Martinez v. L. A. Hardwood Flooring, Inc.

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MELISSA MARTINEZ, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. L.A. Hardwood Flooring, Inc., et al., Defendants and Respondents

B307980

California Court of Appeals, Second District, Third Division

May 16, 2023

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County No. BC715464 Holly J. Fujie, Judge. Affirmed.

Employee Justice Legal Group, Kaveh S. Elihu, and Sylvia V Panosian for Plaintiff and Appellant.

Jackson Lewis, Andrea F. Oxman, Peter M. Waneis, and Dylan B. Carp for Defendants and Respondents.

LAVIN Acting P. J.

INTRODUCTION

Plaintiff and Appellant Melissa Martinez sued her former employer, defendant and respondent L.A. Hardwood Flooring, Inc. (L.A. Hardwood), alleging six violations of the Fair Employment and Housing Act, Government Code^[1] section 12900 et seq. (the FEHA) in this employment discrimination action, as well as claims for wrongful termination in violation of public policy and failure to provide meal and rest periods under the Labor Code. Martinez also sued her former supervisor, defendant and respondent Ray Chavez, alleging harassment. L.A. Hardwood terminated Martinez's employment after coworkers reported that she destroyed a customer application and Martinez neither accepted responsibility nor explained her conduct. Martinez, who was pregnant at the time, asserts that she was terminated because of her sex, pregnancy, and disability and that L.A. Hardwood's explanation for her termination is pretextual.

L.A. Hardwood and Chavez (collectively, defendants) successfully moved the trial court for an order granting summary judgment, and Martinez appeals from the judgment entered based on that order. We conclude that defendants met their burden of establishing that there is no triable issue of material fact as to any of Martinez's causes of action.^[2] To the extent the court erred in excluding certain declaration evidence, we conclude any such errors were not prejudicial.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

L.A Hardwood sells hardwood flooring to stores and licensed contractors. Its showrooms are not open to the public. To shop at L.A. Hardwood, customers must have an established account. Potential customers typically apply for accounts by emailing or faxing an application to L.A. Hardwood.

Martinez began her at-will employment with L.A. Hardwood in July 2016 as a customer service representative. Martinez was hired to L.A. Hardwood's location in downtown Los Angeles, but was trained at its Pacoima location, where her supervisor was Jessica Palma (nee Barajas). After three weeks, Martinez moved to the downtown location, where Chavez was her supervisor. Chavez reported to Yafit Algazi, who was then Vice President of Operations. Algazi was responsible for handling human resources issues. She worked with ADP Total Source (ADPTS), which provided a representative with whom Algazi could seek advice regarding human relations matters.

Martinez and other customer service representatives sat at a counter at the front of the showroom and were responsible for greeting and helping customers. The customer service representatives sat near a fax machine and were also responsible for checking the fax machine throughout the day.

In January 2017, Martinez complained to Palma that Chavez showed favoritism in his management and was disrespectful to certain employees. The comments of which Martinez complained were not of a sexual nature. Algazi had a meeting with Chavez and Martinez during which "[e]verything was put on the table." Martinez was satisfied with how the situation was resolved. Sometime between January and March of 2017, Martinez made similar complaints about Chavez's treatment of her-specifically, that the way he spoke to Martinez was not very manager-like-to another L.A. Hardwood employee.

On April 1 or 2, 2017, Martinez learned she was pregnant. On April 3, Martinez approached Chavez with a coworker, Jasmine Chavarria, to let him know she was pregnant.^[3] Martinez testified that she was nervous and crying when she approached Chavez. Martinez asked Chavarria to tell Chavez the news and, after she did, Chavez asked how far along she was. Martinez responded that she had taken a home test and needed to confirm it. Chavez asked why she would get herself into this situation and stated that he would now need to go through the process of hiring someone else and training them because Martinez would need time off. Martinez requested at least a day off to confirm her pregnancy with a doctor. Chavez suggested that she could do so after work or on the weekend. Martinez's doctor was only available during the week, so she faked stomach pains and went to an urgent care that evening to have her pregnancy confirmed.

On April 28, Martinez complained about Chavez's reaction to her pregnancy to Palma, who told Martinez she would raise the issue with Algazi. After Palma spoke to Algazi, Palma told Martinez to "Just leave it alone," and to "Just . . . do [her] job and just do what [she's] told." Palma also told Martinez that Algazi wanted to have a meeting with Chavez and Martinez, but Martinez did not want to have a meeting with Chavez. Martinez and Palma did not discuss the matter further. Martinez testified that she had wanted Algazi to give Chavez a warning or remind him of the policies regarding discrimination, but she did not do so. Martinez felt that Algazi favored Chavez.

Algazi informed Chavez that Palma had reached out to her regarding Martinez's complaint. She recalled that he asked, "Why did she call Pacoima?" Algazi replied with the "straight facts," which were that Martinez had reached out to Palma and "didn't even talk to [Algazi]," and that Palma had informed Algazi. Algazi testified that she did not think Chavez was frustrated, but simply "didn't understand why an employee would go a different channel." She did not know how he felt about Martinez reaching out to Palma or whether he took it personally. Chavez testified that he recalled learning about the incident from another employee but that he did not ask Algazi what had caused Martinez to complain to Palma.

Chavez asked Martinez to schedule her monthly prenatal check-ups around the workday. She testified that she had to miss one appointment because Chavez told her that she could start her shift late, but her doctor did not have an appointment available at that time. Chavez did not allow her to leave early that day and told her to schedule the appointment for another day. Martinez testified that she was "pretty sure" that she had been able to do so. Martinez agreed that, while employed with L.A. Hardwood, she was able to "[e]ventually" get the maternity care she needed from her doctor.

Chavez never told Martinez that she could not take maternity leave. The only comments he made in relation to Martinez's pregnancy that she found offensive were those made on April 3, 2017. She had no other complaints about the way she was treated by anyone at L.A. Hardwood in connection with her pregnancy. Martinez did not request any accommodation other than taking time off work (i.e., coming in late or leaving early) to attend doctor's appointments.

Apart from the comment relating to her pregnancy, Martinez found Chavez's statement on one occasion that she was doing more talking than working to be offensive. She testified that other coworkers were not disciplined for talking or socializing at work, to her knowledge. However, Martinez also testified that she observed Chavez speaking in a similar manner to other employees as he spoke to her. She further testified that Chavez did not say anything else to her that she found upsetting or disliked.

On June 7, 2017, Martinez received a written warning because her cash box was $150 short, in violation of company policy. Chavez consulted with Algazi regarding the warning and what should be included. Algazi further testified that a written warning was appropriate because missing money is a more serious offense than, for example, coming in late. Martinez believed it was unfairly issued because she immediately informed Chavez of the issue. She testified that, after his comments on April 3, she believed that any comments from Chavez were related to her pregnancy. However, Chavez did not state that he was issuing the warning because of her pregnancy or because she was a woman, and Martinez did not tell anyone at L.A. Hardwood that she believed she had been issued the written warning because of her pregnancy. According to Martinez, Chavez said that he was sorry that he had to write her up, and she replied, "Okay. Well, I told you that the money was missing, and you told me to put it back. So even after you made me put it back out of my own pocket, you are still going to write me up for a warning for it."

On June 27, 2017, another customer service representative, Paola Reyes, told Chavez that a contractor had called L.A. Hardwood and was upset because he had submitted a customer application and then re-faxed it because the first application was not received. Reyes stated that she and another customer service representative, Maria Arreola, had observed Martinez receive papers from the fax machine and then throw them away. Reyes informed Chavez that Martinez had told them not to say anything if asked. Reyes then showed Chavez the re-faxed papers. He also obtained the confirmation sheet for the original fax. Chavez confirmed Reyes's version of events with Arreola.

Reyes testified that Martinez held up a customer application, said "we never received this," and then tore it up. She stated that the customer later called in and that Arreola spoke with him. She also testified that Arreola had looked in Martinez's trash can and saw the torn-up application. She also stated that Arreola had taken the...