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McGinest v. GTE Serv. Corp.

McGinest v. GTE Serv. Corp.

United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

December 2, 2002, Argued and Submitted, Pasadena, California ; March 11, 2004, Filed

No. 01-57065

Opinion

 [*1106]  PAEZ, Circuit Judge:

George McGinest, an African-American employee of GTE Service Corporation ("GTE"), sued GTE under Title VII for creation of a racially hostile work environment, failure to promote due to racial discrimination, and failure to promote due to retaliation. McGinest claims that GTE created a racially hostile work environment based both upon its perpetration of and its failure to adequately respond to a large number of incidents that occurred over a fifteen year period. In support of his hostile work environment claim, McGinest alleges [**2]  that he was placed in dangerous working conditions because of his race, prevented from collecting bonus pay available to non-African-American coworkers, forced to endure racial taunts and insults by supervisors and coworkers, and subjected to racist graffiti in GTE's bathrooms and on switch boxes. Additionally, McGinest claims that he was denied a promotion in late 1998 due to his race and in retaliation for filing an EEOC complaint; GTE responds that it was unable to promote him due to a hiring freeze.

The district court granted summary judgment to GTE. The court found that the incidents comprising the hostile work  [*1107]  environment claim were sporadic, and for the most part adequately remedied. Moreover, it found that McGinest was unable to produce sufficient evidence that GTE's stated reason for failing to promote him was a pretext.

We reverse the district court's dismissal of the hostile environment and disparate treatment claims. The district court resolved numerous factual questions in favor of GTE, failed to distinguish between supervisors and coworkers in evaluating GTE's liability, and did not consider fully the cumulative impact of the events that occurred. Because McGinest has [**3]  established genuine material issues of fact regarding his hostile work environment claim, as well as on the question of whether the denial of the promotion was prompted by a discriminatory motive, these claims must be remanded. However, McGinest has failed to establish a prima facie case of retaliation, and so we affirm the district court's dismissal of this claim.

B ACKGROUND

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360 F.3d 1103 *; 2004 U.S. App. LEXIS 4632 **; 93 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 557; 84 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) P41,614

GEORGE MCGINEST, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. GTE SERVICE CORP.; MIKE BIGGS, Defendants-Appellees.

Subsequent History: Related proceeding at McGinest v. GTE Service Corp., 2004 Cal. App. LEXIS 1394 (Cal. App. 2d Dist., Aug. 6, 2004)

Appeal after remand at McGinest v. GTE Serv. Corp., 2007 U.S. App. LEXIS 21304 (9th Cir. Cal., Aug. 30, 2007)

Prior History:  [**1]  Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of California. D.C. No. CV-99-13432-CAS. Christina A. Snyder, District Judge, Presiding.

Disposition: Affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded.

CORE TERMS

harassment, hostile, allegations, comments, coworker, graffiti, hostile work environment, summary judgment, hostile work environment claim, district court, employees, discriminatory, hiring freeze, workplace, discriminatory conduct, offensive, quotation, severity, racist, tire, circumstantial evidence, disparate treatment, retaliation, promotion, overtime, racial discrimination, hostile environment, subjected, bathroom, salary

Civil Procedure, Appeals, Summary Judgment Review, Standards of Review, General Overview, Standards of Review, De Novo Review, Labor & Employment Law, Discrimination, Actionable Discrimination, Disparate Treatment, Employment Practices, Harassment, Racial Harassment, Hostile Work Environment, Racial Discrimination, Scope & Definitions, Title VII Discrimination, Summary Judgment, Entitlement as Matter of Law, Genuine Disputes, Torts, Defamation, Defenses, Fair Comment & Opinion, Burdens of Proof, Opposing Materials, Sexual Harassment, Criminal Law & Procedure, Crimes Against Persons, Coercion & Harassment, Elements, Gender & Sex Discrimination, Scope & Definitions, Gender Stereotypes, Same-Sex Harassment, Governments, Courts, Judicial Precedent, Antiharassment Policy, Standards of Proof, Pervasive & Severe Standards, Employers, Activities & Conditions, Vicarious Liability, Civil Rights Law, Contractual Relations & Housing, Property Rights (sec. 1982), Evidence, Burden Shifting, Burdens of Proof, Circumstantial & Direct Evidence, Evidence, Types of Evidence, Circumstantial Evidence, Motions for Summary Judgment, Admissibility, Judgments, Evidentiary Considerations, Retaliation, Elements, Causation