Godfredson v. Hess & Clark, Inc.
| Decision Date | 08 April 1999 |
| Docket Number | No. 98-3348,98-3348 |
| Parties | Fredrick P. GODFREDSON, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. HESS & CLARK, INC., Defendant-Appellee. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit |
Grant A. Wolfe (argued and briefed), Matan, Geer & Wright, Columbus, Ohio, for Plaintiff-Appellant.
James E. Davidson (argued and briefed), Schottenstein, Zox & Dunn, Columbus, Ohio, for Defendant-Appellee.
Before: MERRITT, KENNEDY, and GILMAN, Circuit Judges.
Fredrick P. Godfredson began working for Hess & Clark, Inc. in August of 1990. Starting in 1992, he became the Director of Marketing for KenVet Nutritional Care, its new pet food division. Hess & Clark terminated his employment in 1995, citing the business failure of KenVet Nutritional Care and the consequential reduction in force. Shortly thereafter, Godfredson sued Hess & Clark for age discrimination, wrongful discharge in violation of Ohio's public policy, the intentional infliction of emotional distress, and promissory estoppel. The district court, after ruling that Godfredson had failed to make out a prima facie case on any of these claims, granted summary judgment in favor of Hess & Clark. For the reasons set forth below, we AFFIRM the judgment of the district court.
In August of 1990, Hess & Clark purchased Veratec, a Massachusetts-based agricultural-pharmaceutical and milk-filtration products business. Godfredson had worked in the sales and marketing departments at Veratec and its predecessor company since 1972. At the time of purchase, Hess & Clark offered employment to numerous Veratec employees, including Godfredson. He accepted Hess & Clark's offer of employment and moved from Boston, Massachusetts to Ashland, Ohio.
Hess & Clark confirmed the terms of Godfredson's employment in a July 12, 1990 letter that set forth Godfredson's proposed salary, benefits, pension plan, and severance pay. Godfredson signed the letter agreement on August 3, 1990, and began his employment one week later. Two of the terms contained in the letter agreement are at issue on appeal. First, the severance provision states that "[i]f during the first twenty-four months of employment by Hess & Clark, Inc. you are involuntarily terminated ... for reason(s) other than misconduct [,] you will receive one full year regular salary." Second, the letter agreement provides that it is "not a contract of employment for a definite duration, and your employment continues at-will and may be terminated with or without cause at any time."
Godfredson also signed two other documents titled "Employment Agreement" on August 11, 1990 and May 2, 1991, both of which begin with the following statement: "Each salaried exempt employee of [the company] will read and sign this Agreement to help establish a common understanding of 1) The general employment relationship, and of 2) The need to safeguard proprietary information." (emphasis in original). Both documents clearly state that the employment is at-will, and that the company has the right to terminate the employment relationship "at any time without cause or notice." Godfredson, however, disputes the validity and enforceability of these agreements.
Concerned about his upcoming retirement, Godfredson testified that he had discussed his concerns with the president of Hess & Clark, Bruce Bookmyer, during a meeting in July of 1990. Godfredson said that he had told Bookmyer that he wanted to retire with the company at 65 years of age, to which Bookmyer allegedly responded: Bookmyer testified that he had no recollection of such a conversation.
When initially hired, Godfredson assumed marketing responsibility for two of Hess & Clark's divisions--KenAg and KenVet. KenAg was consolidated with the general Hess & Clark business in May of 1992, at which time Godfredson became the Director of Marketing for KenVet. The parties dispute whether Godfredson still retained his responsibilities as Director of Marketing for KenAg after this consolidation.
In September of 1992, Hess & Clark developed KenVet Nutritional Care, a pet food business. Godfredson became the Director of Marketing for this new business, to which he devoted between 60 and 80 percent of his time. Based on his market research, Godfredson estimated that the pet food business could achieve approximately $ 59.9 million in sales and $ 12.9 million in profits during its first three years of operation. Although the record clearly reflects that Godfredson held a position of primary importance within KenVet Nutritional Care, the parties dispute the extent to which Godfredson initiated and was responsible for this division. Godfredson also claims that despite the amount of time that he spent developing the pet food business, his salary came solely from the KenVet budget.
KenVet Nutritional Care was not a success. Although all of the pet food business's start-up costs had been absorbed by July of 1995, and it was poised to sign several multi-million dollar deals, the business suffered a loss of greater than $10 million during its first three years of operation. Godfredson testified that he was not exclusively responsible for this loss. He also referred to Bookmyer's deposition, in which Bookmyer stated that he did not know who was to blame for the division's failure.
Ultimately, Hess & Clark decided to eliminate the pet food business. On July 23, 1995, Bookmyer and Dr. Jeff Moorman, the Director of Operations, terminated Godfredson's employment. Godfredson was then 59 years of age. Bookmyer and Moorman informed him that the reason for his termination was the poor performance of KenVet Nutritional Care and the corporate decision to eliminate the pet food business. Godfredson received $8,994 in severance pay. According to Godfredson's testimony, Bookmyer had always been civil to him and was courteous to him during the termination meeting.
Once Hess & Clark decided to eliminate the pet food business, it restructured KenVet and instituted a reduction in force. During July and August of 1995, it terminated 18 other KenVet and KenVet Nutritional Care employees, ten of whom were less than 40 years of age. Hess & Clark contends that this reduction in force was necessary because it had eliminated the pet food business, and that the reduction in force was the basis for Godfredson's termination. Moreover, Bookmyer testified that without the pet food business, KenVet was not large enough to justify Godfredson's continued employment as the Director of Marketing.
Godfredson, on the other hand, alleges that he was terminated because of his age, and that the reduction in force was pretextual. He claims that he was replaced by two younger employees, David Housewright and Jeff Moorman. Moreover, he argues that the 18 other employees who were terminated worked exclusively for KenVet Nutritional Care, and that no other employees who worked simultaneously for KenVet and KenVet Nutritional Care were terminated as part of the reduction of force. The record, however, does not clearly identify the divisions for which the other terminated employees worked. Godfredson further claims that he should have been given the opportunity to transfer within the company.
Another charge of discrimination related to Godfredson's severance pay. Specifically, he alleges that his severance package was substantially less than that offered to another former Veratec employee, David New, who was hired at approximately the same time as Godfredson and who was terminated one year prior to the 1995 reduction in force. In support of his position, he points out the discrepancies in Bookmyer's and Moorman's testimony regarding how the 1995 severance packages were determined. Godfredson argues that this "create[s] an inference that the articulated basis for the disparate treatment in severance pay is pretextual." In his deposition, however, Godfredson acknowledged that he was aware of only two other individuals who had been offered severance packages as part of the 1995 reduction in force, and that these employees received severance packages that were the same as or smaller than his own.
In December of 1996, Godfredson filed suit in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, alleging (1) age discrimination under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), 29 U.S.C. §§ 621-634, (2) wrongful discharge in violation of Ohio's public policy, (3) the intentional infliction of emotional distress, and (4) promissory estoppel. The district court, after holding that Godfredson had failed to make out a prima facie case on any of these claims, granted summary judgment in favor of Hess & Clark.
We review de novo the district court's grant of summary judgment. See Smith v. Ameritech, 129 F.3d 857, 863 (6th Cir.1997) . Summary judgment is appropriate when there are no genuine issues of material fact in dispute and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. See FED. R. CIV. P. 56(c). In deciding a motion for summary judgment, the court must view the evidence and draw all reasonable inferences in favor of the non-moving party. See Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. Ltd. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 587, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986). The judge is not "to weigh the evidence and determine the truth of the matter but to determine whether there is a genuine issue for trial." Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 249, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). A genuine issue for trial is presented when there is sufficient "evidence on which the jury could reasonably find for the plaintiff." Id. at 252, 106 S.Ct. 2505.
Claims under the ADEA are generally analyzed within the framework set forth in McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 802-03,...
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