Gaudio v. Griffin Health Services Corp.

• Decision Date: 20 July 1999
• Docket Number: (SC 15756)
• Citation: 249 Conn. 523,733 A.2d 197
• Court: Connecticut Supreme Court
• Parties: BRIAN GAUDIO v. GRIFFIN HEALTH SERVICES CORPORATION

249 Conn. 523

733 A.2d 197

BRIAN GAUDIO v. GRIFFIN HEALTH SERVICES CORPORATION

(SC 15756)

Supreme Court of Connecticut.

Argued November 4, 1998.

Officially released July 20, 1999.

Callahan, C. J., and Berdon, Katz, McDonald and Peters, Js. Emanuel N. Psarakis, with whom, on the brief, were Lisa Gizzi and Andrew S. Golden, for the appellant (defendant).

Lawrence C. Sgrignari, for the appellee (plaintiff).

Robert B. Mitchell, Margaret M. Sheahan and Loraine M. Cortese-Costa, filed a brief for the Connecticut Business and Industry Association as amicus curiae.

Opinion

BERDON, J.

This appeal calls upon us to resolve a number of issues arising out of a jury trial for wrongful discharge. In broad strokes, the jury awarded damages on two grounds: (1) the defendant employer breached an implied contract not to terminate the plaintiff employee except for just cause; and (2) the former defamed the latter. We decline to set aside either aspect of this verdict, but nevertheless conclude that a remittitur is required.

The jury reasonably could have found the following facts. The plaintiff, Brian Gaudio, had worked in various capacities for the defendant, Griffin Health Services Corporation (hereinafter defendant or hospital), since 1985. After two years of part-time work in the laundry department and one year of part-time work in the patient transport division, the plaintiff was employed as a full-time weekend security officer in 1988. There was a significant amount of evidence concerning the nature of the promises extended to the plaintiff by the defendant, which we discuss at length below. For present purposes, it suffices to note that, at trial, the plaintiff relied heavily upon the content of the defendant's Personnel Policies and Procedures Manual (manual), which was given to him when he commenced his employment.

On May 8, 1990, the plaintiff and his partner Brian Healey were called to the emergency room to guard a patient in the psychiatric holding area; the patient had psychological problems and was in an alcohol-induced stupor. Several hours later, the patient woke up; he was still extremely intoxicated. In the plaintiffs words: "The patient became very verbally abusive, hostile, aggressive, started [destroying] hospital property, [made] hand gestures, us[ed] profanity, [and became] like a firecracker that was being lit off. He exploded." Upon learning that he was being admitted to the hospital, the patient said, "No fucking way am I staying here tonight," and told the plaintiff that, "[i]f it comes down to me or you, it's going to be you." Moreover, the patient struck his fist into his palm, paced back and forth, punched the door and the walls, and ripped the telephone off the wall. In order to subdue the patient, the physician in charge, Joseph De ordered a "Code 7"—a request for all male personnel to assist in restraining the patient. A number of male staff members responded.

Although there was conflicting testimony concerning what happened next, the jury reasonably could have found the following facts. The patient charged the plaintiff and Healey in an effort to escape from the room. The plaintiff and Healey prevented the escape by wrestling the patient to the ground. The plaintiff and two others then lifted the patient onto a stretcher. During this time, the patient kicked, punched, bit, and spat at the plaintiff and his coworkers. Once he had been placed on a stretcher, the patient "bang[ed] his head against the guard rails ... [and] whack[ed] his head from side to side ... attempting to rock the stretcher and flip [it over]." The plaintiff climbed onto the stretcher in order to stabilize it. The patient continued to punch, bite and spit at the plaintiff, saying, "Fuck you, you big motherfucker. I got AIDS and you're going to die with AIDS." The plaintiff testified that he employed a proper restraint technique that comported with hospital policy. The plaintiff explained that he did this in order "to prevent [the patient] from further biting and spitting at [him] and [causing] further injury to himself from banging [his head against] the guard rails of the stretcher...." The patient was successfully restrained in short order. While restrained, the patient threatened to sue the hospital. The plaintiff required medical attention on two separate occasions for the injuries that he suffered as a result of his participation in the restraint of the patient.

At a meeting convened at 9 o'clock the following morning—less than twelve hours after the incident— the hospital management decided to terminate the plaintiff, even though he had never before been subject to discipline for any misconduct (meeting). This decision was based upon a report presented by William Powanda, the vice president of the hospital. Powanda admitted that he did not speak with any of the witnesses. Instead, his presentation was based almost entirely upon a memo prepared by Raymond Gurdak, the hospital's security supervisor (Gurdak memo). Gurdak, in turn, merely summarized the statements of several purported witnesses, some of whom had allegedly accused the plaintiff of striking the patient.¹ The plaintiff questions the adequacy of the Gurdak memo, a concern that we address more fully in part I D of this opinion. Powanda also had access to a form that Gurdak had asked the plaintiff to complete on the evening of the incident (incident report). In this incident report, the plaintiff stated that the patient was "very violent and combative," that the patient was "totally out of control," and that, "to protect [himself] and the people around [him, the plaintiff] had to use reasonable force by knocking the patient down." The plaintiff further explained in the incident report that, in order to prevent the patient from biting, scratching and spitting at staff members, he "had to use reasonable force by holding his face down." The plaintiff neither stated nor implied that he struck the patient.

The following people did not attend the meeting, because they were not invited to do so: the plaintiff; Dell'Aria, the physician in charge on the night of the incident (listed as a witness on the incident report); Healey, the plaintiff's partner (also listed as a witness on the incident report); and Janice Yankowski, the hospital's director of human resources. The patient was never contacted for his version of the incident.

According to Powanda, the defendant "didn't want to make the patient issue bigger than it was with the patient...." At the meeting held the morning after the incident, the hospital's management addressed the fear that the patient would assert a lawsuit against the defendant. For this reason, the defendant's risk manager was present, even though she ordinarily did not attend such meetings.

The day after the meeting, Gurdak delivered a letter of termination to the plaintiff, which included the following sentence: "[You] displayed bad judgment and did not follow established procedures regarding restraint of a patient." At least three of the plaintiffs supervisors read the letter: Powanda (the vice president) drafted it; Yankowski (the director of human resources) signed it; and Gurdak delivered it.² When he delivered the letter, Gurdak told the plaintiff that he was being terminated "due to the fact that the hospital is in fear of a lawsuit from the patient." A copy of the letter was placed in the plaintiff's personnel file.

The plaintiff testified that he was emotionally devastated in the wake of his discharge, and that he had a difficult time making financial ends meet. As a result of his depression, a romantic relationship terminated and the plaintiff lost a substantial amount of weight. Although he eventually secured a job as a university security officer, the plaintiff testified that he felt "like a person with bad credit ... [and] that [he] would never have an opportunity to seek a decent job...."

In response to written interrogatories, the jury made the following findings: (1) the defendant was bound by an implied contract; (2) the terms of this contract prohibited termination without just cause; and (3) the defendant did not possess just cause to terminate the plaintiff.³ The jury also found that the defendant (1) breached the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing⁴ and (2) defamed the plaintiff.⁵ Accordingly, the jury rendered verdicts in favor of the plaintiff,⁶ awarding him $100,000 in economic damages and $100,000 in noneconomic damages.⁷ The trial court thereafter denied the defendant's motions to set aside the verdict, for judgment notwithstanding the verdict, and for remittitur. The court thereupon rendered judgment for the plaintiff in accordance with the jury's verdict. We affirm the judgment except as to the award of economic damages, with respect to which we order a remittitur in the amount of $39,089.

I

The defendant claims that the trial court incorrectly submitted the following issues to the jury: (1) whether an implied contract bound the defendant to continue to employ the plaintiff unless there were just cause for his termination; and (2) if so, whether the defendant breached that contract. The defendant further claims that there was insufficient evidence to support the jury's affirmative answers to these two questions. We disagree.

A

As a threshold matter, the defendant argues that— as a matter of law—it was not bound by an implied contract. Accordingly, the defendant claims that the court improperly submitted this issue to the jury. We are not persuaded.

"[A]ll employer-employee relationships not governed by express contracts involve some type of implied `contract' of employment. `There cannot be any serious dispute that there is a bargain of some kind; otherwise, the employee would not be working.' 1H. Perritt, Employee Dismissal Law and Practice (3d Ed. 1992) § 4.32, p. 326." Torosyan v. Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 234 Conn. 1, 13, 662 A.2d 89 (1995). It is firmly...