Storm v. Itw Insert Molded Products, 3:05cv24 (JBA).

• Decision Date: 10 January 2007
• Docket Number: No. 3:05cv24 (JBA).,3:05cv24 (JBA).
• Citation: 470 F.Supp.2d 117
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Connecticut
• Parties: Robert STORM, Plaintiff, v. ITW INSERT MOLDED PRODUCTS, A DIVISION OF ILLINOIS TOOL WORKS, INC., Defendant.

470 F.Supp.2d 117

Robert STORM, Plaintiff, v. ITW INSERT MOLDED PRODUCTS, A DIVISION OF ILLINOIS TOOL WORKS, INC., Defendant.

No. 3:05cv24 (JBA).

United States District Court, D. Connecticut.

January 10, 2007.

Maureen E. Donahue, Torrington, CT, for Plaintiff.

Bernard E. Jacques, Pepe & Hazard, Hartford, CT, for Defendant.

RULING ON DEFENDANT'S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT [DOC. # 31]

ARTERTON, District Judge.

Plaintiff Robert Storm initiated this action against his former employer, ITW Insert Molded Products, a Division of Illinois Tool Works, Inc. ("ITW"), following his termination from ITW, alleging wrongful discharge in violation of public policy and intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress. Amended Complaint [Doc. # 12]. ITW removed the case to federal court on the basis of diversity jurisdiction and subsequently moved to dismiss the Amended Complaint, which motion was granted as to plaintiffs wrongful discharge claim and denied as to plaintiffs infliction of emotional distress claims. See Mot. to Dismiss Ruling [Doc. # 25]. Defendant now moves for summary judgment on those two remaining claims. Mot. for Summ. Judgment [Doc. # 31]. For the reasons that follow, defendant's motion will be granted as to the intentional infliction claim and denied as to the negligent infliction claim.

I. Factual Background

Plaintiff was hired by ITW's predecessor in 1970 and continued to work there in various capacities until his termination effective April 28, 2003. Plaintiff had received positive performance reviews and defendant does not claim that he was terminated due to any performance-related issues. Rather, defendant contends that plaintiff was terminated as the result of economic concerns. According to defendant, in December 2002 a budget calling for the elimination of three of the 74 positions at defendant's Lakeville facility, including plaintiff's position, was approved. Thurston Aff. [Doc. # 34,, Ex. 1] ¶¶ 4-6; Holtz Aff. [Doc. # 34, Ex. 2] ¶ 4. Defendant claims that the Lakeville Operations Manager, William Thurston, and defendant's human resources representative for the Lakeville Facility, Susan Holtz, decided to eliminate the positions during the first week of January 2003. Thurston Aff. ¶¶ 7-9; Holtz Aff. ¶¶ 5-6.

On December 25, 2002, Thurston received a call from plaintiff's wife, Dianne Storm, informing him that plaintiff had been hospitalized as a result of a problem with his heart, that the situation was serious, and that at that time plaintiff had no return-to-work date. Thurston Aff. ¶ 10; Storm Dep. [Doc. # 34, Ex. 4; Doc. # 40, Ex. C] at 11-12; D. Storm Aff. [Doc. # 40, Ex. B] ¶ 3. Sometime between Christmas and New Year's Day, Holtz also learned that plaintiff had medical problems and had been hospitalized, and she and Thurston "agreed that it would be a mistake to go forward with eliminating the positions while plaintiffs status was unknown." Holtz Aff. ¶ 7; Thurston Aff. ¶ 11 ("Ms. Holtz and I agreed that given the size of the workforce at the Lakeville `facility, it would be a mistake to inform two of three affected employees of the position eliminations."). Holtz and Thurston determined that they wanted to announce the position eliminations at one time in order to be able to tell remaining employees that no other eliminations were planned and to prevent the spread of rumors before they could meet with all three individuals whose positions were being eliminated. Thurston Aff. ¶¶ 11-12; Holtz Aff. ¶¶ 8-9.

On December 31, 2002, Dianne Storm hand-delivered a medical note to ITW from Dr. Spath indicating that plaintiff had to stay home until he was seen by Drs. Cohen and Lassman the following week. See 12/31/02 Note [Doc. # 34, Ex. 6]; D. Storm Aff. ¶ 4; Thurston Aff. ¶ 13; Holtz ¶ 11. Plaintiff testified that during this time period, every time he saw a doctor, he either returned with a note that he would provide to ITW or would call or email an ITW representative to provide an update. Storm Dep. at 14; Storm Aff. ¶ 14; accord D. Storm Aff. ¶ 5 (over the several weeks following December 31, 2002, Ms. Storm "was in contact with ITW to keep them updated on [her] husband's medical conditions"). Specifically, "after the series of testing done by Dr. Lassman on January 14th, [plaintiff] recall[s] communicating with either of [Thurston or Laverty (another ITW representative)] the fact of the testing being done and the possibility of a tumor on or near [his] adrenal gland." Storm Aff. ¶ 18. Plaintiff stated that as of January 16, 2003, his medical condition was still undiagnosed, id. ¶ 19, although he also testified that as of January 14, he believed he could return to work on January 27. Storm Dep. 125-26. It was not until February 13, 2002 that Dr. Lassman gave plaintiff the definitive testing results and told him that the tumor needed to be removed. Storm Dep. at 37. Thurston testified that on January 13, 2003, he received a note from Dr. Cohen stating that plaintiff could return to work on January 27 without restrictions, see 1/14/03 Notes [Doc. # 34, Exs. 7,8], that the note was the only information he had about plaintiffs condition at the time,¹ and that he and Holtz decided to inform the affected employees of the position eliminations on January 16. Thurston Aff. ¶¶ 14-15; accord Holtz Aff. ¶¶ 12-13.

Thus, on the morning of January 16, 2003, after Thurston and Holtz had informed the two other employees that their positions had been eliminated, Thurston contacted plaintiff and asked him to come down to the Lakeville facility; Thurston did not tell plaintiff why he was needed and plaintiff did not inform Thurston that he was too ill to go because "ITW and their previous owners had been [his] life for [his] adult work life, and [he] felt [he] needed to go." Storm Dep. at 35, 38. According to plaintiff, when Thurston told him that his position was being eliminated, plaintiff "broke down" and "got up and walked around Bill's [Thurston's] office;" Thurston told plaintiff that the position was being eliminated due to financial constraints, was not a reflection on plaintiff s work, and not to take it personally. Storm Dep. at 41. Plaintiff testified that he then began having "one of [his] undiagnosed medical problems," which he called a "speed up," lasting about five to eight minutes. Storm Dep. at 42-45. Plaintiff sat down in the chair next to Thurston's desk and asked for a glass of water, which Thurston gave him, and told Thurston and Holtz how he was feeling and that he was having a "speed up." Id. Plaintiff did not remember whether he had previously used the term "speed up" with Thurston, but he believed Thurston was aware that plaintiff used that term. Id. Dianne Storm described plaintiffs "spells": "he would start to sweat. He would get pale. He would be nervous—his nerves would be—his hands would shake sometimes. He had— he would hold his head—there were times when he was holding his—he would rub his—rub his left arm and he—there were times when he—he would be nauseous from it." D. Storm Dep. at 10. Thurston testified that he had worked with plaintiff for a long time and knew him to sometimes have anxiety attacks which would necessitate plaintiffs leaving work. Thurston and Holtz both stated that upon giving plaintiff the news, he was teary-eyed and appeared "upset," and they confirm that plaintiff asked for a glass of water, which Thurston provided. Thurston Aff. ¶ 21; Holtz Aff. ¶ 18-21. Thurston and Holtz also testified, however, that "[a]lthough plaintiff was visibly upset during this meeting, he did not appear more upset than [Thurston] would have expected from someone learning that his or her position had been eliminated" and that "[plaintiff's] reaction upon being told that his job had been eliminated did not appear extreme or unwarranted." Thurston Aff. ¶ 24; Holtz Aff. ¶ 19.

Plaintiff testified that upon the onset of his "spell," he requested that his wife be allowed to participate in the meeting, Thurston and Holtz agreed, and plaintiff telephoned his wife. Storm Dep. at 46; D. Storm Dep. at 17; Thurston Aff. 125; Holtz Aff. ¶¶ 22-24. Ms. Storm testified that when she arrived at ITW, plaintiff was crying, was having a "spell," "was very upset," "was crying or he had been," and was "under a lot — a lot of strain—with the worrying about his physical condition, not knowing what—at that point, what was actually wrong with him .. . this was a psychological blow that he was having a hard time dealing with." D. Storm Dep. at 9, 21. Neither plaintiff nor his wife asked Thurston and/or Holtz to stop or delay the meeting because they had not called the meeting and did not believe they could stop it. Storm Dep. at 45-46, 101, 111; D. Storm Aff. ¶ 7.

Thurston testified that ITW planned to keep the plaintiff employed while he was on his medical leave of absence, Thurston Aff. ¶ 17, and Holtz stated that in preparing the benefits/severance paperwork for plaintiff, she had to plug in a termination date, and therefore she chose January 17, 2003 (the, next day following the meeting), "knowing that [plaintiff s] last day would be after that day but at least [she] could provide plaintiff with a reasonable estimate of his benefits [and] could explain to him that his benefits would be at least what they would have been on January 17," Holtz Aff. ¶ 15. Like Thurston, Holtz testified that she "knew that plaintiff was on a medical leave of absence and that he would not be terminated until that leave was over." Id. By contrast, plaintiff and his wife testified that Thurston and Holtz did not indicate that the effective date of termination would be after plaintiff was released from medical care, that the documents provided stated an effective termination date of January 17, and that it was only after plaintiff refused to sign any paperwork listing a January 17 termination date that "it was decided" that plaintiff would not be terminated until he was released from medical care....