Duval v. Callaway Golf Ball Operations, Inc., Civil Action No. 05-30181-KPN.

501 F.Supp.2d 254

Paul DUVAL, Plaintiff v. CALLAWAY GOLF BALL OPERATIONS, INC.,¹ Defendant.

Civil Action No. 05-30181-KPN.

United States District Court, D. Massachusetts.

August 7, 2007.

Maurice M. Cahillane, Jr., Egan Flanagan & Cohen, PC, Springfield, MA, for Plaintiff.

Jay M. Presser, Amy B. Royal, Skoler, Abbott & Presser, Springfield, MA, for defendant.

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER WITH REGARD TO DEFENDANT'S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT (Document No. 21)

NEIMAN, Chief United States Magistrate Judge.

Paul Duval ("Duval" or "Plaintiff') has filed a two-count complaint alleging that Callaway Golf Ball Operations, Inc., f/k/a The Top-Flite Golf Company (hereinafter "TFGC" or "Defendant"), committed age discrimination in violation of Mass. Gen. L. ch. 151 B ("chapter 151 B") and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act ("ADEA"), 29 U.S.C. § 621 et seq., when it terminated his employment in 2004. Defendant in this and three other companion cases, Michael Behaylo v. Callaway Golf Ball Operations, Inc., 05cv30178-KPN ("Behaylo"), John Bettencourt v. Callaway Golf Ball Operations, Inc., 05cv30179-KPN ("Bettencourt"), and Gary Lonczak v. Callaway Golf Ball Operations, Inc., 05cv30180-KPN ("Lonczak"), has moved for summary judgment.

For the reasons set forth below, the court believes that a release Plaintiff signed bars his chapter 151 B claim, but that there are sufficient facts to allow his ADEA cause of action to proceed. Accordingly, .Defendant's motion will be allowed with respect to Plaintiffs chapter 151 B cause of action, but denied with respect to his ADEA claim.

I. BACKGROUND

Were the court to follow Defendant's meticulous lead, it could spend significantly more time than it already has crafting an even more thorough factual background for this memorandum and order.² Unfortunately, it would be unfair to the litigants, not to mention the other cases in the pipeline, to use the court's limited resources that way. See In re Atlantic Pipe Corp., 304 F.3d 135, 147 (1st Cir.2002) ("[I]t is trite but often true that justice delayed is justice denied."). Accordingly, the court will simply zero in on the facts material to the parties' dispute, stating them in a light most favorable to' Plaintiff, the party opposing summary judgment. Douglas v. York County, 433 F.3d 143, 149 (1st Cir. 2005).

For many years, Duval worked for Spalding Sports Worldwide, Inc. ("Spalding"), a global golf and sporting goods company, at its corporate headquarters in Chicopee, Massachusetts. (See Def.'s Mem. in Support of its Motion for Summ. J. in Duval (hereinafter "Def.'s Brief') at 1.) By May of 2003, Duval was the Director of Sales Promotion/Planning for International. (Def.'s Facts³ ¶¶ 110, 120.) Behaylo and Bettencourt, on the other hand, were "cost accountants" and Lonczak was the Category Logistics Manager. (Def.'s Facts Re Behaylo ¶ 101; Def.'s Facts Re Lonczak ¶ 101.)

In May of 2003, Spalding, which had been losing millions of dollars annually, sold its sporting goods division and its "Spalding" brand name to Russell Corp. and renamed itself "The Top-Flite Golf Company." (Def.'s Facts ¶¶ 23, 26.) Even with these changes, however, the company was forced to file a voluntary petition for bankruptcy on June 30, 2003. (Id. ¶ 29.) Shortly thereafter, the Bankruptcy Court ordered that the company's remaining assets be auctioned. (Id. ¶ 30.)

In September of 2003, a number of the company's assets were purchased by an entity owned by the Callaway Golf Company. (Id. ¶ 38.) The new company-TFGCdesignated itself "The Top-Flite Golf Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Callaway Golf Company." (Id.) On or about September 15, 2003, employees of the former company, including Plaintiff, accepted a letter offering them "new employment" with TFGC. (Id. ¶ 40.) At about the same time, Robert Penicka-then age 41-was named President. (Id. ¶¶ 37, 53.)

From the time it was created in September of 2003 through the end of that calendar year, TFGC lost nearly $9 million dollars. (Id. ¶ 83.) In December of 2003, Penicka hired Andrew Kelleher — age 38 — as Vice President of Finance, filling a spot that had been vacant for about six months. (Id. ¶¶ 54, 55.) Penicka also fired Michael Esch — age 47 — as Executive Vice President of Operations and replaced him with Tom Fry — age 35. (Id. ¶¶ 15, 56, 57.) Then, in April of 2004, Penicka fired Louis Tursi-age 43-as Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing and replaced him with Jamie Bosworth who was in his "thirties." (Id. ¶¶ 58, 60, 117.)⁴

Penicka and his three new "thirty-something" vice presidents, Kelleher; Fry and Bosworth, were all members of the company's eight-person operating committee (referred to as "the OCM"). (Def.'s Facts ¶¶ 17, 63.) The other four members of the OCM were: Vaughn Rist (age 62), Vice President of Human Resources; Peter Arturi (age 50), General Counsel; Tom Kennedy (age 48), Vice President of Research and Development; and Christine Rousseau (age 52), Vice President of Information Technologies. (Id. ¶ 63.)

By the beginning of 2004, Kelleher was in charge of Defendant's Finance Department. (Def.'s Facts Re Behaylo ¶ 101.) Part of that department was "Cost Accounting" and, by the end of March, there were four "cost accountants": Behaylo, age 48; Bettencourt, age 49; David Norman, age 38; and the Manager of Cost Accounting, Richard Levandowski, age 55. (Id. ¶¶ 101, 102, 115.) After conducting an initial evaluation of the Finance Department, Kelleher believed that TFGC was overstaffed with cost accountants and that all cost accounting could be done by one person and that the best person to perform that function was Levandowski. (Id. ¶¶ 115, 117.)

During this downsizing process, in January of 2004, Kelleher made a comment that Bettencourt found "disturbing." (Pl.'s Ex. 8 at 107.) According to Bettencourt, Kelleher commented that "the top management of the company looked at people with a lot of seniority and didn't understand how some people were still there." (Id.) Bettencourt testified at his deposition that Kelleher used the expression "deadwood," a term which he then "of course ... qualified ... by saying that it doesn't apply to you, John." (Id. at 108.) At his own deposition, Kelleher agreed that he had "inherited" the company's Finance Department and that it consisted of "a lot of legacy folks [who] had been around with Spalding." (Pl.'s Ex. 10 at 10-11.) For his part, Levandowski testified at his deposition about conversations he had with Kelleher about the advancing age of many of the manufacturing employees and how such "problems" impacted absenteeism, overtime, and the company's health care costs. (Pl.'s Facts ¶ 35.)⁵

In March of 2004, the OCM (of which Tursi, but not Bosworth, was still a member) held an off-site retreat to discuss the company's continuing negative financial situation. (Def.'s Facts ¶ 88.) Kelleher gave a "bleak" presentation that the company was in financial trouble. (Id.) Penicka, in turn, gave each OCM manager the task of assessing how to reduce costs in his or her department. (Id.) At a follow-up meeting a week or so later, it was decided that a widespread layoff was in order. (Id. ¶ 89.) It was decided as well that the focus was to be on eliminating office functions seen as non-essential since the full complement of factory employees would be needed. (Id. ¶¶ 91, 92.) Each manager was instructed to come up with a plan to properly staff his or her organization. (Id. ¶ 92.)

On April 15, 2004, forty-one office employees, as well as seven field sales personnel, received a letter indicating that they would be laid off immediately with their salaries continuing through April 30, 2004. (Id. ¶ 93.) Each letter went on to offer individualized severance packages which the employees had twenty-one days to accept or decline. (Id. ¶ 94.) "In consideration of [such] payments," the letter continued, the employees were told that they would' be' releasing Defendant "from all debts, liabilities, or obligations to you whatsoever, whether known or unknown, which may now exist, including without limitation, any arising under any federal, state, or local law regarding employment discrimination or termination." (Id.)

Behaylo (age 48) and Bettencourt (age 49) were two of the employees in the Finance Department who Kelleher decided to lay off on April 15, 2004. (Def.'s Facts Re Behaylo ¶¶ 121, 122; Def.'s Facts Re Bettencourt ¶¶ 119, 120.) Behaylo immediately signed his release and received all the benefits promised him, including his full salary through June 4, 2004. (Def.'s Facts Re Behaylo ¶ 124.) Bettencourt signed his release on May 4, 2004, and received all the benefits promised him, including his full salary through January 28, 2005. (Def.'s Facts Re Bettencourt ¶¶ 121, 122.)

Lonczak (age 51), the Category Logistics Manager, was laid off by Fry on April 15, 2004. (Def.'s Facts Re Lonczak ¶¶ 101, 115-117.) He immediately signed his release and received all the benefits promised him, including his full salary through August 27, 2004. (Id. ¶¶ 117, 118.)

As for Duval (age 53), Rist, the Director of Human Resources, met with him on April 14, 2004, the evening before the layoffs were announced. (Def.'s Facts ¶¶ 114, 143.) Rist told Duval that his position was going to be eliminated as well, but that he should "hang in there" because he may have something for him. (Id. ¶ 114.) Duval continued to report to work for the next two weeks, and Rist approached the newly-hired Bosworth and encouraged him to interview Duval and "find a spot for this guy." (Id. ¶¶ 116-118.) After meeting with him, Bosworth named Duval Director of Sales Operations. (Id. ¶ 119 & n. 11.) Duval's transfer papers indicated that he would report to Bosworth temporarily, until a Director of Key Account & Sales Operations was filled "shortly." (Id. ¶ 128.)

At about the same time that Bosworth was negotiating with Duval, he was recruiting James "Reid" Gorman, whom he had known for eight years, to...