Harris v. Sutton Motor Sales & RV Consignments Corp.

MEMORANDUM

Plaintiff Kenneth Harris appeals a final order of the district court granting summary judgment for defendant Sutton Motor Sales & RV Consignment on claims of hostile work environment based on race under Title VII and O.R.S. § 659A.030, and state law claims for intentional and reckless infliction of emotional distress. We AFFIRM.

We review the order granting summary judgment de novo and conclude it was proper because there exists no genuine issue as to any material fact. See Covey v. Hollydale Mobilehome Estates, 116 F.3d 830, 834 (9th Cir.1997). The facts viewed in the light most favorable to Harris, the non-moving party, see id., show that on two occasions Harris was subject to the racial epithet “nigger.” On February 7, 2007, Harris’ co-worker compared him to “Arnold Schwarzen nigger, ” and on or about May 18, 2007, a supervisor described his father’s animus toward black people and stated, “You could be a nigger. Anybody can be a nigger, Kenny.” The next day Sutton’s Sales Manager told Harris that a couple of “esses,” apparently referring to Mexicans, could do his job better. There were no other discriminatory incidents.

On March 9, 2007, after the first incident,…