Alba v. Sampson

• Decision Date: 24 April 1998
• Docket Number: No. 96-P-259,96-P-259
• Parties: , 44 Mass.App.Ct. 311 Wayne J. ALBA v. Christine SAMPSON.
• Court: Appeals Court of Massachusetts

Page 1240

690 N.E.2d 1240

427 Mass. 1104, 44 Mass.App.Ct. 311

Wayne J. ALBA v. Christine SAMPSON.

No. 96-P-259.

Appeals Court of Massachusetts,

Middlesex.

Argued Dec. 5, 1997.

Decided Feb. 24, 1998.

Further Appellate Review Denied April 24, 1998.

Paul A. Manoff, Boston, for plaintiff.

Ilene Robinson Sunshine, Boston, for defendant.

Before BROWN, DREBEN and KASS, JJ.

BROWN, Justice.

For approximately five years, the Interactive Data Corporation (IDC) employed the plaintiff, Wayne Alba, as an accountant. In January, 1992, IDC laid off Alba as part of a company-wide reduction in force. Following his lay-off, Alba sued IDC and Christine Sampson, an employee of superior rank who was not in his chain of command, claiming that Sampson defamed him and maliciously induced IDC to terminate his employment. A judge of the Superior Court allowed the defendants' motion for summary judgment. ¹ We affirm.

When a defendant demonstrates that the plaintiff has no reasonable expectation of proving an essential element of his case, summary judgment properly may be granted. See Colley v. Benson, Young & Downs Ins. Agency, Inc., 42 Mass.App.Ct. 527, 529, 678 N.E.2d 440 (1997). In reviewing the allowance of a defendant's motion for summary judgment, we view the facts in the light most favorable to the plaintiff. Id. at 528, 678 N.E.2d 440. "A complete failure of proof concerning an essential element of the non-moving party's case renders all other facts immaterial." Lyon v. Morphew, 424 Mass. 828, 831, 678 N.E.2d 1306 (1997), quoting from Kourouvacilis v. General Motors Corp., 410 Mass. 706, 711, 575 N.E.2d 734 (1991).

1. Defamation. The plaintiff has waived all defamation claims against Sampson with the exception of his claim arising from the so-called "bumper sticker" incident. That incident involved a disgruntled, former IDC employee posting bumper stickers all over the employee parking garage that stated "Chris Sampson is a fat loser." After seeing the stickers, Sampson confronted Alba in his office, hysterical, with tears in her eyes, screamed "You fucking asshole. What do you think you're doing? You're going to jail. I'm going to get you for that." After reviewing surveillance tapes which revealed that a former employee was responsible for the incident, Sampson apologized to the plaintiff. Additional facts pertaining to this incident will be discussed as the need arises.

Summary judgments are favored in defamation cases. See Mulgrew v. Taunton, 410 Mass. 631, 632, 574 N.E.2d 389 (1991). Generally, spoken words are not actionable per se without proof of special damages, which consist of economic, as distinguished from general, damages. See Lynch v. Lyons, 303 Mass. 116, 118-119, 20 N.E.2d 953 (1939). Here, the plaintiff has no reasonable expectation of proving special damages, an essential element of his case.

Conceding that he has failed to allege any facts tending to show special damages, the plaintiff claims that Sampson's slander was actionable per se without proof of special damages because it fell within the narrow exception for slander which "prejudice[d] him in his office, profession or business or may probably [have] tend[ed] to do so." Lynch v. Lyons, supra at 119, 20 N.E.2d 953. See also Morrill v. Crawford, 278 Mass. 250, 256, 179 N.E. 609 (1932). We disagree.

The instant case is governed in material respects by Bander v. Metropolitan Life Ins. Co., 313 Mass. 337, 47 N.E.2d 595 (1943). There, in a case that involved a manager who stated at a staff meeting that it was "a disgrace" to have the plaintiff in the office, the court held that the comments were not, as matter of law, slander per se "affecting the plaintiff in his trade or profession." Id. at 345-346, 47 N.E.2d 595. The court reasoned that disgrace was a word of general disparagement "equally discreditable as applied to all persons and not peculiarly harmful in a financial way to insurance agents." Id. at 346, 47 N.E.2d 595. The court also reasoned that the manager's words did not describe any conduct or characteristic incompatible with the plaintiff's successful performance of his job as an insurance agent. Ibid.

Similarly, here, Sampson's profanity-laced statements accusing the plaintiff of the before-hours office prank can only be construed as words of general disparagement directed at Alba as an individual as opposed to his professional accountant position. Sampson's words did not impute some lack of an essential qualification "demanded of a person in the lines of endeavor pursued by [the plaintiff]." See Lynch v. Lyons, 303 Mass. at 119, 20 N.E.2d 953. Nor did her words, spoken in the heat of an emotional moment, impute serious and wilful misconduct in office or in business within the meaning of our case law. Contrast Warner v. Fuller, 245 Mass. 520, 523-525, 139 N.E. 811 (1923) (conflict of interest in public office); Morgan v. The Republican Publishing Co., 249 Mass. 388, 391, 144 N.E. 221 (1924) (criminal plot to frame police chief by alleged employee of detective agency). Sampson, having discovered the identity of the culprit by viewing surveillance tapes of the premises, apologized to the plaintiff within hours of her accusation. Thus, the incident was quickly resolved, the plaintiff was exonerated, and the fast-spreading office rumors about the plaintiff's alleged involvement were laid to rest.

The plaintiff has failed to set forth sufficient facts in the summary judgment record that would allow a jury to infer reasonably that Sampson's accusation prejudiced Alba in his office or probably tended to do so. At most, the facts set forth by the plaintiff tend to show that the plaintiff's coworkers, including his two immediate supervisors, discounted the "ridiculous" accusation immediately or soon after speaking with him. In addition, Kurt Hausafus, IDC's Chief Financial Officer (CFO), who was responsible for evaluating the plaintiff's annual salary reviews written by his immediate supervisors, never even heard about the incident.

There were no facts in the record which would tend to show that any coworkers stopped speaking with the plaintiff or refused to work with him after the incident. No disciplinary action was taken against the plaintiff. There was no testimony tending to show that any coworker's opinion of the plaintiff was lowered. In sum, the plaintiff has failed to support his allegations that "most" people at IDC, not one of whom he could name, thought the incident was "mean" and a "strike against him." These allegations were insufficient to stave off the defendants' well-pleaded motion for summary judgment. See Humphrey v. National Semiconductor Corp., 18 Mass.App.Ct. 132, 136, 463 N.E.2d 1197 (1984).

2. Tortious interference with contractual relations. As part of a three-year corporate restructuring plan, Hausafus, IDC's CFO, decided to combine the plaintiff's position with that of his supervisor, William Molloy, and had initially slated the plaintiff for the new position. He also decided to move the new position under Sampson's control. In January, 1992, Hausafus consulted with Sampson on who should fill the restructured position. Sampson resisted the prospect of the plaintiff filling the position, preferring instead that Hausafus hire someone from outside the company. The plaintiff, Molloy, and numerous other IDC employees were laid off. The restructured position was ultimately filled by a former employee of IDC.

There are four elements required to establish the tort of intentional interference with contractual relations: (1) the plaintiff had a contract with a third party, (2) the defendant knowingly induced the third party to break that contact, (3) the defendant's interference was improper in motive or means, and (4) the plaintiff was harmed by the interference. See Melo-Tone Vending, Inc. v. Sherry, Inc., 39 Mass.App.Ct. 315, 318-319, 656 N.E.2d 312 (1995). In the employment and discharge context, the law of this jurisdiction seeks to protect a corporate official's freedom of action by requiring proof that the official acted with actual malice. See Gram v. Liberty Mut. Ins. Co., 384 Mass. 659, 663-664, 429 N.E.2d 21 (1981), S.C., 391 Mass. 333, 461 N.E.2d 796 (1984). Although summary judgment is often an improper medium to resolve state of mind issues, it is appropriate in tortious interference claims if the record contains insufficient facts tending to show actual malice. See Shea v. Emmanuel College, 425 Mass. 761, 764, 682 N.E.2d 1348 (1997); Sereni v. Star Sportswear Mfg. Corp., 24 Mass.App.Ct. 428, 432-433, 509 N.E.2d 1203 (1987); Mullen v. Ludlow Hosp. Soc., 32 Mass.App.Ct. 968, 971, 592 N.E.2d 1342 (1992).

Here, the plaintiff concedes that Sampson, the revenue manager, had a conditional privilege to give advice to Hausafus about his draft reorganization plan and her staffing needs as part of the planned reduction in force. He asserts, however, that Sampson, acting for reasons unrelated to the corporate interest, lost her privilege by inducing Hausafus to delete him from the initial list of employees to be retained in the finance division.

To be reasonable, an inference of malice must be based upon probabilities rather than mere possibilities. See Gram v. Liberty Mut. Ins. Co., 384 Mass. at 664, 429 N.E.2d 21. An employee must demonstrate that spite or malevolence, i.e., a purpose unrelated to any legitimate corporate interest, was the controlling factor in urging the plaintiff's discharge. Ibid. Boothby v. Texon, Inc., 414 Mass. 468, 487, 608 N.E.2d 1028 (1993). See also Moriearty, Adkins, & Lipsitz, Employment Law § 6.46 (1995). The burden was on the plaintiff to establish that Sampson abused her privilege. See Judd v. McCormack, 27 Mass.App.Ct. 167, 173, 535 N.E.2d 1284 (1989).

Although the question is a close one, we conclude that the facts are insufficient to prove that Sampson acted with actual malice in making her recommendations to Hausafus.

The plaintiff submits a laundry list of facts...