Hall v. Fmr Corp.
| Citation | 559 F.Supp.2d 120 |
| Decision Date | 19 June 2008 |
| Docket Number | Civil Action No. 07-CV-12307-RGS. |
| Parties | Olivia HALL v. FMR CORPORATION and Neil Goulding. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Massachusetts |
Paul H. Merry, Attorney at Law, Boston, MA, for Olivia Hall.
Christopher W. Sanzone, John T. McCarthy, Sanzone & McCarthy, LLP, Wellesley, MA, for FMR Corporation and Neil Goulding.
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER ON DEFENDANTS' MOTION TO DISMISS
On October 31, 2005, Olivia Hall resigned from defendant FMR Corporation (FMR), a financial services firm, because of health and emotional problems that she attributes to "differential treatment." After the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (MCAD) dismissed her administrative charge as untimely, Hall filed this Complaint alleging discrimination, retaliation, and negligence. FMR and Neil Goulding, a former supervisor of Hall's, move to dismiss all but one of Hall's claims as time-barred, preempted, or non-viable.
The factual allegations of the Complaint, which for present purposes are deemed true, are as follows. Hall, who was born in Honduras, is of African descent. She has worked in the financial services industry for more than twenty years. Her area of expertise is in stock options. FMR provides investment and brokerage advice to clients throughout the United States. In 1991, Hall began working for an affiliate of FMR, National Financial Services, LLC. In 2001, Hall transferred to FMR's Registered Investment Advisory Group (RIAG), and relocated to Smithfield, Rhode Island. Prior to the transfer, Hall "consistently received satisfactory or better ratings on the job performance evaluations provided her by defendant FMR and its agents." Complaint ¶ 14. During Hall's tenure in the Smithfield office, defendant Neil Goulding was her supervisor.
Hall worked in the Smithfield office from March of 2001 until her resignation from FMR in October of 2005. Hall was the only office employee able to provide services to Spanish-speaking clients in their native language. After Hall began working in the Rhode Island office, "a change occurred in the management of [RIAG]." Id. at ¶ 21. Hall "began to notice that she was treated differently from other employees ..., particularly compared to the treatment accorded white male employees." Id. at ¶ 22. A promotion for which Hall was eligible went instead to a less-experienced white male. As Hall perceived it, white males were given preferential treatment regarding "work assignments, compensation and salary increases, personal perquisites and privileges; [while] more intense supervision [was given to] Ms. Hall than white, male employees." Id. at ¶ 23.
Among her many complaints, Hall alleges that "white and/or male workers were given preferential treatment respecting their time for reporting to work." Id. at ¶ 24. Moreover, "her business and professional accomplishments in support of defendant FMR's business operations and its clients were not being recorded or `captured' by her supervisor in [FMR's] electronic recording system while similar accomplishments by white male co-workers were recorded."1 Id. at ¶¶ 25-26. On numerous occasions she complained to her supervisor about the reporting errors, but no corrective measures were ever taken. Hall felt that the way she was being treated was "sufficiently troubling that she contacted defendant FMR's Human Resources Department to notify them about it as contemplated in FMR's Employee Issue Resolution Process."2 Id. at ¶ 33. Hall met with "her supervisor" in late summer of 2005 to register her complaints.3 Id. at ¶ 35.
Hall believes that the "differential treatment" impacted her health, causing her insomnia, depression, and anxiety, all of which had a "negative impact on her relationships with her children and her spouse." Id. at ¶¶ 36-38. Hall sought medical advice and treatment "in or before summer and autumn of 2005." At some point in "mid-autumn" of 2005, Hall's physician advised her to quite her job at FMR unless "treatment of her improved." Id. at ¶ 40. Hall states that she then informed FMR that she would resign "unless her working conditions improved." Id. at ¶ 41.
Hall resigned on October 31, 2005. She "update[d] [FMR's agents] on her differential treatment up through the time when health problems compelled her to cease working and for several months after." Id. at ¶ 34. Hall also "continued to pursue FMR's Employee Issue Resolution Process" through an unspecified date in "early December, 2005." Id. at ¶ 35. On December 13, 2005, an FMR agent informed Hall that "[FMR] did not intend to take further action regarding her complaint."4 Id. at ¶ 46.
Hall alleges that she "timely filed her complaint with the MCAD." Id. at ¶ 47. (Hall filed the charge against FMR and Goulding on October 6, 2006). The MCAD dismissed Hall's charge on August 24, 2007. In a four-page decision, the MCAD related its finding that it lacked jurisdiction because Hall had failed to file within the statutorily prescribed 300 days. See Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 151B, § 5. Hall appealed. On September 27, 2007, the MCAD held a preliminary hearing. On October 5, 2007, the MCAD issued an order affirming its earlier decision dismissing Hall's charge. On December 20, 2007, Hall filed this action in the Massachusetts Superior Court.5 Defendants removed the case to the federal district court on December 17, 2007.
FMR now moves to dismiss the bulk of Hall's Complaint (five counts). FMR argues that Hall's discrimination and retaliation claims — Counts I, II, IV, and V — were not timely-filed with the MCAD. FMR also maintains that Hall's negligence claims (Counts VI and VII) are not actionable because they are preempted by Chapter 151B and the state Workers' Compensation Act. Finally, FMR asserts that Hall's section 1981 claim fails in part as a matter of law.
Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6) permits the dismissal of a claim for which no plausible measure of relief can be granted. When considering a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss, the court accepts as true all well-pleaded facts and draws all reasonable inferences in plaintiffs favor. Parker v. Hurley, 514 F.3d 87, 90 (1st Cir.2008). However, "[f]actual allegations must be enough to raise a right to relief above the speculative level, on the assumption that all the allegations in the complaint are true (even if doubtful in fact)." Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, ___ U.S. ___, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 1965,167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007).
The principal argument for dismissal advanced by FMR (joined by Goulding with respect to Count II) rests on the statute of limitations. FMR maintains that Hall failed to meet the jurisdictional prerequisite for instituting a lawsuit, namely the filing of a timely MCAD charge. While Hall admits that she missed the statutory deadline, she insists that MCAD regulations permit tolling in her case. Specifically, Hall asserts that she filed her charge within 300 days of the outcome of an internal FMR grievance process. She also contends that timeliness under a statute of limitations is a factual matter that cannot be concluded as a matter of law.6
Discrimination claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1981 and Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 151B must be administratively pursued prior to the filing of a lawsuit. See Bonilla v. Muebles J.J. Alvarez, Inc., 194 F.3d 275, 277-278 (1st Cir.1999). A state plaintiff must file an administrative charge with the MCAD "within 300 days of the occurrence of the alleged harassing or discriminatory event or events." Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 151B, § 5. The MCAD filing requirement has a dual purpose, first to give the agency an opportunity to investigate and conciliate the claim, and second to give a defendant notice of a potential suit. Carter v. Comm'r of Corr., 43 Mass.App.Ct. 212, 217, 681 N.E.2d 1255 (1997). See also Lattimore v. Polaroid Corp., 99 F.3d 456, 464 (1st Cir.1996). The failure to file, a timely charge of discrimination with the MCAD requires the dismissal of any subsequent lawsuit. See Davis v. Lucent Techs., Inc., 251 F.3d 227, 231 (1st Cir. 2001); Cuddyer v. Stop & Shop Supermarket Co., 434 Mass. 521, 531 n. 11, 750 N.E.2d 928 (2001).
Hall first became aware of the "differential treatment" in August of 2004. She then "contacted someone in FMR['s] Human Resources department and thereafter met with her supervisor sometime in August of 2005." Hall voluntarily resigned from FMR 354 days prior to the filing of her MCAD charge. The only "discriminatory act" alleged by Hall that falls within the 300-day limitations period occurred on December 13, 2005, when an FMR "agent" told Hall that "FMR did not intend to take further action" on her internal complaint. As a matter of law, however, this notification cannot be construed as a discriminatory act. See Sharp v. Gen. Motors Acceptance Corp., 2005 WL 3455850, at *4 (N.D.Ga. Dec. 16, 2005) (); Cooper v. Wyeth Ay erst Lederle, 106 F.Supp.2d 479, 489-490 (S.D.N.Y.2000) (); see also Janikowski v. Bendix Corp., 823 F.2d 945, 947 (6th Cir.1987) (); Goldman v. Sears, Roebuck & Co., 607 F.2d 1014, 1018-1019 (1st Cir.1979) ().
The MCAD recognizes three exceptions to the 300-day limitations period. Specifically, 804 C.M.R. 1.10(2) provides:
that the 300 day requirement shall not be a bar to filing in those instances where facts are alleged which indicate that the unlawful...
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