Gorman v. Hughes Danbury Optical Systems
| Decision Date | 22 November 1995 |
| Docket Number | No. 3:93cv2163 (DJS).,3:93cv2163 (DJS). |
| Citation | 908 F. Supp. 107 |
| Parties | Patricia GORMAN, Plaintiff, v. HUGHES DANBURY OPTICAL SYSTEMS, Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Connecticut |
James S. Brewer, West Hartford, CT, for plaintiff.
Melinda S. Monson, Pinney, Payne, Van Lenten, P.C., Christopher G. Winans, Pinney, Payne, Van Lenten, P.C., Danbury, CT, for defendant.
ENDORSEMENT ORDER
This cause is now before the court on the Honorable Thomas P. Smith's Recommended Ruling on the defendant's motion to dismiss (document # 33). Upon review and pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(B) and Rule 2 of the Local Rules for United States Magistrate Judges (D.Conn.), the recommended ruling is APPROVED and ADOPTED as the ruling of this court, absent timely objection or response of any kind.
Accordingly, defendant's motion to dismiss is hereby granted without prejudice to the filing of a motion conforming to Judge Smith's directions within thirty days. Failure to comply shall result in the entry of judgment in favor of the defendant on the federal claims and dismissal of the state-law claims without prejudice.
It is so ordered.
RECOMMENDED RULING ON MOTION TO DISMISS
This is an action in which the plaintiff alleges that the defendant discriminated against her in violation of, inter alia, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act ("ADEA"), the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA") and Title VII. The defendant has filed a motion to dismiss pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(6) for lack of subject matter jurisdiction and failure to state a claim.
For the reasons that follow, the defendant's motion should be GRANTED.
After examination of the pleadings, motions and relevant memoranda, and for purposes of the instant motion to dismiss, the following material facts are undisputed. The plaintiff was born on August 3, 1945, and was forty six years of age when the discriminatory conduct at issue allegedly took place. The plaintiff was employed by the defendant, Hughes Danbury Optical Systems ("Hughes"), as an administrative secretary for approximately fourteen years, from 1978 until she was ultimately terminated in 1992. While she was employed by the defendant, the plaintiff received favorable performance evaluations.
In 1987, the plaintiff was involved in a motor vehicle accident. As a result of the accident, she suffered injuries which left her with permanent disabilities. The plaintiff currently suffers from Chronic Fatigue Immune Dysfunction Syndrome. According to the amended complaint, the plaintiff's disabilities did not interfere with her "ability to perform the essential functions of her job." The plaintiff alleges that she was terminated due to illegal discrimination based upon her age and her disability and that she was replaced with younger secretarial support. The defendant's actions have allegedly caused the plaintiff to suffer extreme physical and mental damages.
In addition to her claims under the ADEA, ADA and Title VII, the plaintiff alleges violations of state discrimination statutes, C.G.S. §§ 46a-58(a), 46-60(a)(1), 46a-60(a)(8).
A motion to dismiss brought pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1) must be granted if the plaintiff fails to establish jurisdiction. "Federal courts are empowered to hear only those cases that (1) are within the judicial power of the United States, as defined by the Constitution, and (2) that have been entrusted to them by a jurisdictional grant by Congress." 13 C. Wright, A. Miller & E. Cooper, Federal Practice and Procedure § 3522 (1984). See Owen Equipment & Erection Co. v. Kroger, 437 U.S. 365, 98 S.Ct. 2396, 57 L.Ed.2d 274 (1978). If the district court concludes that it does not have subject matter jurisdiction, it must dismiss the case. See Golden Hill Paugussett Tribe of Indians v. Weicker, 839 F.Supp. 130, 136 (D.Conn.1993); Trinanes v. Schulte, 311 F.Supp. 812 (D.C.N.Y.1970); Amundson v. U.S., 279 F.Supp. 779 (D.C.N.Y.1967).
A motion to dismiss brought pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) "merely ... assesses the legal feasibility of the complaint, it does not ... assay the weight of the evidence which might be offered in support thereof." Ryder Energy Distribution Corp. v. Merrill Lynch Commodities, Inc., 748 F.2d 774, 779 (2d Cir. 1984). In deciding a motion to dismiss "the court `must accept the material facts alleged in the complaint as true,'" Staron v. McDonald's Corp., et al., 51 F.3d 353, 355 (2d Cir.1995) (citing Cohen v. Koenig, 25 F.3d 1168, 1172 (2d Cir.1994)), and draw all reasonable inferences in favor of the pleader. Scheuer v. Rhodes, 416 U.S. 232, 236, 94 S.Ct. 1683, 1686, 40 L.Ed.2d 90 (1974). The court must determine whether the plaintiff has stated a claim upon which relief may be granted. Fischman v. Blue Cross & Blue Shield, 755 F.Supp. 528 (D.Conn.1990). Dismissal is warranted only if, under any set of facts that the plaintiff can prove consistent with the allegations, it is clear that no relief can be granted. Hishon v. King & Spalding, 467 U.S. 69, 73, 104 S.Ct. 2229, 2232-33, 81 L.Ed.2d 59 (1984); Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 45-46, 78 S.Ct. 99, 101-02, 2 L.Ed.2d 80 (1957); Frasier v. General Elec. Co., 930 F.2d 1004, 1007 (2d Cir.1991).
The defendant argues that all of the plaintiff's claims must fail because the plaintiff did not follow certain procedural prerequisites with respect to the ADEA, Title VII and Connecticut Law. The plaintiff responds that her Equal Employment Opportunities Commission ("EEOC") charge and "right to sue" letter meet all procedural prerequisites for her claims and, therefore, the defendant's motion to dismiss should be denied. The defendant also argues that the plaintiff's ADA claim must fail because the alleged discrimination predates the effective date of the Americans with Disabilities Act. For the reasons that follow, the defendant's motion should be GRANTED.
It is evident that the defendant's actions have created some ambiguity with regard to the plaintiff's termination date. The defendant argues that the effective date of the plaintiff's termination was January 24, 1992, and, in the alternative, that it was February 28, 1992, a date to which the plaintiff refers in her charge letter to the EEOC. The plaintiff, on the other hand, argues that she received final notice of her termination from the defendant's letter of June 4, 1992. In that letter the defendant stated, in relevant part, as follows:
A number of communications between the plaintiff and the defendant, which culminated in the letter of June 4, 1992, informed the plaintiff that she would be terminated from the defendant's employ. The courts have recognized that the time period of for age discrimination claims "begins to run when `the employee knows, or as a reasonable person should know, that the employer has made a final decision to terminate him, and the employee ceases to render further services to the employer.'" Downie v. Electric Boat Division, 504 F.Supp. 1082, 1084 (D.Conn.1980) (citing Bonham v. Dresser Industries, Inc., 569 F.2d 187, 192 (3d Cir. 1977)). In the June 4, 1992 letter, the defendant refers to a January termination date, but also states that the plaintiff will be considered terminated due to Doctor Licht's findings and that in order to complete her termination, the plaintiff will have to fill out certain forms. From this language, it was reasonable for the plaintiff to have assumed, prior to receipt of this letter, that she might remain an employee of the defendant company, eligible for disability leave. At this stage of the pleadings, the court takes as true the plaintiff's assertion that the June 4, 1992 letter was her final notice of termination. Viewing, as it must, the evidence in the light most favorable to the non-moving party, Scheuer v. Rhodes, 416 U.S. 232, 236, 94 S.Ct. 1683, 1686, 40 L.Ed.2d 90 (1974); Bishop v. Wood, 426 U.S. 341, 347 n. 11, 96 S.Ct. 2074, 2079 n. 11, 48 L.Ed.2d 684 (1976), the court concludes, for purposes of this motion to dismiss, that the plaintiff was given unequivocal notice of her termination on June 4, 1992.
The Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has stated that, "the filing requirement of the ADEA was to a large extent modeled after the filing provisions of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e (1988)." Tolliver v. Xerox Corp., 918 F.2d 1052, 1055-56 (2d Cir.1990) () (citing EEOC v. Commercial Office Products Co., 486 U.S. 107, 123-24, 108 S.Ct. 1666, 1675-76, 100 L.Ed.2d 96 (1988)). Indeed, both the ADEA and Title VII provide identical time periods for the filing of discrimination charges with the EEOC.1 The Second Circuit has further recognized that "although § 14(b) of the ADEA, 29 U.S.C. § 633(b) (1976), requires a claimant to file a complaint with the appropriate state agency before proceeding in a federal court, Oscar Mayer & Co. v. Evans, 441 U.S. 750, 99 S.Ct. 2066, 60 L.Ed.2d 609 (1979), the section is to be construed to accord with the similar requirements of § 706(c) of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(c) (1976),...
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...professor was notified he failed to gain tenure, rather than the date his "terminal contract" expired); 6 Gorman v. Hughes Danbury Optical Sys., 908 F.Supp. 107, 110-11 (D.Conn.1995) (limitations period under ADEA was triggered by letter notifying employee of termination); Hale v. New York ......
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