Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-azd-2_10-cv-00288/USCOURTS-azd-2_10-cv-00288-1/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 440
Nature of Suit: Other Civil Rights
Cause of Action: 42:2000 Job Discrimination (Sex)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

DISTRICT OF ARIZONA

DIANA J. FULLER, )) Plaintiff, ) 2:10-cv-00288 JWS ) vs. ) ORDER AND OPINION ) MARICOPA COUNTY COMMUNITY ) [Re: Motion at Docket 79] COLLEGE DISTRICT, )) Defendant. ))

I. MOTION PRESENTED

At docket 79, defendant Maricopa County Community College District (“the

District” or “defendant”) moves for summary judgment pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil

Procedure 56. Plaintiff Diana J. Fuller (“Fuller” or “plaintiff”) opposes the motion at

docket 82. Defendant’s reply is at docket 93. Oral argument was requested, but would

not assist the court.

At docket 92, the District moves to strike the affidavits of Raul S. Monreal, Jr.,

Jean Ann Abel, and Rosemary Kesler. Fuller opposes the motion and moves to defer

consideration of defendant’s motion for summary judgment at docket 94. The District’s

reply is at docket 95.

Case 2:10-cv-00288-JWS Document 96 Filed 04/24/12 Page 1 of 9
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1

See, e.g., Doc. 78-1 at 22.

2

Doc. 78-1 at 67, Doc. 78-3 at 13.

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II. BACKGROUND

Fuller was hired by the District in 1984 to teach office education and word

processing.1 Fuller held both a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree. The District

used a salary schedule to determine compensation for instructors. Placement on the

schedule was a function of the minimum qualifications for the position–that is, an

instructor could be placed on the salary schedule by virtue of having a master’s degree,

or for some positions, a bachelor’s degree and sufficient experience. Horizontal

movement on the schedule was a function of hours earned towards an advanced

degree. Vertical movement was based on years of relevant experience. 

When she was hired, plaintiff was placed at Step 6 of the 1984-1985 salary

schedule, and her salary was $26,596.2 Fuller maintains that she was placed at Step 6

based on her bachelor’s degree and work experience, which moved her to the

maximum vertical placement for a new hire. The District argues that her master’s

degree placed her on the schedule and that her considerable work experience placed

her at Step 6 which was the maximum for a new hire.

Minimum requirements for a faculty position varied based on whether the

courses to be taught were classified as “academic” or “occupational.” Plaintiff maintains

that she was hired as an occupational instructor; defendant maintains that she was

hired as a dual discipline instructor. Academic courses required a master’s degree. 

Occupational courses required a bachelor’s degree and a certain level of experience. 

Both parties agree that word processing was occupational. The parties disagree as to

whether office education was occupational or academic.

In 2001, Fuller filed a salary appeal, based on her salary placement at the time of

her hire. The appeal was dismissed because the Residential Faculty Policy Manual

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3

Id. at 5, 6.

4

Doc. 28-1 at 10.

5

Doc. 28-1 at 3, 10.

6

Doc. 78-3 at 17.

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(“RFP”) in place when she was hired did not provide for a salary review process. Fuller

then submitted a complaint to Phil Randolph (“Randolph”), the District’s Vice-Chancellor

of Human Resources. Randolph ultimately concluded that Fuller’s master’s degree was

applied to meet the minimum qualification to teach an academic course as a dual

discipline instructor. In a June 14, 2004 written complaint to the District, Fuller identified

several women who received the salary credit for their master’s degrees that Fuller

sought.3

 Fuller filed a charge of discrimination with the Arizona Civil Rights Division in

2004, which was forwarded to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

(“EEOC”). In her written charge, Fuller identified three men and four women who

received salary adjustments based on their master’s degrees.4

Fuller initially filed suit in Arizona state court, in 2005, alleging that she was

discriminated against on the basis of sex. Her complaint incorporated by reference

allegations that both men and women received the salary adjustments that she sought.5

Ultimately, Fuller voluntarily dismissed that complaint. In 2009, Fuller filed a charge of

discrimination with the EEOC. Fuller did not identify any women who received salary

adjustments based on their master’s degree, but the factual premise of her

discrimination claim was identical. The EEOC declined to investigate beyond a

preliminary review, and Fuller received a right-to-sue letter.6

Fuller filed the present lawsuit in February 2010, alleging violations of Title VII,

the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, and the Equal Pay Act.

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7

Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a).

8

Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248 (1986).

9

Id.

10Lopez v. Smith, 203 F.3d 1122 (9th Cir. 2000). 

11Dominguez-Curry v. Nevada Transp. Dept., 424 F.3d 1027, 1036 (9th Cir. 2005).

12Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323 (1986).

13McDonnel-Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792 (1973).

14See, e.g., Chuang v. Univ. of Cal. Davis, 225 F.3d 1115, 1123 (9th Cir. 2000).

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III. STANDARD OF REVIEW

Summary judgment is appropriate where “there is no genuine dispute as to any

material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.”7 The materiality

requirement ensures that “only disputes over facts that might affect the outcome of the

suit under the governing law will properly preclude the entry of summary judgment.”8

Ultimately, “summary judgment will not lie if the . . . evidence is such that a reasonable

jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party.”9

 In resolving a motion for summary

judgment, a court must view the evidence in the light most favorable to the non-moving

party.10 The reviewing court may not weigh evidence or assess the credibility of

witnesses.11 The burden of persuasion is on the moving party.12

IV. DISCUSSION

A. Fuller’s Title VII Claim

Under the McDonnel-Douglas13 framework, a plaintiff must first establish a prima

facie case of sex discrimination. Specifically, a plaintiff must show that 1) she is a

member of a protected class, 2) that she was qualified for the position she held, 3) she

was subject to an adverse employment action, and 4) similarly situated individuals

outside her protected class were treated more favorably.14 If the plaintiff is successful,

then the burden of production shifts to the defendant to articulate a legitimate, nonCase 2:10-cv-00288-JWS Document 96 Filed 04/24/12 Page 4 of 9
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15Id. at 1123–24.

16Doc. 82 at 7.

17Doc. 78-1 at 42, 73.

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discriminatory reason for the disparate treatment.15 The burden then shifts back to the

plaintiff to show that the defendant’s reason is pretextual.

The first two elements of plaintiff’s prima facie case are not in dispute. Fuller is

female, and the District does not argue that she was unfit for any position she held from

1984 until 2003. The District’s primary argument is that Fuller is unable to satisfy the

fourth prong. The District maintains that Fuller admitted that both men and women were

treated more favorably than she was. The District also argues that the two men who

plaintiff identifies as having received more favorable treatment were not similarly

situated. Although Fuller maintains that the District “has not disputed the first three

elements”16 of Fuller’s prima facie case, if the District’s version of the facts is correct,

then the third element–an adverse employment action–would not be met.

1. Adverse Employment Action

The first question is whether Fuller has established that she was subjected to an

adverse employment action. This depends on whether she was hired to teach

academic and occupational courses or only occupational courses. The District

maintains that office education was an academic course. Fuller maintains in her

response that office education was occupational. If the course was academic, then

plaintiff’s master’s degree was a minimum qualification and should not have been taken

into account for purposes of salary advancement. If it was occupational, then plaintiff’s

master’s degree would have rendered her eligible for salary increases that she did not

receive. 

The District cites, among other things, the 1984-1986 RFP and the April 1981

Hiring Qualifications for Faculty.17 Fuller maintains that the 1981 Hiring Qualifications

would not have been in place in 1984 when she was hired and cites documents that

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18Doc. 83-2 at 2, 5, 23.

19Doc. 93-1 at 3–4.

20See, e.g., doc. 78-1 at 30–34.

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were seemingly created in 2003 and 2004 to support her position that office education

was an occupational course at the time of her hire.18 The District also cites Fuller’s

deposition, in which she stated that one course that she was hired to teach was

academic.19 Even viewing the conflicting evidence in the light most favorable to Fuller,

Fuller’s admission that she was hired to teach an academic course in addition to an

occupational course is fatal to her Title VII claim. Because Fuller has recognized that

she was hired to teach an academic course in addition to an occupational course,

summary judgment in defendant’s favor is appropriate as a matter of law based on a

failure to satisfy the third element of a prima facie case under McDonnel-Douglas–Fuller

was not subjected to an adverse employment action because instructors hired to teach

academic courses were required to have a master’s degree.

2. Similarly Situated Employees

Even if the court were to ignore Fuller’s concession that she was hired as a dual

discipline instructor, Fuller has also conceded that both women and men received the

salary adjustment she sought. Fuller argues formally that two male faculty members,

Charles Esparza (“Esparza”) and David Cost (“Cost”) received horizontal salary

advancements for having master’s degrees. The District argues, however, that plaintiff

has admitted (many times under oath) that both men and women received more

favorable treatment in the form of salary adjustment based on their master’s degrees. 

The District also argues that neither Esparza nor Cost were similarly situated to Fuller.

Plaintiff stated at her deposition that she believed three women received salary

adjustments as a result of their master’s degrees.20 Although Fuller maintains that

those women were not employed at the same campus, that distinction is immaterial. 

The women that Fuller identified as having received salary adjustments based on their

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21See Nicholson v. Hyannis Air Svc., Inc., 580 F.3d 1116, 1125 (9th Cir. 2009)

(“[E]mployees need not be identical; they must simply be similar in all material respects.”)

(internal quotations omitted).

22Doc. 78-1 at 92.

23Doc. 79 at 5 n.6.

24See 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(e)(3)(A).

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master’s degrees were employees of the District whose salaries were determined

according to the same criteria.21 Finally, the District has presented evidence that only

one other person–a woman named Mary Long (“Long”)–was hired as a dual discipline

instructor in 1984.22 Long had a slightly higher starting salary than Fuller, even though

Fuller was at a higher vertical position on the pay chart, due to horizontal placement. 

The District included an unsupported footnote in its motion explaining that Long

received horizontal credit on the salary chart based on a second master’s degree.23 If

that is correct, then it lends further support to the conclusion that Fuller’s salary was

properly determined and that her master’s degree was used as the minimum

qualification to teach an academic course as a dual discipline instructor, and therefore

that Fuller suffered no adverse employment action. If that is not correct, and Long

received horizontal credit for having a master’s degree, then Long’s salary adjustment is

fatal to Fuller’s Title VII claim because she is a similarly situated women who would

have received the very treatment Fuller sought.

Plaintiff has not made out a prima facie case of sex discrimination, and summary

judgment in defendant’s favor is appropriate with respect to plaintiff’s Title VII claim.

B. Fuller’s Other Claims

Fuller argues that the District violated the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. However,

as the District points out, the Act functioned to define when an unlawful employment

practice occurs with respect to discriminatory compensation.24 The Ledbetter Act did

not create a new federal cause of action.

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25See 29 U.S.C. § 206(d)(1).

26Stanley v. Univ. of So. Cal., 178 F.3d 1069, 1073–1074 (9th Cir. 1999).

27Id. at 1074.

28Compare doc. 78-1 at 92 with doc. 82 at 13–14.

29See LRCiv. 7.2(m)(2).

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Fuller also alleges that the District violated the Equal Pay Act.25 “In an Equal Pay

Act case, the plaintiff has the burden of establishing a prima facie case of discrimination

by showing that employees of the opposite sex were paid different wages for equal

work.”26 Specifically, a plaintiff must show that the work in question was “substantially

equal.”27 Here, however, Fuller has not shown that any pay disparity could be

categorized by sex. For instance, Long, the only other dual discipline instructor hired in

1984, was given a starting salary of approximately $2000 more than Fuller. That is

almost exactly the same difference between Fuller’s annual salary at the end of her

employment and the salaries of Ray Esparza and David Cost.28 Fuller therefore has not

made out a prima facie case of discrimination under the Equal Pay Act.

C. Motions at Dockets 92 & 94

Although Fuller’s argument that the District’s motion to strike violates Local

Rule 7.2 appears to have merit, the affidavits of Raul S. Monreal, Jr., Jean Ann Abel,

and Rosemary Kesler do not bear on the conclusions reached above.29 Although the

affidavits support Fuller’s contention that her initial salary placement was based on her

bachelor’s degree and relevant work experience, as opposed to her master’s degree,

the content of those affidavits does not alter the fact that Fuller has acknowledged that

several women received horizontal salary credit for their master’s degrees. At most

then, the affidavits suggest that Fuller’s initial salary placement may have been error. 

Erroneous calculations are not contemplated by Title VII or the Equal Pay Act. 

Consequently, the District’s motion to strike and Fuller’s motion to delay consideration

of the District’s motion for summary judgment are moot.

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V. CONCLUSION

For the reasons above, defendant’s motion at docket 79 for summary judgment

pursuant to Federal Rule 56 is GRANTED. The Clerk shall please enter judgment for

defendant on all claims.

The motions at dockets 92 and 94 are DENIED as moot.

DATED this 23rd day of April 2012.

 /s/ 

JOHN W. SEDWICK

UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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