Streets v. SPACE SYSTEMS/LORAL, LLC

CourtDistrict Court, N.D. California
DecidedSeptember 13, 2021
Docket5:20-cv-07901
StatusUnknown

This text of Streets v. SPACE SYSTEMS/LORAL, LLC (Streets v. SPACE SYSTEMS/LORAL, LLC) 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
Streets v. SPACE SYSTEMS/LORAL, LLC, (N.D. Cal. 2021).

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 6 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 7 SAN JOSE DIVISION 8 9 SIMON STREETS, Case No. 20-cv-07901-EJD

10 Plaintiff, ORDER RE: MOTION TO DISMISS, STRIKE, AND/OR FOR A MORE 11 v. DEFINITE STATEMENT

12 SPACE SYSTEMS/LORAL, LLC, et al., Re: Dkt. No. 14 Defendants. 13

14 On August 21, 2020, Plaintiff Simon Streets (“Streets”) filed suit against Defendants Space 15 Systems/Loral, LLC (“SSL”) and Maxar Technologies Holdings Inc. (“Maxar”) (collectively 16 “Defendants”) in the Superior Court of Santa Clara County, California. Notice of Removal, Ex. A 17 (“Compl.”), Dkt. No. 1. Streets alleges age and disability discrimination, retaliation, wrongful 18 termination, failure to accommodate, negligence, and unlawful, unfair, and fraudulent business 19 practices, in violation of California and federal law. On November 10, 2020, his complaint was 20 removed to this Court. Notice of Removal, Dkt. No. 1. Before the Court is Defendants’ motion to 21 dismiss, to strike, and/or for a more definite statement. Defs.’ Mot. to Dismiss, to Strike, and, 22 Alternatively, For a More Definite Statement (“Mot.”), Dkt. No. 14. Streets opposes the motion. 23 Opp’n, Dkt. No. 16. Defendants filed a reply to Streets’ opposition. Reply, Dkt. No. 17. Having 24 considered the parties’ papers, the record in this case, and the relevant legal authority, the Court 25 orders as follows: Defendants’ motion to dismiss is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part, 26 Defendants’ motion to strike is DENIED, and Defendants’ motion for a more definite statement 27 CASE NO.: 20-CV-07901-EJD 1 is DENIED. 2 I. BACKGROUND1 3 Streets, now over the age of fifty-five, began working for SSL and Maxar (Streets says 4 they are his joint employers) as an Export Licensing Specialist in the Trade Compliance Export 5 Group on January 30, 2006. Compl. at 3. Despite his qualifications and strong performance2, he 6 was denied multiple promotions, subject to harassment and discriminatory treatment, and 7 eventually, on June 28, 2018, involuntarily terminated. Id. at 3-6. 8 Streets largely makes general allegations of discriminatory treatment and harassment. He 9 provides a few examples of this conduct, mostly without providing exact or approximate dates of 10 their occurrences. Streets alleges that during his employment with Defendants, he requested, but 11 was denied, work accommodations for his disability. Id. at 3-5. He also alleges that one of his 12 supervisors, Heather Sroka, made inappropriate age-related comments and threatened to terminate 13 his employment. Id. at 3-4. 14 The first dated occurrence of discriminatory treatment Streets provides occurred around 15 August or September of 2017. Id. at 4. Sometime between August 28, 2017 and September 15, 16 2017, while Streets was on medical leave due to his disability, SSL posted on the internet that his 17 job was “available for hire.” Id. On September 16, 2017, he returned to work and was reassigned 18 to a different work group, and Jenner Balagot was temporarily hired to his former position on or 19 about September 26, 2017. Id. In October and November of 2017, SSL again posted on the 20 internet that Streets’ former job (for which Jenner Balagot had been temporarily hired to fill) was 21 now “available for hire.” Id. On December 18, 2017, Streets was “allowed to return” to his prior 22 work group and instructed to train Balagot. Id. On or about March 9, 2018, Streets informed his 23 24 1 The Background is a summary of the allegations. 25 2 See id. at 3-6 (Streets was often asked to train new employees, who he alleges then replaced him 26 in his various positions. He received the “largest raise” in his office group in March of 2018. And David Lihani, Chief Trade Compliance Officer and Vice President of the Office for Trade 27 Compliance, praised his work). CASE NO.: 20-CV-07901-EJD 1 work group that he would be taking medical leave for a total hip replacement in June of 2018, and 2 that upon his return, he would need accommodations. Id. at 5. In May of 2018, Erin Sargent was 3 hired as a temporary employee, and Streets was told to train her. Id. Streets took medical leave 4 from June 13, 2018 to June 26, 2018. Id. On June 28, 2018, two days after his return to work, 5 Streets was informed of his termination, effective that day. Id. 6 On November 13, 2018, Streets filed his first administrative charge, with the Equal 7 Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”), against SSL. Id. 8 On March 11, 2019, SSL posted Streets’ former job on its “job board.” Id. Streets applied 9 for the position and asked if he could meet with Mr. Lihani about the position. Id. “On or about 10 March 15, 2019, SSL took down the job posting from their website,” and Streets did not hear back 11 from SSL or Mr. Lihani. Id. Ms. Sargent was “hired to” Streets’ former position (for which he 12 applied for rehire) after her temporary contract ended. Id. On May 22, 2020, Streets filed his 13 second administrative charge with California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing 14 (“DFEH”) and received a right-to-sue letter the same day. Id. at 3. 15 Based on the foregoing, Streets alleges claims for (1) age discrimination in violation of the 16 Age Discrimination in Employment Act (“ADEA”) (29 U.S.C. §§ 621, et seq.) and California’s 17 Fair Employment and Housing Act (“FEHA”) (Cal. Gov’t Code §§ 12940, et seq.); (2) retaliation 18 in violation of FEHA; (3) wrongful termination in violation of public policy; (4) disability 19 discrimination in violation of FEHA; (5) failure to accommodate in violation of FEHA; (6) 20 unlawful, unfair, and fraudulent business practices in violation of the California’s Unfair 21 Competition Law (“UCL”) (§§ 17200, et seq., and 17203, et seq., of the Business and Professions 22 Code); and (7) negligence. Id. at 6-14. 23 II. LEGAL STANDARD 24 A party may seek dismissal of a suit for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be 25 granted. Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6). A motion to dismiss brought under Federal Rule of Civil 26 Procedure 12(b)(6) tests the legal sufficiency of the complaint. Ileto v. Glock, Inc., 349 F.3d 1191, 27 CASE NO.: 20-CV-07901-EJD 1 1199-1200 (9th Cir. 2003) (citing Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6)). A complaint must include “a short 2 and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief,” Fed. R. Civ. P. 3 8(a)(2), and may be dismissed if it fails to state a claim upon which relief can be granted, Fed. R. 4 Civ. P. 12(b)(6). A plaintiff must plead “enough facts to state a claim to relief that is plausible on 5 its face.” Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570 (2007). And a claim is plausible on its 6 face “when the plaintiff pleads factual content that allows the court to draw the reasonable 7 inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 8 678 (2009). This plausibility standard “is not akin to a probability requirement, but it asks for 9 more than a sheer possibility that a defendant has acted unlawfully.” Id. (internal quotation marks 10 omitted). Factual allegations that are “merely consistent with” a defendant’s liability fall short of 11 the plausibility required for relief. Id. (citation omitted).

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Bluebook (online)
Streets v. SPACE SYSTEMS/LORAL, LLC, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/streets-v-space-systemsloral-llc-cand-2021.