Moreno v. Dealer Integrated

── Moreno v. Dealer Integrated ── Court: Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Date: May 11, 2026 Category: Private Civil Federal Case: 25-20470 Document: 29-1 Page: 1 Date Filed: 05/11/2026 United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ____________ United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit No. 25-20470 Summary Calendar FILED ____________ May 11, 2026 Lyle W. Cayce Jocelyn Moreno, Clerk Plaintiff—Appellant, versus Dealer Integrated Services, L.L.C., Defendant—Appellee. ______________________________ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas USDC No. 4:24-CV-981 ______________________________ Before Richman, Southwick, and Willett, Circuit Judges. Per Curiam: * In 2023, Dealer Integrated Services LLC (“DIS”), fired Jocelyn Moreno, a payroll accountant at the company. DIS knew Moreno was pregnant at the time. Moreno brought this suit against DIS, alleging she had been unlawfully dismissed because of her pregnancy and impending _____________________ * This opinion is not designated for publication. See 5th Cir. R. 47.5. Case: 25-20470 Document: 29-1 Page: 2 Date Filed: 05/11/2026 No. 25-20470 maternity leave. The district court granted summary judgment for DIS. Moreno timely appealed. We AFFIRM. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND DIS is a car dealership services company owned by Chad Roberts. At the time of Moreno’s termination in June 2023, she had been employed by DIS for six years. Moreno was a payroll administrator for the company. She reported directly to her office manager, Deborah Devine, who in turn reported to Roberts. In her role as payroll administrator, Moreno trained and later worked with two other DIS employees, Valerie De la Cruz and Patricia Mauricio. In April 2023, Moreno told Devine that she was pregnant and intended to take leave in September of that year. She requested two months of leave from Devine and Roberts, which Roberts promptly granted. No one from DIS, however, informed Moreno of her right to a full three months of leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”). Moreno testified in her deposition that Roberts later told her that he would be unable to cover the three-month absence she was entitled to under the FMLA. The parties agree that the office culture at DIS was “strained.” Devine, according to Moreno, was the source of much of this strain. Moreno testified that her falling out with De la Cruz and Mauricio began with the pair learning how much she was paid. For its part, DIS submitted an affidavit by Roberts explaining that Moreno refused to communicate with Mauricio and De la Cruz, an essential function of her job. According to Roberts, Moreno would shut her door to her coworkers and respond only to Devine, her manager. In April, Mauricio resigned due to the work environment and was rehired to a position that did not involve working with Moreno. From there, the situation worsened. Moreno refused to take on more payroll duties without a raise, resisted changes to the payroll process, and was 2 Case: 25-20470 Document: 29-1 Page: 3 Date Filed: 05/11/2026 No. 25-20470 “aggres