Barnes v. Benham Group, Inc.
| Decision Date | 13 October 1998 |
| Docket Number | Civil No. 97-1841 (DSD/JMM). |
| Citation | 22 F.Supp.2d 1013 |
| Parties | Michael BARNES and Sandra Vieau, Plaintiffs, v. THE BENHAM GROUP, INC., Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Minnesota |
James Christopher Wicka, Susan M. Coler, Messerli & Kramer, Minneapolis, MN, for Michael Barnes and Sandra Vieau, plaintiffs.
David P. Jendrzejek, Moss & Barnett, Minneapolis, MN, William E. Corum, Shelly L. Freeman, Blackwell Sanders Matheny Weary & Lombardi, Kansas City, MO, Glenn E. Ricks, Benham Companies, Oklahoma City, OK, for Benham Group Inc, defendant.
This matter is before the court on the motion of plaintiff Michael Barnes to strike the affidavit of Kathleen Jackson and the motion of defendant The Benham Group, Inc., for summary judgment and for sanctions. Based on a review of the file, record, and proceedings herein, the court denies plaintiff's motion to strike, grants defendant's motion for summary judgment, and denies defendant's motion for sanctions.
Plaintiff Michael Barnes is a Minnesota resident with a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering. Defendant The Benham Group, Inc., is an architectural and engineering design firm headquartered in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma that provides project management and engineering services. Defendant maintains an office in St. Paul, Minnesota, where plaintiff began working as a mechanical engineer on July 31, 1996.
When defendant opened its St. Paul office in February 1996, group health benefits were made available to all of defendant's St. Paul employees through an insurance plan offered by Prudential Insurance Company. Although Prudential had stopped servicing Minnesota employers at the time defendant opened its St. Paul office, that company agreed to provide defendant's St. Paul employees with "out of area" insurance benefits. However, because the "out of area" benefits made available to defendant's St. Paul employees were not competitive with group health benefits offered by other employers in the St. Paul area, defendant decided to explore other options for group health insurance providers.
In order to secure a new group health insurance plan, in the Fall of 1996 a local insurance broker provided defendant with insurance application/enrollment forms from three bidding group health insurance providers: Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Medica, and HealthPartners. All 34 potentially covered employees in defendant's St. Paul office were asked to complete application enrollment forms provided by these insurance companies to allow for an assessment of the risks accompanying defendant's employees and calculation of the appropriate premium. Employees electing not to complete these forms were ineligible to participate in the group insurance plan and were asked to sign a waiver indicating that they had been offered an opportunity to apply for coverage and had declined.
Employees were asked to place their completed forms in a common collection envelope. Once collected, these forms were submitted to the insurance broker. Shortly thereafter, the three bidding providers began contacting defendant's employees to obtain missing or incomplete information provided on the application/enrollment forms. Plaintiff was one of the individuals from whom the insurance providers sought additional information. After being asked by defendant on several occasions to provide the information necessary to complete the bidding process, plaintiff provided a sealed envelope presumably containing the requested information. Plaintiff also suggested that the insurers review his medical records to obtain the necessary information, and he gave his authorization for disclosure.
HealthPartners was ultimately selected to provide group health benefits to employees of defendant's St. Paul office. The sealed envelope plaintiff had submitted contained general answers to several of HealthPartners' questions. Because these answers were devoid of the details, dates, and effects of several medical conditions, implied that other conditions not listed may exist, and were otherwise nonresponsive, the insurance broker again called defendant and sought assistance in obtaining the information necessary to evaluate the risk associated with insuring defendant's employees. At a meeting with his supervisors, plaintiff was told he could either call the insurer from a telephone in the next room and provide the requested information or sign a waiver indicating that he had been offered an opportunity to apply for coverage but had declined. Plaintiff refused to either provide the requested information or sign the waiver. Because of plaintiff's refusal, defendant terminated his employment on January 28, 1997, citing "insubordination" as the reason for the termination.
Plaintiff and Sandra Vieau, another employee of defendant,1 subsequently filed suit on July 21, 1997, in Ramsey County District Court, alleging numerous violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Minnesota Human Rights Act (MHRA), and common law. Defendant removed this matter to Federal District Court, and now brings this motion for summary judgment and for sanctions. Although the original complaint contained eleven counts, only three remain before the court: (1) Count II, alleging retaliation in violation of the ADA and MHRA; (2) Count III, alleging unlawful interference, coercion, and intimidation in violation of the ADA; and (3) the portion of Count IV alleging medical inquiry discrimination in violation of the ADA.2 Plaintiff brings a separate motion to strike the affidavit of Kathleen Jackson. After oral argument, these matters are properly before the court for decision.
Plaintiff moves to strike the affidavit of Kathleen Jackson, submitted by defendant in conjunction with its summary judgment reply memorandum. Ms. Jackson's four paragraph affidavit states, in essence, that HealthPartners was asked to provide a bid for group health insurance for the employees of defendant's St. Paul Office, and in order to properly assess the risks associated with that group of potential insured, HealthPartners provided defendant with application/enrollment forms to be completed by each employee desiring to participate in the group coverage. Plaintiff objects that defendant did not disclose Ms. Jackson as a person with knowledge or as a witness in this matter, and contends that pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 16 and 26 Ms. Jackson's affidavit should not be considered by the court.
As indicated by the court at the hearing on this matter, plaintiff's motion will be denied. Plaintiff asserted in his response to defendant's motion for summary judgment that defendant's claim that the inquiries at issue here were made in connection with the underwriting of health insurance lacked evidentiary support. Defendant submitted Ms. Jackson's affidavit to rebut this assertion. Rules 16 and 26(a)(1)(A), cited by plaintiff as the basis for his motion to strike, are inapplicable in this situation and do not support plaintiff's motion. Defendant did not intend to call Ms. Jackson as a trial witness, and her affidavit was provided only after plaintiff contested, for the first time in his memorandum in opposition to defendant's motion for summary judgment, that the inquiries made of him were not for the purpose of underwriting group health insurance benefits. For these reasons, plaintiff's motion is without merit.
Also before the court is the motion of defendant for summary judgment on the remaining counts of the Second Amended Complaint. The standard to be utilized by the court in deciding a summary judgment motion is well-settled. The court should grant summary judgment "if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law." Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). This standard mirrors the standard for judgment as a matter of law under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 50(a), which requires the trial court to enter judgment as a matter of law if there can be but one reasonable conclusion as to the verdict. See Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 250, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). A fact is material only when its resolution affects the outcome of the case. Id. at 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505. A dispute is genuine if the evidence is such that it could cause a reasonable jury to return a verdict for either party. Id. at 252, 106 S.Ct. 2505. There is no issue for trial unless there is sufficient evidence favoring the nonmoving party for a jury to return a verdict for that party. Id. at 249, 106 S.Ct. 2505.
On a motion for summary judgment, the court views the evidence in favor of the nonmoving party and gives that party the benefit of all justifiable inferences that can be drawn in its favor. Id. at 250, 106 S.Ct. 2505. The nonmoving party, however, cannot rest upon mere denials or allegations in the pleadings. Nor may the nonmoving party simply argue facts supporting its claim will be developed later or at trial. Rather the nonmoving party must set forth specific facts, by affidavit or otherwise, sufficient to raise a genuine issue of fact for trial. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 324, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). If reasonable minds could differ as to the import of the evidence, judgment as a matter of law should not be granted. See Anderson, 477 U.S. at 250-51, 106 S.Ct. 2505. If a plaintiff fails to support an essential element of a claim, however, summary judgment must issue because a complete failure of proof regarding an essential element renders all other facts immaterial. Celotex, 477 U.S. at 322-23, 106 S.Ct. 2548.
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