Villareal v. Duke Energy

*Pursuant to 5th Cir. R. 47.5, the Court has determined that this opinion should not be
published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5th Cir. R.
47.5.4.
United States Court of Appeals
Fifth Circuit
F I L E D
January 4, 2007
Charles R. Fulbruge III
Clerk
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT
No. 06-20147
Summary Calendar
DEBRA VILLAREAL,
Plaintiff-Appellant,
VERSUS
DUKE ENERGY CORPORATION.
Defendant-Appellee.
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Southern District of Texas
(H-04-2481)
Before DeMOSS, STEWART, and PRADO, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:*
Plaintiff Debra Villareal, a Hispanic woman, appeals the
district court’s order granting summary judgment on her Title VII
claims in favor of her employer, Duke Energy Corporation
(“Defendant”). Villareal alleges the Defendant violated Title VII,
42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2, by discriminating against her on the basis of
sex and national origin. Villareal claims that she was forced to
resign after the Defendant found that she violated its Code of
Business Ethics by failing to report a co-worker’s misconduct to a

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supervisor. Villareal denies that her actions violated Defendant’s
Code of Business Ethics, and claims that she was forced to resign
while two white employees who engaged in similar conduct were not
disciplined.
The district court concluded that Villareal failed to
establish a prima facie case of discrimination based on disparate
discipline because (1) she could not show that the white employees
were treated more favorably under “nearly identical circumstances,”
see Mayberry v. Vought Aircraft Co., 55 F.3d 1086, 1090 (5th Cir.
1995), and (2) she failed to show that she did not violate the Code
of Business Ethics. The district court also found that, even if
Villareal had established a prima facie case of discrimination, she
failed to rebut Defendant’s legitimate non-discriminatory reason
for forcing her resignation.
After careful review of the briefs and the record, we agree
with the district court that Villareal has failed to present
evidence sufficient to establish a prima facie case under Title
VII, or raise a genuine issue that she was forced to resign for a
reason other than her violation of Defendant’s Code of Business
Ethics. Accordingly, we affirm.
AFFIRMED.

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