Labus v. Navistar Intern. Transp. Corp.

• Decision Date: 06 April 1990
• Docket Number: Civ. A. No. 88-2545(SSB).
• Citation: 740 F. Supp. 1053
• Parties: Chester LABUS, Plaintiff, v. NAVISTAR INTERNATIONAL TRANSPORTATION CORP.; James T. O'Dare; and John Doe (a fictitious name), jointly, severally and/or in the alternative, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of New Jersey

740 F. Supp. 1053

Chester LABUS, Plaintiff, v. NAVISTAR INTERNATIONAL TRANSPORTATION CORP.; James T. O'Dare; and John Doe (a fictitious name), jointly, severally and/or in the alternative, Defendants.

Civ. A. No. 88-2545(SSB).

United States District Court, D. New Jersey.

April 6, 1990.

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Arnold H. Feldman, Ballen, Keiser, Gertel, Feldman & Agree, Camden, N.J., for plaintiff.

Ezra D. Rosenberg, Katzenbach, Gildea & Rudner, Lawrenceville, N.J., for defendants.

OPINION

BROTMAN, District Judge.

Currently before the court is the motion of defendants for summary judgment. For the reasons stated herein, this motion will be granted in part and denied in part.

I. FACTS AND PROCEDURE

Plaintiff was employed by defendant Navistar International Transportation Corporation ("Navistar") from November 3, 1952 to June 30, 1986. He moved through a series of positions, from Retail Salesman, Zone Manager, Branch Manager, to Fleet Account Executive. Plaintiff contends that, starting in 1983 and continuing through 1986, Navistar pursued a course of action to reduce plaintiff's accounts from twenty to four accounts, apparently by converting his sales accounts to dealer accounts.

In 1982, plaintiff's major account, Pensky Leasing, had been removed from his account list despite his highly successful record with the account and given to a Fleet Account Executive in New York City. In 1983, Navistar appointed defendant James T. O'Dare to Regional Fleet Sales Manager. According to plaintiff, O'Dare's appointment set into motion the reduction of his accounts from approximately twenty to nine. Despite his requests to his immediate supervisor, Charles Burke, plaintiff was not permitted to expand his client list. Plaintiff requested reassignment to the Hertz-Penske account because the client was relocating to Reading, Pennsylvania, where plaintiff resided. O'Dare denied his request and assigned the account to a New York salesman.

Plaintiff alleges that he was denied salary increases while all younger Fleet Account Executives received such increases in late 1984 and early 1985. Plaintiff again requested assignment of additional accounts in December 1985, however, his account list was further reduced from nine to four. When a senior Fleet Account Executive retired in January 1986, his accounts were divided among younger account executives — none of the accounts was given to plaintiff. Plaintiff claims that such actions resulted in negative evaluations of his performance that were, in fact, a pretext for impermissible consideration of age.

On January 3, 1986, Navistar's Vice President of the Eastern Region, Leo Schofield, told plaintiff that he was terminating plaintiff effective in March 1986, but he allegedly agreed to look for other positions within the company for plaintiff. Plaintiff continued in employment with Navistar until June 1986. Plaintiff maintains that he was treated as a continuing employee with duties and responsibilities commensurate with the activity of all other account executives. In fact, in April 1986, plaintiff travelled to Florida at Navistar's expense with the stated purpose to search out reassignment within the company.

Plaintiff brought this age discrimination suit on June 16, 1988 under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 ("ADEA"), 29 U.S.C. §§ 626(b), (c) and the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination ("NJLAD"), N.J.Stat.Ann. § 10:5-12(a) et seq. Plaintiff has also asserted claims for tortious breach of an implied contract, intentional interference with prospective economic advantage, promissory estoppel, and misrepresentation.

Defendants' motion for summary judgment maintains that plaintiff's claim is not timely under the ADEA, which provides that no action may be commenced until sixty days after a charge has been filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC"). Defendants maintain that a claim must be filed with the EEOC within 300 days after the alleged unlawful practice occurred. Plaintiff filed his complaint with the EEOC 335 days after his January 3, 1986 notice of termination. Defendants argue that because the incidents described in the complaint occurred on or prior to January 3, 1986, claims of discrimination based on these incidents must be dismissed.

Plaintiff maintains that defendants' actions were continuing acts of age discrimination and, therefore, constitute a policy of discrimination that continued until plaintiff left Navistar in June 1986. Plaintiff also suggests that the actual date of termination was not when Navistar orally told plaintiff he was terminated on January 3, 1986, but when plaintiff left Navistar in June 1986. Plaintiff also maintains that the EEOC's denial of defendants' demand for dismissal must be given presumptive weight that plaintiff timely filed. Plaintiff maintains that Navistar affirmatively led plaintiff to believe that he would be receiving another job within the organization, and thus the deadline should be equitably tolled.

Defendants contend that an action based on allegedly defamatory statements made on May 1, 1984, December 5, 1985, and throughout 1983 is barred by New Jersey's one year statute of limitations. Plaintiff filed his complaint in this court on June 16, 1988. At oral argument, counsel for plaintiff stated that plaintiff did not concede that this claim is barred.

Defendants argue that plaintiff abandoned his claims for emotional distress and physical injury, citing to deposition testimony that was not attached as an appendix to the motion. Plaintiff conceded these claims at oral argument. Defendants also maintain that plaintiff's claims based upon an implied contract or representations about defendants' termination policy are not actionable under New Jersey law. Defendants also argue that, under New Jersey law, courts have not invoked the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing to restrict the authority of employers to fire at-will employees. Additionally, defendants maintain that any claim of misrepresentation is subsumed under this implied contract claim under New Jersey law. Plaintiff maintains that whether Navistar's policies, written or otherwise, apply to plaintiff and, therefore, create an implied promise is a question of fact that is inappropriate for summary judgment.

Defendants also maintain that plaintiff has not alleged malice as required for claims of malicious interference with contractual rights and prospective economic advantage. Plaintiffs argue that malice, or the motive of the defendants, is a question of fact that precludes summary judgment.

Defendants argue that plaintiff's claim of promissory estoppel with respect to defendants' denial of pension benefits to plaintiff is preempted by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 ("ERISA"). Further, defendants argue that plaintiff fails to state a claim under ERISA. Plaintiff maintains that his charge of discrimination does not require that the court interpret the provisions of the employee benefit plan and, therefore, is not preempted by ERISA.

Finally, defendants maintain that, if plaintiff's ADEA claims are dismissed, this court cannot maintain jurisdiction over plaintiff's state law claims. Defendants also point out that, because plaintiff is a Pennsylvania resident, matters of comity suggest that this court should refuse to entertain plaintiff's pendant claims even if the ADEA claims are not dismissed. In the alternative, defendants note that if plaintiff's claims are not dismissed, plaintiff has still not complied with the requirements of the ADEA, 29 U.S.C. § 633(b), which requires that plaintiff first bring suit under the NJLAD in the New Jersey Division of Civil Rights.

II. DISCUSSION

A. The Summary Judgment Standard

The standard for granting summary judgment is a stringent one, but it is not insurmountable. A court may grant summary judgment only when the materials of record "show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c); see Hersh v. Allen Prods. Co., 789 F.2d 230, 232 (3d Cir. 1986); Lang v. New York Life Ins. Co., 721 F.2d 118, 119 (3d Cir.1983). In deciding whether there is a disputed issue of material fact the court must view all doubt in favor of the nonmoving party. Meyer v. Riegel Prods. Corp., 720 F.2d 303, 307 n. 2 (3d Cir.1983), cert. denied, 465 U.S. 1091, 104 S.Ct. 2144, 79 L.Ed.2d 910 (1984); Smith v. Pittsburgh Gage & Supply Co., 464 F.2d 870, 874 (3d Cir.1972). The threshold inquiry is whether there are "any genuine factual issues that properly can be resolved only by a finder of fact because they may reasonably be resolved in favor of either party." Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 250, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 2511, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986).

Recent Supreme Court decisions mandate that "a motion for summary judgment must be granted unless the party opposing the motion can produce evidence which, when considered in light of that party's burden of proof at trial, could be the basis for a jury finding in that party's favor." J.E. Mamiye & Sons, Inc. v. Fidelity Bank, 813 F.2d 610, 618 (3d Cir.1987) (Becker, J., concurring) (citing Anderson, 477 U.S. 242, 106 S.Ct. 2505, and Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986)). Moreover, once the moving party has carried its burden of establishing the absence of a genuine issue of material fact, "its opponent must do more than simply show that there is some metaphysical doubt as to material facts." Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 586, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 1356, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986). Thus, even if the movant's evidence is merely "colorable" or is "not significantly probative," the court may grant summary judgment. Anderson, 477 U.S. at 249-50, 106 S.Ct. at 2510-11.

B. Timeliness of Plaintiff's ADEA Claim

Plaintiff filed his complaint...