Sylvia Dominguez-Curry v. Nevada Transportation Department Roc Stacey

Sylvia Dominguez-Curry (“Dominguez”) sued her employer, the Nevada Department of Transportation (“Department”), and her supervisor, Roc Stacey (“Stacey”), alleging that they subjected her to a hostile work environment and failed to promote her on the basis of her gender, in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Dominguez appeals the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the Department and Stacey. We hold that Dominguez presented ample evidence from which a reasonable trier of fact could conclude that she was subjected to a hostile work environment and that the decision not to promote her was motivated at least in part by her gender. Accordingly, we reverse the district court’s judgment and remand for a trial on both of Dominguez’s Title VII claims.

Background

Since 1994, Dominguez has worked under the supervision of Roc Stacey in the Nevada Department of Transportation’s contract compliance division. Stacey routinely made demeaning comments to women in the division. For example, Stacey told Dominguez and two other women in the division that “he wished he could get men to do [their] jobs,” that “women have no business in construction,” and that…

dissenting:

I agree with the majority opinion that Dominguez has alleged sufficient facts to survive summary judgment on her hostile work environment claim, but conclude that the district court properly granted summary judgment on her failure to promote claim. Even if we accept for purposes of summary judgment that a trier of fact could find that Stacey was biased against women, Dominguez has not rebutted the Nevada Department of Transportation’s (“NDOT”) legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for hiring Phillip Andrews and not promoting Dominguez. The record amply supports NDOT’s assertion that Andrews was the best-qualified job applicant. Accordingly, I dissent.

Dominguez, a woman, joined the Contract Compliance Section of the Construction Division of NDOT in June 1994. In November 1999, an opening in the Contract Compliance Section was announced for a Program Officer III. Stacey with Mark Elicegui conducted joint interviews of the six applicants, including Dominguez, whose applications were forwarded to them by the State Personnel Board. Stacey and Elicegui individually rated Andrews as the top applicant and Julia Mason, a woman, as the second-ranking candidate. Andrews was…

424 F.3d 1027 Sylvia DOMINGUEZ-CURRY, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. NEVADA TRANSPORTATION DEPARTMENT; Roc Stacey, Defendants-Appellees. No. 03-16959. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Argued and Submitted February 17, 2005. Filed September 14, 2005. COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED Kenneth J. McKenna, Reno, NV, for the plaintiff-appellant. Brian Sandoval, Attorney General, Teresa J. Thienhaus, Senior Deputy Attorney General, Las Vegas, NV, for the defendants-appellees. Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Nevada; David W. Hagen, District Judge, Presiding. D.C. No. CV-01-00630-DWH/RAM. Before: THOMAS, PAEZ, and CALLAHAN, Circuit Judges. PAEZ, Circuit Judge. 1 Sylvia Dominguez-Curry ("Dominguez") sued her employer, the Nevada Department of Transportation ("Department"), and her supervisor, Roc Stacey ("Stacey"), alleging that they subjected her to a hostile work environment and failed to promote her on the basis of her gender, in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Dominguez appeals the district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of the Department and Stacey. We hold that…