Trujillo v. Atmos Energy Corp.

896 F. Supp. 2d 949, 2012 WL 2390353, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 87273
CourtDistrict Court, D. Colorado
DecidedJune 25, 2012
DocketCivil Action No. 11-cv-01151-RBJ-MEH
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 896 F. Supp. 2d 949 (Trujillo v. Atmos Energy Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Colorado primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Trujillo v. Atmos Energy Corp., 896 F. Supp. 2d 949, 2012 WL 2390353, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 87273 (D. Colo. 2012).

Opinion

ORDER

R. BROOKE JACKSON, District Judge.

This case comes before the Court on defendant’s motion for summary judgment [docket # 37].

Facts

The following uncontroverted facts are taken from the parties’ pleadings, [docket ## 38 and 51]. Harold Trujillo was employed by Atmos Energy Corporation (“Atmos”) on June 18, 1983 and remained an Atmos employee until he terminated on May 12, 2009. Mr. Trujillo was a satisfactory employee during his career with At-mos.

On April 21 and 22, 2009 Mr. Trujillo and three other employees were working on a job site in Durango, Colorado where they were tasked with moving 36 feet of pipe to accommodate the widening of Colorado Highway 160. On the second day an inspector from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) inspected the site for potential violations of OSHA standards. As a result, Atmos received citations for safety violations including (1) improper shoring, sloping, or shielding for an excavation of five feet or more in depth; and (2) improper storage of excavated material. These citations resulted in Atmos’ paying a penalty to OSHA in the amount of $20,000.00.

In addition to the OSHA investigation, Atmos conducted its own internal investigation. After completing this investigation, Atmos terminated two of the four workers at the job site. Of the four workers at the job site, three of them — Mr. Trujillo, Danny Lucero, and Sterling Balliger — were qualified as “competent persons” under OSHA standards. A “competent person” is defined as “one who is capable of identifying existing and predictable hazards in the surroundings, or working conditions which are unsanitary, hazardous, or dangerous to employees, and who has authorization to take prompt corrective measures to eliminate them.” 29 C.F.R. § 1926.650(b). Mr. Trujillo and Mr. Lucero were terminated. Mr. Balliger and the fourth worker involved, Justin [952]*952Dufva, were retained as employees of At-mos. At the time of termination, Mr. Trujillo had been employed by Atmos for nearly 26 years and was 59 years old. Mr. Lucero had been employed by Atmos for 29 years and was 57 years old. Mr. Balliger had worked for Atmos for approximately one year and was 21 years old. Mr. Dufva had worked for Atmos for less than three months and was 22 years old.

After exhausting his remedies with the Colorado Civil Rights Division and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Mr. Trujillo filed this lawsuit, asserting violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, 29 U.S.C. § 621 et seq.; Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, 42 U.S.C. 2000e; and several state law claims, over which this Court has supplemental jurisdiction. Mr. Trujillo later filed an unopposed motion to dismiss his second and third claims of relief [# 43], which asserted Title VII claims based upon race or national origin. The Court granted that motion. [# 45]. Atmos now seeks dismissal of Mr. Trujillo’s remaining claims.

Standard of Review

The Court must grant a motion for summary judgment when no genuine issue of material fact exists. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(a). “[T]he substantive law will identify which facts are material. Only disputes over facts that might affect the outcome of the suit under the governing law will properly preclude the entry of summary judgment.” Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). A dispute of fact is “genuine” if the evidence is such that a jury could find for the nonmoving party. Id.

The party that moves for summary judgment bears the burden of proving that no genuine issue of material fact exists on all claims for which it seeks summary judgment. Adler v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 144 F.3d 664, 670 (10th Cir.1998). When the movant does not have the ultimate burden at trial, it may succeed on a motion for summary judgment when it has shown the court that there is an absence of evidence to support the nonmoving party’s case. See Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 325, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). The court must view the evidence presented and draw all reasonable inferences from it in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. Adamson v. Multi Cmty. Diversified Servs., Inc., 514 F.3d 1136, 1145 (10th Cir.2008). However, unsupported conclusory claims are insufficient to survive a motion for summary judgment. Salehpoor v. Shahinpoor, 358 F.3d 782, 785 (10th Cir.2004).

Conclusions

First Claim for Relief: Violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act

Atmos moves for summary judgment on the First Claim, arguing that Mr. Trujillo cannot establish a prima facie case of age discrimination. Atmos also argues that even if Mr. Trujillo can establish a prima facie case, Atmos had a legitimate non-discriminatory reason for terminating him, and that Mr. Trujillo cannot prove that Atmos’ reason was pretextual.

A plaintiff establishes a prima facie case of age discrimination if he shows that he was “(1) within the protected class of individuals 40 or older; (2) performing satisfactory work; (3) terminated from employment; and (4) replaced by a younger person, although not necessarily one less than 40 years of age.” Adamson, 514 F.3d at 1146. The Court finds that Mr. Trujillo has presented at least some evidence on each of the four requirements.

• It is undisputed that Mr. Trujillo was within the protected age group.
• Mr. Trujillo was a “competent person” under OSHA standards, and it is un[953]*953disputed that he had performed his job duties satisfactorily for almost 26 years until the April 21-22, 2009 work-site incident. Atmos argues that Mr. Trujillo was no longer qualified for his position of distribution operator because of his actions related to the worksite incident which resulted in At-mos being cited by OSHA. The Court finds that whether Mr. Trujillo was performing his work satisfactorily and was qualified for his position is a genuine issue of material fact.
• It is undisputed that Mr. Trujillo was terminated from employment.
• Finally, Atmos admits that it replaced Mr. Trujillo with someone younger than 40 years of age. Response to Request for Admission No. 11 [# 51-3, p. 24],

If the plaintiff successfully carries his burden of establishing a prima facie case of age discrimination, the defendant then has the burden of offering a legitimate non-discriminatory reason for terminating the plaintiff. See id. Atmos’ proffered reason is that Mr.

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896 F. Supp. 2d 949, 2012 WL 2390353, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 87273, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/trujillo-v-atmos-energy-corp-cod-2012.