US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Placer ARC

114 F. Supp. 3d 1048, 32 Am. Disabilities Cas. (BNA) 239, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 90736
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. California
DecidedJuly 13, 2015
DocketNo. 2:13-cv-0577-KJM-EFB
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 114 F. Supp. 3d 1048 (US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Placer ARC) 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
US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Placer ARC, 114 F. Supp. 3d 1048, 32 Am. Disabilities Cas. (BNA) 239, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 90736 (E.D. Cal. 2015).

Opinion

ORDER

KIMBERLY J. MUELLER, District Judge.

This matter is before the court on defendant Placer ARC d/b/a Placer Advocacy Resources and Choices’ (ARC) Motion for Summary Judgment or, in the alternative, Partial Summary Judgment. ’ Def.’s Mot. Summ. J., ECF 67. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) opposes the motion. Opp’n, ECF No. 72. The court held á hearing on the matter on January 30, 2015, at which Debra Smith and Ami Sanghvi appeared for plaintiff and Robert Rediger and Candice Rediger appeared for defendant. As explained below, the court GRANTS in part and DENIES in part defendant’s motion.

I. BACKGROUND

A. PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

On March 25, 2013, the EEOC filed a complaint on behalf of charging party1 Homeyra - Kazerounian ’ alleging three causes of- action. Compl., ECF 1. The complaint alleges violations of: (1) Title I of 42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq. (the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)) (disability discrimination); (2) Titles I and V of the ADA (retaliation); and (3) Titles I and V of .the ADA (constructive discharge). Plaintiff seeks (1) ■ injunctive relief; (2) an order defendant “institute and carry out policies, practices, and programs which provide equal employment opportunities for qualified individuals with disabilities, and which eradicate the effects of its past and present unlawful employment practices;” (3) appropriate backpay with prejudgment interest, in amounts to be - determined at trial, and other affirmative relief including but not limited to reinstatement of plaintiff; (4) -compensation for past and future pecuniary losses, including job search expenses and medical expenses, in amounts to be determined at trial; (5) compensation for past and future nonpecuniary losses including inconvenience, pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, anxiety, stress, and humiliation, in amounts to be determined at trial; (6) punitive damages in amounts to be determined at trial; (7) further relief as the court deems necessary and proper; and (8) costs of this action. Id. at 6-7. On April 22, 2013, defendant filed an answer to plaintiffs complaint. Answer, ECF No, 5.

Defendant filed its first amended answer on February 27, 2014. ECF No. 32. On [1052]*1052December 31, 2014; defendant brought the instant motidn for- .summary judgment on all of plaintiffs causes of action. ECF No. 67. Plaintiff filed an opposition on January 14,: 2015. ECF No. 72. Defendant filed a reply on January 23, 2015. ECF No. 73. ■

B. EVIDENTIARY OBJECTIONS

Plaintiff has submitted objections to defendant’s statement óf undisputed facts in support- of its motion for summary judgment. ECF No. 73. These objections do not-state--a basis for the objection, but state only that plaintiff denies certain facts. The court interprets, the objections as mere denials, as plaintiff does not provide any basis for the objection by which the court can rule. ;

Defendant has submitted voluminous objections to"' plaintiffs Additional Material Facts. The majority of the objections question the relevancy and materiality of the evidence. Because the court does not rely on irrelevant evidence when considering motions for summary judgment, such'objections are redundant to the practice of summary judgment itself. See Burch v. Regents of Univ. of California, 433 F.Supp.2d 1110, 1119 (E.D.Cal.2006). To the extent the court does rely on an additional material fact to which defendant objects, .thafobjection.is overruled.

Defendant also has submitted several objections to the declarations submitted with-plaintiffs opposition to the motion for summary judgment. See ECF Nos. 81-87. Specifically, defendant objects to the -declarations of Linda Chapman, Karla Gable, Lindy Hicks, Angela Payne, Gloria Hew-, Homeyra Kazerounian, as well as and Exhibits 2, 5, 6 and 12 through 99 attached to the. declaration of Debra Smith. Defendant objects to the declarations on grounds of hearsay, relevance, as vague and ambiguous, lacking foundation, as speculative or conclusory, misstating the evidence, or as opinions of a lay witness. To the extent any declarant makes statements regarding matters of which he or she does not have personal knowledge, or which constitute legal conclusions, the court does not rely on them in resolving the pending motion. To the extent defendant argues any declarant’s statements misstate the evidence, those objections also are overruled as “go[ing] to the weight of the evidence, not the admissibility of the testimony.” Galvan v. City of La Habra, No. SACV 12-2103, 2014 WL 1370747, at *4 (C.D.Cal. Apr. 8, 2014); Stonefire Grill, Inc. v. FGF Brands, Inc., 987 F.Supp.2d 1023, 1034 (C.D.Cal.2013).

Defendant’s numerous hearsay objections also will not be sustained at this stage. Quanta Indem. Co. v. Amberwood Dev. Inc., No. CV-11-01807, 2014 WL 1246144, at *3 (D.Ariz. Mar. 26, 2014) (“evidence containing hearsay statements is admissible only if offered in- opposition to the motion”). On summary judgment, “objections to the form in which the evidence is presented are particularly misguided where, as here, they target the non-moving party’s evidence.” Burch, 433 F.Supp.2d at 1119.

Defendant objects to the declaration of Lindy Hicks (ECF No. 74-3), saying the EEOC obtained the declaration on an ex parte basis without court permission and in violation of Rule 4.2 of the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct. ECF No. 83. At hearing, counsel stated the declaration was obtained after Hicks’s employment with defendant, .which ended in December 2007. Hicks Decl. ¶ 1. The ABA rules are not binding on this court; - regardless, plaintiffs counsel did not violate the rule when speaking with a former employee of defendant. United States v. W.R. Grace, 401 F.Supp.2d 1065, 1069 (D.Mont.2005) (government does not violate Rule 4:2 when initiating ex parte con[1053]*1053tact with former -employees). Defendant does not allege plaintiff acted outside the scope of the Federal Rules of Givil Procedure- or this court’s Local Rules governing discovery in obtaining Hicks’, declaration. The objection is overruled.

Defendant objects to' plaintiffs exhibits on the basis of lack of authentication. Each of the documents, which include excerpts of depositions2 and correspondence to which plaintiff is a party, can be readily authenticated at trial by plaintiff or the deponent. The documents are not disputed as inaccurate by either party, and can be inferred as authentic based on their contents. See Orr v. Bank of Am., NT & SA, 285 F.3d 764, 778 (9th Cir.2002) (citing Fed. R.Evid. 901(b)(4) (authenticity may be satisfied by . the “[ajppearance, contents, substance, internal patterns, or other distinctive characteristics, taken in conjunction with circumstances.”)); Prime Ins. Syndicate, Inc. v. Damaso, 471 F.Supp.2d 1087, 1093 (D.Nev.2007) (considering unauthenticated exhibits where defendants neither challenge the authenticity of the exhibits nor the facts" contained therein, and because the exhibits’ appearance and contents support authentication).

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114 F. Supp. 3d 1048, 32 Am. Disabilities Cas. (BNA) 239, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 90736, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/us-equal-employment-opportunity-commission-v-placer-arc-caed-2015.