Opinion ID: 786872
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Evidentiary Rulings and Procedural Bar

Text: 14 Before evaluating whether Fonseca is entitled to a trial on his employment discrimination claims under Title VII and 42 U.S.C. § 1981, we must resolve certain evidentiary and procedural issues to determine which evidence may be considered. These issues are: (1) whether Fonseca's allegations about funeral leave are barred by the statute of limitations; (2) whether the district court properly excluded the Mendoza declaration because Fonseca did not timely disclose it; and (3) whether the district court abused its discretion in holding that all of Fonseca's evidence of disparate treatment is hearsay.
15 Fonseca alleges that he was denied full funeral leave and improperly disciplined for taking funeral leave in March 1999. Fonseca's Title VII claim regarding funeral leave is time-barred because he did not file a complaint with the EEOC within 300 days of Sysco's discriminatory act. 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(e)(1); National R.R. Passenger Corp. v. Morgan, 536 U.S. 101, 113, 122 S.Ct. 2061, 153 L.Ed.2d 106 (2002) ([D]iscrete discriminatory acts are not actionable if time barred, even when they are related to acts alleged in timely filed charges.). However, his § 1981 claim was timely under 28 U.S.C. § 1658, which provides a four-year statute of limitations for claims made under federal statutes that were enacted after December 1, 1990. See 28 U.S.C. § 1658(a); Jones v. R.R. Donnelley & Sons Co., 541 U.S. 369, 124 S.Ct. 1836, 1845, ___ L.Ed.2d ___ (2004) (applying § 1658 to § 1981 claims for wrongful termination, failure-to-transfer and hostile work environment because such claims were made possible by the Civil Rights Act of 1991). Fonseca's Title VII claim is time-barred insofar as he claims that he was disparately disciplined for taking funeral leave, but those allegations may be considered as part of his § 1981 claim.
16 We review de novo the district court's decision to impose discovery sanctions, because the district court failed to make factual findings regarding the sanction. Adriana Int'l. Corp. v. Thoeren, 913 F.2d 1406, 1407 (9th Cir.1990). In this case, the district court excluded the Mendoza declaration because Fonseca did not disclose Mendoza as a witness until one month after the supplemental disclosure deadline. We reverse the sanction because the late disclosure was both substantially justified and harmless. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 37(c)(1). 17 The district court did not consider whether the late disclosure was harmless or justified, because Fonseca, a pro se plaintiff, did not file a motion to show good cause for the late disclosure. However, the district court had instructed Fonseca regarding the good cause motion in a confusing manner: If you wish to file a motion to show good cause ... [this] new witness[] will not be permitted to be called at trial. (emphasis added). Fonseca did not file a good cause motion, but argued in response to Sysco's motion to strike the evidence that the late disclosure was substantially justified and harmless. 18 District courts must take care to insure that pro se litigants are provided with proper notice regarding the complex procedural issues involved in summary judgment proceedings. Garaux v. Pulley, 739 F.2d 437, 439 (9th Cir.1984). The district court did not give Fonseca proper notice that the Mendoza declaration would be excluded unless Fonseca filed a good cause motion. In addition, Fonseca's late disclosure was substantially justified because it was made shortly after he learned of the discrimination against Mendoza, as well as harmless, because Sysco had a copy of the Mendoza declaration months before Fonseca's disclosure. It was error to exclude the Mendoza declaration.
19 Because the district court held that all of Fonseca's evidence of disparate treatment was either inadmissible hearsay or beyond Fonseca's personal knowledge, without analyzing individual evidence, it is impossible to ascertain the reason for the exclusion of each piece of evidence. Cf. Sumner v. San Diego Urban League, Inc., 681 F.2d 1140, 1142-43 (9th Cir.1982) (reversing district court decision on merits of employment discrimination claim because findings of fact and conclusions of law were not sufficiently specific to indicate how the district court weighed the evidence). 20 Nevertheless, we have reviewed all of the evidence and conclude as a matter of law that it is admissible. Much of the evidence supporting Fonseca's claim is not hearsay and is within the deponent or declarant's personal knowledge. See Fed.R.Evid. 801(d)(2)(D) (admission of a party-opponent is not hearsay); Barthelemy v. Air Lines Pilots Ass'n, 897 F.2d 999, 1018 (9th Cir.1990) (personal knowledge requirement in Rule 56(e) can be met by inference). Even the declarations that do contain hearsay are admissible for summary judgment purposes because they could be presented in an admissible form at trial. Fraser v. Goodale, 342 F.3d 1032, 1037 (9th Cir.2003), cert. denied sub nom. U.S. Bancorp v. Fraser, ___ U.S. ___, 124 S.Ct. 1663, 158 L.Ed.2d 358 (2004); see also Hughes v. United States, 953 F.2d 531, 543 (9th Cir.1992). 21 Additionally, the district court abused its discretion by excluding some evidence even though Sysco had waived any objection. See Scharf v. United States Atty. Gen., 597 F.2d 1240, 1243 (9th Cir.1979) (reversing grant of summary judgment and exclusion of evidence, because the defense did not object and the affidavit at issue raise[d] a genuine issue of material fact). The district court's ruling that all of the evidence of disparate treatment was inadmissible was erroneous.