Xiao-Yue Gu v. Hughes Stx Corp.

• Citation: 127 F.Supp.2d 751
• Decision Date: 01 February 2001
• Docket Number: No. CIV.A.AW-98-4069.,CIV.A.AW-98-4069.
• Parties: XIAO-YUE GU, Plaintiff, v. HUGHES STX CORPORATION, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Maryland

127 F.Supp.2d 751

XIAO-YUE GU, Plaintiff, v. HUGHES STX CORPORATION, Defendant.

No. CIV.A.AW-98-4069.

United States District Court, D. Maryland, Southern Division.

February 1, 2001.

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Jeffrey M. Bernbach of Bernbach Law Firm, New York, NY; Fred Allentoff of Bierer, Allentoff & Margolis, Baltimore, MD; and Lorin H. Bleecker, Cabin John, for Plaintiff.

Jeffrey P. Ayres and Robin Bruckmann Bowerfind of Venable, Baetjer & Howard, LLP, Baltimore, MD, for Defendant.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

WILLIAMS, District Judge.

Currently pending before the Court are: (1) Plaintiff's Motion for Attorneys' Fees and Costs; (2) Plaintiff's Motion for Front Pay; and (3) Plaintiff's Supplemental Petition for Attorneys' Fees and Costs. This case stems from Plaintiff's Age Discrimination in Employment Act ("ADEA"), 29 U.S.C. § 623(d), claim in the context of a reduction-in-force (RIF). In a memorandum opinion dated May 10, 2000, this Court denied Hughes' motion for summary judgment. On July 24, 2000, Defendant tendered an Offer of Partial Summary Judgment. Dr. Gu accepted the offer of $150,000 for back pay and liquidated damages on August 3, 2000. That same day, Hughes offered Dr. Gu reinstatement to her former position. Dr. Gu rejected the offer. Consistent with the parties' agreement, this Court entered an order of partial summary judgment against Hughes on August 9, 2000. By agreement of the parties, the entry of partial summary judgment excluded the issue of Plaintiff's entitlement to front pay and attorneys' fees and costs, leaving resolution of these issues to the Court.

Plaintiff is seeking an award of front pay in the amount of $1,126,775.90. Plaintiff's first petition requests $174, 767.85 in attorneys' fees and $5,227.22 in costs. Plaintiff's supplemental petition seeks an additional $23,800 in attorneys' fees and $4,193.80 in costs. The motions have been fully briefed by all parties. On January 5, 2001, the Court held a hearing on the pending motions. Upon consideration of the arguments made in support of, and opposition to, the respective motions, the Court makes the following determinations.

I. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

The Plaintiff is Dr. Xiao-Yue Gu ("Dr. Gu"), who was a senior scientist employed by Defendant Hughes STX. Dr. Gu worked for Hughes STX from 1989 through October 1996, at one of the company facilities in Lanham, Maryland. During her tenure, Dr. Gu was employed primarily on what was known as the Ozone Project. The Ozone Project was a NASA-funded scientific project. From 1995 to 1997, NASA decided to substantially decrease its funding in the Ozone Project. NASA specifically indicated that they would require a reduction-in-force in the Ozone Project, and directed Hughes STX to reduce the employee headcount by one out of the 12-13 scientists who worked at any given time in the Ozone Project. Dr. Gu was the selected employee. After it was determined that no comparable position within the company was available, Dr. Gu was terminated in October 1996. After one year of searching for another research post, she took two academic positions at two colleges in Massachusetts. On December 14, 1998, Dr. Gu filed her suit for age discrimination.

II. DISCUSSION

A. Offer of Reinstatement

On the day Plaintiff accepted Defendant's offer of partial summary judgment, Defendant issued Plaintiff an offer of reinstatement to her "prior job." Plaintiff attacks the genuineness of Defendant's offer of reinstatement on several fronts. She maintains that her rejection of Defendant's recent offer of reinstatement was reasonable because the offer was not made in good faith. In particular, she characterized the offer as untimely in that it was made four years after her discharge and two years after the filing of her suit. According to Plaintiff, the offer to return to her "prior job" lacked sufficient specifics as to the capacity to which she would be returned. Plaintiff also questions the ability of Defendant to pay as the company has consistently maintained that it has suffered severe funding cuts from NASA. Lastly, she argues that reinstatement is impracticable under the circumstances.

Ordinarily, the receipt of a good faith offer for reinstatement to a comparable position ends the employer's liability for front pay. Ford Motor Co. v. E.E.O.C., 458 U.S. 219, 102 S.Ct. 3057, 73 L.Ed.2d 721 (1982). Yet, refusal of reinstatement does not necessarily preclude the award of front pay if a plaintiff has reasonably refused the offer. Smith v. World Ins. Co., 38 F.3d 1456, 1464 (8th Cir.1994). It is the duty of the trier of fact to determine whether a reasonable person would have refused the offer. E.E.O.C. v. Prudential Federal Sav. & Loan Ass'n, 763 F.2d 1166 (10th Cir.1985). The cornerstone is that the Plaintiff's rejection of the offer must be reasonable. For example, in Smith, the Tenth Circuit found that, under the totality of the circumstances, the plaintiff reasonably refused the defendant's offer of reinstatement where the offer came three years after his constructive discharge, poor performance evaluations would not be expunged from his employment record, and the individual responsible for his discriminatory discharge was still employed with the defendant. 38 F.3d at 1464. By contrast, in Lightfoot v. Union Carbide Corp., 110 F.3d 898, 908 (2d Cir.1997), the Second Circuit found that the plaintiff had unreasonably rejected an offer of reinstatement on the same terms and conditions as his previous employment on the grounds that the plaintiff wanted a higher salary, made unsupported claims of bad faith, and had already accepted a new position with a new employer.

Here, Defendant's offer of reinstatement was made four years after Plaintiff's discharge and two years after she initiated suit. Given that Defendant had recruited Plaintiff's former supervisors to vilify her professional capabilities and its counsel made the offer of reinstatement almost immediately after Plaintiff accepted the offer of partial summary judgment with the understanding that this Court would rule on the appropriateness of future remedies, it was reasonable for Plaintiff to reject Defendant's offer of reinstatement. See generally Eichler v. Riddell, Inc., 961 F.Supp. 211 (N.D.Ill.1997) (finding that plaintiff reasonably rejected offer of reinstatement given that her former employer had "gone overboard" in attacking her job performance and the suspicious timing of the employer's offer).

Equally important, the offer of reinstatement to Plaintiff's "prior job" engenders confusion as to the scope of her anticipated employment within the organization as the position described in the Defendant's opposing memorandum is not Plaintiff's "prior job." In addressing Plaintiff's complaints of vagueness in the offer, Defendant apparently counters that Plaintiff had a duty to inquire as to any specifics relating to the offer of reinstatement before rejecting it. The Court disagrees. An offer of reinstatement must be sufficiently specific for the plaintiff to be able to gauge whether the employment offered is comparable to the employee's previous job. See Graefenhain v. Pabst Brewing Co., 870 F.2d 1198, 1204 (7th Cir.1989). Thus, the employer bears the burden of proof regarding the offer's adequacy. Id. In Graefenhain, the Seventh Circuit described the employer's offer as follows:

The offer consisted entirely of the following statement by Pabst's attorney: `[T]he Pabst Brewing Company would be willing to reinstate Mr. Miller ... We would like to make very clear ... that there is no hostility from our standpoint toward either of these two Plaintiffs. Mr. Lyons, the gentleman with whom Mr. Miller had considerable difficulties, is no longer with the company, of course. I have with me today Mr. John Culhain, who is the General Counsel and Officer of Pabst and who has authorized us to make that offer of reinstatement to [Mr. Miller].'

870 F.2d at 1203-04. With this language before it, the court stated

[d]espite Pabst's contention that its `unconditional' offer of reinstatement terminated its front pay liability, this offer hardly guarantees Miller a position substantially comparable to his previous job. Pabst's offer was `unconditional' only in the sense that it specified none of the conditions under which Miller would be reemployed; the district court could not conclude, based on this statement, that Miller had refused "comparable" or "suitable" employment.

Id. at 1204. By comparison, in Giandonato v. Sybron Corp., 804 F.2d 120, 124-25 (10th Cir.1986), the court found the plaintiff unreasonably rejected an offer as having "too many uncertainties." In that case, the Tenth Circuit emphasized that the offer not only "would have reinstated [the plaintiff] to his former position on comparable terms," but also included terms to: "(1) fully reinstate [the plaintiff] with no loss of service ..., and no reduction in salary; (2) hire a new district manager so that [the plaintiff] would not have to report to [his former supervisor]; (3) not change future territory, accounts, and sales quotas except by written agreement between [the plaintiff] and his manager; and (4) stipulate that [the plaintiff] would not have to repay any of the severance pay he had received." Id. at 124-25. The employer also repeatedly communicated the offer to the employee on five separate occasions, three times in writing. Id. at 121, 125. "Given the specificity of the offer, it is hardly surprising that the Tenth Circuit held that the burden was on the employee to seek clarification of any remaining `uncertainties'." Graefenhain, 870 F.2d at 1204.

In the instant case, Defendant's counsel presented the offer of reinstatement to Plaintiff in the following manner:

[i]n accordance with EEOC v. Ford Motor Co., ..., Defendant unconditionally offers Plaintiff her prior job with Defendant. This offer is made without any admission of liability or wrongdoing on the...