Ferguson v. C/Base, Inc., Court File No. 27-CV-07-23921
| Decision Date | 29 July 2008 |
| Docket Number | Court File No. 27-CV-07-23921 |
| Parties | Florence Ferguson, Plaintiff, v. C/Base, Inc., a Minnesota Corporation, Defendant. |
| Court | Minnesota District Court |
The above-entitled matter came before the Honorable William R. Howard, Judge of District Court, on the parties' cross-motion for Summary Judgment. The motions were heard on July 29, 2008. The Plaintiff was represented by Nicholas G.B. May, Fabian May & Anderson, PLLP. The Defendant was represented by Melanie P. Persellin, Jensen Anderson Sondrall, P.A. Based on the arguments presented, the submissions of the parties and a review of the entire file herein, the Court hereby makes the following:
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. Plaintiff Florence Ferguson ("Ferguson") began working for Defendant C/Base, Inc. ("C/Base") in June, 2006. Ferguson is an individual who resides in Minnesota. C/Base is a trucking container storage depot and trucking distribution company with its primary place of business in Hennepin County, Minnesota.
2. C/Base is owned by Tom Swanson ("Swanson") and Tammi Swanson, who are also husband and wife. C/Base has two divisions, one for operating the storage and maintenance of the trucking units, and the transportation division, for operating the distribution and delivery of the containers.
3. Ferguson was hired as the manager in the transportation division, which at any given time had both full and part-time employees. During the time period relevant to this litigation, the transportation division had about five employees, including Jessica Goode ("Goode"), and J.P. Hammer. Ferguson testified to the fact that the employees of the division all worked as a team and shared the workload. Ferguson Dep., p. 49.
4. The duties of the transportation manager included: supervising and training employees in the transportation division, working with drivers and operators on a daily basis, dispatching drivers and operators, and general office management. It is undisputed that Ferguson was hired by C/Base in part for her proficiency with the company's dispatch software system, known as Profit Tools.
Ferguson Dep., p. 33. Ferguson also stated that she trained customer service representatives to enter orders. She testified that, usually, Tom Swanson would handle customer emergencies. Id. at 33-35.
6. On March 13 2007, Ferguson informed Tom and Tammi Swanson that she was pregnant. Within a few days, Ferguson started to feel very nauseous. She continued to work for approximately two weeks; at times, however, the severity of her nausea prevented her from performing all of her work duties.
7. Ferguson's treating physician, Dr. James Buss, prescribed anti-nausea medication and placed her on a three-day absence from work on April 3, 2007. On April 7, 2007, Ferguson went to the emergency room and was diagnosed with Hyperemesis, a condition characterized by excessive pregnancy-related nausea and vomiting.
8. Ferguson was subsequently admitted to Unity Hospital. While at the hospital, Ferguson had access to a telephone and a computer with internet access. Ferguson kept in contact with her workplace, and provided the Swansons with updates on her condition. Ferguson was able to answer some work-related questions from her coworkers on the phone and email.
9. On April 9, 2007, Tom Swanson visited Ferguson in the hospital. Ferguson testified in her deposition that Ferguson Dep., p. 47.
10. Ferguson testified that to the best of her knowledge, Tammi Swanson had used Profit Tools through a remote-access system. Both Jessica Goode and Tom Swanson testified at deposition that C/Base's computer system was not capable of sufficiently handling Profit Tools via remote access as of April, 2007.
12. Later that same morning, Ferguson sent a separate email to Tom and Tammi Swanson exclusively. The email was sent in response to C/Base notifying Ferguson by telephone that her pay had been suspended as of the prior Monday. In that email, Ferguson wrote, "I just want you both to know that I'm sorry for not being able to be at work to continue performing my job duties and helping your company grow with training." Ferguson Dep. Ex. 16.
13. In response, Swanson sent an email informing Ferguson that C/Base was still paying her medical insurance, and that "I do consider you to be an important part of our company." Ferguson Dep. Ex. 16.
14. In March of 2007, J.P. Hammer had been fired by C/BASE for performance reasons. Jessica Goode testified at her deposition that she spoke to Tom and Tammi Swanson about the work situation. Goode testified that she had been present for a conversation with Tom Swanson, before Ferguson's hospitalization, regarding whether they were going to get Ferguson a computer [meaning Profit Tools access] because she was not feeling well. Goode Dep., p. 25. Goode also testified that there were certain parts of the job that she was doing that could not have been done via remote access. Id., p. 23-24.
15. Goode also asked again on Ferguson's behalf when she was in the hospital, and asked if she was going to get help "since I was in there alone." Id., p. 21. She testified that everyone helped at the office, id., p. 24, and she further testified that she was very stressed doing the job by herself. Id., p. 28. She was also present during office meetings at which the Swansons discussed downsizing the company, but does not recall the exact dates. Id.
16. Swanson testified that he and his wife had discussed how best to handle the situation, including the layoffs of many of their office employees and owner/operators. Swanson Dep., p. 59-61.
17. Goode told Ferguson that she thought C/Base's letting go of Ferguson was "fifty-fifty" in that she understood the need for layoffs but thought the timing was suspicious after Ferguson had gone into the hospital. Id., p. 37. Goode also approached Tom Swanson and told him she thought that laying Ferguson off was a bad idea, because she was untrained and they were short-staffed. Id., p. 38.
18. On April 20, 2007, when Ferguson's husband went to C/Base to pick up her termination letter, Swanson wrote a C/Base check, made out to Flo Ferguson, for $1000.00. Ferguson Dep. Ex. 19. Swanson testified that he gave the check to Ferguson's husband, on the understanding that the money was to help pay medical bills, and as a severance check. Swanson Dep., p. 45.
19. There is no evidence that Ferguson ever agreed to release C/Base from any claims in exchange for the severance check. There is no written release, and no testimony from either party that Ferguson spoke to either of the Swansons concerning any agreement to waive her rights.
20. When asked at deposition about his conversation with Ferguson's husband, Swanson stated,
Well, that it was a severance check and hopefully could help, you know, to pay for medical expenses if they had that. And, you know, we talked about him asking me not to interfere with the unemployment process at all, and that he said Flo wouldn't cause us any problems at all.***I—if there was any indication that they were going to, it's possible that I would not have issued that check.***It was not a condition that I was going to ask him ahead of time and say, "Are you not going to cause problems?"
21. Ferguson was released from the hospital to home rest on April 22, 2007. Ferguson was not medically cleared to return to work until May 27, 2007.
22. By May, 2007, Swanson had signed an agreement with a recruiter to replace Ferguson's position. C/Base hired a replacement for Ferguson's position by June, 2007. Swanson admits that though he had told many of C/Base's...
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