Smith v. Board of County Com'Rs of Johnson County

• Decision Date: 31 March 2000
• Docket Number: No. CIV.A.98-2152-KHV.,CIV.A.98-2152-KHV.
• Parties: Paula SMITH, Plaintiff, v. BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF JOHNSON COUNTY, KANSAS, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Kansas

96 F.Supp.2d 1177

Paula SMITH, Plaintiff, v. BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF JOHNSON COUNTY, KANSAS, et al., Defendants.

No. CIV.A.98-2152-KHV.

United States District Court, D. Kansas.

March 31, 2000.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Lee J. Hollis, Prairie Village, KS, Ruth M. Benien, Benien Law Offices, Chtd., Kansas City, KS, for Plaintiff.

Donald D. Jarrett, Frank S. Reeb, Michael M. Shultz, Johnson County Legal Dept., Olathe, KS, Michael F. Delaney, Spencer, Fane, Britt & Browne, Kansas City, MO, Daniel B. Boatright, Spencer, Fane, Britt & Browne, Overland Park, KS, for Defendants.

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

VRATIL, District Judge.

This matter is before the Court on defendants' Motion For Summary Judgment (Doc. # 38) filed April 26, 1999 and Plaintiff's Motion To File First Amended Complaint And Suggestions in Support Thereof (Doc. # 104) filed March 15, 2000. After carefully considering the parties' briefs, the Court is prepared to rule. For reasons set forth below, defendants' motion for summary judgment is sustained and plaintiff's motion to amend is overruled.

Summary Judgment Standards

Summary judgment is appropriate if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c); accord Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 247, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986); Vitkus v. Beatrice Co., 11 F.3d 1535, 1538-39 (10th Cir.1993). A factual dispute is "material" only if it "might affect the outcome of the suit under the governing law." Anderson, 477 U.S. at 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505. A "genuine" factual dispute requires more than a mere scintilla of evidence. Id. at 252, 106 S.Ct. 2505.

The moving party bears the initial burden of showing the absence of any genuine issue of material fact. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986); Hicks v. City of Watonga, 942 F.2d 737, 743 (10th Cir.1991). Once the moving party meets its burden, the burden shifts to the non-moving party to demonstrate that genuine issues remain for trial "as to those dispositive matters for which it carries the burden of proof." Applied Genetics Int'l, Inc. v. First Affiliated Secs., Inc., 912 F.2d 1238, 1241 (10th Cir.1990); see also Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co., Ltd. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 586-87, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986); Bacchus Indus., Inc. v. Arvin Indus., Inc., 939 F.2d 887, 891 (10th Cir.1991). The nonmoving party may not rest on its pleadings but must set forth specific facts. Applied Genetics, 912 F.2d at 1241.

"[W]e must view the record in a light most favorable to the parties opposing the motion for summary judgment." Deepwater Investments, Ltd. v. Jackson Hole Ski Corp., 938 F.2d 1105, 1110 (10th Cir.1991). Summary judgment may be granted if the non-moving party's evidence is merely colorable or is not significantly probative. Anderson, 477 U.S. at 250-51, 106 S.Ct. 2505. "In a response to a motion for summary judgment, a party cannot rely on ignorance of facts, on speculation, or on suspicion, and may not escape summary judgment in the mere hope that something will turn up at trial." Conaway v. Smith, 853 F.2d 789, 794 (10th Cir.1988). Essentially, the inquiry is "whether the evidence presents a sufficient disagreement to require submission to the jury or whether it is so one-sided that one party must prevail as a matter of law." Anderson, 477 U.S. at 251-52, 106 S.Ct. 2505.

Motion To Amend Standards

The Court shall freely give plaintiff leave to amend "when justice so requires." Fed.R.Civ.P. 15. Motions to amend are matters of discretion for the trial court, Woolsey v. Marion Labs., Inc., 934 F.2d 1452, 1462 (10th Cir.1991), and a refusal to grant leave to amend should normally be justified by factors such as futility, undue delay, undue prejudice to the non-moving party, or bad faith of the moving party. Frank v. U.S. West, Inc., 3 F.3d 1357, 1365 (10th Cir.1993).

Procedural Background

Plaintiff, a former employee of Johnson County Developmental Supports ("JCDS"), brought suit against JCDS and the Board of County Commissioners of Johnson County, Kansas under 42 U.S.C. § 1981, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq., the Age Discrimination in Employment Act ("ADEA"), 29 U.S.C. § 621 et seq., the Kansas Age Discrimination in Employment Act ("KADEA"), K.S.A. § 44-1111 et seq., the Kansas Acts Against Discrimination, K.S.A. § 44-1001 et seq., and state common law, alleging employment discrimination, harassment, retaliation, breach of contract and intentional infliction of emotional distress. See Complaint (Doc. # 1) filed April 2, 1998. After plaintiff filed suit, defendants placed her on administrative leave. Plaintiff responded by filing a charge of retaliation with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC"). Plaintiff has requested leave to amend her complaint to include the additional retaliation claim. On June 8, 1999, the parties and counsel attended a mediation session regarding both the underlying suit and the charge of retaliation. At the end of the session, the parties reached an oral agreement to resolve the claims in both this case and the EEOC proceeding. The mediator recited the operative terms of the agreement and no party objected. In essence, the agreement provided that defendants would pay plaintiff's salary through December 31, 1999 (approximately $35,000.00 subject to all benefits and deductions, etc.), though plaintiff would not perform any job duties during that period; that defendants would pay plaintiff $30,000.00 up front, with up to $2,500.00 in taxable costs; and that defendants also would pay $20,000.00 to plaintiff's counsel. In return, plaintiff agreed to return all documents in her possession, dismiss both her lawsuit and her EEOC charge, immediately submit a letter of resignation effective December 31, 1999, and refrain from reapplying for employment with defendants. In addition, the parties mutually agreed that they would not disparage one another and that the agreement would remain confidential to the extent consistent with Kansas law. See Transcript of Hearing on August 26, 1999 (Doc. # 88) at 61-62, 69-74, 86-89. The parties agreed that defense counsel would draft written settlement documents which embodied the terms of the agreement.

On June 9, 1999, the day after the mediation session, counsel for all parties informed the Court that they had settled all claims in the suit. Accordingly, the Court ordered that the case be administratively terminated without prejudice to the parties' rights to reopen the proceedings for good cause shown. See Order (Doc. # 56) filed June 9, 1999. Plaintiff later decided that she did not want to settle. Plaintiff refused to sign the written settlement agreement which defense counsel had prepared after consultation with plaintiff's counsel, and she requested that the case be reopened. Defendants asked the Court to enforce the oral agreement reached at mediation. At a hearing on August 26, 1999, the Court overruled plaintiff's motion to reopen the case and sustained defendants' motion to enforce the settlement agreement. Plaintiff asked that the Court reconsider these rulings. On November 22, 1999, the Court sustained plaintiff's motion in part and overruled it in part. See Memorandum And Order (Doc. # 89) filed November 22, 1999. On reconsideration, the Court held that the parties had knowingly and voluntarily reached an oral settlement agreement but that the release of plaintiff's ADEA claim was invalid and should be excluded from the terms of the agreement. See id. The Court ordered the parties to finalize and execute the settlement agreement by December 1, 1999. See id. Plaintiff again asked that the Court reconsider its rulings. On December 30, 1999, the Court overruled plaintiff's motion except that to the extent plaintiff's EEOC charge related to her ADEA claim, the Court excused plaintiff from any obligation to withdraw it. See Memorandum And Order (Doc. # 94) filed December 30, 1999 at 5-6.

At the time the case was administratively terminated on June 9, 1999, based on the parties' settlement agreement, defendants' motion for summary judgment was pending. See Motion For Summary Judgment (Doc. # 38) filed April 26, 1999 and plaintiff's opposition briefs (Doc. 46, 47, 48 and 50) filed May 26 and 27, 1999. Defendants' reply brief was due June 11, 1999. On November 22, 1999, after the Court held that plaintiff's waiver of her ADEA claim was invalid, it reinstated defendant's motion for summary judgment with respect to plaintiff's ADEA claim and allowed defendants to file a reply brief in support of their motion. Plaintiff has not requested leave to file any additional briefing on defendants' motion.

On August 30, 1999, plaintiff appealed the Court's decision to enforce the settlement agreement and its refusal to reopen the case. See Notice Of Appeal (Doc. # 75). Plaintiff has pursued the appeal even though the Court later reinstated her ADEA claims based on a motion for reconsideration. An effective notice of appeal transfers jurisdiction from the district court to the court of appeals. See Howard v. Mail-Well Envelope Co., 150 F.3d 1227, 1229 (10th Cir.1998) (citing Stewart v. Donges, 915 F.2d 572, 575 (10th Cir.1990)). The transfer, however, affects only those aspects of the case involved in the appeal. See Howard, 150 F.3d at 1229 (citation omitted). "Thus, when an appeal is taken from a limited interlocutory ruling, as opposed to one that affects the litigation as a whole, the district court may proceed with the case." Id. (citations omitted). Here, at most, the appeal involves the enforceability of the parties' oral agreement to settle plaintiff's non-ADEA claims.¹ Accordingly, to the extent that it relates to plaintiff's ADEA claims, the...