Johnson v. Riverside Healthcare Sys., 516 F.3d 759 (9th Cir. 2008)

Christopher Lynn Johnson alleged he was discriminated against on the basis of his race and sexual orientation and asserted claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1981, the Unruh Civil Rights Act and the California Fair Employment and Housing Act. The district court granted defendants’ motion to dismiss, and the Ninth Circuit affirmed, holding that Johnson had failed to plead a hostile work environment because the two incidents he alleged (only one of which he witnessed) were isolated in time and occurred over a 28-month period. The Court affirmed dismissal of Johnson’s Unruh Act claim on the ground that he was more like an employee than a customer and his FEHA claim on the ground that it was barred by the applicable statute of limitations. See also Surrell v. California Water Serv. Co., 518 F.3d 1097 (9th Cir. 2008) (summary judgment affirmed for employer in race and disability discrimination case in absence of evidence to support claims); Williams v. The Boeing Co., 517 F.3d 1120 (9th Cir. 2008) (Section 1981 compensation discrimination claim was subject to four-year statute of limitations); compare Hammond v. County of Los Angeles, 160 Cal. App. 4th 1579 (2008) (nursing instructor’s claims of race discrimination and harassment under FEHA were improperly dismissed and were not barred by the statute of limitations).