Saldivar v. Aberdeen Dynamics, LLC

284 F. Supp. 3d 1241
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Oklahoma
DecidedFebruary 16, 2018
DocketCase No. 16–cv–00320–JED–JFJ
StatusPublished

This text of 284 F. Supp. 3d 1241 (Saldivar v. Aberdeen Dynamics, LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Saldivar v. Aberdeen Dynamics, LLC, 284 F. Supp. 3d 1241 (N.D. Okla. 2018).

Opinion

JOHN E. DOWDELL, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

Plaintiff Hector Saldivar ("Plaintiff") has brought this action against Defendant Aberdeen Dynamics, LLC ("Aberdeen") for retaliation under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e, et seq. ("Title VII") and for disability discrimination in employment under the American with Disabilities Act of 1990, as amended by the ADA Amendments Act of 2008, 42 U.S.C. § 12101, et seq. ("ADA"). Now before the Court is Aberdeen's Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 36). Plaintiff has filed a Response in Opposition (Doc. 42), and Aberdeen has filed a Reply (Doc. 47).

I. Background

The following facts are supported by evidence in the record and are construed in favor of Plaintiff, the non-movant. See Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc. , 477 U.S. 242, 255, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986).

Plaintiff was first hired by Aberdeen in August 2006 to work as a hydraulic technician. He held this position for two years before voluntarily leaving Aberdeen in August 2008. In 2011, Aberdeen rehired Plaintiff for the same position. After several months, Plaintiff was promoted to an inside sales position. Plaintiff had expressed interest in advancing within the company, and Joseph ("Joe") Martin, the company's president, believed Plaintiff had shown an aptitude for performing the inside sales duties. (Doc. 36-7 at 6 [J. Martin Dep., p. 16] ).1 There was also an opportunity to earn commissions on sales in this new role. (Id. at 13 [J. Martin Dep., p. 34] ). While Plaintiff did not begin earning commissions while in the inside sales position, *1244he did receive a raise on August 1, 2011. (Id. ; Doc. 36-4).

In December 2011, Joe Martin decided to move Plaintiff back to the service shop to work under Pete Martin, the shop manager. (Doc. 36-7 at 9, 12 [J. Martin Dep., p. 30, 33]; Doc. 36-15 at ¶¶ 2, 7] ). There was still an opportunity to earn commissions in this new position if he could perform the job as it "needed to be done." (Doc. 36-7 at 14 [J. Martin Dep., p. 35] ). Plaintiff received a merit raise on April 1, 2012, and began earning commissions on September 1, 2012. (Doc. 36-4). Plaintiff became eligible to receive commissions because "[h]e was putting in the effort and was improving, he was showing promise." (Doc. 36-7 at 15 [J. Martin Dep., p. 36] ).

In this new position, Plaintiff was initially helping Pete with paperwork, though his role evolved over time into a lead position. (Doc. 36-5 at 2-9 [P. Martin Dep., pp. 14-21] ). Eventually, Plaintiff was making all of the purchases for the shop, filling out 209 reports,2 and submitting repair quotes to the salesmen to use with customers. (Id. ). Plaintiff was also supervising the shop employees. (Doc. 42-1 at 3 [Pl. Dep., p. 42-44] ).

A. The Moffatt Incident

In February 2014, Aberdeen employee Mike Moffatt ("Moffatt") began making derogatory comments to Plaintiff. Upon learning that Plaintiff was born in the United States and his parents were from Mexico, Moffatt called Plaintiff's parents "wetback border jumpers." (Id. at 7 [Pl. Dep., p. 98] ). Later that day, Moffatt came up to Plaintiff and a gaggle of other employees and used the term "wetbacks" to describe patrons at an AutoZone Moffatt had visited over the weekend. (Id. at 7 [Pl. Dep., p. 99] ). About a week later, Moffatt told Plaintiff that "a group of good ole boys needs to come and kill all those wetbacks and niggers" living in Tulsa. (Id. at 7 [Pl. Dep., p. 100] ).

Plaintiff first reported the comments to Aberdeen's CEO, Dominic White, on March 14, 2014. (Id. at 8 [Pl. Dep., p. 101] ). On March 17, 2014, Plaintiff met with Joe, Pete, Moffatt, and the human resources manager, Beverly Coulander ("Coulander"). (Id. at 8 [Pl. Dep., p. 101] ). At the meeting, Joe Martin stated that he did not believe Moffatt was capable of making such remarks. (Doc. 42-1 at 9 [Pl. Dep., pp. 105, 107] ). This caused Plaintiff to "shut down" and worry that there would be repercussions for making the complaint. (Id. ).

When the meeting was over, Plaintiff outwardly expressed satisfaction with the resolution of his complaint. (Doc. 36-8 at 6-7 [Coulander Dep., pp. 22-23] ). In fact, he was not happy about how the meeting went. (Doc. 42-1 at 9 [Pl. Dep. at 106] ). Plaintiff met with Joe again on March 20, at which point Joe told Plaintiff that he did believe him. (Id. at 9 [Pl. Dep., p. 108] ). The two men "shook hands on it," and Plaintiff felt satisfied that the matter was over. (Id. ).

Also on March 20, an employee named Donnie Driscoll went into Pete Martin's office and told him he was willing to vouch for Plaintiff regarding Moffatt's derogatory remarks. (Doc. 36-5 at 31-32 [P. Martin Dep., pp. 66-67] ). Pete was "very disappointed" because he thought the matter had been settled at the March 17 meeting. (Id. at 32 [P. Martin Dep., p. 67] ). Pete was unaware that Plaintiff had had a follow-up discussion with Joe. (Id. at 37 [P. Martin Dep., p. 75] ).

*1245The next morning, on March 21, Pete Martin went to Plaintiff's office and began talking loudly and aggressively. (Doc. 42-1 at 10 [Pl. Dep., p. 112] ). Pete told Plaintiff that he should be handling the Moffatt issue privately with HR, instead of "caus[ing] dissent out there with the employees." (Doc. 36-5 at 32 [P. Martin Dep., pp. 67] ). Pete told Plaintiff that he thought he had "shot [himself] in the foot on this one." (Id. at 33 [P. Martin Dep., p. 68] ). Pete also told Plaintiff that his advancements at Aberdeen had come to an end and that he no longer supervised employees. (Doc. 42-1 at 10, 13 [Pl. Dep., pp. 112, 128] ). Plaintiff then spoke with Joe Martin, who told him that if Pete said his advancement in the company was over, then that was true. (Id. at 14 [Pl. Dep., p. 129] ).

B. Plaintiff's Loss of Duties

The parties agree that Moffatt ultimately took over Plaintiff's role as supervisor over the shop employees, but they disagree as to when and why this occurred. Although Aberdeen asserts that Moffatt began taking over these duties in early 2014-before Plaintiff made his complaint to HR-Plaintiff has presented evidence that Joe and Pete had not discussed making any changes to Plaintiff's work duties before the complaint was made. (Doc. 36-5 at 27-28 [P. Martin Dep., pp. 49-50]; Doc. 42-2 at 7 [J. Martin Dep., p. 79] ). According to Plaintiff, he was a supervisor "[u]ntil the day that [he] reported the Moffatt incident." (Doc. 42-1 at 3 [Pl.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green
411 U.S. 792 (Supreme Court, 1973)
Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc.
477 U.S. 242 (Supreme Court, 1986)
McKennon v. Nashville Banner Publishing Co.
513 U.S. 352 (Supreme Court, 1995)
Morgan v. Hilti, Inc.
108 F.3d 1319 (Tenth Circuit, 1997)
Anderson v. Coors Brewing Co.
181 F.3d 1171 (Tenth Circuit, 1999)
Mason v. Avaya Communications, Inc.
357 F.3d 1114 (Tenth Circuit, 2004)
Bones v. Honeywell International, Inc.
366 F.3d 869 (Tenth Circuit, 2004)
Zamora v. Elite Logistics, Inc.
478 F.3d 1160 (Tenth Circuit, 2007)
Argo v. Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Kansas, Inc.
452 F.3d 1193 (Tenth Circuit, 2006)
Perkins v. Silver Mountain Sports Club & Spa, LLC
557 F.3d 1141 (Tenth Circuit, 2009)
Johnson v. Weld County, Colo.
594 F.3d 1202 (Tenth Circuit, 2010)
Twigg v. Hawker Beechcraft Corp.
659 F.3d 987 (Tenth Circuit, 2011)
Carter v. PATHFINDER ENERGY SERVICES, INC.
662 F.3d 1134 (Tenth Circuit, 2011)
Butler v. City of Prairie Village, Kansas
172 F.3d 736 (Tenth Circuit, 1999)
Tolan v. Cotton
134 S. Ct. 1861 (Supreme Court, 2014)
Ward v. Jewell
772 F.3d 1199 (Tenth Circuit, 2014)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
284 F. Supp. 3d 1241, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/saldivar-v-aberdeen-dynamics-llc-oknd-2018.