Andrade v. Jamestown Housing Authority
| Decision Date | 12 January 1996 |
| Docket Number | 95-1040 and 96-1329,Nos. 95-1039,s. 95-1039 |
| Citation | 82 F.3d 1179 |
| Parties | Helen Ruth ANDRADE, Plaintiff, Appellant, v. JAMESTOWN HOUSING AUTHORITY, Estate of Barrett Gross, Ernest Anthony, Edward Holland, Llewelyn Eaton, Phyllis Tiexiera and Frederick Hillier, Defendants, Appellees. Helen Ruth ANDRADE, Plaintiff, Appellee, v. JAMESTOWN HOUSING AUTHORITY, Estate of Barrett Gross, Ernest Anthony, Edward Holland, Llewelyn Eaton, Phyllis Tiexiera and Frederick Hillier, Defendants, Appellees, Self-Help, Inc. and Deborah A. Jackson, Defendants, Appellants. Helen Ruth ANDRADE, Plaintiff, Appellee, v. JAMESTOWN HOUSING AUTHORITY, Estate of Barrett Gross, Ernest Anthony, Edward Holland, Llewelyn Eaton, Phyllis Tiexiera and Frederick Hillier, Defendants, Appellants. . Heard |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — First Circuit |
Appeals from the United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island; Hon. Ernest C. Torres, U.S. District Judge.
Ernest Barone, Providence, RI, for Helen Ruth Andrade.
Frank E. Reardon with whom Hassan & Reardon, P.C. was on brief, for Self-Help, Inc. and Deborah Jackson.
James A. Donnelly, Wakefield, RI, for Jamestown Housing Authority, et al.
Before TORRUELLA, Chief Judge, CYR and STAHL, Circuit Judges.
Plaintiff-appellant, Helen Ruth Andrade, filed a five-count complaint in Rhode Island's federal district court seeking redress for her termination from employment as an administrative assistant at the Jamestown Housing Authority ("JHA"). In addition to JHA, Andrade sued Self-Help, Inc. ("Self-Help"), the sponsoring agency that placed her at JHA; Deborah Jackson, a Self-Help employee; Barrett Gross, 1 JHA's Executive Director; and Ernest Anthony, Edward Holland, Llewelyn Eaton, Phyllis Tiexiera, and Frederick Hillier, all of whom were JHA Commissioners. At trial, Andrade sought to prove violations of 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (Count II), 42 U.S.C. § 1985(3) (Count III), and state tort (Count IV) and contract (Count V) law. 2
At the close of evidence, the district court, pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 50(a), granted the defendants' motions for judgment as a matter of law on Counts III, IV and V, reserved ruling on JHA's Rule 50(a) motion as to Count II, and submitted Count II to the jury. The jury found JHA, Gross, and Eaton liable on Count II and awarded compensatory and punitive damages to Andrade. The parties subsequently filed motions for attorney's fees, and the district court referred the motions to the magistrate for a report and recommendation. The magistrate's report and recommendation, adopted by the court, granted fees to Andrade as prevailing plaintiff vis a vis JHA, Gross, and Eaton and to Self-Help, Jackson, Anthony, Holland, Tiexiera, and Hillier as prevailing defendants.
Andrade appeals the grant of judgment as a matter of law on Counts IV and V as well as the attorney's fees award. JHA cross-appeals the denial of the Rule 50(b) motion on Count II. Self-Help and Jackson cross-appeal the attorney's fees award. Finding no error, we affirm.
Self-Help, a non-profit corporation, operates the Senior Aide Program ("the Program") in the East Providence area. The Program, which is funded by the Department of Labor through the National Council of Senior Citizens ("NCSC"), seeks to employ low-income seniors in non-profit businesses and municipal agencies as "Senior Aides." Under the Program, Senior Aides spend a maximum of two years at an assignment, receiving on-the-job and/or other training, with a goal of attaining placement in unsubsidized positions thereafter.
During the summer of 1990, Nancy Newbury, JHA's Executive Director, contacted Self-Help to inquire about the possibility of JHA becoming a host agency under the Program. Bridget Kelly, Self-Help's Director of the Senior Employment Program, and Newbury agreed that JHA would create two administrative assistant positions for Senior Aides at JHA. Newbury then posted the positions, and Andrade applied. After Kelly determined that Andrade was eligible for the Program, Newbury interviewed Andrade and offered her the job. Andrade accepted.
At trial, Newbury and Kelly both testified that, at some point during the hiring process, Andrade informed them that she was receiving workers' compensation benefits and stated that she would only want to work at JHA so long as the wages she would receive from Self-Help would not reduce her existing benefits. Newbury's and Kelly's testimony diverged on how they responded to this information.
Newbury testified that, with Kelly and Andrade in her office, she called Andrade's case manager at the Workers' Compensation Commission ("the Commission") on speakerphone, and he assured them that Andrade's wages from Self-Help would not reduce her benefits. Kelly, however, denied such a conversation took place and testified that she had informed Andrade that her review of the NCSC Policy and Procedure Manual ("NCSC Manual") suggested that the benefits would not be counted in determining her income eligibility under the Program, but that Andrade should contact the Commission to see how it would handle her receipt of wages.
In July 1990, Andrade began work at JHA. Shortly thereafter, Newbury resigned as Executive Director and brought charges of racism against JHA, requesting an investigation of its adherence to fair housing principles. On April 30, 1991, during hearings before the Jamestown Town Council, Andrade testified that Commissioner Eaton had made two racially discriminatory remarks in her presence.
Meanwhile, in March 1991, the Commission sent Andrade a "Report of Earnings" form, requesting information about her Self-Help wages. Because Andrade did not return the form, the Commission sent another in April. On May 1, 1991, when Kelly's successor, Deborah Jackson, went to JHA to recertify Andrade for her second year of the Program, Andrade showed Jackson the Report of Earnings form and asked for her assistance in filling it out. Jackson agreed to look at the form and took it with her.
While at JHA that day, Jackson also met with Gross who requested that Self-Help transfer Andrade from JHA for having testified against Eaton the night before. On May 2, 1991, Gross sent Jackson a letter memorializing their conversation which requested that she "attempt to transfer Senior Aid [sic] Helen Andrade from the Authority" and stated that "Her testimony against one of our commissioners, Mr. Eaton, who is ultimately her superior has made her presence here uncomfortable."
On May 8, 1991, having examined the Report of Earnings form, Jackson notified Caroline Pellegrino, Self-Help's Director of Senior Services, that Andrade had not reported her Self-Help earnings to the Commission. Pellegrino called the Commission and was informed that it could hold Self-Help liable for the wages paid to an employee who was receiving workers' compensation benefits. Pellegrino, in turn, notified Dennis Roy, Self-Help's Executive Director, and Roy referred her to Mary Mulvey, an NCSC representative. Mulvey informed Pellegrino that Self-Help might also be liable to NCSC for Andrade's wages should inclusion of her workers' compensation benefits in the income eligibility assessment render Andrade ineligible for the Program. Mulvey recommended Andrade's termination pending resolution of the issue. Roy agreed and had Jackson telephone Andrade with the news.
Referring generally to a problem regarding Andrade's receipt of workers' compensation benefits, Jackson asked Andrade to go home for the day and said that she would be phoning her with more details. Later that afternoon, Jackson told Andrade that she was terminated because of her failure to report her wages to the Commission. Five days later, Jackson sent Andrade a letter stating that "Your failure to notify R.I. Workers [sic] Compensation Department of your entering the Senior Aide Program is the reason for the termination."
Having learned of Andrade's termination, Newbury appeared before Gross and the Commissioners at the next JHA board meeting and petitioned for Andrade's reinstatement to her former position. Newbury testified that Commissioner Hillier responded to her plea by stating that "it would be a cold day in hell when anybody testifies against us and thinks they are going to have a job here."
Andrade's complaint charged JHA, Gross, the Commissioners, Self-Help, and Jackson with violations of Title VII (), 42 U.S.C. § 1985(3) (Count III), wrongful and tortious discharge, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and interference with contract (Count IV); JHA, Gross, and Commissioners Holland, Hillier, Eaton, and Tiexiera with violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (Count II); and Self-Help with breach of express and implied contract (Count V). After discovery, a seven-day jury trial ensued. At the close of the evidence, all of the defendants sought judgment as a matter of law under Fed.R.Civ.P. (50)(a) on Counts III and IV; JHA brought a Rule 50(a) motion on Count II, and Self-Help brought a Rule 50(a) motion on Count V. The district court delivered a detailed oral opinion, granting the motions as to Counts III, IV, and V, and reserving decision on Count II until after the jury returned its verdict.
As to Count V, the court concluded that (i) Andrade had failed to provide any evidence that an express contract for a definite duration existed between her and Self-Help, (ii) the fact that the NCSC Manual and the Self-Help Senior Employment Program Personnel Policy ("the Self-Help Policy") limited Andrade's employment at JHA to two years and provided for an annual recertification review did not establish a definite term of employment, (iii) Andrade and Self-Help's mutual mistake as to whether Andrade's earnings would be paid to the Commission prevented a meeting of the minds, a necessary element to the formation of a contract, and (iv)...
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