Free Motion for Summary Judgment - District Court of Arizona - Arizona

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Ernest Calderón (#007677) Faith C. Klepper (#021320) CALDERÓN LAW OFFICES 2020 N. Central Ave., Suite 1110 Phoenix, AZ 85004 (602) 265-0004 Attorneys for Defendant Chase BankCard Services, Inc. IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF ARIZONA JOYCE A. CORRALES, Plaintiff, vs. CHASE BANKCARD SERVICES, INC., a Delaware corporation, d/b/a Chase Manhattan Bank, N.A., Defendant. DEFENDANT'S SEPARATE STATEMENT OF FACTS IN SUPPORT OF ITS MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT (Honorable Susan R. Bolton) (Oral Argument Requested) Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56, Defendant Chase BankCard Services, No. CIV 02-2157-PHX-SRB

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Inc. ("Chase BankCard"), provides the following separate statement of facts in support of its
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Motion for Summary Judgment:
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1.

In April 2001, Plaintiff was employed by Chase BankCard as a retention services

representative. (Complaint at ¶ 4.) 2. On April 4, 2001, Brooke King, another Chase BankCard employee who also

worked as a retention services representative, made a complaint that she had been subjected to sexual harassment, some of which was alleged to have occurred during a lunch with co-workers at a P.F. Chang's restaurant. (Deposition Transcript of Brooke King at 7, relevant portions attached here to as Exhibit 1.)

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3.

On April 4, 2001, Chase Bright, a trained and experienced employment relations

officer for JPMorgan Chase & Co., Chase BankCard's parent, was assigned to conduct an investigation of the sexual harassment allegations made by Brooke King. (Deposition Transcript of Brooke King at 7, relevant portions attached here to as Exhibit 1; Deposition Transcript of Chase Bright at 4-5, relevant portions attached as Exhibit 2.) 4. Chase Bright and his assistant, Derek Cheu, interviewed Brooke King. The

interview occurred on the morning of April 4, 2001, the same day Ms. King made her complaint. (See Declaration of Derek Cheu at Exhibit A, ¶3, attached as Exhibit 3; Declaration of Chase Bright at Exhibit A, ¶1-2, attached as Exhibit 4.) 5. During Bright's interview of King, she told him about a sexually explicit

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lunchtime conversation with a number of her co-workers in which comments were made about
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her breasts and other body parts. During that conversation, King also identified Plaintiff, among
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others, as a witness and a participant in the conversation that related to her sexual harassment
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complaint. (See Exhibit 1 at 11; Exhibit 2 at 10-12; Complaint at ¶6.) 6. Chase Bright and his assistant, Derek Cheu, then interviewed Plaintiff. The

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interview occurred later on the morning of April 4, 2001, the same day Ms. King made her
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complaint. (See Declaration of Derek Cheu at Exhibit A, ¶3, attached as Exhibit 3; Declaration
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of Chase Bright at Exhibit A, ¶1-2, attached as Exhibit 4.) As with his interviews of the other
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persons identified by King, Bright did not identify the person who made the sexual harassment
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complaint, or specify the alleged harassing conduct.
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7.

During Bright's interview of Plaintiff, he made appropriate inquiries which were

directed, and limited, to Plaintiff's knowledge of the circumstances surrounding the alleged sexual harassment reported by King. (See Exhibit 2 at 13; Exhibit 3(A); Exhibit 4 at ¶¶2-3; Deposition of Derek Cheu at 36, relevant portions attached as Exhibit 5.) Mr. Bright's

questions, such as "What else was stated?" and "Anything else?," were asked of all the co2

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workers who were present at the lunch and identified by King or another witness, and were specifically designed not to lead the witnesses' testimony and to get as comprehensive a picture of the events that took place as possible. (See Exhibit 2 at 7-8, 12-15, 42-43; Exhibit 3(A) at ¶4; Exhibit 4 at ¶4.) 8. Plaintiff initially refused to answer Mr. Bright's questions saying she did not

believe that what happened at the lunch was relevant to the workplace and, therefore, was not a proper subject of an investigation by Chase BankCard. (See Exhibit 2 at 9; Exhibit 5 at 35; Deposition of Joyce Corrales at 89, relevant portions of which are attached as Exhibit 6.) 9. Plaintiff also believed that she was the subject of the sexual harassment complaint

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(see Exhibit 6 at 89.), because, as she informed Mr. Bright during the interview, she had made
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inappropriate remarks about Ms. King's breasts using chopsticks. (See Exhibit 2 at 11-12;
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Exhibit 4(B) at CBSJC0193.)
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10.

At the conclusion of the interview, Mr. Bright advised Plaintiff that the

investigation was confidential and she was not to speak with anyone about the investigation. (See Exhibit 2 at 16; Exhibit 6 at 92.)
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11.

Plaintiff says she approached her supervisors but was told that they, like her, were

not allowed to speak about the ongoing investigation. Plaintiff did not inform anyone that she wished to file a sexual harassment complaint regarding Bright's conduct of the interview. (See Exhibit 6 at 219.) 12. Plaintiff went back to work and performed her job without problem the rest of the

day. (See Exhibit 6 at 96-97.) She returned to work again the following day, having put the interview behind her. (Id. at 99.) Plaintiff still believed Ms. King had filed a sexual harassment complaint against her. (Id. at 97.)

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13.

On April 5, 2001, after gathering further information, Mr. Bright sought to

interview Plaintiff again to follow up on the investigation. (See Exhibit 4(A) at ¶6, (B) at CBSJC0193-0196, CBSJC0201; Exhibit 3(A) at ¶5.) 14. When informed that Bright wanted to speak with her again, Plaintiff refused to be

interviewed and immediately resigned, without talking to her supervisor, Ms. Mott, or anyone else, Plaintiff provided only a letter stating: "Letter of resignation, immediately. I refuse to become involved in all this sexual harassment crap. I am an adult. I was on my lunch, unpaid hours." (See Exhibit 6 at 100, 103-104.) Once again, Plaintiff made no complaint about Bright's conduct of the interview. 15. After quitting her job, Plaintiff called Ms. King and confronted her about the

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sexual harassment complaint and the investigation. It was only then that Plaintiff learned that
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Ms. King had not complained about her but about another coworker. (See Exhibit 1 at 20;
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Exhibit 6 at 105-106.)
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16.
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After talking with Ms. King, Plaintiff went to the EEOC to file a complaint. Two

days after she quit, she wrote a letter of complaint to Mr. Bright's supervisor in which she complained about being asked about conversations in her social group at lunch. (See Exhibit 6
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at 107, 109, 110 and Exh.2.)
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17.

Plaintiff provided only vague answers in response to inquires about her alleged

damages and, despite repeated requests from Defendant, Plaintiff failed to provide any documentation of her alleged damages. (See Exhibit 6 at 147-155; Exhibit 7, March 29, 2006 Letter to Attorney Mark Brinton.) RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED this 1st day of May, 2006. CALDERÓN LAW OFFICES ___s/Faith C. Klepper______________ Ernest Calderón Faith C. Klepper Attorneys for Defendant Chase BankCard
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Services, Inc.

ORIGINAL of the foregoing filed this 1st day of May, 2006, with: Clerk of the Court United States District Court District of Arizona COPY of the foregoing hand-delivered this 1st day of May, 2006, to: The Honorable Susan R. Bolton United States District Court COPY of the foregoing mailed this 1st day of May, 2006, to: Mark Brinton 1745 South Alma School Road Ste 100 Mesa, Arizona 85210 Attorney for Plaintiff

____s/Faith C. Klepper_______________

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