Christopher v. Spectra Electrical Services Incorporated
Filing
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ORDER Plaintiff's motion to amend 20 is granted. Plaintiff may file his proposed amended complaint in the form attached to his motion on or before 11/14/12. Defendant's motion 17 is granted in part and denied in part. Janet Stratton-Chr istopher is joined as a required Plaintiff. The Clerk shall amend the docket to reflect her presence in the case a Plaintiff. Plaintiff's counsel promptly shall provide a copy of this order to Ms. Stratton-Christopher. Ms. Stratton-Christopher must notify the Court on or before 12/10/12 whether she has retained counsel or will be representing herself in this case. Signed by Judge David G Campbell on 11/9/12.(TLJ)
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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
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FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA
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Robert Christopher,
No. CV-12-00345-PHX-DGC
Plaintiff,
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v.
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Spectra Electrical Services, Inc.,
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ORDER
Defendant.
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Plaintiff Robert Christopher has filed a motion to amend his complaint. Doc. 20.
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The motion has been fully briefed, Docs. 21, 24, and will be granted. Defendant Spectra
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Electrical Services has filed a motion to join involuntary plaintiff or amend answer.
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Doc. 17. Plaintiff has not opposed the motion. The motion will be granted in part and
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denied in part.
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I.
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Motion to Amend.
Plaintiff’s original complaint alleges “racial discrimination, national origin
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discrimination, disability discrimination, and constructive discharge.”
Doc. 1 at 1.
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Specifically, Plaintiff alleges that his supervisor called him “denigrating discriminatory
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terms” to the point that he was forced to quit his job on October 8, 2008. Id. at 2.
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In his proposed amended complaint, Plaintiff seeks to change the allegation from
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“constructive discharge” to “discriminatory discharge.” Doc. 20-1 at 1. Specifically,
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Plaintiff seeks to amend his complaint to allege that Mr. White, Plaintiff’s supervisor,
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verbally denigrated him to the point that Plaintiff left his work site sometime in October.
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Id. at 3. The next day, Mr. White called Plaintiff, apologized, and requested he return to
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work, but then fired Plaintiff within an hour of his return. Id.
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Rule 15 makes clear that the Court “should freely give leave [to amend] when
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justice so requires.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 15(a)(2). The policy in favor of leave to amend must
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not only be heeded, see Foman v. Davis, 371 U.S. 178, 182 (1962), it must be applied
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with extreme liberality, see Owens v. Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc., 244 F.3d 708,
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880 (9th Cir. 2001). Defendant argues that Plaintiff’s motion to amend should be denied
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because it is futile, in bad faith, and will cause undue prejudice to Defendant. Although
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these may be valid reasons to deny a motion to amend, see Johnson v. Buckley, 356 F.3d
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1067, 1077 (9th Cir. 2004), they do not apply here.
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A.
Futility.
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Defendant argues that Plaintiff’s motion to amend is futile because it could not
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survive summary judgment.
Defendant argues that Plaintiff’s amended complaint
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contradicts his sworn statement to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
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(“EEOC”), which states that Plaintiff “was forced to quit due to harassment.” Doc. 1,
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Ex. A. Defendant claims that quitting and being fired are mutually exclusive, and that the
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amended complaint is analogous to a sham affidavit presented to defeat summary
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judgment.
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Plaintiff argues that his statements are not contradictory because he originally left
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work with the intention of never returning, but was then persuaded to return and was fired
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by Defendant. Plaintiff also argues that his EEOC statements were made before he
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retained counsel, and that the amended complaint reflects the factual investigation
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conducted by counsel.
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Although Plaintiff’s amended complaint does appear to contradict assertions he
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made to the EEOC and in his original complaint, the Court cannot conclude that this
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provides a basis for denying the proposed amendment. The Ninth Circuit has adopted the
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“sham affidavit” rule – that a party cannot create an issue of fact to avoid summary
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judgment by submitting an affidavit that flatly contradicts prior sworn testimony.
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See
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Burrell v. Star Nursery, Inc., 170 F.3d 951, 954 (9th Cir. 1999) (holding that the
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plaintiff’s affidavit sought to create “sham issues of fact” because her allegations of
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sexual harassment appeared for the first time in the affidavit and directly contradicted her
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prior deposition testimony). The rule is designed for use in summary judgment practice,
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and Defendant cites no case where the rule has been applied to defeat a motion to amend.
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The factual setting of a motion to amend is different than the summary judgment setting
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where the rule normally applies. Defendant does not contend that Plaintiff has taken a
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position in a deposition in this case which he now contradicts in an affidavit designed to
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create an issue of fact to defeat summary judgment. Nor does Defendant explain why the
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sham affidavit rule should apply at the motion to amend stage, where pleadings are
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intended to commence the factual allegations and discovery phase of the case, not to
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conclude them for purposes of summary judgment.
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Moreover, the Ninth Circuit has explained that the sham affidavit rule does not
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apply in every case where contradictory positions are taken. Kennedy v. Allied Mut. Ins.
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Co., 952 F.2d 262, 267 (9th Cir. 1991). Rather, the rule applies only when the district
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court can “make a factual determination that the contradiction was actually a ‘sham.’” Id.
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That factual determination cannot be made as accurately at the motion to amend stage,
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before discovery is complete and before the parties have engaged in the comprehensive
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briefing of summary judgment motions.
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Defendant contends that a motion to amend can be denied on any basis that would
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prevail in a motion for summary judgment. Although this may be true in some cases, the
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Court cannot conclude that the factual determination required to apply the sham affidavit
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rule can accurately be made at the pleading stage.
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B.
Bad Faith.
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Defendant argues that Plaintiff is making a bad faith attempt to avoid Defendant’s
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affirmative defense by contradicting his previous sworn statement. A determination of
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bad faith would appear to be as factually based as a determination that an affidavit is a
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sham.
The Court cannot at this stage find that Plaintiff, who made the previous
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statements without advice of counsel, is so clearly engaging in a bad faith effort to amend
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his complaint that the motion should be denied.
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C.
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Defendant argues that allowing Plaintiff to amend his complaint prejudices
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Defendant. Defendant explains that the EEOC made no investigation of claims that the
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Defendant fired Plaintiff, and that allowing Plaintiff to change his story after the EEOC
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investigation may lead the jury to believe the EEOC confirmed Plaintiff’s new story. The
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Court is confident, however, that defense counsel will be fully capable of making clear to
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the jury the basis on which the EEOC made its decision and the inconsistency of
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Prejudice.
positions taken by Plaintiff.
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Following Rule 15’s directive that leave to amend be freely granted and the Ninth
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Circuit’s instruction that Rule 15 be applied liberally, the Court will grant Plaintiff’s
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motion to amend.
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II.
Motion to Join Plaintiff or Amend Answer.
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Defendant argues that Plaintiff’s spouse, Janet Stratton-Christopher, is a required
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party under Rule 19(a)(1) because Plaintiff is seeking lost wages which are community
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property under Arizona law. Defendant asks the Court to either join Janet Stratton-
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Christopher as a required plaintiff or give Defendant leave to amend its answer to include
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an affirmative defense of failure to join required parties. Plaintiff has not opposed this
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motion.
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plaintiff and deny Defendant’s motion to amend answer.
Accordingly, the Court will join Janet Stratton-Christopher as a required
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IT IS ORDERED:
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1.
Plaintiff’s motion to amend (Doc. 20) is granted. Plaintiff may file his
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proposed amended complaint in the form attached to his motion on or
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before November 14, 2012.
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2.
Defendant’s motion (Doc. 17) is granted in part and denied in part. Janet
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Stratton-Christopher is joined as a required Plaintiff.
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amend the docket to reflect her presence in the case a Plaintiff.
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The Clerk shall
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Stratton-Christopher.
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Plaintiff’s counsel promptly shall provide a copy of this order to Ms.
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Ms.
Stratton-Christopher
must
notify
the
Court
on
or
before
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December 10, 2012 whether she has retained counsel or will be
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representing herself in this case.
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Dated this 9th day of November, 2012.
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