Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and Magali Villalobos v. Ryan's Pointe Houston, LLC and Advantage Property Management, LLC

Houston, Texas civil rights lawyers represented Plaintiffs, who sued defendant on a job discrimination theory.



The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed suit against

Ryan's Pointe Houston, L.L.C. and Advantage Property Management,

L.L.C., alleging the companies had engaged in national origin and sex-based

discrimination. Magali Villalobos, the subject of the adverse employment

action at issue, intervened. The district court granted summary judgment in

favor of the defendants.



Magali Villalobos is a United States citizen originally from Mexico.

Villalobos previously served as a property manager for Ryan's Pointe

Houston (Ryan's Pointe), the owners of a 280-unit apartment complex

managed by Advantage Property Management (Advantage). She was fired

from that position on March 21, 2012. Villalobos subsequently alleged that

this adverse employment action was the result of national origin and sex-

based discrimination.



Villalobos was originally hired as a leasing agent at the complex in May

of 2011. Tawana Rowghani, who was then serving as the complex's property

manager, interviewed Villalobos for that position. Rowghani had worked

with Villalobos previously and was excited at the prospect of the two working

together again. At the time Villalobos was hired, the complex was owned and

operated by CNC Management. Villalobos was subsequently promoted to

assistant manager.



During Villalobos's tenure as assistant manager, Ryan's Pointe took

ownership of the apartment complex. Ryan's Pointe's owners, including

Robert Hayman, Michael Treiman, and Julian Blum, had purchased the

property in order to renovate it and resell it for a profit. Initially, Blum

oversaw the day-to-day management of the property. Accordingly,

Villalobos reported to Rowghani who, in turn, reported to Blum.



Rowghani's role began to expand almost immediately after Ryan's

Pointe took ownership of the complex. Specifically, Rowghani became a

regional director, responsible for overseeing several apartment complexes

owned by Ryan's Pointe. To backfill her previous position, Rowghani

eventually decided to interview Villalobos for the property manager position.

Blum also interviewed Villalobos before she was hired as the complex's

property manager on January 1, 2012.



Around the time Villalobos began serving as property manager, a

series of management changes occurred at Ryan's Pointe. Hayman fired

Rowghani, and Blum ceased overseeing the day-to-day management of the

complex. A belief that the property was underperforming prompted both

personnel changes. Hayman and Treiman then formed Advantage in order

to manage the apartment complex. On February 9, 2012, Advantage hired

Bobbie Dusek to serve as regional supervisor. Dusek then began a thirty-day

review of each of her subordinates, one of whom was Villalobos.



As part of this review, Dusek immediately came to question

Villalobos's job performance. According to her deposition testimony, Dusek

grew concerned with at least three aspects of Villalobos's job performance.

First, Villalobos was allegedly failing to prepare vacant units for rental in a

timely manner. Second, Villalobos was allegedly failing to submit invoices in

a timely fashion. Lastly, Villalobos was supposedly doing a poor job of

managing the complex's delinquencies—the outstanding receivables that

result when tenants fail to pay rent on time. The January and February

delinquency reports, for example, showed $11,567.63 and $7,128.40 in

delinquencies, respectively. According to Dusek, the complex's

delinquencies should not have exceeded $2,000. In an effort to correct these

deficiencies, Dusek allegedly provided Villalobos with oral and written

warnings that her job performance fell below standards.



On February 28, 2012, well within her thirty-day review period, Dusek

hired a headhunter to find a replacement for Villalobos. The headhunter was

instructed to keep the inquiry "super confidential.” Shortly thereafter,

Dusek interviewed Rebecca Johnson for the position. Johnson, who appears

white, was ultimately hired as the complex's property manager on March 9th.

Dusek then fired Villalobos on March 21st. According to Dusek, her decision

was based entirely on Villalobos's poor job performance.



Villalobos was immediately concerned that her firing had not, in fact,

been motivated by her performance as the property's manager. She filed a

complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)

alleging she was fired because of her national origin and because she had

recently informed her employers that she was pregnant. The EEOC

subsequently filed suit against Ryan's Pointe and Advantage under Title VII.

Villalobos intervened on behalf of the plaintiff.



Taken in the light most favorable to the EEOC, resulting discovery in

the case revealed a highly toxic work environment at Ryan's Pointe and

Advantage.1 According to deposition testimony, Hayman, Blum, and

Treiman expressed a desire to change "the demographics” of the complex,

a term several witnesses testified was often times synonymous in the industry

with the race of the tenants. Testimony also indicated that Hayman referred

to a tenant as "a trashy Mexican” and that Blum referred to a tenant as "a

dumb Mexican.” Some of the owners were likewise alleged to have made

improper comments about the racial makeup of the staff. Hayman, for

instance, expressed dismay at the fact that the office staff were "all

1 See Harville v. City of Houston, 945 F.3d 870, 874 (5th Cir. 2019) (citing

Alkhawaldeh v. Dow Chem. Co., 851 F.3d 422, 425-26 (5th Cir. 2017)) (noting that appellate

courts "review a district court's grant of summary judgment de novo, viewing all facts and

drawing all inferences in a light most favorable to the non-moving party”).

Mexicans.” Both Hayman and Treiman likewise expressed a desire to

"change the demographic[s]” of the staff.



Testimony also called into question Dusek's contention that

Villalobos was fired entirely based on her poor job performance. According

to an affidavit Dusek provided to the EEOC, she was told by Hayman and

Treiman to begin "working toward” Villalobos's termination when she

started work at Advantage. Importantly, Hayman had also told Dusek to hire

a "higher class of individual with the look of Ken and Barbie,” which Dusek

understood as a hiring preference for those who are "petite, attractive,

young[,] and Caucasian.” Indeed, Hayman's preference for a "white” staff

was made known on multiple occasions. Evidence likewise seemingly

contradicts Dusek's assertions that Villalobos received oral and written

warnings concerning her job performance. According to Villalobos, she was

never counseled on her allegedly poor job performance. Furthermore, the

written counseling Dusek allegedly provided Villalobos was never signed and

was provided while Villalobos was on vacation.



Finally, discovery produced evidence suggesting that Villalobos's

pregnancy may have played a role in her firing. When Blum discovered in

January of 2012 that Villalobos was expecting a child, he became frustrated

and stated that he believed she would take her full Family and Medical Leave

Act (FMLA) entitlement because "all Mexicans do that.” Although Blum

was no longer involved with the day-to-day management of the complex at

the time Villalobos was fired, he remained an investor in the complex and

attended monthly conference calls with the other investors. Evidence

suggests Dusek too was aware of Villalobos's pregnancy prior to Villalobos's

termination. Upon learning of the pregnancy, Dusek allegedly told Villalobos

that she should consider getting an abortion because her "job was taking off.”

Dusek would also later tell Hayman and Treiman that Villalobos was

pregnant and allegedly told Johnson that she was instructed to fire Villalobos

because Villalobos "was Hispanic, and [because] she was expecting.”



Following discovery, Ryan's Pointe and Advantage moved for and

were granted summary judgment on both of the EEOC's claims. The

district court concluded, inter alia, that Villalobos could not make out a prima

facie case of discrimination because she was not qualified to serve as the

complex's manager in the first place. The court likewise concluded summary

judgment was appropriate because Villalobos had allegedly been fired

entirely based on her poor job performance. This appeal followed.



* * *



Granting "[s]ummary judgment is appropriate only if, viewing the evidence in the light most

favorable to the non-moving party, the movant shows that there is no genuine

dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a

matter of law.”3 Under these standards, we conclude that the district court

erred in granting summary judgment as to both claims.

Reversed and remanded.