Salgado v. Rite Aid Corporation

ACK obtained summary judgment in the case of John L. Salgado v. Rite Aid Corporation.  The case was a discrimination case under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 in which Mr. Salgado alleged he was subjected to a hostile work environment and terminated because he is Puerto Rican and, further, that Rite Aid’s termination was in retaliation for his reporting of the hostile work environment.  Judge Jerome B. Simandle of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey granted summary judgment to Rite Aid Corporation.

In November, 2002, Mr. Salgado was hired as a security guard by Rite Aid in Camden, New Jersey.  After transferring to a second Camden store, Mr. Salgado alleged that an incident occurred when an assistant store manager made inappropriate jokes about Camden’s former mayor, who was Puerto Rican, and told Mr. Salgado that Puerto Ricans think they are better than other people.  Mr. Salgado then complained to his store manager, who spoke with the assistant manager about her comments and let Mr. Salgado call his security supervisor.  The security supervisor came to the store the next day and, after speaking to the store manager, assured Mr. Salgado that there would be no further problems.  Subsequently, Mr. Salgado failed an examination required for all security officers and was terminated as required by Rite Aid policy. 

The Court granted summary judgment to Rite Aid because the alleged prejudicial comments, which occurred on a single day, were insufficient to create a hostile work environment and because Rite Aid responded promptly to Mr. Salgado’s complaints.  The Court found that Mr. Salgado could not prevail on his wrongful termination claims since, having failed a required test, he could not demonstrate he was qualified to retain his job or otherwise demonstrate that the termination was due to discrimination or retaliation for having complained of harassment.