Siniscalchi v. Shop-Rite Supermarkets, Inc.
| Decision Date | 23 August 1995 |
| Docket Number | Civ. A. No. 94-30133-MAP. |
| Citation | 903 F. Supp. 182 |
| Parties | Patricia SINISCALCHI, et al. v. SHOP-RITE SUPERMARKETS, INC. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Massachusetts |
Charles R. Casartello, Jr., Pellegrini & Seeley, Springfield, MA, for Patricia Siniscalchi.
Richard J. Maloney, Thomas E. Shirley, Choate, Hall & Stewart, Boston, MA, for Shop-Rite Supermarkets, Inc.
Charles R. Casartello, Jr., Pellegrini & Seeley, Springfield, MA, for Diane Adams, Patricia Arsenault, Norman Bach, Carolyn Bailey, Gary Baillargeon, Joyce Baker, Cheri Baranowski, Rose Bartusewich, Venetia Beach, Kristina Beaudry, Joseph Bennis, Debra Blanchard, Patricia Cabana, Diane Carlson, Linda Carrier, Denise Carvone, Annette Chevalier, Joan Churchill, Tina Marie Courchesne, Janice Czuchra, Mary D'Angelo, Linda DeJordy, Patricia Delmonte, David Delpeschio, Theresa Deroin, Connie Desmarais, Elaine Dionisi, Jane Dobrowski, Rhea Duprat, Rolande Emond, Kevin Farias, Robert Farias, Steven Farias, Robert Farman, Joseph Fontaine, Mary E. Fontaine, Carol Ganoe, Edmond Garde, Cheryl Garrity, Rosemary Guinard, Barbara Guindon, Nancy Gwozdz, Wendy Hobson, Willie Jenkins, Susan Kazalski, Kevin Kelliher, Lisa Kelliher, Hendrika Keser, Joan Kudla, Suzanne Labonte, Marguerite Lacost, Ellen Lapointe, Madeline Larocque, Kathleen Leal, Judith A. Lemon, Linda Letellier, Dorothy Lukasik, Carol Marowski, Brent McCauley, Eloise McDevitt, Joanne McLaughlin, Idella McManus, Georgia Monroe, Kevin Morris, Gail Mourad, John Nelson, Jr., Patricia O'Connor, Marlene Owczarski, Theresa Paul, Carol Pimental, Richard J. Poulin, Gloria Rae, Roger Raymond, Annmarie Redman, Alane Renaud, Susan Santanella, Beverly Secondo, Loretta Soule, Whitney C. Stiles, Jr., Roger Tatro, Renee Tetrault, Florence Thompson, Elizabeth Vickers, Richard Walowicz, Sandra Walowicz.
MEMORANDUM REGARDING DEFENDANT'S MOTION TO DISMISS AND/OR FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT AND PLAINTIFFS' MOTIONS FOR PARTIAL SUMMARY JUDGMENT (Docket Nos. 5, 7 & 26)
Plaintiff Patricia Siniscalchi and others have brought this action as a result of their alleged improper termination from the employ of the defendant Shop-Rite Supermarkets, Inc. as of December 31, 1992. The crux of the case is whether the defendant provided proper notice of termination to the plaintiffs under 29 U.S.C. §§ 2101-2109, the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act ("WARN"). Defendant moved to dismiss Counts I and III, which were presented under the WARN statute, and to dismiss and/or for summary judgment on Counts II and IV, offered as ERISA claims.
Plaintiffs for their part also moved for summary judgment on Count I of their complaint. Both the defendant's motion and the plaintiffs' motion for partial summary judgment were referred to Magistrate Judge Neiman for Report and Recommendation. In opposing the defendant's motion to dismiss, the plaintiffs agreed to the dismissal of the ERISA claims, Counts II and IV. See Report and Recommendation (Docket No. 23) at 4 n. 2. These two counts will therefore be dismissed and defendant's motion will be denied as moot.
Magistrate Judge Neiman recommended denial of the defendant's motion to dismiss Counts I and III, which was anchored entirely on the argument that the limitations period for filing any WARN claim had expired. Defendant initially objected to this recommendation, but subsequently withdrew its objection in light of the Supreme Court's decision in North Star Steel Co. v. Thomas, ___ U.S. ___, 115 S.Ct. 1927, 132 L.Ed.2d 27 (1995). The defendant's motion to dismiss as to these two counts will therefore be denied.
Magistrate Judge Neiman also recommended that the plaintiff's motion for summary judgment as to Count I be allowed. Defendant has maintained that WARN's remedy provision requires the award of back pay damages for each day of violation based solely on work days, rather than calendar days. Cases exist on both sides of this issue, but the court finds the Third Circuit's contrary decision in United Steelworkers v. North Star Steel Co., 5 F.3d 39 (3rd Cir. 1993), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 114 S.Ct. 1060, 127 L.Ed.2d 380 (1994), to be the more persuasive. The court will therefore allow plaintiffs' motion for partial summary judgment as to Count I.
Subsequent to the issuance of Magistrate Judge Neiman's Report and Recommendation, the plaintiffs, at Magistrate Judge Neiman's suggestion, filed a motion for partial summary judgment with regard to Count III. Precisely the same issues exist with regard to this count as with Count I, as the defendant's opposition to this motion for summary judgment confirmed. Because the court has granted partial summary judgment as to Count I, the court will also grant partial summary judgment as to Count III. It should be noted as to both counts that the court's grant of summary judgment applies only to the question of liability and not to damages.
In conclusion, the plaintiff's motions for summary judgment as to Counts I and III are hereby allowed, on the issue of liability only. Counts II and IV are dismissed without prejudice and defendant's motion to dismiss and/or for summary judgment on these two counts is denied as moot. The defendant's motion to dismiss Counts I and III is denied. The clerk will set a date for a case management conference to establish a schedule for completion of all further proceedings in this case.
A separate order will issue.
REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION REGARDING PLAINTIFFS' MOTION FOR PARTIAL SUMMARY JUDGMENT (Docket No. 07) AND DEFENDANT'S MOTION TO DISMISS (Docket No. 05)
This action arises from the termination of Plaintiffs Patricia Siniscalchi and others from the employ of Defendant Shop-Rite Supermarkets, Inc. on December 31, 1992. The terminations occurred as a result of the Defendant's sale of the supermarket stores in which Plaintiffs worked. The present motions involve a dispute over whether the Defendant provided proper notice of termination to Plaintiffs under 29 U.S.C. §§ 2101-2109, the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act ("WARN"). Plaintiff Siniscalchi filed a Motion for Partial Summary Judgment on Count I of her complaint, claiming that the Defendant failed to provide the requisite notice sixty days prior to its shut-down of the West Springfield store where she worked. In turn, Defendant filed a Motion to Dismiss Counts I and III of Plaintiffs' complaint, claiming that the statute of limitations bars these counts. Both motions hinge on the proper statute of limitations to apply to Plaintiffs' claims under WARN.
The motions have been referred for a report and recommendation pursuant to Rule 3 of the Rules of United States Magistrates in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts. 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(B). For the reasons set forth below, the Court recommends denying Defendant's Motion to Dismiss and granting Plaintiffs' Motion for Partial Summary Judgment on Count I.
Defendant Shop-Rite owned and operated supermarket stores in western Massachusetts. On November 3, 1992, Shop-Rite company officials gathered its employees, including Plaintiffs, for a meeting. Company officials disclosed that the stores in which Plaintiffs were working would close on December 31, 1992. A notice dated November 2, 1992, was distributed at the meeting, which explained that the store closings were anticipated to be permanent. The Defendant's notice purported to comply with the provisions of WARN.1 The store closings were, in fact, plant closings or mass layoffs subject to the requirements of WARN.
In accord with its notice, Shop-Rite ceased operations at its western Massachusetts locations on December 31, 1992. Plaintiff Siniscalchi worked at Defendant's West Springfield store until November 27, 1992, and received pay until December 31, 1992. Plaintiff Siniscalchi was not a member of a collective bargaining unit. None of the Plaintiffs worked for Shop-Rite after December 31, 1992, and all were paid through that date.
On June 1, 1994, Plaintiff Siniscalchi filed a three-count complaint seeking damages for violations of federal and Massachusetts law arising out of her termination. The complaint alleged a WARN violation for untimely notice (Count I), a denial of benefits under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, 29 U.S.C. § 1001 et seq. ("ERISA") (Count II), and a failure to provide benefits pursuant to M.G.L. ch. 149, §§ 183-184, the "Tin Parachute Law" (Count III). The complaint was amended on September 1, 1994, to add the Plaintiffs' group, at which time the following substantive amendments were made as well: (1) the elimination of the former Count III in light of the decision in Simas v. Quaker Fabric Corp. of Fall River, 6 F.3d 849 (1st Cir.1993), where the Court declared the Tin Parachute Law preempted by ERISA; (2) the addition of a claim for WARN violations for each of the additional Plaintiffs (Count III); (3) the addition of a claim that the Plaintiffs' group was denied ERISA benefits (Count IV); and (4) the addition of a claim by all of the Plaintiffs alleging breach of contract by Shop-Rite by failing to provide certain benefits. (Count V).2
Defendant's Motion to Dismiss Counts I and III is based solely on its assertion that the appropriate statute of limitations period for WARN claims has expired. A motion to dismiss is designed to test the legal sufficiency of the particular count in the complaint to which the motion is addressed: "The Court's function on a Rule 12(b)(6) motion is not to weigh the evidence which might be presented at trial but merely to determine whether the complaint itself is legally sufficient." Calero-Colon v. Betancourt-Lebron, et al., 1995 WL 35758 (D.Puerto Rico 1995), citing Festa v. Local 3 International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, 905 F.2d...
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