Mancini v. General Elec. Co.

• Decision Date: 15 March 1993
• Docket Number: Civ. A. File No. 2:91-CV-267.
• Citation: 820 F. Supp. 141
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Vermont
• Parties: Donald MANCINI v. GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY.

820 F. Supp. 141

Donald MANCINI v. GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY.

Civ. A. File No. 2:91-CV-267.

United States District Court, D. Vermont.

March 15, 1993.

Therese M. Corsones, Corsones & Corsones, Rutland, VT, for plaintiff.

Robert B. Hemley, Gravel & Shea, Burlington, VT, for defendant.

OPINION AND ORDER

PARKER, Chief Judge.

Plaintiff Donald Mancini ("Mancini") brought this action against General Electric Company ("GE") claiming that GE violated certain contractual, tort, and statutory duties by terminating Mancini's employment. Defendant, GE, moved for summary judgment on all counts and plaintiff opposed this motion. Based on the following opinion, defendant's motion for summary judgment is GRANTED as to all counts.

BACKGROUND

For purposes of summary judgment, the facts of this case are viewed in the light most favorable to the non-moving party, Mancini. See Dister v. Continental Group, Inc., 859 F.2d 1108, 1114 (2d Cir.1988). Mancini began working for General Electric in 1966 and continued working there until his employment was terminated in 1990. He accepted employment with GE, in part, because of the job security it offered him. He was particularly impressed with the terms of the employee handbook which indicated to him that he would have his job as long as he continued to perform satisfactorily. (Mancini Aff. at ¶¶ 1, 2.)

Over the years at GE, Mancini had problems following certain orders of his supervisors. In particular, he at times resisted working on machines outside of his immediate work area on which he did not normally work. (Id. at ¶¶ 5, 6, 9.) In November of 1983, Mancini lost his temper with his supervisor and directed abusive language at him. (Pl.'s Attach. A, B, C to Pl.'s Opp'n to Summ. J.) Mancini, at that time, admitted being under a lot of stress and pressure in his personal life, and as part of his continued employment, he agreed to meet with a psychologist. Id. Certain employees of GE knew of this agreement and it is possible that several of Mancini's co-workers knew that he was meeting with a psychologist. (Mancini Aff. at ¶¶ 5, 13.)

When a new manager, Mr. Chicoine ("Chicoine"), was assigned to Mancini's work area, Mancini's problems at work took a turn for the worse. On the first night of Chicoine's supervision over Mancini, February 12, 1990, a disagreement occurred between the two. Chicoine asked Mancini to operate a machine in a different work area. Mancini objected, noting: "Other people were sitting on their ass."¹ (Mancini Dep. at 85.) Mancini then "got disgusted and quit." (Id. at 86.) He handed over his time card and left the building. (Id.) Afterwards, Mancini decided he wanted to come back to work and GE allowed him to do so, but defendant placed him on what it calls a "decision making leave." The decision making leave mandated that Mancini could have no further formal disciplinary problems at work or else he would be immediately terminated. (Id. at 90.) At this time Mancini also claims that he told Chicoine that he intended to begin treatment with his psychologist again. (Mancini Aff. at ¶ 6.)

Although there is disagreement between Mancini and Chicoine as to the following facts, Mancini claims that during the decision-making leave Chicoine conducted himself in a generally oppressive manner attempting to provoke Mancini so that Chicoine would then be able to fire him. (Mancini Aff. at ¶¶ 6, 9, 10, 13.) Chicoine treated Mancini differently from other workers in that he did not treat Mancini with the same degree of respect that he had for others. For example, at times he would not say hello to Mancini or engage in conversation with him. (Id. at ¶¶ 6, 9.)

The last night of Mancini's employment, September 13, 1990, was similar in many respects to the first night Chicoine supervised him. Chicoine told Mancini that there was work in another area of the plant called the A & B team. Mancini initially refused to work in the A & B area. Mancini has offered three different reasons for not wanting to work in the A & B area: another employee had no work and he felt because he was the senior employee, the other should have to go to work in the other area; he was ill and wanted to go home; and he did not know how to operate the machine in the other work area. (Mancini Dep. at 94-100; Mancini Aff. at ¶ 9.) During this discussion, which apparently became quite heated, Mancini claims that Chicoine said, "Get your ass up there or you'll be pumping hamburgers at McDonald's." (Def.'s Attach. B to Mot. for Summ.J.) Because Mancini did not want to work in the other area, Chicoine sent Mancini home after explaining to Mancini that he risked losing his job if he did not go to work in the A & B area. (Mancini Dep. at 99.)

On his way out, Mancini ran into another manager at GE. Upon discussing the situation with that manager, Mancini changed his mind, and decided that he wanted to stay and work in the A & B area. He went back to Chicoine and told him of his decision. After initially refusing to allow him to work, Chicoine agreed to permit Mancini to stay for the night, but informed him that he would go over the whole situation with the plant manager the next morning. Mancini went to work in the other work area.

Later that same night, Chicoine approached Mancini to inform him of his intention to tell the plant manager of that night's earlier happenings. Chicoine claims that he did this in order to clarify Mancini's situation; he did not want Mancini to think that because he was allowed to return to work, no action would be taken. Mancini claims that he had already been told this by Chicoine earlier, and that Chicoine's only intention was to further harass and provoke him. Both agree that Mancini lost his temper. (Mancini Aff. at ¶ 10.)

As a result of these incidents, Mancini's employment was terminated. In accordance with procedures outlined in a GE Handbook,² Mancini appealed this determination. At both levels of appeal, the original decision to terminate was upheld, but the appeal procedure took much longer then the employee manual mandates. Plaintiff claims that the length of the review represents a breach of contract and further compounded his emotional distress.

DISCUSSION

I. Standard of Review

Summary judgment will be granted when there is no genuine issue of material fact and when, based upon the facts not in dispute, the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Litton Indus. v. Lehman Bros. Kuhn Loeb, Inc., 967 F.2d 742, 746 (2d Cir.1992) (citing Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322-23, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 2552-53, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986)). A dispute regarding a material fact is genuine if the evidence indicates that a reasonable jury could return a verdict in the non-moving party's favor. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 2510, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). However, judgment will be entered against a non-moving party who fails to make a showing sufficient to establish an element essential to that party's case on which that party bears the burden of proof at trial. Celotex, 477 U.S. at 323, 106 S.Ct. at 2552.

II. Contract Claim Based on the Employee Handbook

Plaintiff claims that GE's employee manual represents a contract between Mancini and the defendant and that the defendant breached this agreement. The defendant has moved for summary judgment on the grounds that Mancini was an at-will employee who could be fired for no reason or for any reason. In Vermont, an employment contract for an indefinite term is presumed to be an at-will agreement. Foote v. Simmonds Precision Products Co., ___ Vt. ___, ___, 613 A.2d 1277, 1279 (1992). But this is a only a presumption, and like all presumptions may be overcome by evidence to the contrary. Sherman v. Rutland Hospital, 146 Vt. 204, 207, 500 A.2d 230, 232 (1985); Foote, 613 A.2d at 1279. In Vermont, an employee must show that he or she and the employer bargained for and agreed to make the terms of the employee manual a part of the employment agreement. Larose v. Agway, Inc., 147 Vt. 1, 3, 508 A.2d 1364 (1986); Moss v. Mutual of Omaha Ins., No. 89-138, slip op. at 7, 1990 WL 485666 (D.Vt. April 9, 1990). Thus, if the employer unilaterally adopts, enforces, implements, and amends the employment manual, and the parties do not negotiate over the terms of the manual, either at the time of hiring or during the amendment of the manual, then the at-will agreement has not been modified by the terms of the employee handbook and plaintiff cannot prevail. Id. In other words, under Sherman, there must be a bilateral modification of the at-will agreement. See Foote, 613 A.2d at 1279; see also Moss, slip op. at 7; Benoir v. Ethan Allen, Inc., 147 Vt. 268, 271 n. 2, 514 A.2d 716, 718 n. 2 (1986).

In the instant action, the only evidence Mancini has proffered to overcome the presumption that the agreement was at-will is the existence of the handbook itself, and an affidavit by Mancini which states: "I wanted to work for G.E. because I understood there was job security; I understood that if you did your job, then you could work there throughout your career. I was given a handbook during the interview that showed the rules. It was my understanding that you could not be fired unless there was good reason to fire you." (Mancini Aff. at ¶ 1).

The case at bar is distinguishable from Sherman because Mancini presents no evidence that he manifested his intent to follow the rules in the employee handbook as a condition of his employment. The facts do not indicate that defendant made sure that Mancini had read and understood the manual; Mancini did not sign a card to this effect, nor did he sign the manual. Such facts were significant in cases finding that there had been a modification of the at-will agreement. Sherman, 146 Vt. at 205-06, 500 A.2d at 231; see also Benoir, 147 Vt. at 271 n. 2, 514 A.2d at 718 n. 2. Thus, in a bilateral modification context, Mancini's internal reactions to the employee manual,...