State of Arizona v. Asarco LLC

733 F.3d 882, 2013 U.S. App. LEXIS 21613, 120 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 665
Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit·Decided October 24, 2013·No. 19-35665·Published·Cited by 7 cases

Opinions

Opinion by Judge O’SCANNLAIN; Partial Concurrence and Partial Dissent by Judge HURWITZ.

OPINION

O’SCANNLAIN, Circuit Judge:

We must decide whether the Constitution permits a six-figure punitive damage award in a sexual harassment suit where the jury awarded no compensatory damages and only one dollar in nominal damages.

I

ASARCO is a large copper mining and refining company. One of its many facilities is the Mission Mine Complex, located in Sahuarita, Arizona, about thirty miles south of Tucson. This facility includes both a mine and a mill, where copper ore is crushed, filtered and refined.

Angela Aguilar began working at the Mission mill facility on December 19, 2005. Including a leave of absence, Aguilar [884] worked at the mill facility until November 8, 2006. During that time, Aguilar alleges that she was subjected to sexual harassment, retaliation, and constructive discharge.

A

The first alleged occurrence of sexual harassment began on March 19, 2006, when Aguilar became a car loader at the filter plant. Her supervisor in this role was Wayne Johnson. Johnson was a large man — 6'2" and about 350 pounds — and according to Aguilar he made it known “at the start” that he was romantically interested in her. Aguilar testified that Johnson asked her out in some fashion “every day” and refused to train or to help her when she rejected him. Aguilar also claimed at trial that Johnson, when she asked for help, would “stand[ ] right on top” of her and press up against her. She claimed that she was afraid that Johnson might rape her.1

According to Aguilar, her complaints about Johnson initially fell on deaf ears. She stated at trial that she complained to ASARCO’s Human Resources Department (“HR”) about Johnson’s behavior several times and was told that there “is nothing [ASARCO] could do” and that Aguilar had to “handle it [herself].” The mill manager, Sam Lawrence, acknowledged that Aguilar complained to him about Johnson. Lawrence stated that he told Johnson to end his advances, and a week later, upon learning that Johnson had not stopped, threatened him with disciplinary action and the loss of his job. To “get away from” Johnson, Aguilar eventually bid for, and received, a promotion to another crew, where she started working on April 23, 2006.

B

While Aguilar was working at the filter plant, there was no functioning women’s restroom in the building. ASARCO had rented a portable toilet, a “porta-potty,” for Aguilar’s use. According to Aguilar, immediately after the toilet was put up, it was vandalized with pornographic graffiti directed at her. Even after the toilet was replaced, the graffiti was apparently replicated on the replacement. Aguilar claimed that she reported the graffiti to the HR department, to mill supervisor Gary Schwartzberg, and to mill manager Sam Lawrence. There is no evidence that the situation was promptly remedied and photos show that visible pornographic graffiti remained on the toilet as late as 2007.2

C

On June 18, 2006, Aguilar became a rod and ball mill person, which took her from the filter plant to the main mill building. In Aguilar’s crew was Julio Esquivel, a “distributed control systems operator.” Although he was not her direct supervisor, Aguilar reported to him and he maintained some authority over her day-to-day work.

Before Aguilar even had started in her new position, Esquivel warned, “your ass is mine” and told her that he would be spending more time with her than his “lady.” According to Aguilar, Esquivel [885] was often giving her conflicting orders, snapping his fingers at her, telling her to “watch herself,” yelling at her, and threatening her with termination. ASARCO responded to this testimony at trial by attempting to show that, as awful as Esquivel was toward Aguilar, it was not motivated by her sex but instead by his general boorishness.

As a result of Esquivel’s reputation as a “rude bully” who “yelled at everybody,” at least one manager at ASARCO did not feel the need to act in response to Aguilar’s complaints. In July, Aguilar asked for a leave of absence to deal with personal problems relating to the custody of her children. She took that leave in September of 2006 and did not return until November 1st. When she returned, she was placed on a different crew. Aguilar worked four more days and then quit ASARCO for good.

D

On March 21, 2008, Arizona filed suit in Pima County Superior Court against ASARCO on behalf of Aguilar and the state. Aguilar later filed her own suit, alleging sexual harassment under Title VII, retaliation and constructive discharge, relying on the same underlying facts. These proceedings were consolidated and removed to the United States District Court for the District of Arizona.

Aguilar’s allegations were tried over eight days. The jury found ASARCO liable on the sexual harassment claims but not on the constructive discharge or retaliation claims. Critically, the jury did not find any compensatory damages for Aguilar, instead awarding her one dollar in nominal damages for the sexual harassment claim. The jury also awarded her $868,750 in punitive damages.

ASARCO moved for judgment as a matter of law or, in the alternative, for a new trial, arguing that the punitive damages awarded were statutorily and unconstitutionally excessive.3 The district court ordered that the punitive damages be reduced to $300,000, which is the statutory maximum under Title VII for an employer of ASARCO’s size. 42 U.S.C. § 1981a(b)(3)(D). However, the district court held that these damages were not constitutionally excessive, and declined to reduce them any further.

ASARCO timely appealed.

II

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State of Arizona v. Asarco LLC, 733 F.3d 882, 2013 U.S. App. LEXIS 21613, 120 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 665 (9th Cir. 2013).

733 F.3d 882 (State of Arizona v. Asarco LLC) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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