Guyette v. Stauffer Chemical Co.

• Decision Date: 23 July 1981
• Docket Number: Civ. A. No. 81-245.
• Citation: 518 F. Supp. 521
• Parties: Margaret GUYETTE and Mary Mammano, Plaintiffs, v. STAUFFER CHEMICAL COMPANY, Ken Meszaros, Art Arena, Howard Cooper and William Christie, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of New Jersey

518 F. Supp. 521

Margaret GUYETTE and Mary Mammano, Plaintiffs, v. STAUFFER CHEMICAL COMPANY, Ken Meszaros, Art Arena, Howard Cooper and William Christie, Defendants.

Civ. A. No. 81-245.

United States District Court, D. New Jersey.

June 17, 1981.

As Corrected July 23, 1981.

Mindy M. Brook, Trenton, N. J., for plaintiffs.

Mark S. Dichter, Kenneth D. Kleinman, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, Philadelphia, Pa., Frank H. Czajkowski, Westport, Conn., Gerald A. Hughes, Levy, Levy & Albert, Trenton, N. J., for defendants.

OPINION

DEBEVOISE, District Judge.

Plaintiffs, Margaret Guyette and Mary Mammano, bring this action pursuant to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e, et seq., against their former employer, Stauffer Chemical Company (Stauffer), and four Stauffer employees, Art Arena, William Christie, Howard Cooper and Ken Meszaros, for alleged discrimination in employment on the basis of sex. In addition to their Title VII claims, plaintiffs bring the pendent state law claims of assault and battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligent infliction of emotional distress, negligence, gross negligence, and intentional interference with contractual relations. Plaintiffs filed charges with New Jersey's Division on Civil Rights and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in 1979, and have received notices of right to sue on their Title VII claims from the Commission.

In their complaint, plaintiffs Guyette and Mammano allege that they were hired by Stauffer in 1973 and 1977, respectively, and that both held the position of Senior Laboratory Technician at the Company's Yardville, New Jersey plant during times relevant to the complaint. Defendants Arena, Cooper and Christie were supervisors in the laboratory in which plaintiffs worked; defendant Meszaros was an employee of the Company. Between 1977 and 1979, plaintiffs were the only women assigned to work in the laboratory.

During the course of their employment, plaintiffs allege, they were "sexually harrassed sic, physically endangered, and verbally abused by co-workers and supervisors because they were female." Specifically, they claim, "each plaintiff was personally endangered by hazardous chemicals being placed in the plants above her desk and in her work area," and "each plaintiff was subject to harassment by her work product being stolen or otherwise ruined." Plaintiffs allege that they complained to their supervisors but were ignored, and that beginning in December, 1977, all defendants "maliciously, without just cause or excuse, and, with the willful intent to injure Plaintiffs, conspired to harass plaintiffs," ultimately resulting in their constructive discharge on March 23, 1979. The company is charged with "consistently and continuously operating under policies and practices" which fostered sexual harassment and endangered plaintiffs' physical well-being.

The matter is now before the court on defendants' motions: (1) to dismiss the state law claims on the ground that the court should not exercise its pendent jurisdiction; (2) to dismiss the Title VII claims as to defendant Meszaros on the ground that he is a non-supervisory employee; (3) to dismiss the Title VII claims against the individual defendants and the state tort law claims against all defendants for failure to plead with sufficient specificity to state a claim upon which relief may be granted; (4) to strike plaintiffs' claims for compensatory and punitive damages and demand for a jury trial; and (5) to quash the summonses against the individual defendants on the ground that they were not served in accordance with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

I. Motion to Decline Pendent Jurisdiction

Defendants move to dismiss plaintiffs' state law claims on the ground that the court should decline to exercise its pendent jurisdiction. The test for pendent jurisdiction, as set forth by the Supreme Court in United Mine Workers of America v. Gibbs, 383 U.S. 715, 86 S.Ct. 1130, 16 L.Ed.2d 218 (1966), requires a two-step determination: first, whether the court has power over the state law claims; and second, whether the court in its discretion should entertain them. See also Moor v. County of Alameda, 411 U.S. 693, 93 S.Ct. 1785, 36 L.Ed.2d 596 (1973). A court has power if: (1) there is a federal claim with "substance sufficient to confer subject matter jurisdiction on the court"; (2) the state and federal claims "derive from a common nucleus of operative fact"; and (3) "plaintiff's claims are such that he would ordinarily be expected to try them all in one judicial proceeding." United Mine Workers of America v. Gibbs, supra, 383 U.S. at 725, 86 S.Ct. at 1139.

If power has been found to exist, the court's discretion is guided by a number of factors. The principle justifications for the exercise of pendent jurisdiction are judicial economy, convenience and fairness to litigants; "if these are not present a federal court should hesitate to exercise jurisdiction over state claims." Id. at 726, 86 S.Ct. at 1139. Moreover, if "state issues substantially predominate, whether in terms of proof, of the scope of the issues raised, or of the comprehensiveness of the remedy sought," the state claims may be left for state court resolution. A close relationship between state law claims and questions of federal policy creates a strong argument in favor of the exercise of pendent jurisdiction. Factors "independent of jurisdictional considerations," however, "such as the likelihood of jury confusion in treating divergent theories of legal relief," may warrant dismissal of the state claims. Id. at 727, 86 S.Ct. at 1139. Needless decisions of state law are to be avoided as a matter of comity. Id. at 726, 86 S.Ct. at 1139. The Supreme Court has held, however, that "it is evident from Gibbs that pendent state law claims are not always, or even almost always, to be dismissed and not adjudicated. On the contrary, given advantages of economy and convenience and no unfairness to litigants, Gibbs contemplates adjudication of those claims." Hagans v. Lavine, 415 U.S. 528, 94 S.Ct. 1372, 39 L.Ed.2d 577 (1974).

There can be little question of the court's power to hear the pendent state claims advanced here, and defendants apparently concede the point. Plaintiffs' claims under Title VII are substantial. See Ludington v. Sambo's Restaurants, 474 F.Supp. 480 (E.D.Wis.1979); cf. Tomkins v. Public Service Electric and Gas Co., 568 F.2d 1044 (3d Cir. 1977). Furthermore, it is clear that the state and federal claims arise out of the same nucleus of operative fact, the alleged harassment of plaintiffs by coworkers and supervisors, and would ordinarily be tried in one proceeding.

Defendants vigorously contend, however, that the court should decline, in its discretion, to exercise pendent jurisdiction because: (1) the state law claims are inconsistent with and would tend to subvert Title VII policies, rights and remedies; and (2) the state law claims raise a variety of legal theories and issues which will predominate over the federal claim and tend to confuse a jury. Defendants cite a number of cases in which courts have declined, in Title VII actions, to exercise pendent jurisdiction over state law claims. E. g., Ferguson v. Mobil Oil Corp., 443 F.Supp. 1334 (S.D.N.Y. 1978), aff'd mem. 607 F.2d 995 (2d Cir. 1979); Gerlach v. Michigan Bell Telephone Co., 448 F.Supp. 1168 (E.D.Mich.1978); Van Hoomissen v. Xerox Corporation, 368 F.Supp. 829 (N.D.Cal.1973). In this circuit, the question of pendent jurisdiction has been determined on a case-by-case basis. It has been upheld in some cases, e. g., McKeever v. Atlantic Spring and Manufacturing Co., 502 F.Supp. 684 (E.D.Pa.1980); Kyriazi v. Western Electric Co., 461 F.Supp. 894 (1978), remedy awarded 476 F.Supp. 335 (D.N.J.1979); Aungst v. J.C. Penney Co., 456 F.Supp. 370 (W.D.Pa.1978); and declined in others, usually because the pendent claims involved unsettled questions of state law, e. g., Morgan v. Sharon Pennsylvania Board of Education, 445 F.Supp. 142 (W.D.Pa.1978); Holden v. H.J. Heinz, 21 FEP Cases 175 (W.D.Pa.1977); Johnson v. University of Pittsburgh, 435 F.Supp. 1328 (W.D.Pa.1977).

In this case, the interests of judicial economy, convenience and fairness to the litigants weigh heavily in favor of trying both state and federal claims in a single action. A sexual harassment theory of recovery under Title VII bears distinct similarities to, and to a large extent arises out of, common law torts such as assault and battery and intentional interference with contractual relations. See EEOC Guidelines on Sexual Harassment, 29 C.F.R. § 1604.11, promulgated June, 1980. Consequently the evidence necessary to prove a Title VII harassment violation overlaps that necessary to prove underlying state law torts to a significant degree. To require the state claims to be tried in a separate forum would be duplicative and wasteful of the time and resources of the courts and litigants alike.

Defendants argue that the remedies available under state law, particularly compensatory and punitive damages and the right to a jury trial, would circumvent and subvert the equitable and remedial purposes of Title VII. See Gerlach v. Michigan Bell Telephone Co., supra at 1173. Since the doctrine of pendent jurisdiction, however, unlike that of federal pre-emption, determines not the scope of the remedies available but only the forum in which the claims are tried, it would seem a matter of indifference to the federal court whether the state law remedies complement those available under federal law. If the federal court were to decline pendent jurisdiction, the state law claims would presumably be litigated in the state courts, and the effect of the state law remedies upon Title VII policies would be the same. As long as other considerations of fairness and convenience weigh in favor of pendent jurisdiction, therefore, there is no reason why a federal court should refuse...