In Torres v. Gulf Coast Jacks, Inc., No. 4:21-CV-00019, 2022 WL 7579036 (S.D.Tex. Oct. 13, 2022), the court, inter alia, held that plaintiff sufficiently pleaded a claim for race discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
From the decision:
A complaint attacked by a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss does not need detailed factual allegations. Rather, a plaintiff must provide the grounds of her entitlement to relief, which requires more than labels and conclusions, and a formulaic recitation of the elements of the cause of action. In the Title VII context, a plaintiff need not plead a prima facie case based on discrimination to survive a Rule 12(b)(6) motion. Instead, she must set forth allegations that would enable the court to reasonably infer that her employer discriminated against her in violation of Title VII and took the alleged adverse employment action because she is a member of a protected class.
Contrary to Defendant’s contention, Plaintiff alleges several facts that directly relate to discrimination on the basis of race. For example, Defendant’s employee allegedly threatened to “call the immigration authorities.” Plaintiff also alleges that Defendant’s employee made comments such as, “you’re an immigrant, no one cares what you have to say.” The Seconded Amended Complaint also includes several allegations that supervisors spoke to her offensively in Spanish, calling her derogatory names.
The Court concludes that Plaintiff alleged sufficient factual allegations regarding discrimination on the basis of race to survive a motion to dismiss.
[Cleaned up.]
It concluded that, if there are no facts to support such a claim, defendant may attempt dismissal via summary judgment.