IN RE UNITED CEREBRAL PALSY ASSOCIATIONS, Bankruptcy No. 83 B 11496 (PBA)
| Decision Date | 12 March 1986 |
| Docket Number | Adv. No. 85-5650A.,Bankruptcy No. 83 B 11496 (PBA) |
| Parties | In re UNITED CEREBRAL PALSY ASSOCIATIONS OF NEW YORK STATE, INC., Debtor. Ali A. RAZAGHI, Plaintiff, v. UNITED CEREBRAL PALSY ASSOCIATIONS OF NEW YORK STATE, INC., Robert Schonhorn, and Joe Tryan, Defendants. |
| Court | United States Bankruptcy Courts. Second Circuit. U.S. Bankruptcy Court — Southern District of New York |
Vann & Borenstein, P.C. by Abraham Borenstein, New York City, for Ali A. Razaghi.
Roberts & Finger by Joel L. Finger, New York City, for United Cerebral Palsy Associations of New York State, Inc., Robert Schonhorn and Joseph F. Tryan.
Levin & Weintraub & Crames by Mitchel H. Perkiel, New York City, for debtor in possession.
Ali A. Razaghi ("Razaghi"), a former employee of United Cerebral Palsy Associations of New York State, Inc. ("UCP"), the debtor, has filed a proof of claim for $1 million in this now-confirmed Chapter 11 case asserting that his pre-petition discharge by UCP on March 5, 1983, was the result of unlawful discrimination on the grounds of age, race, color, sex and national origin.1 Discovery has been completed. The three defendants in the adversary proceeding, UCP and two of its employees,2 have moved for summary judgment in their favor. The case has been ably argued by both sides. The court grants the defendants' motion for summary judgment and expunges Razaghi's claim as the court finds the evidence offered in support of the alleged discrimination legally insufficient to support a conclusion of unlawful employment discrimination.
UCP is a not-for-profit corporation engaged in providing, inter alia, direct care services, including health care, education, day treatment, residence, and transportation to residents of New York State with developmental disabilities, including mental retardation and/or physical disabilities. UCP is funded through the joint federal-state Medicaid system and its reimbursement rates are determined by New York State. In 1981 and 1982, New York State reduced its reimbursement rates to UCP, while maintaining the same level of mandatory services UCP had to provide to its clients. The reduction in the State reimbursement rates caused UCP to suffer severe financial difficulties which, inter alia, resulted in UCP filing for reorganization under Chapter 11 on October 14, 1983 and in UCP laying off 463 employees in 1983, among whom was Razaghi.
Razaghi was hired by UCP on January 2, 1979 as a Payroll Bookkeeper in the Financial Department. As a Payroll Bookkeeper, Razaghi's primary responsibilities were preparation of payroll data and answering questions and supplying payroll-related information to UCP employees. Because of Razaghi's inability to avoid disputes with other UCP employees, in 1980 Razaghi was instructed by his then supervisor to restrict his use of the telephone with other employees. Razaghi's responsibility for responding to or interacting with UCP employees regarding payroll matters was assigned to other Payroll Unit employees. At the time of his discharge, Razaghi held the position of Senior Payroll Bookkeeper, a position to which he was promoted effective January 2, 1981. Although one of the responsibilities of the Senior Payroll Bookkeeper position was also to respond to and interact with UCP employees and others regarding various payroll matters, this responsibility continued to be assigned to others because of Razaghi's inability to avoid disputes.
Until in or about October 1982, Victoria Palumbo was the Payroll Supervisor; thereafter Rose Marie Brunetti became the Payroll Supervisor and began supervising Razaghi. On their annual evaluations of Razaghi, both supervisors noted communication problems in Razaghi's interaction with other employees. Brunetti prepared a performance evaluation on January 11, 1983, which was shortly before Razaghi's termination, on which she evaluated Razaghi as below average in the categories of "Dependability" and "Courteous to Fellow Employees." In addition, Brunetti stated: "Al has no patience with fellow employees, especially when questioned about benefits due them." On January 20, 1983, Razaghi requested a meeting with Tryrian, UCP's Director of Finance3 and one of the individual defendants, to discuss the performance evaluation "so that I may personally prove the value of my services, etc."
Shortly thereafter, and on January 29, 1983, Razaghi was given a final warning that unless his attitude and the ways in which he dealt with other employees improved immediately he would be terminated. This warning resulted from a complaint that Razaghi had twice hung up the telephone on a facility administrator who had called the payroll office regarding a problem. The memorandum noted that Razaghi had been counseled about his improper attitude in dealings with employees over the telephone on July 22, 1981 and that the matter had been noted on his yearly evaluations for 1980, 1981 and 1983.
Razaghi responded to the warning with a memorandum dated January 30, 1983 in which he did not deny hanging up the telephone. He stated in part:
Subsequent to issuance of the final warning, Brunetti received a complaint from the Employee Services Supervisor at one of UCP's centers about Razaghi's handling of a telephone inquiry on January 31, 1983 in which Razaghi declined to assist in attempting to locate some missing checks. The memorandum stated that on a number of prior occasions Razaghi had refused to assist inquiries and hung up the telephone mid-way through the conversation.
Razaghi was one of six employees in the Finance Department laid off on March 5, 1983 as part of a general staff reduction recommended by a committee of senior administrators and adopted by Schonhorn as a way of reducing UCP's operating costs and improving its short term cash flow problem. Prior to that layoff, there were thirty employees in the Finance Department, ten (10) or 33% of whom were white. After the March 5 layoff, there were twenty-four (24) employees in the Finance Department, eight (8) or 33% of whom were white. Of the six employees laid off, two (including Razaghi)4 were white, two were black, one was Hispanic and one was Asian. Three of the six were men and three women.
Tyrian selected Razaghi for layoff. He selected Razaghi for layoff because of Razaghi's inability to respond effectively to and interact with UCP employees regarding various payroll matters, a primary function of the Senior Payroll Bookkeeper position. As a consequence of having this problem, Razaghi was, prior to layoff, performing only clerical payroll work, and others in the Payroll Unit were performing those of the Senior Payroll Bookkeeper's tasks that required interaction with other UCP employees. Tyrian believed that reassigning those responsibilities to Razaghi would have decreased the effectiveness and productivity of the Finance Department. This belief was plainly not unreasonable in light of the recent complaints about Razaghi's telephone behavior. Conversely, by selecting Razaghi, Tyrian merely redistributed the clerical work being performed by Razaghi to the remaining Payroll Unit employees. Compare, Morales v. Dain, Kalman & Quail, Inc., 467 F.Supp. 1031, 1040, 1042 (D.Minn.1979) ()
Razaghi has offered no proof in support of his allegation of age discrimination. UCP states that Razaghi's position was eliminated. Even if his work were reassigned to a younger worker, mere proof of this fact is insufficient to establish age discrimination since a majority of all workers would be younger than Razaghi.
Likewise, Razaghi's proof of sex discrimination is insufficient. Razaghi states that he was replaced by a man but...
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