Field v. Tonawanda City School Dist.

• Decision Date: 05 March 2009
• Docket Number: No. 07-CV-241.,07-CV-241.
• Citation: 604 F.Supp.2d 544
• Parties: Carol FIELD and Erin Mancuso, Plaintiffs, v. TONAWANDA CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Western District of New York

604 F.Supp.2d 544

Carol FIELD and Erin Mancuso, Plaintiffs, v. TONAWANDA CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT, Defendant.

No. 07-CV-241.

United States District Court, W.D. New York.

March 5, 2009.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Sanders & Sanders, Harvey P. Sanders, of Counsel, Cheektowaga, NY, for Plaintiffs.

Webster Szanyi, LLP, Jeremy A. Colby, Michael P. McClaren, of Counsel, Buffalo, NY, for Defendant.

O'Connell & McClaren, LLP, Susan M. McClaren, of Counsel, East Aurora, NY, for Defendant.

ORDER

RICHARD J. ARCARA, Chief Judge.

This case was referred to Magistrate Judge Leslie G. Foschio, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1), on May 30, 2007. On October 1, 2007, defendant filed a motion for judgment on the pleadings and summary judgment. On November 26, 2008, Magistrate Judge Foschio filed a Report and Recommendation, recommending that defendant's motion directed to Plaintiffs' Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 ("ADEA") claims and New York State Human Rights Law ("NYHRL") claims should be granted and, alternatively, that defendant's motion directed to Plaintiffs' ADEA claims should be granted and plaintiffs' NYHRL claims should be dismissed.

Plaintiff filed objections to the Report and Recommendation on January 5, 2009 and defendants filed a response thereto. Oral argument on the objections was held on February 27, 2009.

Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1), this Court must make a de novo determination of those portions of the Report and Recommendation to which objections have been made. Upon a de novo review of the Report and Recommendation, and after reviewing the submissions and hearing argument from the parties, the Court adopts the proposed findings of the Report and Recommendation.

Accordingly, for the reasons set forth in Magistrate Judge Foschio's Report and Recommendation, defendant's motion for summary judgment is granted as to plaintiff's ADEA and NYHRL claims.

The Clerk of Court shall take all steps necessary to close the case.

SO ORDERED.

REPORT and RECOMMENDATION

LESLIE G. FOSCHIO, United States Magistrate Judge.

JURISDICTION

This case was referred to the undersigned by the Honorable Richard J. Arcara on May 30, 2007 for all pretrial matters. (Doc. No. 5). The matter is presently before the court on Defendant's motion for judgment on the pleadings and for summary judgment (Doc. No. 19), filed October 1, 2007.

BACKGROUND

Plaintiffs Carol Field ("Plaintiff Field" or "Field") and Erin Mancuso ("Plaintiff Mancuso" or "Mancuso") (together, "Plaintiffs") commenced this action on April 12, 2007, alleging that the Tonawanda City School District ("Defendant" or "the District") discriminated against them based on their ages, in violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, 29 U.S.C. § 621, et seq. ("the ADEA") ("First Cause of Action" or "the ADEA claims") and the New York State Human Rights Law, New York Executive Law § 290, et seq. ("NYHRL" or "Executive Law") ("Second Cause of Action" or "the NYHRL Claim"). In particular, Plaintiffs assert that, in changing their teaching assignments and performing additional classrooms observations of Plaintiffs in March 2004, actions affecting the terms and conditions of their employment, before Defendant's Early Retirement Incentive offer, previously announced in February 2004, had ended on April 2, 2004, Defendant discriminated against them based on their age, for the purpose of inducing Plaintiffs to accept Defendant's Early Retirement Incentive offer.¹ Complaint ¶¶ 1, 12, 19 21. Attached to the Complaint are Right to Sue Letters dated January 11, 2007 ("the Right to Sue Letters"), Plaintiffs' Exhibit A, and Determination Letters dated September 26, 2006 to Plaintiffs issued by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") ("the Determination Letters"), Plaintiffs' Exhibit B, finding reasonable cause that Defendant discriminated against Plaintiffs, as Plaintiffs allege in this action.

Defendant filed its answer on April 23, 2007, and an Amended Answer, with several affirmative defenses, on August 3, 2007 (Doc. No. 12) ("Amended Answer"). On October 1, 2007, Defendant filed its Motion Seeking Dismissal Under Rules 12(c) and 56 (Doc. No. 19) ("Defendant's motion"), the Declaration of Jeremy A. Colby, Esq. ("Colby Declaration") together with a copy of Plaintiffs' discrimination charges filed with the EEOC on June 19, 2004, ("Colby Decl. Exh. A") ("Plaintiffs' EEOC Administrative Charges"), the Declaration of Susan D'Angelo ("D'Angelo Declaration") along with Exhibits A—C ("D'Angelo Decl. Exh(s). ___"), and a Statement of Undisputed Facts ("Defendant's Fact Statement"). On October 2, 2007, Defendant filed a Memorandum in Support of Defendant's Motion Seeking Dismissal under Rules 12(c) and 56. (Doc. No. 20) ("Defendant's Memorandum").

On October 25, 2007, Plaintiffs filed a Memorandum of Law in Opposition to the Defendant's motion (Doc. No. 22) ("Plaintiffs' Memorandum"), along with a Statement of Disputed Material Facts in Opposition to Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. No. 23) ("Plaintiffs' Fact Statement"). Defendant filed its Reply Memorandum of Law in Further Support of Defendant's Motion Seeking Dismissal Under Rules 12(c) and 56 on November 9, 2007 (Doc. No. 24) ("Defendant's Reply Memorandum"), along with the Reply Declaration of Jeremy A. Colby in Support of Defendant's Motion Seeking Dismissal Under Rules 12(c) and 56 (Doc. No. 24-2) ("Colby Reply Declaration"), and a copy of the EEOC's Notice of Charge of Discrimination and Plaintiffs' EEOC Administrative Charges (Doc. No. 24-3) ("Colby Reply Decl. Exh. A").

Defendant, in further support of its motion, submitted, with a letter to the court, dated February 29, 2008, a copy of a New York Court of Appeals decision addressing the applicable statute of limitations for a claim of discrimination under New York law brought against a school district. (Doc. No. 26) ("Defendant's Letter"). By letter to the court dated March 6, 2008, Plaintiffs responded to Defendant's Letter. (Doc. No. 27) ("Plaintiffs' Letter"). Oral argument was deemed unnecessary.

Based on the following, Defendant's motion directed to Plaintiffs' First Cause of Action, the ADEA claims and Plaintiffs' Second Cause of Action, the NYHRL Claims, should be GRANTED. Alternatively, Defendant's motion directed to Plaintiffs' ADEA claims should be GRANTED and Plaintiffs' NYHRL claims should be DISMISSED.

FACTS²

Since April 1968 and September 1969, Plaintiffs Field and Mancuso, respectively, were employed by Defendant as elementary school teachers at Defendant's Fletcher Elementary School ("the Fletcher School"). Complaint ¶ 9; D'Angelo Declaration ¶ 1. During Defendant's 2003-2004 school year, Field taught second grade and Mancuso taught first grade at Fletcher School as they had throughout their employment with Defendant. Complaint ¶ 13; D'Angelo Declaration ¶ 3; Defendant's Fact Statement ¶ 6. Plaintiffs were tenured teachers at the Fletcher School and among the school's most senior teachers; Field was the oldest and second-most senior teacher, and Mancuso was the second-oldest and most senior teacher at the Fletcher School. Complaint ¶ 10; Colby Declaration ¶ 5 ("For the purposes of these motions only, the District accepts the allegations of the Complaint as true."). "[E]xperienced primary teachers" who were "very successful in their employment" with Defendant, Plaintiffs had, during their teaching careers with Defendant, received "numerous outstanding performance evaluations." Complaint ¶¶ 16-17; Colby Declaration ¶ 5.

Under the collective bargaining agreement between Defendant and Plaintiffs' teachers union, Defendant's tenured teachers were to receive a classroom observation at least every other year. D'Angelo Declaration ¶ 7; D'Angelo Decl. Exh. B (Defendant's Professional Performance Review Procedure for Tenure and Non-Tenured Teachers ¶ 3). On April 8, 2003, D'Angelo conducted a classroom observation of Mancuso; on April 10, 2003, D'Angelo conducted a classroom observation of Field. Complaint ¶ 18b; Colby Declaration ¶ 5.

Prior to the start of Defendant's 2003-2004 school year, on August 27, 2003, teachers at the Fletcher School were informed that untenured teachers would be subject to classroom observations during the school year. Complaint ¶ 18a; Colby Declaration ¶ 5. On February 20, 2004, Defendant announced it would offer an early retirement incentive to "encourage highly compensated teachers and staff to retire" ("the Early Retirement Incentive"). D'Angelo Declaration ¶ 2; Complaint ¶ 11; Defendant's Fact Statement ¶ 2. As part of the Early Retirement Incentive, teachers and staff at the Fletcher School were required to notify Defendant, by April 2, 2004, if they intended to accept the Early Retirement Incentive.³ Complaint ¶ 11; Defendant's Fact Statement ¶ 3. On March 7, 2004, D'Angelo informed Plaintiffs that they were being assigned to teach fifth grade classes at the Fletcher School beginning with the 2004-2005 school year.⁴ D'Angelo Declaration ¶ 3; Defendant's Fact Statement ¶ 6. On March 9, 2004, D'Angelo announced that classroom observations for tenured teachers would be conducted, which, given that classroom observations of tenured teachers at the Fletcher School, including Plaintiffs, had been conducted during April 2003, was inconsistent with Defendant's past custom and practice at the Fletcher School. Complaint ¶¶ 18a, 18b; Colby Declaration ¶ 5. At the time of Defendant's notice to Plaintiffs regarding their new fifth-grade teaching assignments, Field was fifty-seven and Mancuso was fifty-six. Complaint ¶¶ 6-7. Thereafter, on March 15, 2004, D'Angelo conducted a classroom observation of Field and, on March 23, 2004, of Mancuso. D'Angelo Declaration ¶ 7; Defendant's Fact Statement ¶ 4. Plaintiffs were the only tenured teachers at the Fletcher School who were subjected to D'Angelo's classroom observations in 2004. Complaint ¶ 18a; Colby Declaration ¶ 5.

Plaintiffs did not...