Iacampo v. Hasbro, Inc.

• Citation: 929 F. Supp. 562
• Decision Date: 06 June 1996
• Docket Number: C.A. No. 94-0650L.
• Parties: Anne M. IACAMPO, Plaintiff, v. HASBRO, INC., James Booth, Peter Godfrin, and Others Yet Unknown, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Rhode Island

929 F. Supp. 562

Anne M. IACAMPO, Plaintiff, v. HASBRO, INC., James Booth, Peter Godfrin, and Others Yet Unknown, Defendants.

C.A. No. 94-0650L.

United States District Court, D. Rhode Island.

June 6, 1996.

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William J. Conley, Jr., Pass, Caruolo & Conley, East Providence, RI, for Plaintiff.

Joan A. Lukey, Jane C. Pickrell, Hale & Dorr, Boston, MA, John A. Tarantino, Adler, Pollock & Sheehan, Inc., Providence, RI, for Defendants.

DECISION AND ORDER

LAGUEUX, Chief Judge.

Like a battlefield surgeon sorting the hopeful from the hopeless, a motion to dismiss invokes a form of legal triage, a paring of viable claims from those doomed by law. This matter is before the Court on defendants' partial motion to dismiss pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6) or, in the alternative, to compel a more specific statement of plaintiff's claims pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(e). Defendants Hasbro, Inc. ("Hasbro"), James Booth ("Booth"), and Peter Godfrin ("Godfrin") (collectively, the "defendants"), seek dismissal of Counts III, IV, V, VI, IX (in part), X, and XI of the Complaint for failure to state cognizable claims; the defendants also ask that the plaintiff, Anne M. Iacampo ("Iacampo"), be ordered to state her claims under Counts I, II, VII, and VIII (as well as under any that survive dismissal) with greater specificity. Iacampo contests the defendants' motion, arguing that none of her many legal theories are barred as a matter of law, and that the facts as alleged in her Complaint suffice to state prima facie claims under each of them.

The Court grants the defendants' Fed. R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6) motion in part, denies it in part, and denies the defendants' Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(e) motion. For the reasons set forth below, the Court concludes that, inter alia, (i) as a matter of law, supervisory employees may be found individually liable under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended by the Civil Rights Act of 1991, 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000e to 2000e-17 ("Title VII"); the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990, 42 U.S.C. §§ 12101 to 12213 ("ADA"); and analogous state statutes; (ii) Iacampo has alleged the elements of simple assault and/or battery and second degree sexual assault on the part of Booth with sufficient particularity to make out a prima facie claim of liability under R.I. Gen.Laws § 9-1-2 (1985); (iii) section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, 29 U.S.C. § 793 (1985) ("§ 503"), does not preempt state and common law third-party beneficiary claims arising out of federal contracts, unless those claims are grounded solely in language mandated by the Rehabilitation Act itself; (iv) accepting Iacampo's allegations as true, her third-party beneficiary claims arising out of state contracts may not be dismissed at this stage, though they may fall to summary judgment at some later point; (v) Iacampo's claims for negligent infliction of emotional distress fail as a matter of law; and (vi) the Rhode Island Workers' Compensation Act, R.I. Gen.Laws §§ 28-29-1 to -37-31 (1986) ("WCA"), bars Iacampo's intentional infliction of emotional distress claims. Defendants' 12(b)(6) motion is therefore denied as to Counts III, IV, V, VI, and IX (in part), and granted as to Counts X and XI.

As to defendants' Rule 12(e) motion, although the Complaint propounds a stunning array of legal theories and allegations, it is not so general and opaque as to prevent the defendants from pleading adequate defenses. Consequently, the defendants' Rule 12(e) motion is summarily denied.¹

I. Factual Background

For the purposes of deciding these motions, the Court must treat the factual allegations in the Complaint as true. Negron-Gaztambide v. Hernandez-Torres, 35 F.3d 25, 27 (1st Cir.1994) cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 115 S.Ct. 1098, 130 L.Ed.2d 1066 (1995).

Hasbro, Inc., the well-known toy maker, is a corporation with its headquarters and principal place of business in Rhode Island; it employs more than 100 people and engages in interstate commerce. Iacampo went to work for Hasbro in 1986; at present, she is a collection analyst in the credit department. In 1991, she was diagnosed as having multiple sclerosis. Despite her illness, and with reasonable accommodation, Iacampo has remained qualified for her position, able to perform the essential tasks of that function. However, Iacampo states that at "certain times," she has been disabled and/or unable to work because of the defendants' misconduct or because Hasbro failed to offer her reasonable accommodation. Complaint at 3.

Iacampo states that since 1991, she has been subjected to an ongoing pattern of sexual harassment and other discrimination by Booth, her supervisor. Iacampo alleges that at various points between May 1992 and May 1994, Booth entered her work cubicle and "played with her hair, hugged her from behind, rubbed her with his hands, and/or pressed his genitals against her. This conduct was often repeated out of the cubicle. Some of these acts involved rubbing his genital area against her for his sexual gratification." Complaint at 3-4.

In February 1993, Iacampo spoke to Godfrin, Booth's immediate supervisor, about Booth's unwelcome physical contact. Giving her reasons in detail, she asked to be reassigned to a new work area, away from him. According to Iacampo, Godfrin listened and told her, "Well, I have to be fair to Booth." Complaint at 4. He then tried to right the situation by rotating Iacampo and another employee with two others; however, after the two objected, Godfrin abandoned his efforts and the reassignment did not happen.

The Complaint further alleges that shortly thereafter, Booth summoned Iacampo to his cubicle and told her that Godfrin had informed him of the request for reassignment. Hostile and abusive, he said she would never be transferred. (Iacampo later called Godfrin, who denied speaking to Booth.) Subsequently, Iacampo has suffered "additional scrutiny, disparate instructions and supervision, adverse evaluation, the harassment previously noted, and other discriminatory conduct." Complaint at 4. Booth's unwelcome advances continued, culminating between January and May 1994, by which point Iacampo could not concentrate on her work.

In April 1994, Booth made statements to Iacampo about her whereabouts the previous weekend; Iacampo alleges that before and after that date, Booth was "following, stalking, or otherwise harassing her." Complaint at 4. At unspecified times, Booth also harassed Iacampo with regards to her disability. She alleges that Booth taunted her, saying that she "would be in a wheelchair" — an apparent reference to her multiple sclerosis. Complaint at 5.

Iacampo alleges a plethora of harms as a result of Hasbro, Booth, and Godfrin's actions and inactions. In sum, she contends that she was a) "prevented from performing at the levels of which she is capable"; b) "unfairly rated, otherwise denied employment opportunity on the basis of sex, disability or appearance of disability, or subjected to a hostile employment environment"; c) "not promoted or advanced as she should or would have been absent this unlawful conduct;" d) made to suffer other adverse employment consequences; and e) subjected to "exacerbation of her illness, physiological and psychological injuries, the irremediable loss of earning and life enjoyment capacity, degradation of the quality of her life, and other personal and economic damages." Complaint at 5. She further states that the discrimination and harassment have rendered continued employment impossible; on August 2, 1994, her multiple sclerosis suddenly worsened, allegedly because of defendants' misconduct, and she has not worked since then.²

In late 1994, Iacampo retained counsel and complained to the chairman and general counsel of Hasbro, who initiated an internal investigation. (Whether or not Hasbro completed the review, and what it found, is unclear from the Complaint.) Nearly simultaneously, Iacampo filed charges with the Rhode Island Commission for Human Rights, requesting that the Commission defer jurisdiction to the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC"). On December 2, 1994, the EEOC's area office issued a notice of right to sue, and on December 5, 1994, Iacampo brought suit in this Court.

Iacampo's claims arise under Title VII; the ADA; R.I. Const. art. I, § 2; the Rhode Island Fair Employment Practices Act, R.I. Gen.Laws § 28-5-1 to -39 (1986 & Supp. 1993) ("FEPA"); the Rhode Island Civil Rights Act of 1990, R.I.Gen.Laws § 42-112-1 to -2 (1993) ("RICRA"); and the common law. Count I alleges a disparate impact claim against Hasbro under Title VII, the ADA, and analogous state laws. Count II asserts a disparate impact — unwritten practices claim against Hasbro, Booth, and Godfrin under Title VII, the ADA, and state law. Count III presses a sexual harassment and disparate treatment claim against Booth under Title VII, the ADA, and state law. Count IV maintains that Booth retaliated against Iacampo after she reported his actions to Godfrin, a violation of Title VII, the ADA, and analogous state statutes. Count V asserts that Booth's conduct violated Rhode Island's criminal statutes, thus making him civilly liable to Iacampo under R.I. Gen.Laws § 9-1-2 (1985). Count VI alleges that Godfrin discriminated against Iacampo, thus rendering him liable to Iacampo under Title VII, the ADA, and related state statutes; Count VII pursues the same claim, under the same statutes, against Hasbro. Count VIII seeks damages and other relief from Hasbro under the ADA and analogous Rhode Island laws, alleging that the company failed to make reasonable accommodation for Iacampo's multiple sclerosis. Count XI comprises a number of independent claims against Hasbro — that the company violated provisions of the Rhode Island Constitution, the FEPA, and the RICRA, and breached the non-discrimination...