Cuadra v. Declaration Title Co.

682 S.W.3d 628

Lorett CUADRA, Appellant

v.DECLARATION TITLE COMPANY, LLC, Appellee

NO. 01-22-00593-CV

Court of Appeals of Texas, Houston (1st Dist.).

Opinion issued December 5, 2023

On Appeal from County Civil Court at Law No. 2, Harris County, Texas, Trial Court Case No. 1144465

Paul Harris, Mark G. Lazarz, Houston, Michael Todd Slobin, for Appellant.

Mike Johanson, Sugar Land, Elizabeth Rahwan, Richmond, Jocelyn Holland, Houston, for Appellee.

Panel consists of Chief Justice Adams and Justices Hightower and Countiss.

OPINION

Richard Hightower, Justice

In her suit against her former employer—appellee Declaration Title Company, LLC (DTC)—appellant Lorett Cuadra alleged a cause of action for retaliation under the Texas Commission on Human Rights Act (TCHRA). In her administrative complaint to the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) and her petition in the trial court, Cuadra alleged that DTC fired her in retaliation for reporting an incident of sexual harassment. At trial, she submitted two claims of retaliation to the jury—one based on her report of sexual harassment and a second based on her expressed intention to file a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The jury rejected her claim based on the report of sexual harassment but found in her favor on the second claim based on her intention to file a complaint with the EEOC.

DTC moved for judgment notwithstanding the verdict (JNOV), arguing, in relevant part, that the trial court should disregard the jury’s finding on Cuadra’s second retaliation claim because (1) Cuadra failed to include that claim in her charge filed with the TWC, thereby failing to exhaust her administrative remedies on that claim; (2) Cuadra failed to plead that claim in her petition in the trial court; and (3) the evidence was legally insufficient to support the jury’s finding. The trial court granted the JNOV and rendered a take-nothing judgment on Cuadra’s claims.

In her sole appellate issue, Cuadra argues that the trial court erred in granting DTC’s motion for JNOV. We conclude that Cuadra failed to exhaust her administrative remedies with regard to the only claim on which the jury found in her favor, and so we affirm.

Background

DTC is a title company owned by Rick Heil and Julio Fernandez. Heil and Fernandez hired Cuadra and eventually promoted her to manager of DTC’s Memorial branch. On November 29, 2018, another DTC employee, Lani Almaguer, reported to Cuadra as her manager that she had an uncomfortable interaction with the janitor. Almaguer testified about the incident with the janitor:

I was going to leave the office and he grabbed my hands and was holding them tight and was talking about going to this restaurant bar across the street but not telling any of the other employees. And I asked why and he said because they might want to go. And I kept trying to pull my hand away and I kept saying I need to go, I need to go. And then finally I was able to get my hand free and then I left.

Cuadra in turn reported the janitor to Fernandez for sexual harassment. DTC fired the janitor on December 3, 2018.

Cuadra asserts that Heil and Fernandez began retaliating against her on December 4, 2018, when Heil told her she was performing poorly. Cuadra testified that this was the first time either Heil or Fernandez had ever told her that there was a problem with her performance. Cuadra asserted that DTC increased its scrutiny on her work and began criticizing her performance.

On December 13, 2018, Cuadra complained to DTC’s vice president, Mai Tran, that she believed that the additional training and scrutiny of her work was retaliation for reporting the janitor’s sexual harassment of Almaguer.

On January 7, 2019, Cuadra emailed Heil explaining that she felt the work environment was "altered and strained" after she reported the janitor’s actions, and the increased scrutiny of her work was "demeaning and stressful." Cuadra took medical leave on the advice of her doctor, and the doctor extended her medical leave through January 28, 2019. Cuadra did not return to work on January 28, 2019, but remained on medical leave through the first half of February. Other employees of DTC were required to cover Cuadra’s responsibilities.

On February 15, 2019, Cuadra again emailed Heil. She told DTC that she had not "abandoned her position with the company" and that she would be returning to work on February 18, 2019. She stated that she was seeking "reasonable accommodations and assurances from the company that I would be able to work in an environment free from harassment." Finally, Cuadra stated, "Also, please know that since you have not properly corrected my past concerns, I will be filing a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission so that they can investigate my issues and provide you with guidance on how to protect employees."

On February 19, 2019, Cuadra provided DTC with a letter from her doctor that included certain restrictions on her working conditions, including that she always have a third party present during meetings and that she not be required to drive to other locations. Heil testified that these restrictions made it impossible for Cuadra to do her work as the branch manager, and he decided to move forward with his decision to terminate her. DTC sent an email and letter terminating Cuadra’s employment with DTC on February 19, 2019.

On February 22, 2019, Cuadra filed a charge of discrimination with the TWC complaining of retaliation. In the charge, she recounted the facts surrounding her report to DTC regarding the janitor’s actions toward Almaguer. She then asserted that, a few days after making her report, she had a meeting with Heil to "discuss annual profits and losses at the Memorial branch" and was "told that the branch was not profitable and could not continue to lose money." She stated that, prior to this meeting, she had not been told that DTC was dissatisfied with her performance, nor had she received any verbal or written warnings. Cuadra stated in her TWC complaint that DTC required additional training for her branch, that another DTC employee was assigned to give additional "scrutiny" to her work, and that she eventually went on medical leave "due to the overwhelming anxiety caused by DTC’s retaliation and harassment." She asserted:

On February 15, 2019, I informed Mr. Heil that I was returning to work as I could no longer afford for DTC to withhold business expenses and commissions owed to me. Per DTC’s request, I provided a note from my physician to DTC on February 19, 2019, releasing me to resume work on February 20, 2019. I was terminated by Mr. Heil within hours of providing the work release note from my physician.

She asserted that "DTC’s actions constitute[d] retaliation for reporting sexual harassment, in violation of Title VII and Chapter 21 of the Texas Labor Code."

The TWC dismissed Cuadra’s complaint and issued a right-to-sue letter. The TWC investigator recounted in his report the relevant facts, including Cuadra’s report of the janitor’s conduct, the subsequent increased training and scrutiny of Cuadra’s work, and her medical leave. The investigator noted that Cuadra informed DTC she was returning to work on February 15, 2019, she provided DTC a note from her physician on February 19, 2019, and DTC discharged her on February 19.

Cuadra filed suit against DTC on October 31, 2019. She alleged a cause of action for retaliation pursuant to the TCHRA. In her petition, she alleged facts relevant to that claim, asserting that DTC was initially pleased with her work. Then she reported the sexual harassment incident with the janitor, and Heil and Fernandez began treating her differently. She detailed the increased scrutiny her work received from other DTC personnel, and the necessity of taking medical leave. Cuadra alleged that, on February 15, 2019, she informed Heil "that she wished to return to work in an environment free from harassment and retaliation and requested reasonable accommodations to attend doctor’s appointments." She asserted that she "provided a doctor’s work release as requested by DTC on the afternoon of February 19, 2019" and "was terminated within hours of submitting the work release despite not having any documented disciplinary or performance issues." She asserted that DTC terminated her "in retaliation for reporting sexual harassment," in violation of the TCHRA and that she suffered damages as a result of that retaliation.

During the pre-trial hearing, Cuadra sought to pre-admit evidence that she engaged in an additional protected activity, referencing the February 15 email in which stated her intention to make an EEOC complaint. DTC objected to this evidence, and it argued that Cuadra had not exhausted her administrative remedies on that claim. The trial court overruled DTC’s objection and eventually granted a running objection to that line of evidence. DTC likewise raised a complaint regarding Cuadra’s efforts to litigate that claim in a motion for directed verdict, which the trial court denied.

The trial court submitted two jury questions on Cuadra’s claims of retaliation. In question one, the charge asked, "Did Declaration Title Company fire Lorett Cuadra because she opposed a discriminatory practice, because she reported that a janitor harassed an employee of Declaration Title Company?" The jury answered "No." In question two, the charge asked, "Did Declaration Title Company fire Lorett Cuadra because she opposed a discriminatory practice, because she told Declaration Title Company she would file a charge of discrimination?" The jury answered "Yes." The jury also made findings on damages based on its answer to question two, determining that Cuadra was entitled to $100,000 in backpay and $50,000 in future compensatory damages.

DTC then moved for JNOV, arguing in relevant part that (1) the trial court lacked jurisdiction over any claim that DTC fired Cuadra in retaliation for threatening to file an EEOC...