Schneider v. TRW, Inc.
| Decision Date | 06 December 1990 |
| Docket Number | TRW-LSI,No. 89-56160,89-56160 |
| Citation | 938 F.2d 986 |
| Parties | 119 Lab.Cas. P 56,698, 6 Indiv.Empl.Rts.Cas. 1664 Maria D. SCHNEIDER, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. TRW, INC.,Products Division, and those employees and agents of said entities, in their official and individual capacities; Jan Feeler; Bob Mangum; Mike Manetto; Don Rohner, Defendants-Appellees. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit |
Russell D. Ward, San Diego, Cal., for plaintiff-appellant.
Gregg C. Sindici, Littler, Mendelson, Fastiff & Tichy, San Diego, Cal., for defendants-appellees.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of California.
Before WALLACE, Chief Judge, O'SCANNLAIN and RYMER, Circuit Judges.
Maria Schneider appeals the summary judgment entered against her. She began working for TRW on March 11, 1985. The company laid her off on December 9, 1985, and she subsequently brought suit against it and several of its employees ("TRW"), alleging federal law claims for discrimination on the basis of national origin, age discrimination and civil rights violations under 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983; 1 and state law claims for breach of contract, breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, fraud and deceit and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Jurisdiction of the district court was based on 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1331, and this court has jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1291. We affirm.
TRW moved for summary judgment on the ground that Schneider's lay off was part of a reduction in force and that its decision to include her was for economic, not discriminatory, reasons. Its motion was supported by management declarations and testimony from Schneider's deposition, in which she conceded that TRW could terminate her, she had never been told she could only be terminated for cause, she was not performing adequately, and numerous other employees with more seniority and higher rank were laid off at the same time. TRW's Statement of Undisputed Facts shows that it laid off 25 employees, or six per cent of its work force, including Schneider, in December, 1985 because it was losing money; Schneider's December 6 evaluation rated her performance as "below expectations"; the criteria for lay off were job classification, performance and seniority; Schneider was never given any assurance she would not be laid off; and neither her written contract of employment nor TRW policies stated that she could only be terminated "for cause."
Schneider requested a continuance, which was granted, and moved to strike TRW's answer and for production of documents. Her opposition to the motion for summary judgment consisted of a Memorandum and Schneider's declaration, in which she stated that the person who hired her, Don Rohner, told her he would provide training and be her immediate supervisor but that neither happened; and that her actual supervisor, Robert Mangum, found fault with her abilities and gave her projects to accomplish without help. Several days after her opposition was filed, she lodged depositions, including those of Mangum and Rohner.
At the continued hearing on TRW's motion, the district court indicated that it was inclined to grant the summary judgment because Schneider was laid off as part of a legitimate reduction in force and she had shown nothing to the contrary. It gave Schneider another opportunity to plead more specific facts.
Schneider filed a Fourth Amended Complaint, after which TRW renewed its summary judgment motion. Schneider presented no further evidence in opposition.
The district court granted TRW's motion because Schneider failed to raise a triable issue of material fact regarding any of her claims.
The district court's summary judgment is reviewed de novo. Kruso v. International Tel. & Tel. Corp., 872 F.2d 1416, 1421 (9th Cir.1989), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 110 S.Ct. 3217, 110 L.Ed.2d 664 (1990); State Farm Fire & Casualty Co. v. Martin, 872 F.2d 319, 320 (9th Cir.1989). We must determine, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party, whether there are any genuine issues of material fact and whether the district court correctly applied the relevant substantive law. Tzung v. State Farm Fire & Casualty Co., 873 F.2d 1338, 1339-40 (9th Cir.1989); Judie v. Hamilton, 872 F.2d 919, 920 (9th Cir.1989).
We may affirm on any ground finding support in the record. Suydam v. Reed Stenhouse of Wash., Inc., 820 F.2d 1506, 1508 (9th Cir.1987) (citing Smith v. Block, 784 F.2d 993, 996 n. 4 (9th Cir.1986)).
Schneider contends that the district court erred in considering newly raised issues in TRW's reply memorandum in support of summary judgment; finding that she was an at will employee; finding a reduction in work force sufficient to defeat her claim; and ruling that the intentional infliction of emotional distress claim was preempted by the California workers compensation law.
Schneider contends that the district court erred in failing to strike TRW's reply to her opposition to the renewed motion for summary judgment because the reply was untimely and raised new issues--namely, her status as an at-will employee and the lack of a fraud cause of action for representations made to her in the context of an employment agreement.
TRW noticed its renewed motion for summary judgment for July 17, 1989. Schneider's opposition was filed July 3. TRW's reply was mailed on July 10, 1989. Service was effective upon mailing, Fed.R.Civ.P. 5(b), and was therefore timely under the Local Rules which require a reply memorandum to be served "not later than 5 court days prior to the day for which the matter is noticed." S.D.Cal.R. 220-8(a)(2) (emphasis in original). The reply did not raise new issues. Both TRW's Statement of Undisputed Facts in support of its original summary judgment motion, and its reply to Schneider's opposition to that motion which it incorporated in its moving papers on the renewed motion, asserted that neither Schneider's written contract nor the company's policies or employees had stated that Schneider could only be terminated for cause. Its reply had also addressed Schneider's lack of a fraud cause of action based on representations made to her before she took her job. To have struck the reply would accordingly not have removed any issue from the case.
The district court held that Schneider had failed to raise a triable issue of material fact with respect to her claims for breach of contract and breach of the implied covenant for the reason that her admissions were unrefuted and as such, showed that the employment relationship was "at will." Alternately, the court concluded that TRW's evidence that Schneider's lay off was occasioned by a reduction in force due to economic circumstances was uncontradicted and therefore represented good cause.
California law presumes that employment is at will unless the parties have made an "express oral or written agreement specifying the length of employment or the grounds for termination." Foley v. Interactive Data Corp., 47 Cal.3d 654, 677, 765 P.2d 373, 385, 254 Cal.Rptr. 211, 223 (1988); see Cal.Lab.Code Sec. 2922 (West 1989). An employee may overcome this presumption with evidence of contrary intent. Foley, 47 Cal.3d at 677, 765 P.2d at 385, 254 Cal.Rptr. at 233. Factors a court considers in determining whether there was a contrary intent include " 'the personnel policies or practices of the employer, the employee's longevity of service, actions or communications by the employer reflecting assurances of continued employment, and the practices of the industry in which the employee is engaged.' " Id. at 680, 765 P.2d at 387, 254 Cal.Rptr. at 225 (quoting Pugh v. See's Candies, Inc., 116 Cal.App.3d 311, 327, 171 Cal.Rptr. 917, 925-26 (1981)).
The district court correctly found that no material issues of fact exist regarding Schneider's employment status. Schneider admitted that she knew of no TRW policies suggesting assurances of continued employment, that she had been there for only a short time and that TRW had given her no express assurances of continued employment. She pointed to no custom or practice in the industry to suggest that there was anything other than an at-will relationship.
On appeal, Schneider argues that evidence that she resided in San Francisco and moved to San Diego to take the job, that she had a desirable background in metallurgy, that she was promised training, that she was hired on an annual salary and that an oral contract for 30 days' employment was formed at some point 2 suffices to overcome summary judgment.
Schneider bears the burden of proving that she was wrongfully discharged. As such, she must come forward with specific facts showing there is a genuine issue for trial. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(e). See Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 324, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 2553, 91 L.Ed.2d 265, 274 (1986) (). As the district court found, Schneider's admissions comprise the only significantly probative evidence on the status of her employment relationship. See Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248-49, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 2510, 91 L.Ed.2d 202, 211-12 (1986). Schneider did not argue to the district court that she had been promised an extra 30 days to perform and we therefore need not consider it; in any event, there is no evidence that anyone at TRW told Schneider that she had 30 days to shape up or ship out, so there is no substantial evidence on the point. Nor is the fact that she was generally promised training significantly probative, in the face of Schneider's own understanding that she could be terminated at any time. Foley and Pugh require more than this. 3
As California does not recognize a tort action for breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing in an employment relationship, Foley, 47 Cal.3d at 693, 765...
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