Santillan v. USA Waste of California, No. 15-55238 (9th Cir. 2017)
Annotate this CasePlaintiff, a 53-year-old garbage truck driver, filed suit against USA Waste, his employer of 32 years, alleging wrongful termination based on age discrimination and retaliation. The district court granted summary judgment for USA Waste. The court held that the district court erred by granting summary judgment in favor of USA Waste because plaintiff established a prima facie case under both his age discrimination and retaliation theories, and USA Waste failed to introduce any evidence that it had a legitimate reason for firing him. In this case, the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA), Pub.L. 99-603, 100 Stat. 3359, did not require proof of employment eligibility from plaintiff, and USA Waste could not make plaintiff's reinstatement contingent on verification of his immigration status because doing so would violate California public policy. Furthermore, plaintiff's use of an attorney was activity protected by California public policy, USA Waste fired plaintiff because he was represented by his attorney at the Settlement Agreement negotiations, and the district court erred by holding that USA Waste provided a legitimate reason for firing plaintiff. Therefore, the court concluded that USA Waste failed to meet its burden as to plaintiff's claim based on retaliation discrimination. The court also held that the district court did not abuse its discretion when it denied plaintiff's oral request for leave to amend the complaint eight months after the filing deadline. Accordingly, the court reversed and remanded for further proceedings.
Court Description: Employment Discrimination. The panel reversed the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of USA Waste of California, Inc. on Gilberto Santillan’s wrongful termination claim under California law based on age discrimination and retaliation; affirmed the district court’s denial of Santillan’s request for leave to amend the complaint; and remanded for further proceedings. The panel held that the district court erred in holding that Santillan failed to establish a prima facie age discrimination claim. The panel further held that USA Waste failed to rebut the presumption of unlawful discrimination because it did not offer a legitimate reason for firing Santillan when USA Waste’s only proffered reason was Santillan’s failure to provide proof of his legal right to work in the United States as required by the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA). Specifically, the panel held that IRCA exempted Santillan from the proof of employment eligibility that USA Waste demanded. The panel also held that making Santillan’s reinstatement contingent upon such proof would violate California public policy. The panel held that Santillan established a prima facie retaliation case and a presumption of unlawful retaliation. Specifically, the panel held that the district court erred in concluding that Santillan did not engage in protected activity SANTILLAN V. USA WASTE OF CAL. 3 when he used an attorney to negotiate his reinstatement. The panel held that California public policy protected Santillan’s right to representation by an attorney to negotiate the terms and conditions of employment. The panel further held that Santillan established a nexus between his termination and his protected activity where USA Waste fired Santillan because he was represented by his attorney at the settlement agreement negotiations. Finally, the panel held that the district court did not abuse its discretion by denying Santillan’s request for leave to amend the complaint. The panel held that Santillan failed to show he was diligent in seeking to amend the complaint because his request to amend came eight months after the deadline for making such a request.
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