Wash. Court of Appeals published opinion — D2 43703-1-II Published Opinion.pdf

DIVISION II

JOSEPH ALONSO and MARIE ALONSO, No. 43703 -1 - II
husband and wife and the marital community
thereof,

Appellants,

V.

QWEST COMMUNICATIONS COMPANY, PUBLISHED OPINION
LLC, a Washington corporation, and BEN
MARTINEZ, supervisor,

JOHANSON, J. — Joseph Alonso sued his employer, Qwest Communications Company

LLC; and his supervisor, Ben Martinez, for discrimination; the superior court granted Qwest

summary judgment dismissal of Alonso' s complaint.) Alonso appeals, arguing that he provided

sufficient evidence to establish prima facie discrimination claims for ( 1) disparate treatment, ( 2)

a hostile work environment, and ( 3) unlawful retaliation. Viewing the record in a light most

favorable to the nonmoving party, we hold that Alonso established prima facie disparate

1
Joseph and Marie Alonso, a marital community, are the plaintiffs;. we use " Alonso" to identify
the plaintiff. Though Qwest and Martinez are defendants, we use " Qwest" when referring to the
defendants and " Martinez" when referring to Martinez individually.
             

No. 43703 -1 - II

treatment and hostile work environment claims; thus, we reverse the superior court' s summary

judgment dismissal on those matters. Holding that Alonso failed to establish a prima facie

retaliation case, however, we affirm the superior court' s summary judgment dismissal of that

claim.

FACTS

I. WORKPLACE

Alonso is a Mexican- American Gulf War combat veteran who receives partial disability

due to a service -related back injury and post traumatic stress disorder ( PTSD). Since childhood,

he has suffered from a speech impediment that required doctors to surgically modify the roof of

his mouth.