Stewart v. Ramos (In re Ramos)
| Decision Date | 29 April 2011 |
| Docket Number | Bankruptcy No. 10–16891–JNF.,Adversary No. 10–1316. |
| Parties | In re Eduardo R. RAMOS and Gina M. Ramos (f/k/a Gina Luca), Debtors.Eddie Stewart, Plaintiff v. Gina M. Ramos, Defendant. |
| Court | United States Bankruptcy Courts. First Circuit. U.S. Bankruptcy Court — District of Massachusetts |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Michael Tumposky, Hedges & Tumposky, LLP, Boston, MA, for Plaintiff.
Carie A. Torrence, Littler Mendelson PC, Boston, MA, for Defendant.
The matter before the court is the Defendant's Motion to Dismiss Complaint to Determine Dischargeability of Debt. The Plaintiff, Eddie Stewart (the “Plaintiff” or “Stewart”), filed an Opposition to the Motion. The Court heard the matter on February 16, 2011 and took it under advisement pending receipt of a transcript of a hearing held in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts. The issues presented include whether the claim advanced by the Plaintiff is barred by the doctrines of res judicata or collateral estoppel, and whether the provisions of the Workers' Compensation Act, see Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 152, § 24, bar the Plaintiff's claim against the Defendant.
II. BACKGROUND
Gina Ramos (the “Defendant” or the “Debtor”) and her spouse, Eduardo R. Ramos, filed a voluntary Chapter 7 petition on June 24, 2010. The Defendant filed a Motion to Amend Schedule F–Creditors Holding Unsecured Nonpriority Claims on September 2, 2010, in which she added the Plaintiff as the holder of a contingent, unliquidated, disputed claim. Immediately thereafter, the Clerk issued a “Notice to Added Creditors” advising the Plaintiff that the deadline for him to file a complaint under 11 U.S.C. §§ 523 and 727 was November 2, 2010.
On October 29, 2010, the Plaintiff filed, in the main case, “Creditor Eddie Stewart's Objection to Discharge of Debt” in which he stated that “the debt owed to him is for willful and malicious injury by the debtor.” On November 1, 2010, this Court, treating the Plaintiff's Objection as a Motion to Extend the Deadline to File a Complaint under 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(6), extended the time for him to commence an adversary proceeding to November 8, 2010. On that date, the Plaintiff timely commenced the above-referenced adversary proceeding against the Debtor.
In his complaint, the Plaintiff alleged the following facts which are paraphrased below.
Stewart began employment at the Melrose–Wakefield Hospital (the “Hospital”) 1 in 1999 as a radiology technician. In November 2005, the Debtor was hired by the Hospital as a radiology technologist and eventually became an evening supervisor. On or about June 25, 2007, the Debtor spoke to the Human Resources Director at the Hospital, Madeleine Hoffman (“Hoffman”), at a time when she knew that Hoffman was investigating Stewart for possible disciplinary action. At that time, the Debtor falsely reported an alleged encounter with Stewart. Specifically, the Debtor told Hoffman that in November 2006, Stewart asked her for a hug. According to Stewart, the Debtor reported to Hoffman that he then placed his hands on her rear end, and said “nice butt, you must be working out at the gym.” The Debtor also told Hoffman during the meeting that another unidentified co-worker had told Stewart that he was “too touchy.”
According to the Plaintiff, the above statements made by the Debtor were knowingly false and contributed to his job loss just days later. The Plaintiff alleged that the Debtor's statements caused injury to his reputation as well as embarrassment and humiliation, both personal and professional, resulting in severe emotional distress and economic loss as a result of the Debtor's actions.
The Plaintiff further alleged that a lawsuit is pending in Middlesex Superior Court, Department of the Trial Court, with claims of defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress, although those proceedings are stayed pending the outcome of the adversary proceeding. Based upon those allegations, the Plaintiff formulated a single count to the effect that a debt, in an unspecified sum, arose as a result of willful and malicious injury caused by the Debtor.
III. THE DEBTOR'S MOTION TO DISMISS
The Debtor, in her Motion to Dismiss, stated that in June 2007 she learned that the Hospital was investigating Stewart for inappropriate conduct toward a female employee. She described Stewart as one of her former coworkers. She did not state that she was Stewart's supervisor, although she was a supervisor. Concerned by what she perceived to be a pattern of inappropriate conduct, she admitted that she told Hoffman that Stewart had engaged in inappropriate conduct and that other female co-workers had complained about Stewart.
The Debtor averred in her Motion that, on November 13, 2009, Stewart filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts against the Hospital and Hoffman in which he alleged race discrimination, retaliation, defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress (the “First Action”). He did not name Ramos as a defendant in the First Action, but Stewart referred to Ramos and alleged that her actions were a contributing factor in his termination. According to Ramos, the District Court dismissed Stewart's claims for defamation and emotional distress based upon a failure to state a claim upon which relief may be granted. Less than one week later, Stewart commenced a lawsuit against Ramos in the Middlesex Superior Court (the “Second Action”) in which he asserted claims for intentional infliction of emotional distress and defamation. Ramos attached a copy of the complaint filed by Stewart against the Hospital and Hoffman in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts to her Motion to Dismiss. In the First Action, Stewart asserted that the District Court had jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331 2 and 1343, and pursuant to its pendent jurisdiction to adjudicate claims arising under state law. He averred that he received only positive performance evaluations, although he admitted that over the course of his last four years of employment he was “subject to three complaints for relatively minor infractions which were blown out of proportion by the Hospital.” He also admitted that “the general theme of the complaints was an allegation of inappropriate or overly familiar conversation and/or physical contact.” In his complaint he noted that “[d]uring her investigation of the Milner complaint, Ms. Hoffman received word from a third party that a woman named Gina Luca had an issue with the Plaintiff about a year earlier” and that “[t]his onetime incident, which was never reported, supposedly involved inappropriate touching.”
Stewart averred that the Hospital's racial stereotyping and its ideas about how black men and white women should interact resulted in his unjust termination and was in stark contrast to the lenient treatment afforded white employees with far greater infractions. Stewart also averred that at the time of his termination he was the only black radiology technician at the Hospital and that none of the complaining witnesses were his subordinates.
In his complaint, Stewart alleged that he complied with all statutory prerequisites by timely filing a complaint with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination and by obtaining a right-to-sue letter from the EEOC on November 9, 2009. Based on his allegations, the Plaintiff formulated four counts against the Hospital and Hoffman, including violations of 42 U.S.C. § 2000e–2 and Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 151B, § 4, relating to disparate treatment (Count I); violations of 42 U.S.C. § 2000e–3 and Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 151B, § 4, relating to retaliation (Count II); intentional infliction of emotional distress (Count III); and defamation (Count IV).
The Hospital and Hoffman moved to dismiss both the defamation count and the intentional infliction of emotional distress count for failure to state claims upon which relief may be granted. On April 29, 2010, the District Court dismissed the defamation claims, despite Stewart's contention that “[t]he defamatory statements at issue were those made by the women who filed complaints against [Stewart]....” With respect to the count for intentional infliction of emotional distress, the court determined that Stewart's conclusory recitation of the requisite element of a cause of action for emotional distress was insufficient and that the Workers' Compensation Act preempted the emotional distress claims against an employer and supervisor. 3
On May 4, 2010, Stewart filed the Second Action. The facts set forth in that complaint are virtually identical to the facts set forth in the instant adversary proceeding.
IV. POSITIONS OF THE PARTIES
The Debtor, citing Banco Santander de P.R. v. Lopez–Stubbe (In re Colonial Mortgage Bankers Corp.), 324 F.3d 12, 16 (1st Cir.2003), asserts that the affirmative defenses of res judicata and collateral estoppel may be adjudicated on a Rule 12(b)(6) motion. She argues that the requisite elements for application of res judicata or collateral estoppel are present in this proceeding and that, in any event, the Workers' Compensation Act preempts an intentional infliction of emotional distress claim raised by an employee against an employer corporation or a supervisor if the supervisor “acted in the course of employment.”
The Plaintiff argues that his complaint under 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(6) is not barred by res judicata because he did not and could not bring his claims against the Debtor in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts due to the absence of jurisdiction, stating “[a] state law tort claim cannot be maintained in federal court, between citizens of the same state, where there are no federal claims against the same Defendant.” He also maintains that “[t]he Defendant's involvement in the federal suit was remote and the case was dismissed for reasons wholly unrelated to whether or not the Defendant...
To continue reading
Request your trial