AND THE PARTIES’ CONTENTIONS Plaintiff alleges two causes of action against Defendant Desert Palace, LLC (“Defendant” or “Caesars Palace”)1: 1. Failure to accommodate her religious observance of Sabbath, in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and 2. Religious Discrimination (disparate treatment) in Violation of Title VII of 1 Plaintiff originally brought this lawsuit against Caesars Enterprise Services, LLC (“CES”), and later amended her complaint to name Desert Palace, LLC as an additional defendant. See ECF No. 45. Concluding that CES cannot be liable for employment discrimination because it was not Plaintiff’s employer, the Court held that the claims against CES the Civil Rights Act of 1964. (a) Plaintiff’s Contentions: In its ruling on summary judgment, this Court already granted Plaintiff partial summary judgment with respect to her prima facie case that Caesars Palace failed to provide her a religious accommodation, i.e., Ms. Rivas has established she has 1) a sincerely held religious belief in observing the Sabbath as a day of rest and worship that conflicted with an employment duty; 2) she informed her employer of the belief and conflict; and 3) she was terminated for accumulating too many refusals due to her religious observance of Sabbath. Accordingly, Plaintiff contends that the facts supporting her prima facie case are not in contention. [ECF 65, at 8:6-20.]. Nothing in this JPTO should contradict such findings by this Court. The Court also made a fact finding that “accommodation could be made without impact on the seniority system…” and, therefore, that the seniority system does not prevent an accommodation. [ECF 65, at 10:7-8.] The remaining issue to be submitted to the jury is whether providing Ms. Rivas a religious accommodation “would pose an undue hardship on its schedulers and other Steady Extras”. [ECF 65, at 10:9-10.] Plaintiff contends that Defendant bears the burden to prove undue hardship as an affirmative defense by introducing non-speculative evidence of actual hardships. Plaintiff contends it is impossible for Defendant to sustain its burden to prove undue hardship in light of the availability of temporary Guest Room Attendants who were used to fill in where needed, as well as the minimal effort it would take to just call another person. It bears repeating that in light of the Court’s finding that the seniority system does not prevent an accommodation, Defendant cannot contend that any accommodation would be an undue hardship because it would violate its collective bargaining agreement Also at summary judgment, the Court ruled that Ms. Rivas established the first three elements of her claim of religious discrimination: 1) that she is a member of a protected class; 2) that she was qualified for the position; and 3) that there was an adverse action. Plaintiff contends the evidence supports her claim that Defendant’s policies and practices operated in a discriminatory manner and that Defendant’s actions give rise to an inference of discrimination. Ms. Rivas also contends that Caesars Palace cannot produce evidence of a legitimate non-discriminatory reason, because the only reason Caesars Palace has for terminating Ms. Rivas is because of her religious observance of the Sabbath. Ms. Rivas seeks all available relief under our law including but not limited to: lost wages, emotional distress damages, punitive damages, injunctive relief, declaratory relief, costs and attorneys’ fees. Further, nothing in this JPTO is to contradict any of the findings in this Court’s Order regarding summary judgment. (b) Defendant’s Contentions: Plaintiff’s cause of action for failure to accommodate religion fails because any accommodation would result in an undue hardship on Caesars Palace given the language of the applicable collective bargaining agreement, which among other things, specifically requires Caesars Palace to offer shifts to Plaintiff and the other Steady Extra Guest Room Attendants in order of seniority. Plaintiff’s cause of action for religious discrimination under a traditional disparate treatment theory fails because similarly situated individuals outside her protected class were not treated more favorably than Plaintiff. That is, Caesars Palace applies the 25% refusal standard to Steady Extra employees regardless of their religion. Moreover, the other circumstances surrounding Plaintiff’s termination do not give rise to an inference of discrimination. The ability to work any day, any shift was an essential function of the position at issue. Plaintiff could not satisfy that essential function, which led Caesars Palace to take the underlying employment action. Plaintiff’s failure to fulfill an essential function of her position is a legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for the termination. II. STATEMENT OF JURISDICTION This Court has jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331, 1337, and 1343 (Federal Question) as the two (2) causes of action arise under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et. seq. III. THE FOLLOWING FACTS ARE ADMITTED BY THE PARTIES AND REQUIRE NO PROOF: 1. At Caesars Palace, hotel rooms are serviced by employees known as Guest Room Attendants (“GRAs”). 2. Caesars Palace employs many GRAs on a regular, full-time basis. It also employs a secondary group of GRAs that are hired on a “Steady Extra” basis. There is a third group of GRAs that are temporary (“Temporary GRA”). 3. Steady Extra employees are not assigned a regular work schedule, but rather, are assigned shifts on as as-needed basis. 4. A Steady Extra is “a temporary or part-time employee . . . who is carried on the Employer’s regular payroll and who may be called by the Employer to perform work in addition to, or as vacation or temporary absence replacement for regular employees.” 5. If a Steady Extra does not answer the phone when called, or refuses to work an offered shift, then the next Steady Extra in the rotation is contacted until the shift is filled. 6. Steady Extras are permitted to refuse up to 25% of the shifts offered to them in a 60-day period. 7. Daniela Rivas is a member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church2. 8. Seventh-day Adventists observe the Sabbath as a day of rest and worship from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday. 2 Plaintiff contends that in this Court’s Order, ECF #65, this Court ruled and found that “Rivas has established that she has a sincerely held religious belief.” Defendants object to such quoted language in this Section and Plaintiff 9. On September 29, 2017, Plaintiff began working for Caesars Palace as a Temporary GRA. 10. After attending training Monday through Friday, Plaintiff worked as a Temporary GRA for several months until offered the opportunity to become a Steady Extra employee. 11. Plaintiff began work as a “Steady Extra” GRA on February 5, 2018. 12. Rivas submitted a letter from her pastor dated March 16, 2018, indicating that she is a Seventh-day Adventist and is unable to perform work duties during Sabbath hours. 13. On June 13, 2018, Caesars Palace i

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Rivas v. Caesars Enterprise Services, LLC, (D. Nev. 2022).

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