U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Farmers Insurance

24 F. Supp. 3d 956, 2014 WL 2465891, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 74318
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. California
DecidedMay 30, 2014
DocketNo. 1:13-cv-01574-AWI-SKO
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 24 F. Supp. 3d 956 (U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Farmers Insurance) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Farmers Insurance, 24 F. Supp. 3d 956, 2014 WL 2465891, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 74318 (E.D. Cal. 2014).

Opinion

ORDER DENYING DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO DISMISS FOR LACK OF JURISDICTION AND FOR FAILURE TO STATE A CLAIM

ANTHONY W. ISHII, Senior District Judge.

I. Introduction

The U.S. Equal Opportunity Commission (“Plaintiff’) brought this action for violations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title VII”) and Title I of the Civil Rights Act of 1991 against Defendant Farmers Insurance Company (“Defendant”) to seek relief for charging parties Chia Xiong (“Xiong”), Jason Lowry (“Low-ry”), and other similarly situated individu[959]*959als who were affected by Farmers’ allegedly unlawful conduct. Defendant has filed a motion to dismiss Plaintiffs complaint for lack of subject matter jurisdiction pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1) and for failure to state a claim pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). Defendant also requests that the court take judicial notice of its exhibits in support of its motion to dismiss pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 201. Defendant’s request for judicial notice is granted. For the reasons discussed below, Defendant’s motion to dismiss will be denied.

II. Background

A. Facts1

Xiong, Lowry, and John Yang (“Yang”) were all employed by Defendant. See Doc. 1, Complaint (“Compl.”) at ¶¶ 13-14. On or about October 31, 2005, Xiong was hired as a claims representative for Defendant. Defendant’s Request for Judicial Notice (“RJN”), Exhibit 1 at ¶ 1. Plaintiff alleges that, prior to 2009, Xiong and other employees in Defendant’s Fresno, California office were instructed by their supervisor, Tim Cavanaugh, and Office Training Specialist, Brian Ponte, to code payments as partial payments to avoid negative customer service surveys. See Compl. at 12; RJN, Exh. 1 at ¶ 1. In 2009, Defendant conducted an audit regarding the issuance of partial payments. Compl. at ¶ 13. During this audit Defendant interviewed several claims representative relating to the coding of partial payments. Compl. at ¶ 13. Xiong, Yang, and Lowry were among those interviewed. Compl. at ¶ 13.

After the employee interviews concluded Defendants terminated the employment of .Xiong and Yang (both Asian) while retaining similarly situated non-Asian employees who had also coded cases as partial payments. Compl. at ¶ 14.

On June 24, 2009, Xiong filed a charge of discrimination with the E.E.O.C. Compl. at ¶ 15; RJN, Exh. 1. On or about May 24, 2012, the E.E.O.C. interviewed Lowry in connection with its investigation. Compl. at ¶ 16. On or about June 5, 2012, Lowry was questioned by Defendant about his interview with the E.E.O.C. Compl. at ¶ 17. The following day Lowry was placed on administrative leave. Plaintiff alleges that, on or about July 18, 2012, Lowry was terminated due to his participation in the E.E.O.C. investigation.

B. Procedural History

Xiong filed a charge of discrimination with the E.E.O.C. alleging that he was subject to racial discrimination at Farmers in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Compl. at ¶ 8. Plaintiff thereafter attempted to eliminate the allegedly unlawful employment practices that it found and to effect voluntary compliance with Title VII through informal methods of conciliation, conference and persuasion. Compl. at ¶ 9.

Plaintiff alleges that all conditions precedent to institution of this lawsuit have been fulfilled. Compl. at ¶ 11.

On September 30, 2013, the E.E.O.C. filed suit on behalf of Chia Xiong, Jason Lowry, and other similarly situated individuals alleging violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as well as of Title I of the Civil Rights Act of 1991. Doc. 1. Defendant filed a motion to dismiss on January 28, 2014. Plaintiff filed an opposition on February 24, 2014, and Defendant filed its reply on March 3, 2014.

[960]*960III. Legal Standard

A. 12(b)(1) — Subject Matter Jurisdiction

Federal courts are of limited jurisdiction, having subject matter jurisdiction only over matters authorized by the Constitution and Congress. See, e.g. Kokkonen v. Guardian Life Ins. Co. of Am., 511 U.S. 375, 377, 114 S.Ct. 1673, 128 L.Ed.2d 391 (1994); A-Z Intern. v. Phillips, 323 F.3d 1141, 1145 (9th Cir.2003). For federal question jurisdiction to exist, the requirements of 28 U.S.C. Section 1331, which gives federal courts jurisdiction only to those cases which arise under federal law, must also be met. 28 U.S.C. § 1331. The question of whether a procedural rule is jurisdictional “is not merely semantic but one of considerable practical importance for judges and litigants.” Henderson v. Shinseki, 562 U.S. 428,-, 131 S.Ct. 1197, 1202, 179 L.Ed.2d 159 (2011). Branding a rule as going to a court’s subject-matter jurisdiction alters the normal operation of our adversarial system. Id. Rule 12(b)(1) allows a party to seek dismissal of an action where federal subject matter jurisdiction is lacking. Fed. R.Civ.P. 12(b)(1). When subject matter jurisdiction is challenged, the burden of establishing federal subject-matter jurisdiction always rests with the party who invokes the Court’s jurisdiction. Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife, 504 U.S. 555, 561, 112 S.Ct. 2130, 119 L.Ed.2d 351 (1992).

The United States Supreme Court in Arbaugh v. Y & H Corp., 546 U.S. 500, 511, 126 S.Ct. 1235, 163 L.Ed.2d 1097 (2006), in an attempt to curtail “drive-by jurisdictional rulings” advised courts to be cognizant of the “subject-matter jurisdiction / ingredient-of-claim-for-relief ’ dichotomy so as not to “erroneously conflate[ ]” subject matter jurisdiction with a plaintiffs need and ability to prove a violation of federal law a merits based determination. To that end, a district court must ensure that a jurisdictional ruling is not made upon a “provision that ‘does not speak in jurisdictional terms or refer in any way to the jurisdiction of the courts.’ ” Arbaugh, 546 U.S. at 515, 126 S.Ct. 1235 (quoting Zipes v. Trans World Airlines, Inc., 455 U.S. 385, 394, 102 S.Ct. 1127, 71 L.Ed.2d 234 (1982)).

B. 12(b)(6) — Failure to State a Claim,

Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), a claim may be dismissed because of the plaintiffs “failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.” Fed. R.Civ.P.

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24 F. Supp. 3d 956, 2014 WL 2465891, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 74318, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/us-equal-employment-opportunity-commission-v-farmers-insurance-caed-2014.