John Doe v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., et al.
CV 19-5586-GW-PLAx
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
August 19, 2019
GEORGE H. WU, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
REMAND/JS-6; Javier Gonzalez, Deputy Clerk; Katie E. Thibodeaux, Court Reporter / Recorder; Natasha R. Chesler, Attorney for Plaintiffs; Theresa A. Kading, Attorney for Defendants
CIVIL MINUTES - GENERAL
PROCEEDINGS: PLAINTIFF‘S MOTION TO REMAND AND REQUEST FOR ATTORNEYS’ FEES AND COSTS IN THE AMOUNT OF $4,900 [11]
Court hears oral argument. The Tentative circulated and attached hereto, is adopted as the Court‘s Final Ruling. The Court would grant Plaintiff‘s Motion to Remand and would remand this action to Los Angeles County Superior Court forthwith. The Court would deny Plaintiff‘s request for attorney fees.
JG
Initials of Preparer
Doe v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., et al.
Case No. 2:19-cv-05586-GW-(AGRx)
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
Tentative Ruling on Motion to Remand Plaintiff‘s Complaint and Award Attorney Fees
I. Background
A. Introduction
Plaintiff John Doe (“Plaintiff“) asserts state-law violations of the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (“FEHA“),
B. Factual Background
Plaintiff alleges the following relevant facts:
In approximately 2007, Plaintiff – a citizen of California – began working as a loan officer for Wells Fargo – a citizen of South Dakota. See id. ¶ 8; see also Defendants’ Notice of Removal of Action to United States District Court Pursuant to
In approximately August 2015, a group of the mortgage team operations and sales department organized a group fishing trip that Plaintiff and others attended. See id. ¶ 9. Plaintiff‘s co-worker, Fillippelli – a citizen of California – placed his hand over Plaintiff‘s pants and squeezed Plaintiff‘s penis during a group photograph (the “2015 Photo Incident“). See id.; see also Notice
In approximately May 2017, Fillippelli received a promotion and became Plaintiff‘s manager. See id. ¶ 10. Shortly after commencing the manager position, Fillippelli told Plaintiff “[d]on‘t forget I know you have that picture.” See id. Plaintiff was concerned but did not do anything for fear of losing his job. See id. The resulting stress that Plaintiff experienced prompted Plaintiff to seek treatment. See id.
In approximately June 2017, the photograph resurfaced and was shared among employees. See id. ¶ 11. Consequently, someone turned it over to HR. See id. Nicole Hess from the HR department contacted Plaintiff to ask him about the photograph, and to ask him if he had been on a conference call during which Fillippelli allegedly had a conflict with another co-worker. See id. Plaintiff denied having been present on the conference call but confirmed the 2015 Photo Incident. See id. Plaintiff told Hess that it had bothered Plaintiff at the time, but that he chose not to report Fillippelli for fear of disrupting his own career. See id. Plaintiff told Hess that she should not tell Fillippelli that Plaintiff and Hess spoke about the photo, because Fillippelli would retaliate against Plaintiff. See id.
Shortly after Plaintiff spoke with Hess, Fillippelli told Plaintiff that he believed Plaintiff had reported him to HR. See id. ¶ 12. Fillippelli subsequently ceased attending Plaintiff‘s sales meeting and rarely visited Plaintiff‘s office, even though he was scheduled to be at Plaintiff‘s office on Mondays. See id. Fillippelli failed to follow through with prospective recruits that Plaintiff identified, and falsely took credit for recruiting two individuals to Plaintiff‘s team, both of whom Plaintiff recruited. See id. In approximately October 2017, Plaintiff reached out to Hess and explained that he felt Fillippelli was harassing Plaintiff in retaliation for – as Fillippelli believed – Plaintiff‘s reporting Fillippelli to HR. See id. ¶ 13. Hess told Plaintiff that Fillippelli‘s alleged harassment and retaliatory actions were “all in [Plaintiff‘s] head.” See id. Hess subsequently informed Plaintiff that she had communicated Plaintiff‘s complaint to Fillippelli and put Plaintiff‘s complaint in Fillippelli‘s record. See id.
On April 19, 2018, Plaintiff met with Fillippelli to discuss the reorganization, and Fillippelli explained that Plaintiff would receive a new compensation package which included a 30-50% pay cut. See id. ¶ 17. Fillippelli explained that Plaintiff‘s previous three months of production was the reason for the pay cut, and that the Brentwood reassignment was to help Plaintiff focus on his downtown Los Angeles territory. See id ¶¶ 17-18. After Plaintiff articulated to Fillippelli that the pay cut was not what the two had previously discussed and that Plaintiff would have to go to HR again, Fillippelli told Plaintiff “not to make threats.” See id. Plaintiff felt that Fillippelli had no legitimate basis to reassign Plaintiff‘s Brentwood team, given Plaintiff‘s ten year tenure with Wells Fargo, his customer loyalty rate that was second-highest in the nation, and his office‘s top score (97.8%) on an annual inspection. See id. ¶ 18. On April 20, 2018, Plaintiff spoke with Hess about the reassignment and pay cut. See id. ¶ 19.
On May 22, 2018, Calvin Omtvedt from Employee Relations informed Plaintiff that an “objective third party” would conduct a “second level review” of Plaintiff‘s complaint, though a third party never contacted Plaintiff for an interview. See id. ¶¶ 19, 24. Meanwhile, Fillippelli refused to allow Plaintiff‘s assistant to attend market meetings and met directly with Plaintiff‘s
In approximately September 2018, Plaintiff‘s physician placed Plaintiff on a leave of absence due to Plaintiff‘s anxiety and depression. See id. ¶ 31. Prior to Plaintiff‘s December 3, 2018-scheduled return to work, Wells Fargo reached out to Plaintiff to inform him of the close of the investigation, to confirm that Plaintiff‘s new territory assignment would remain unchanged, and to confirm that Plaintiff would continue to report to Fillippelli. See id. Plaintiff resigned on December 3, 2018. See id.
C. Procedural Background
Plaintiff filed his Complaint in Los Angeles County Superior Court on May 15, 2019. See Notice of Removal at 1. On June 27, 2019, Defendants filed the Notice of Removal, asserting diversity jurisdiction pursuant to
II. Legal Standard
For removal based on
However, if a plaintiff has any possibility of establishing liability, a court must reject a fraudulent joinder argument. See, e.g., Grancare, LLC v. Thrower by and through Mills, 889 F.3d 543, 548 (9th Cir. 2018) (“But ‘if there is a possibility that a state court would find that the complaint states a cause of action against any of the resident defendants, the federal court must find that the joinder was proper and remand the case to the state court.‘“) (quoting Hunter, 582 F.3d at 1046); see also Hunter, 582 F.3d at 1044-45; Ritchey v. Upjohn Drug Co., 139 F.3d 1313, 1318-19 (9th Cir. 1998). “[T]he test for fraudulent joinder and for failure to state a claim under Rule 12(b)(6) are not equivalent.” Grancare, 889 F.3d at 549. “Because the purpose of the fraudulent joinder doctrine is to allow a determination whether the district court has subject matter jurisdiction, the standard is similar to the ‘wholly insubstantial and frivolous’ standard for dismissing claims under Rule 12(b)(1) for lack of federal question jurisdiction.” Id.
“[T]he party invoking federal court jurisdiction on the basis of fraudulent joinder bears a ‘heavy burden’ since there is a ‘general presumption against fraudulent joinder.” Weeping Hollow Ave. Trust v. Spencer, 831 F.3d 1110, 1113 (9th Cir. 2016) (quoting Hunter, 582 F.3d at 1046). Not surprisingly, then, fraudulent joinder must be proven by clear and convincing evidence. See Hamilton Materials, Inc. v. Dow Chem. Corp., 494 F.3d 1203, 1206 (9th Cir. 2007). In addition, “[f]ederal jurisdiction must be rejected if there is any doubt as to the right of removal in the first instance.” Gaus v. Miles, Inc., 980 F.2d 564, 566 (9th Cir. 1992).
III. Discussion
A. Motion to Remand
1. Statute of Limitations
Under FEHA, a plaintiff must file an administrative complaint with DFEH within one year from the date upon which the alleged unlawful practice occurred. See
Defendants argue that because the 2015 Photo Incident occurred in approximately August 2015, and Plaintiff did not file his claim with the Department of Fair Employment and Housing (“DFEH“) until August 28, 2018, Plaintiff‘s FEHA claim is time-barred. However, Defendants’ focus on the 2015 Photo Incident is an overly-narrow characterization of Plaintiff‘s claims. In addition to Plaintiff‘s argument that he can allege in an amended complaint that Fillippelli made the aforementioned “suck” comment in Plaintiff‘s office, and subsequently reassigned Plaintiff‘s Brentwood business, cut Plaintiff‘s pay, and refused to acknowledge Plaintiff‘s Leadership Excellence Award nomination, all within 2018. Plaintiff filed his complaint with DFEH on August
2. Failure to State a Claim
Defendants also argue that Fillippelli is a sham defendant because Plaintiff cannot allege a FEHA claim against him. There are two relevant theories of harassment under FEHA: quid pro quo and hostile work environment. See Mullins v. Campbell Soup Co., 56 F.3d 72, 3 (9th Cir. 1995).
i. Quid Pro Quo
As to the quid pro quo theory, Defendants argue that even if Plaintiff can amend his complaint to add the sucking statement, such a comment is not an implicit request for a sexual exchange. See MTR Opp‘n at 8. They reason that Fillippelli made the comment “after he had already made the decision to add a ‘top performing employee’ to Plaintiff‘s team.” Id. Defendants continue that Plaintiff does not allege that Fillippelli made any further comments and that Plaintiff did not complain about the statement to HR. Id.
The fundamental problem with Defendants’ arguments, however, is that they ignore the current posture of this case. At this stage, the Court is trying to determine whether it is possible that Plaintiff can state a sexual harassment claim against the non-diverse Fillippelli. See Grancare, 889 F.3d at 548-49. Reading the allegations in the Complaint and the additional facts in the declaration in the light most favorable to Plaintiff, the Court would conclude that it is clearly possible for Plaintiff to state a quid pro quo claim against Fillippelli. As alleged, Fillippelli had previously grabbed Plaintiff‘s penis. See Complaint ¶ 9. Fillippelli reminded Plaintiff of this incident years later after Fillippelli had become Plaintiff‘s supervisor. Id. ¶ 10. Then, in early 2018, Fillippelli made a comment to Plaintiff referencing sexual conduct between the two. See Chesler Decl. ¶ 3(b). Plaintiff expressed his disinterest in Fillippelli, responding “that‘s creepy.” Id. Thereafter, Fillippelli stopped attending Plaintiff‘s meetings and ultimately cut Plaintiff‘s pay. See Complaint ¶¶ 16-17. One plausible conclusion from these alleged facts is that Fillippelli enforced negative consequences upon Plaintiff because of Plaintiff‘s spurning of Fillippelli‘s sexual advance. Therefore, Defendants have not met their burden of establishing that Fillippelli
ii. Hostile Work Environment
Defendants argue that, but for the unalleged “suck” comment, Plaintiff‘s alleged harassment constitutes no more than personnel management actions. See MTR Opp‘n at 9-11. FEHA harassment claims do not comprise actions of a type necessary to business and personnel management. See Lawler v. Montblanc N. Am., LLC, 704 F.3d 1235, 1244-45 (9th Cir. 2013) (holding that the plaintiff‘s FEHA harassment claim based on a co-worker‘s instructing the plaintiff to perform work-related assignments, criticism with the store‘s merchandise display, and disagreement with the way the plaintiff stored repair parts constituted conduct relating to business operations and not harassment under FEHA). Defendants argue that because Plaintiff‘s FEHA claim is based upon Fillippelli‘s commonly-necessary personnel-management actions – e.g., determining job or project assignments, provision of support, and meeting attendance decisions – Plaintiff fails to state a viable FEHA claim. See Removal, at 10. However, what Defendants fail to recognize is that even one instance of harassment can be sufficient. See
Because Plaintiff can amend his Complaint to include an allegation that Fillippelli made a non-work-related statement to Plaintiff within a year of Plaintiff‘s DFEH filing, the Court would find that Plaintiff could state a viable FEHA harassment claim against Fillippelli. It follows that Fillippelli is not a fraudulently-joined sham defendant. As such, Fillippelli‘s California citizenship destroys diversity pursuant to
B. Attorney Fees
Plaintiff asks the Court to award attorney fees pursuant to
IV. Conclusion
Based on the foregoing discussion, the Court would grant Plaintiff‘s Motion to Remand and would remand this action to Los Angeles County Superior Court forthwith.6 The Court would deny Plaintiff‘s request for attorney fees.
