Reed v. Buckeye Fire Equipment Co., No. Civ.A. 302CV205V.
| Decision Date | 22 March 2006 |
| Docket Number | No. Civ.A. 302CV205V. |
| Citation | 422 F.Supp.2d 570 |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Western District of North Carolina |
| Parties | Ramsey REED, Plaintiff, v. BUCKEYE FIRE EQUIPMENT COMPANY and Brian Bower, Defendants. |
S. Luke Largess, Ferguson, Stein, Chambers, Gresham & Sumter, Charlotte, NC, for Plaintiff.
G. Bryan Adams, III, Philip M. Vanhoy, Van Hoy, Reutlinger, Adams & Dunn, Charlotte, NC, for Defendants.
THIS MATTER is before the Court on Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment and Memorandum in Support of Motion for Summary Judgment, both filed September 30, 2004. On October 25, 2004, Plaintiff filed his Response to Defendants Motion' far Summary Judgment. Defendants filed a Reply on November 12, 2004. This Motion is now ripe for disposition by the Court.
Having carefully considered the record, the arguments, and the applicable authority, for the below stated reasons the Court will grant Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment.
For purposes of this Motion for Summary Judgment, the Court accepts the following facts taken in the light most favorable to Plaintiff as true. See Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, 477 U.S. 242, 255, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986).
Defendant Buckeye Fire Equipment Company ("Buckeye") was founded in 1969 in Cleveland, Ohio, and moved to Kings Mountain, North Carolina in 1975. (T. Bower Dep. p. 6). Tom Bower and his two sons, Kevin Bower and Defendant Brian Bower, are the sole owners of Buckeye. (Id. p. 11). Tom Bower is Buckeye's President, while Kevin Bower and Brian Bower are Vice Presidents of Operations and Sales respectively. (Id. pp. 66-68). Buckeye manufactures fire fighting equipment, including portable and wheeled fire extinguishers, dry chemical powders, foam concentrates, and foam hardware. (Id. p. 12). The portable canned fire extinguisher, however, constitutes the bulk of Buckeye's business. (Id. pp. 113-14, 120-21).
On March 14, 1994, Tom Bower hired Plaintiff Ramsey Reed ("Plaintiff" or "Reed") to serve as General Manager. (Reed Dep. pp. 45-47). Tom Bower hired Reed to assume the duties of then-President Neil Hoogmoed. (Reed Dep. p. 46; T. Bower Dep. p. 23). Both Tom Bower and Reed were 48 at the time of Reed's hiring. (Reed Dep. pp. 39-40; T. Bower Dep. p. 122). As General Manager, Reed was responsible for supervising manufacturing operations and engineering at the Buckeye facility. (Reed Dep. pp. 69-70, 45-47). In this position Reed had five (5) managers and 80 non-management production line employees who reported directly to him. (Id. pp. 69-70). Tom and Kevin Bower were in the best positions to evaluate Reed's performance while he was General Manager. (Id. p. 44).
There are significant disputes between Plaintiff and Defendants regarding Reed's performance as General Manager. Defendants contend that Reed was unable and unwilling to assume the responsibilities of General Manager, while Plaintiff argues that his performance in this position was satisfactory, as evidenced by the fact that he received no warnings or discipline for poor performance and, in fact, received multiple performance bonuses. (Pl.Resp. p. 19). In any event, on December 2, 1996,
Reed was reassigned to the position of Head of Engineering.1
For the next four years, while acting as the Head of Engineering, Reed was directly responsible for acquiring, installing, making operational and maintaining several automated assembly lines relating to the manufacture of fire extinguishers. (K. Bower Dep. Exh. 3). After his reassignment to Head of Engineering, Reed only had one direct report, engineer Don Herrington. (Reed Dep. p. 108). While in this position, Reed was never reprimanded for poor performance and all feedback he received was positive. (Pl. Resp. pp. 18-19; 33).
Despite the lack of negative feedback, Defendants contend that Reed's performance as Head of Engineering had significant deficiencies. (T. Bower Dep. pp. 26-33; K. Bower Dep. pp. 15-25, 48, 54-58, 122-23; H. Corbin Dep. pp. 37-39, 43-47). In sum, Defendants maintain that virtually every engineering project for which Reed was responsible did not work as promised, had serious engineering design issues, caused delays and interruptions in production, and/or resulted in financial loss to Buckeye. (Defs.' Mem. in Supp. pp. 8-9). Defendants further opine that Reed's work habits and the way in which he conducted himself at work was a constant source of irritation for both management and other employees. (Id. p. 9).
On January 25, 2001, while on his way to work at Buckeye, Plaintiff was in an automobile accident. (Reed Dep. p. 199; Pl. Resp. p. 6). As a result of this accident, Plaintiff suffered serious injury to his leg, which required immediate surgery. (Pl. Resp. p. 6). Reed's wife called Buckeye that same day and told Kevin Bower about Plaintiffs accident. (Reed Dep. p. 200).
Reed did not personally speak to Kevin Bower until he was released from the hospital on January 28, 2001, at which time Reed advised Kevin that he would be out of work for at least two months.2 (Id. pp. 202-04). At that time, Reed only had two weeks of vacation leave available. (Id. p. 202). Despite this minimal amount of accrued leave, Reed did not believe that he would be taking any formalized leave during his two month absence. (Id. p. 203). Moreover, Reed contends that during the January 28, 2001 conversation, Kevin Bower never mentioned that Reed was required to take a specific type of leave. (Id.).
In February 2001, Reed arranged for a neighbor to drive him to work twice a week, and planned to start back working at Buckeye part-time in late February. (Id. p. 202). Reed's neighbor took him to work on February 23, 2001, in order for Reed to attempt to repair two of Buckeye's machines. (Id. p. 213). While at work, however, Reed's leg began to swell and he developed a blood clot, which required hospitalization and ended his plan to work part-time. (Id.).
In early April 2001, Plaintiff purchased a truck and began driving again. (Id. p. 224). On April 19, 2001, Reed visited Eric Laxer, M.D. for a checkup. Dr. Laxer believes that as of April 19, 2001, Reed could have returned to work. (Laxer Aff. ¶ 8). Despite Dr. Laxer's belief, though, on April 27, 2001, Reed notified either Howard Corbin or John Classic that he did not intend to return to work until May 7, 2001. (Reed Dep. pp. 215-16).
During Reed's absence, Tom and Kevin Bower had numerous conversations regarding Reed's performance, particularly with regard to problems that Buckeye was experiencing in the engineering projects for which Reed was directly responsible. (T. Bower Dep. pp. 83-93, 123-24; K. Bower Dep. pp. 104-05, 110-12, 122-24). When questioned by his father during these conversations about why Buckeye had retained Reed, Kevin Bower expressed his unwillingness to terminate Reed because Buckeye had invested too many years in him, Reed was familiar with the Company's products, and Kevin was simply unable to bring himself to terminate Reed's employment. (Id.). Moreover, during Reed's twelve week absence, the Company determined that Reed had not added value to Buckeye, as evidenced by the fact that Kevin Bower and Howard Corbin were able to assume Reed's duties without a significant impact on their workload. (K. Bower Dep. pp. 110-11). In sum, during Reed's absence, Tom and Kevin Bower could think of nothing "that [Buckeye was] actually losing on a day-today basis, whether it was production or fixing machinery." (Id. p. 105).
Consequently, Tom Bower decided that it would be best to terminate Reed's employment because his errors at work had cost Buckeye too much money, with little or no return benefit to the Company. (T. Bower Dep. pp. 83-86; Reed Dep. pp. 216-17). Thus, on April 30, 2001, Tom Bower called Reed and told him that his employment was being terminated for inadequate job performance. (Reed Dep. pp. 216-17). Tom Bower did not tell Reed that he was being terminated because of his age or for taking FMLA leave, and, in fact, Tom gave no indication of such motivation. (Id.).
On December 11, 2001, Buckeye received a letter addressed to Tom Bower from Reed's attorney, alleging that the Company had violated Reed's FMLA rights and demanding payment of $120,000. (Reed Dep. Exh. 21). The letter further stated that if such payment was not made, Reed would file a lawsuit against Buckeye. (Id.). Tom Bower instructed Brian Bower to handle this letter because, in addition to his duties as Vice President of Sales, Brian is also responsible for most of Buckeye's legal matters. (B. Bower Dep. pp. 8-9, 23; T. Bower Dep. p. 99).
On his own initiative, Brian Bower decided to call Reed in regard to this demand letter. (Reed Dep. pp. 228-30; B. Bower Dep. pp. 8-10, 22-23; T. Bower Dep. p. 99). Although the details of the conversation between Brian and Reed are in dispute,3 Reed admits that regardless of what was said, the conversation did not prevent, obstruct, impede, or hinder him in his plan to sue Buckeye. (Reed Dep. p. 230).
Subsequently, on April 2, 2002, Reed filed the instant lawsuit, alleging three causes of action: (1) violation of the Family and Medical Leave Act, 29 U.S.C. § 2601, et seq., brought against Buckeye; (2) wrongful discharge in violation of public policy, brought against Buckeye; and (3) obstruction of justice and civil conspiracy brought against Defendant Brian Bower. Defendants now seek to have the Court dismiss all three claims on the basis that there is no disputed genuine issue of material fact and Defendants are entitled to judgment as a matter of law.
Rule 56(c) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure permits the entry of summary judgment where "the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue of material fact and...
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