Bennett v. City of Holyoke

• Decision Date: 07 November 2002
• Docket Number: No. CIV.A. 99-30015-MAP.,CIV.A. 99-30015-MAP.
• Citation: 230 F.Supp.2d 207
• Parties: Gary A. BENNETT and Elizabeth Bennett, Plaintiffs v. CITY OF HOLYOKE, Daniel Szostkiewicz, individually, and in his official capacity as Mayor of the City of Holyoke, Marc Cournoyer, individually, and in his official capacity as Chief of Police for the City of Holyoke Police Department, Stephen Donoghue, and Arthur Therrien, Defendants
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Massachusetts

230 F.Supp.2d 207

Gary A. BENNETT and Elizabeth Bennett, Plaintiffs v. CITY OF HOLYOKE, Daniel Szostkiewicz, individually, and in his official capacity as Mayor of the City of Holyoke, Marc Cournoyer, individually, and in his official capacity as Chief of Police for the City of Holyoke Police Department, Stephen Donoghue, and Arthur Therrien, Defendants

No. CIV.A. 99-30015-MAP.

United States District Court, D. Massachusetts.

November 7, 2002.

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Tani E. Sapirstein, Sapirstein & Sapirstein, Springfield, MA, for Plaintiffs.

Harry L. Miles, Geoffrey B. White, John J. Green, Jr., John H. Fitz-Gibbon, Green, Miles, Lipton, White & Fitz-Gibbon, John C. Sikorski, Robinson, Donovan, Madden & Barry, Michael R. Salvon, National Association of Government Employees, Springfield, MA, for Defendants.

MEMORANDUM REGARDING DEFENDANTS' MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

(Docket No. 78)

PONSOR, District Judge.

I. Introduction

Plaintiff Gary A. Bennett ("Bennett"), a former sergeant with the City of Holyoke Police Department and his wife, plaintiff Elizabeth Bennett (together with Bennett, "plaintiffs"), have brought a nine-count lawsuit, asserting the following claims: violation of the Massachusetts Whistleblower Statute, Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 149, § 185 (Count One); violation of the Massachusetts Anti-Discrimination Act, Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 151B (Count Two); violation of the Massachusetts Privacy Act, Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 214, § 1B (Count Three); violation of both the federal civil rights statute, 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and the Massachusetts Civil Rights Act, Mass. Gen Laws ch. 12, § 11I (Count Four); common law breach of contract (Count Five); common law intentional infliction of emotional distress (Count Six); common law intentional interference with contractual relations (Count Seven); common law defamation (Count Eight); and, by Elizabeth Bennett, loss of consortium (Count Nine). The targets of the lawsuit are Bennett's former employer, the City of Holyoke; Daniel Szostkiewicz ("Szostkiewicz"), the former Mayor of Holyoke; Mark Cournoyer ("Cournoyer"), the former Chief of Police of the Holyoke Police Department; Stephen Donoghue ("Donoghue"), another former Chief of Police of the Holyoke Police Department; and one of Bennett's former coworkers, Arthur Therrien ("Therrien") (together "defendants").

In essence, the plaintiffs contend that, because Bennett attempted to expose certain allegedly corrupt practices in the Holyoke Police Department, Bennett has suffered harassment and retaliation in violation of his statutory and common law rights.

Defendants have moved for summary judgment on all counts. The court on October 17, 2002 issued a summary memorandum setting forth rulings in which the motion was allowed, in part; this memorandum will amplify the court's reasoning in preparation for the trial, now scheduled to commence on November 12, 2002. Counsel should take note that in this memorandum the court has also, on closer reflection, somewhat modified the rulings set forth in the short October 17 memorandum.

II. Standard of Review

Summary judgment is proper when "the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with 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). A "genuine" issue is one that reasonably could be resolved in favor of either party, and a "material" fact is one that affects the outcome of the suit under governing law. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248-50, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986).

"[T]he district court must view `the facts in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party, drawing all reasonable inferences in that party's favor.'" Bienkowski v. Northeastern Univ., 285 F.3d 138, 140 (1st Cir.2002), quoting Barbour v. Dynamics Research Corp., 63 F.3d 32, 36 (1st Cir.1995), cert. denied, 516 U.S. 1113, 116 S.Ct. 914, 133 L.Ed.2d 845 (1996).

Once the moving party has asserted that no genuine issue of material fact exists, the burden is on the opposing party to point to specific facts demonstrating that there is, indeed, a trialworthy issue. National Amusements, Inc. v. Town of Dedham, 43 F.3d 731, 735 (1st Cir.1995), aff'd, 515 U.S. 1103, 115 S.Ct. 2247, 132 L.Ed.2d 255 (1995). Rule 56(e) requires the opposing party to meet this burden with admissible evidence. "Hearsay evidence, inadmissible at trial, cannot be considered on a motion for summary judgment." Garside v. Osco Drug, Inc., 895 F.2d 46, 50 (1st Cir.1990). Likewise, "the First Circuit will reject responses by nonmovants that adduce statements not based on personal knowledge or that adduce conjectural or conclusory allegations." Nicholson v. Promotors on Listings, 159 F.R.D. 343, 348 (D.Mass.1994).

III. Factual and Procedural Background

The facts below are viewed in the light most favorable to the plaintiffs; all reasonable inferences are drawn in their favor.

In January 1999, after twenty-one years as an officer (including seven years as a sergeant), Bennett's tenure as a member of the Holyoke Police Department came to an end. The record reflects that his years of employment featured a number of conflicts with fellow officers and superiors, as well as episodes of misconduct leading to discipline. Four of these will be mentioned in the discussion below and should be noted: (1) domestic disputes leading to the issuance of a restraining order against Bennett, served by fellow officers at the request of his wife, in the mid-1980's; (2) the 1988 "Monarca" incident, in which Bennett was criminally charged (and acquitted after a highly-publicized trial) with being involved in placing a firecracker in a cigarette that exploded in a juvenile inmate's face; (3) the "Dunn" altercation in which a citizen's complaint was filed charging that Bennett, while in civilian clothes, banged on the hood of the complainant's car, opened the passenger door and screamed obscenities at the occupants; and (4) the "O'Brien" altercation in 1993, in which a citizen's complaint was filed and Bennett was disciplined following a barroom fight in which Bennett punched another patron five or six times in the face.

The events which give rise to the present lawsuit began in August 1996, when Bennett became eligible for promotion to the rank of lieutenant. Of all candidates, Bennett had achieved the highest score on the promotional exam. Around this time, another officer, Louis Flores ("Flores"), informed Bennett that then-Chief Donoghue had disclosed contents of Bennett's personnel files to defendant (later Chief) Cournoyer in order, in some way, to undermine Bennett's prospects of promotion. According to what Flores told Bennett, Donoghue's primary motivation was to insure promotions only of those officers who would not interfere with his corrupt practices such as illegal liquor sales and gambling.

Following the conversation with Flores, Bennett sent an email dated September 10, 1996 to Cournoyer, who was at that time Secretary/Treasurer of International Brotherhood of Police Officers Local Number 408. The email stated that unspecified "reliable sources" had revealed Cournoyer's complicity in a plot to "manufacture a reason to undermine [Bennett's] candidacy for an upcoming promotion." (Docket 86, Exhibit 7). Bennett reminded Cournoyer of his duty as a union officer to "protect [Bennett's] rights and act in [Bennett's] best interest." Id. The correspondence concluded with the following language:

The only reason I would not be selected would be as a result of activity which should not be part of the selection process. In that case anyone who would interfere with my ability to better provide for my family could expect the severest response possible to the fullest extent imaginable.

Id.

Believing the email constituted a physical threat, Cournoyer wrote a letter dated September 11, 1996 to Donoghue describing Bennett's propensity for violence (including references to the incidents described above) and expressing concern for his own, and his family's, well-being. Plaintiff alleges that Donoghue had given Cournoyer access to Bennett's personnel file, so that Cournoyer could obtain damaging private information about Bennett and include it in the September 11 letter.

In response to Cournoyer's letter, on September 17, 1996, Donoghue summoned Bennett into his office where, in the presence of Cournoyer and Donoghue's assistant Alan Fletcher, Donoghue allegedly pressured Bennett to reveal the identity of Bennett's informant and the specific nature of the information he had received. Bennett refused.

On September 29, 1996, Bennett wrote a followup letter to Donoghue defending the original September 10 email and asserting that the content of Cournoyer's letter "confirmed the accuracy and reliability of [Bennett's] information by presenting exactly the unfavorable report [that Bennett] had been advised about." (Docket 86, at 7). On October 2, 1996, Donoghue responded with a letter of reprimand, which, according to Donoghue, brought closure to "just another example of [Bennett's] aberrant behavior." (Docket 86, Exhibit 12). The letter was placed in Bennett's personnel file. On October 16, 1996, Donoghue summarily denied a grievance filed by Bennett regarding the October 2 letter of reprimand.

At around this same time, in September of 1996, Bennett filed a complaint with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination ("MCAD") relating to an incident where Cournoyer had allegedly used threatening language against an officer Jorge Rodriguez ("Rodriguez"), an episode that Bennett believed to reflect Cournoyer's bias against Puerto Ricans.

A little later in the fall of 1996, Bennett commenced his own informal investigation of the Holyoke Police Department in...