Case: EEOC v. Union Pacific Railroad Company

3:02-cv-00445 | U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas

Filed Date: Sept. 19, 2002

Closed Date: 2004

Clearinghouse coding complete

Case Summary

On September 19, 2002, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC"), on behalf of a black employee, filed a lawsuit in the Western District Court of Texas against Union Pacific Railroad Company, however the complaint was unavailable. On April 7, 2003, the employee filed a complaint as plaintiff-intervenor under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended by Title I of the Civil Rights Act of 1991, against the same defendant. The plaintiff-intervenor sought injunctive relief,…

On September 19, 2002, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC"), on behalf of a black employee, filed a lawsuit in the Western District Court of Texas against Union Pacific Railroad Company, however the complaint was unavailable. On April 7, 2003, the employee filed a complaint as plaintiff-intervenor under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended by Title I of the Civil Rights Act of 1991, against the same defendant. The plaintiff-intervenor sought injunctive relief, compensatory damages, punitive damages, attorneys' fees, and other forms of affirmative relief claiming that the defendant discharged the plaintiff-intervenor when he lied about his criminal background on his application but did not discharge similarly situated white employees who also lied.

On October 2, 2003, the District Court (Judge David Briones) granted the defendant's motion for summary judgment with regards to the plaintiff's racial discrimination claim filed pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1981, and denied with regards to plaintiff's Title VII claims. The District Court (Judge Briones) filed an amended opinion on October 24, 2003 but with the same outcome.

On January 21, 2004, the District Court (Judge David Briones) entered a consent decree where the defendant, among other things, agreed to pay the plaintiff-intervenor $84,000.

Summary Authors

Perry Miska (5/13/2014)

People


Judge(s)

Briones, David (Texas)

Attorney for Plaintiff

Chavez, Enrique Jr. (Texas)

Dominguez, Leticia (Texas)

Harwin, Robert B. (District of Columbia)

Attorney for Defendant

Schoonmaker, Linda Cooper (Texas)

Documents in the Clearinghouse

Documents in this case

3:02-cv-00445

Docket

EEOC v. Union Pacific

Feb. 2, 2004

Feb. 2, 2004

Docket
19

3:02-cv-00445

DeMarco Howard's Complaint in Intervention

April 7, 2003

April 7, 2003

Complaint
41

3:02-cv-00445

Memorandum Opinion and Order [Regarding Motion for Summary Judgment]

Oct. 2, 2003

Oct. 2, 2003

Order/Opinion
64

3:02-cv-00445

Amended Memorandum Opinion and Order [Regarding Motion for Summary Judgment]

Oct. 24, 2003

Oct. 24, 2003

Order/Opinion
71

3:02-cv-00445

Consent Decree

Feb. 2, 2004

Feb. 2, 2004

Settlement Agreement

3:02-cv-00445

EEOC Litigation Settlement Report (February 2004)

No Court

Feb. 28, 2004

Feb. 28, 2004

Press Release

Resources

Docket

Last updated March 25, 2025, 8:09 a.m.

ECF Number Date Description Link
1 Sept. 19, 2002

Complaint filed. (Pages: 4) (jm) (Entered: 09/20/2002)

PACER
Sept. 19, 2002

Case assigned to Judge David Briones (jm) (Entered: 09/20/2002)

PACER
2 Oct. 8, 2002

Waiver of Service by Union Pacific ; Notice and Request Mailed on 10/3/02 ; Answer due on 12/2/02 for Union Pacific (mt) (Entered: 10/08/2002)

PACER
3 Nov. 18, 2002

Answer by Union Pacific (mt) (Entered: 11/18/2002)

PACER
4 Nov. 20, 2002

Order to comply with FRCP 26 and local court rule CV-16 (mt) (Entered: 11/20/2002)

PACER
5 Jan. 10, 2003

Notice of filing joint report of the meeting & joint discovery/case management plan under Rule 26(f) of the FRCP. by Equal Employment (mt) (Entered: 01/10/2003)

PACER
6 Jan. 14, 2003

Scheduling order setting Joining of parties, amending of pleadings on 4/1/03 Deadline for filing of all motions 6/20/03 Discovery cutoff 6/20/03 ; Alternate Dispute Resolution Report due by 2/10/03 ; Jury Selection set for 9:00 9/8/03 ; Jury trial set for 9:00 9/8/03 signed by Judge David Briones (mt) (Entered: 01/15/2003)

PACER
7 Jan. 14, 2003

Letter/Correspondence regarding: letter from the Court regarding courtroom protocol (mt) (Entered: 01/15/2003)

PACER
8 Feb. 7, 2003

Notice of filing disclosure of interested parties by Equal Employment (mt) (Entered: 02/07/2003)

PACER
9 Feb. 10, 2003

Alternate Dispute Resolution Report filed by Equal Employment, Union Pacific, Party(s) agree to Alternate Dispute Resolution (mt) (Entered: 02/10/2003)

PACER
10 Feb. 12, 2003

ORDER case referred to Alternate Dispute Resolution Mediation completed by: 4/18/03 Neutral Selection by: 4/18/03 signed by Judge David Briones. If deft. does not accept plaintiff's pending settlement offer, not later than 4/4/03, the parties participate in mediation with: Enrique Pena, Texas Arbitration Mediation Services, Inc., 1444 Montana Ave., Suite 205, El Paso, Tx. 79902, 915-533-8267. (mt) (Entered: 02/12/2003)

PACER
11 March 11, 2003

Motion by Demarco W. Howard to intervene (mt) Modified on 03/12/2003 (Entered: 03/12/2003)

PACER
13 March 28, 2003

Order granting motion to substitute attorney Enrique Chavez, Jr. for Francisco X. Dominguez [12-1] ; terminated; Enrique Chavez Jr. added signed by Judge David Briones (mm1) (Entered: 03/28/2003)

PACER
14 March 28, 2003

Order granting the appearance of Mr. Enrique Chavez, Jr. signed by Judge David Briones (mm1) (Entered: 03/28/2003)

PACER
15 March 28, 2003

Notice of attorney appearance for Equal Employment by Enrique Chavez (mm1) (Entered: 03/28/2003)

PACER
16 April 1, 2003

Designation of expert witness filed by Equal Employment (em) (Entered: 04/01/2003)

PACER
17 April 1, 2003

Exhibit and witness list by Demarco Howard/ Equal Employment (em) (Entered: 04/01/2003)

PACER
18 April 7, 2003

Order granting motion for DeMarco Howard to intervene [11-1] signed by Judge David Briones (mt) (Entered: 04/08/2003)

PACER
19 April 7, 2003

Intervenor's complaint by DeMarco Howard against Equal Employment ) (mt) (Entered: 04/08/2003)

PACER
20 April 9, 2003

Answer by Union Pacific to intervenor complaint [19-1] (mt) (Entered: 04/09/2003)

PACER
21 April 18, 2003

Written status reporting the outcome of mediation by Equal Employment, Union Pacific, DeMarco Howard, Equal Employment (mt) (Entered: 04/18/2003)

PACER
22 May 23, 2003

Proposed / Witness List by Union Pacific (mm1) (Entered: 05/27/2003)

PACER
23 June 11, 2003

Joint motion by Equal Employment, Union Pacific to extend scheduling order so as to enlarge the dispositive motion deadline by one month (mt) (Entered: 06/11/2003)

PACER
24 June 16, 2003

Order granting joint motion to extend scheduling order so as to enlarge the dispositive motion deadline by one month [23-1] signed by Judge David Briones (mm1) (Entered: 06/17/2003)

PACER
25 June 16, 2003

Motion by Equal Employment to compel discovery (mt) (Entered: 06/17/2003)

PACER
26 July 16, 2003

Joint motion by Equal Employment, Union Pacific to extend scheduling order deadlines (mt) (Entered: 07/17/2003)

PACER
27 July 18, 2003

Order granting joint motion to extend scheduling order deadlines [26-1] signed by Judge David Briones (mm1) (Entered: 07/21/2003)

PACER
28 July 21, 2003

Motion by Union Pacific for summary judgment (em) (Entered: 07/21/2003)

PACER
29 July 21, 2003

Notice of filing by Union Pacific of Appendix to Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment. (em) (Entered: 07/21/2003)

PACER
30 July 24, 2003

Motion by Equal Employment to extend time to respond to defts. summary judgment motion (mt) (Entered: 07/25/2003)

PACER
32 Aug. 1, 2003

Appendix for in opposition response [31-1] by Equal Employment (mt) (Entered: 08/01/2003)

PACER
33 Aug. 1, 2003

Response by Equal Employment in opposition to motion for summary judgment [28-1] (mt) (Entered: 08/01/2003)

PACER
34 Aug. 4, 2003

Order granting motion to extend time to respond to defts. summary judgment motion by 8/31/03 [30-1] signed by Judge David Briones (jm) (Entered: 08/04/2003)

PACER
35 Aug. 5, 2003

Supplemental motion by Union Pacific : supplementing motion for summary judgment [28-1] (mt) (Entered: 08/06/2003)

PACER
36 Aug. 15, 2003

Motion by Union Pacific to extend reply brief deadline (mt) (Entered: 08/16/2003)

PACER
37 Aug. 19, 2003

Order granting motion to extend reply brief deadline [36-1] signed by Judge David Briones time is extended to 9/12/03 (fe) (Entered: 08/19/2003)

PACER
38 Aug. 21, 2003

Motion by Equal Employment to with draw its motion to compel (fe) (Entered: 08/21/2003)

PACER
39 Aug. 25, 2003

Order granting motion to withdraw its motion to compel [38-1] signed by Judge David Briones (mt) (Entered: 08/26/2003)

PACER
Aug. 25, 2003

Mooted motions motion to compel discovery [25-1] (mt) (Entered: 08/26/2003)

PACER
40 Sept. 12, 2003

Deft. Union Pacific Railroad Company's Reply brief in support of its motion for summary judgment (mt) (Entered: 09/12/2003)

PACER
41 Oct. 2, 2003

Order granting in part, denying in part supplemental motion supplementing motion for summary judgment [35-1], granting in part, denying in part motion for summary judgment [28-1] signed by Judge David Briones (mt) (Entered: 10/02/2003)

PACER
42 Oct. 3, 2003

Motion by Union Pacific in limine (mt) (Entered: 10/05/2003)

PACER
43 Oct. 3, 2003

Proposed / Witness List by Union Pacific (mt) (Entered: 10/05/2003)

PACER
44 Oct. 3, 2003

Notice of filing proposed jury charge by Union Pacific (mt) (Entered: 10/05/2003)

PACER
45 Oct. 3, 2003

Notice of filing porposed voir dire questions by Union Pacific (mt) (Entered: 10/05/2003)

PACER
46 Oct. 3, 2003

Exhibit list by Union Pacific (mt) (Entered: 10/05/2003)

PACER
47 Oct. 3, 2003

Notice of filing required pretrial filings, proposes voir dire questions and statement to be read to the jury, by Union Pacific (mt) (Entered: 10/05/2003)

PACER
48 Oct. 3, 2003

Notice of filing proposed verdict form by Equal Employment, Equal Employment (mt) (Entered: 10/05/2003)

PACER
49 Oct. 3, 2003

Notice of filing exhibit identification by Equal Employment, Equal Employment (mt) (Entered: 10/05/2003)

PACER
51 Oct. 3, 2003

Notice of filing proposed stipulated facts by Equal Employment, Equal Employment (mt) (Entered: 10/05/2003)

PACER
52 Oct. 3, 2003

Notice of filing designation of trial witnesses by Equal Employment, Equal Employment (mt) (Entered: 10/05/2003)

PACER
53 Oct. 3, 2003

Proposed Jury instructions by Equal Employment, Equal Employment (mt) (Entered: 10/05/2003)

PACER
54 Oct. 3, 2003

Notice of filing witnesses whose testimony may present by means of a deposition by Equal Employment, Equal Employment (mt) (Entered: 10/05/2003)

PACER
55 Oct. 3, 2003

Notice of filing porposed voir dire questions by Equal Employment, Equal Employment (mt) (Entered: 10/05/2003)

PACER
56 Oct. 3, 2003

Motion by Equal Employment, Equal Employment in limine (mt) (Entered: 10/05/2003)

PACER
57 Oct. 3, 2003

Notice of filing estimate of trial length by Equal Employment, Equal Employment (mt) (Entered: 10/05/2003)

PACER
58 Oct. 3, 2003

Joint motion by Equal Employment, Union Pacific to continue trial (mt) (Entered: 10/05/2003)

PACER
59 Oct. 3, 2003

Memorandum by Equal Employment in support of motion in limine [56-1] (mt) (Entered: 10/05/2003)

PACER
60 Oct. 7, 2003

Order granting joint motion to continue trial [58-1] Jury trial 8:30 12/8/03 signed by Judge David Briones (mt) (Entered: 10/07/2003)

PACER
61 Oct. 9, 2003

Motion by Equal Employment for clarification (mt) (Entered: 10/10/2003)

PACER
62 Oct. 14, 2003

Response and Objections by Equal Employment to motion in limine [42-1] (mt) (Entered: 10/15/2003)

PACER
63 Oct. 14, 2003

Written Objections by Equal Employment, Equal Employment to jury instructions [53-1] (mt) (Entered: 10/15/2003)

PACER
64 Oct. 24, 2003

Amended Order granting in part, denying in part motion for summary judgment [28-1] signed by Judge David Briones (mt) (Entered: 10/24/2003)

PACER
65 Nov. 20, 2003

Order vacating non-jury trial of 12/8/03 and ordering proposed dismissal of this cause on or before 12/17/03 signed by Judge David Briones (dl1) (Entered: 11/21/2003)

PACER
66 Dec. 17, 2003

Joint motion by Union Pacific, Equal Employment, DeMarco Howard for extension of time to file proposed dismissal (jm) (Entered: 12/17/2003)

PACER
67 Dec. 19, 2003

Order granting joint motion for extension of time to file proposed dismissal [66-1] (Parties file a proposed dismissal of this cause on or before 1/17/04) signed by Judge David Briones (jm) (Entered: 12/19/2003)

PACER
68 Jan. 16, 2004

Joint motion by Equal Employment, DeMarco Howard, Union Pacific to enter consent decree (jm) (Entered: 01/16/2004)

PACER
70 Feb. 2, 2004

Order granting joint motion to dismiss and for entry of Consent Decree [69-1] signed by Judge David Briones (jm) (Entered: 02/03/2004)

PACER
71 Feb. 2, 2004

Consent decree for Equal Employment against Union Pacific signed by Judge David Briones ) (jm) (Entered: 02/03/2004)

PACER
Feb. 2, 2004

Case closed (jm) (Entered: 02/03/2004)

PACER

Case Details

State / Territory:

Texas

Case Type(s):

Equal Employment

Special Collection(s):

EEOC Study — in sample

IWPR/Wage Project Consent Decree Study

Multi-LexSum (in sample)

Key Dates

Filing Date: Sept. 19, 2002

Closing Date: 2004

Case Ongoing: No

Plaintiffs

Plaintiff Description:

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, on behalf of a Black employee who was allegedly discharged because of his race.

Plaintiff Type(s):

EEOC Plaintiff

Attorney Organizations:

EEOC

Public Interest Lawyer: Yes

Filed Pro Se: No

Class Action Sought: No

Class Action Outcome: Not sought

Defendants

Private Entity/Person

UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD COMPANY

Case Details

Causes of Action:

Title VII (including PDA), 42 U.S.C. § 2000e

Other Dockets:

Western District of Texas 3:02-cv-00445

Available Documents:

Complaint (any)

Injunctive (or Injunctive-like) Relief

Monetary Relief

Trial Court Docket

Outcome

Prevailing Party: Plaintiff OR Mixed

Relief Granted:

Damages

Injunction / Injunctive-like Settlement

Source of Relief:

Settlement

Form of Settlement:

Court Approved Settlement or Consent Decree

Content of Injunction:

Develop anti-discrimination policy

Discrimination Prohibition

Post/Distribute Notice of Rights / EE Law

Provide antidiscrimination training

Retaliation Prohibition

Amount Defendant Pays: 84,000

Order Duration: 2004 - 2006

Issues

Discrimination Area:

Discharge / Constructive Discharge / Layoff

Disparate Treatment

Discrimination Basis:

Race discrimination

Affected Race(s):

Black

EEOC-centric:

Private Party intervened in EEOC suit

Recommended Citation