Opinion ID: 782203
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Title VII and Hostile Work Environment Claims

Text: 25 Rosario next challenges the district court's award of summary judgment on her hostile work environment claim. The court concluded that religious discrimination was not behind the offending conduct because the vast majority of incidents did not contain any religious overtones and that animus could not be inferred from the record. Rosario responds that the question of whether her overt religious practice was the source of the hostile environment she experienced is a jury issue. This argument fails. 26 To make out a viable workplace harassment claim based on religion, the plaintiff must establish that: (1) she is a member of a protected class; (2) she was subject to uninvited harassment;(3) the offending conduct was because of her religion; (4) the harassment was severe and pervasive; (5) the offending conduct was both objectively and subjectively offensive and (where employer liability is sought); (6) there was a basis for such liability. 1 O'Rourke, 235 F.3d at 728 (emphasis added); I.B. Lindemann & P. Grossman, Employment Discrimination Law 755-56 (3d ed.1996). Here, there is no dispute that Rosario was a member of a protected class. The defendants also admit that Rosario was subject to uninvited rude and unprofessional conduct which we assume was severe and pervasive. We thus turn to whether there is a genuine issue of material fact as to whether the alleged hostile work environment was because of religion. On that score, regardless of the evidentiary course the plaintiff charts, she must show that alleged discriminatory conduct was not merely tinged with remarks abhorrent to her religion but actually was, in either character or substance, discrimination because of religion. Oncale v. Sundowner Offshore Servs., Inc., 523 U.S. 75, 81, 118 S.Ct. 998, 140 L.Ed.2d 201 (1998). In arguing that she presented sufficient proof of such causation, Rosario points to her co-workers' repeated allusions to religion and their persistent taunting and portrayal of her as self-righteous. She further contends that the supervisors and, by extension, the employers involved (i.e., Colón, Pomales, Nieves, Ocasio, PSG and PRASA) are liable because they were well aware of her predicament but failed to prevent the discrimination and harassment when it was within their power to do so. Although the record is not clear as to whether and to what extent each employer knew about the several incidents of which Rosario complains, we shall assume that Rosario's employers were aware that her co-workers had engaged in inappropriate conduct and mistreated her. We turn now to the specifics. 27 Rosario first points out that her co-workers were critical of her faith and spirituality. She states that she was given the nickname Mother Theresa by Feliciano, who was a co-worker with less seniority (and not her supervisor). The record makes clear, however, that the nickname was a response to Rosario's scolding of Feliciano for her constant vulgarity. Rosario did not appreciate Feliciano's profanity and she regularly let Feliciano know it. But the evidence simply does not permit an inference that the tense relations between the two was caused by religious discrimination on the part of Feliciano. 28 Rosario next complains about a bawdy Christmas carol mentioning her name and sung to her by Rivera (again a co-worker with less seniority). Rosario asserts that the lyrics of the song are offensive to her, given her deep religious convictions. We do not doubt this is so. But the question is not whether a religious person could find the song offensive; it is whether religious animus prompted Rivera to sing it to her. And as with the Mother Theresa remark, the record does not permit an affirmative response to this question. The song was characteristic of the office's vulgar and unprofessional environment — an environment to which all were subjected. But there is a conceptual gap between an environment that is offensive to a person of strong religious sensibilities and an environment that is offensive because of hostility to the religion guiding those sensibilities. Rosario has not provided us with evidence or argument sufficient to bridge that gap. 2 29 Finally, Rosario complains of a birthday card given to her by Rivera that depicted a pig wearing a rosary next to her birth date. 3 We certainly appreciate why Rosario was upset by the connection made between her and the pig. Rivera relished being provocative and successfully egged Rosario on. This is Rosario's strongest evidence of religion-based discrimination, but it is also evidence equally susceptible of a non-discriminatory intent. As she testified, people in her office took it as a joke, and she remained tranquil and viewed it as making fun of her. While a jury could resolve the issue of intent in her favor, this single incident is insufficient to support the edifice of her harassment claims and insufficient by itself to be actionable. There is also no testimony by Rosario that she brought this incident to the attention of management. 30 The summary judgment record shows that the budget office at PRASA was an unprofessional environment. The workers frequently swore, engaged in horseplay, and were derelict in their work duties. And, as Rosario points out, she was different. Rosario attributes that difference to her religious beliefs. 4 There is no evidence about whether there were other deeply religious people in the office and how they were treated. Rosario's beliefs apparently motivated her to act in certain ways. Rosario was not averse to proselytizing and opining that her way was the right way. She would often chide her co-workers for their obscene language and poor work habits, and frequently documented their infractions of PRASA regulations. Unsurprisingly, this course of conduct provoked them and they responded in ways apparently meant to offend her. Such antics, while deplorable, do not amount to a violation of Title VII. Cf. Wilson v. U.S. West Communications, 58 F.3d 1337, 1342 (8th Cir.1995) (noting that Title VII does not require an employer to allow an employee to impose his religious views on others.). A constellation of factors led to the friction between Rosario and her co-workers, but no reasonable fact finder could conclude on the basis of the incidents we have described or the general atmosphere in the office that one of these factors was an antipathy towards Rosario's underlying religious convictions. 5