Roberts v. Las Vegas Valley Water District

849 F. Supp. 1393, 1994 WL 147723
CourtDistrict Court, D. Nevada
DecidedApril 18, 1994
DocketCV-S-92-1062-PMP (RLH)
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 849 F. Supp. 1393 (Roberts v. Las Vegas Valley Water District) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Nevada primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Roberts v. Las Vegas Valley Water District, 849 F. Supp. 1393, 1994 WL 147723 (D. Nev. 1994).

Opinion

ORDER

PRO, District Judge.

Before the Court is a Motion for Summary Judgment (#22) filed by Defendants Las Vegas Valley Water District (“District”), Patricia Mulroy (“Mulroy”) and Patricia Maxwell (“Maxwell”) on January 20,1994. Plaintiff Jim A. Roberts (“Roberts”) filed his Opposition (# 24) on February 7, 1994. Defendants filed their Reply (#27) on March 28, 1994.

I. Summary Judgment

Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56, summary judgment is proper “if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.”

The party moving for summary judgment has the initial burden of showing the absence of a genuine issue of material fact. See Adickes v. S.H. Kress & Co., 398 U.S. 144, 90 S.Ct. 1598, 26 L.Ed.2d 142 (1970); Zoslaw v. MCA Distrib. Corp., 693 F.2d 870, 883 (9th Cir.1982). Once the movant’s burden is met by presenting evidence which, if uncontro-verted, would entitle the movant to a directed verdict at trial, the burden then shifts to the respondent to set forth specific facts demonstrating that there is a genuine issue for trial. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 250, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 2511, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). If the factual context makes the respondent’s claim implausible, that party must come forward with more persuasive evidence than would otherwise be necessary to show that there is a genuine issue for trial. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323-24, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 2552-53, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986); Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 586-87, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 1355-56, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986); California Arch. Bldg. Prod. v. Franciscan Ceramics, 818 F.2d 1466, 1468 (9th Cir.1987), cert. denied, 484 U.S. 1006, 108 S.Ct. 699, 98 L.Ed.2d 650 (1988).

If the party seeking summary judgment meets this burden, then summary judgment will be granted unless there is significant probative evidence tending to support the opponent’s legal theory. First National Bank of Arizona v. Cities Service Co., 391 U.S. 253, 290, 88 S.Ct. 1575, 1593, 20 L.Ed.2d 569 (1968); Commodity Futures Trading Comm’n v. Savage, 611 F.2d 270 (9th Cir.1979). Parties seeking to defeat summary judgment cannot stand on their pleadings once the movant has submitted affidavits or other similar materials. Affidavits that do not affirmatively demonstrate personal knowledge are insufficient. British Airways *1395 Bd. v. Boeing Co., 585 F.2d 946, 952 (9th Cir.1978), cert. denied, 440 U.S. 981, 99 S.Ct. 1790, 60 L.Ed.2d 241 (1979). Likewise, “legal memoranda and oral argument are not evidence and do not create issues of fact capable of defeating an otherwise valid motion for summary judgment.” Id.

A material issue of fact is one that affects the outcome of the litigation and requires a trial to resolve the differing versions of the truth. See Admiralty Fund v. Hugh Johnson & Co., 677 F.2d 1301, 1305-06 (9th Cir.1982); Admiralty Fund v. Jones, 677 F.2d 1289, 1293 (9th Cir.1982).

All facts and inferences drawn must be viewed in the light most favorable to the responding party when determining whether a genuine issue of material fact exists for summary judgment purposes. Poller v. CBS, Inc., 368 U.S. 464, 82 S.Ct. 486, 7 L.Ed.2d 458 (1962). After drawing inferences favorable to the respondent, summary judgment will be granted only if all reasonable inferences defeat the respondent’s claims. Admiralty Fund v. Tabor, 677 F.2d 1297, 1298 (9th Cir.1982).

The trilogy of Supreme Court cases cited above establishes that “[sjummary judgment procedure is properly regarded not as a disfavored procedural shortcut, but rather as an integral part of the Federal Rules as a whole, which are designed ‘to secure the just, speedy and inexpensive determination of every action.’ ” Celotex Corp., 477 U.S. at 327, 106 S.Ct. at 2555 (quoting Fed.R.Civ.P. 1). See also Avia Group Int'l, Inc. v. L.A. Gear Cal., 853 F.2d 1557, 1560 (Fed.Cir.1988).

II. Facts

Defendant Las Vegas Valley Water District employed Plaintiff Roberts from 1969 until his termination on June 12, 1992. Specifically, Roberts worked as Support Manager in the Treatment and Transmission Department since being transferred to that Department in 1987. According to Defendants, Joe Monscvitz (“Monscvitz”) has managed the Treatment and Transmission Department since 1971, and he reports to Water System Deputy General Manager Robert Sullivan. In turn, Sullivan reports to District General Manager Defendant Mulroy. Defendant Maxwell is the Director of Human Resources and staff services for the District.

According to Defendants, in 1991, Roberts began to send internal correspondence to other departments, in which he criticized certain District employees, practices and policies. Monscvitz, Roberts’ supervisor, attempted to curb this practice by requiring that he give his prior approval to all interdepartmental correspondence and correspondence written by Roberts as a management employee. Monscvitz warned Roberts that a failure to abide by this policy could result in discipline, up to and including termination from employment. According to Defendants, Roberts responded, in writing, that he would not follow this policy, and in fact did not follow it on two subsequent occasions.

Additionally, the record reflects repeated correspondence between Roberts and Clark County Commissioner Bruce Woodbury (“Woodbury”) beginning with a letter dated May 13,1991, in which Roberts discussed his dissatisfaction with specific District policies and practices. 1 See, e.g.,

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