Hamilton v. Sirius Satellite Radio Inc.

375 F.Supp.2d 269

David C. HAMILTON, Petitioner, v. SIRIUS SATELLITE RADIO INC., Respondent.

No. 04 Civ. 8394(JGK).

United States District Court, S.D. New York.

June 28, 2005.

Steven I. Locke, Carabba, Locke, LLP, New York City, for Petitioner.

Jason Steven Aschenbrand, Winston & Strawn, LLP (NY), New York City, for Respondent.

OPINION & ORDER

KOELTL, District Judge.

The petitioner, David C. Hamilton ("Hamilton"), has filed a petition to vacate an award entered by an arbitrator of the American Arbitration Association ("AAA") in favor of the respondent, Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. ("Sirius"). (See In the Matter of the Arbitration Between David C. Hamilton and Sirius Satellite Radio Inc., Award of the Arbitrator, dated Aug. 13, 2004 ("the award"), attached as Ex. 25 to Decl. of Jason S. Aschenbrand, dated Nov. 12, 2004 ("Aschenbrand Decl.").) Sirius opposes the petition and has cross-petitioned for confirmation of the award. The petition and cross-petition have been brought pursuant to the Federal Arbitration Act ("FAA"), 9 U.S.C. §§ 9, 10. This Court has subject matter jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1331 because the petitioner's underlying claim arises under the Family and Medical Leave Act ("FMLA"), 29 U.S.C. §§ 2601-54. The petitioner alleges that he was constructively discharged in violation of the FMLA because he had taken an FMLA leave.

I.

A.

The following facts are undisputed unless otherwise noted.

The arbitration that is the subject of this motion arose out of Hamilton's departure from his employment at Sirius. Hamilton was hired in April 1999 as a program manager to design and implement Sirius's terrestrial network. (Tr. of Dep. of David C. Hamilton, dated July 10, 2003 ("Hamilton Dep."), at 11, 19, attached as Exs. 5, 20A-C to Aschenbrand Decl.) As part of his employment, Hamilton agreed to be bound by Sirius's Mediation and Arbitration Policy. (Sirius Satellite Radio Inc.'s Mediation and Arbitration Policy, attached as Ex. E to Aff. of Steven I. Locke, dated Oct. 25, 2004 ("Locke Aff.").) Hamilton fulfilled his initial responsibilities well and received a promotion to Senior Program Manager after his first year at Sirius. (Tr. Of Dep. of Mark Gaudino, dated Oct. 23, 2003 ("Gaudino Dep."), at 107-08, attached as Exs. 6, 21A-B to Aschenbrand Decl.)

Following the birth of Hamilton's second child in early 2001 (Hamilton Dep. at 10), Hamilton requested some flexibility and accommodations in his work schedule so that he could assist his wife at home. In January, he took two days of FMLA leave (Hamilton Dep. at 168) and later started telecommuting from home for about a one month-period pursuant to the terms of a written agreement (Hamilton Dep. at 168, 170). After returning to work at Sirius's New York office for a brief period, he again telecommuted, this time from March to May 2001 from the offices of Globecomm Systems, Inc., a company involved in the implementation of the terrestrial network. (Hamilton Dep. at 160; Tr. of Dep. of Andrew Patterson, dated Oct. 24, 2003 ("Patterson Dep."), at 125, attached as Exs. 7, 22A-B to Aschenbrand Decl.) In May 2001, Hamilton asked Mark Gaudino ("Gaudino"), the Vice President in charge of Sirius's terrestrial network, if he could again telecommute from home because of difficulties his wife was having. (Hamilton Dep. at 164.) Gaudino rejected Hamilton's request, and Hamilton opted to take an FMLA leave from June 4, 2001, through the end of that August. (Id. at 164-65; Patterson dep. at 135.) Andy Patterson ("Patterson"), Hamilton's immediate supervisor (Hamilton Dep. at 25), was concerned that Hamilton's leave would increase the workload for others because the terrestrial network's implementation was approaching completion (Patterson Dep. at 19, 131), and Gaudino informed Hamilton that it was a "bad time" to take leave (Gaudino Dep. at 159). Nonetheless, Hamilton took the FMLA leave.

Toward the end of Hamilton's leave, Gaudino advised him that the three-person terrestrial group would be eliminated by the end of the year because of budget cuts. (Hamilton Dep. at 55, 113; see Gaudino Dep. at 178.) Subsequently, Gaudino offered Hamilton severance in the form of salary through the end of November. Hamilton testified at his deposition:

Q What specifically did Mr. Gaudino say to you when he delivered the offer of the three-month package?

A Again, Mark reiterated that the position was not going to be in existence as of the end of the year, perhaps sooner, depending upon the next round of cuts. He put forth an offer — I believe the final package ended up being 2-½ months. It was through the end of November, I believe.

He put forth an offer of the package in which I could accept and depart Sirius.

I could stay on and work in my position for a period of time after that, if I wished. And then I could take a delta of the package at the time that I decided to depart.

Or I could stay through the end of the year and just receive my standard pay until that time.

(Hamilton Dep. at 58-59.)

Before accepting the severance, Gaudino and Patterson suggested that Hamilton look for a position in other departments at Sirius, and Hamilton expressed his interest in working in the marketing or content group. (Id. at 77-78, 81-82, 96-98.) However, because these groups did not seem to be hiring, Hamilton decided that it did not make sense to stay with the company. (Id. at 97; see also id. at 84-85 (testifying that he did not inquire into a position in the operations group because of the position's travel requirements and Gaudino's opinion that he was not qualified for the position).) In his resignation letter, Hamilton thanked Gaudino and Patterson "for all the opportunities [they had afforded him] over the past 2-½ years" and wrote that he felt he "[had] been able to grow both on a personal and professional level" at Sirius through the trust shown him and the responsibilities given him. (Hamilton Dep. Ex. 1, dated July 10, 2003, attached as Ex. 8 to Aschenbrand Decl.) Hamilton's last day at Sirius was September 6 or 7, 2001. (Hamilton Dep. at 129.)

After he left the company, Hamilton learned that some employees of the terrestrial group had not been terminated and that an outside consultant had been hired, eventually as a full-time employee, to take over some of his past responsibilities. (Hamilton Dep. at 199-200; Patterson Dep. at 49, 51-52.)

B.

On June 3, 2002, Hamilton filed with the AAA a Request for Mediation that was subsequently converted to a Demand for Arbitration, claiming that he was constructively discharged in retaliation for his exercising his right to FMLA leave. (Req. for Mediation, dated June 3, 2002, attached as Ex. 13 to Aschenbrand Decl.) In a twenty-page opinion, the arbitrator granted Sirius's motion for summary judgment and concluded that, as a matter of law, Hamilton never suffered an adverse employment action in violation of the FMLA. (Arbitration Award at 17, 19-20.) After outlining the requirements of a prima facie case of retaliation under the FMLA (Id. at 13), the arbitrator analyzed the standard for constructive discharge based on precedent from the Supreme Court, the Second Circuit, and the Seventh Circuit (Id. at 14-15 (considering constructive discharge law expounded in Pennsylvania State Police v. Suders, 542 U.S. 129, 124 S.Ct. 2342, 159 L.Ed.2d 204 (2004), EEOC v. Univ. of Chicago Hosps., 276 F.3d 326 (7th Cir.2002) Whidbee v. Garzarelli Food Specialties, Inc., 223 F.3d 62 (2d Cir.2000), and Lopez v. S.B. Thomas, Inc., 831 F.2d 1184 (2d Cir.1987), among others)). The arbitrator concluded that the petitioner had failed to introduce evidence sufficient to permit a rational trier of fact to infer that the working conditions were so intolerable as to compel a reasonable person to resign and that, accordingly, Hamilton had not suffered an adverse employment action as required to make out a prima facie case of retaliation under the FMLA. (Id. at 14, 16-17.) The arbitrator relied on Hamilton's resignation letter thanking his supervisors. The arbitrator also relied on Hamilton's own testimony that he was faced with four choices at the time he resigned:

1) Resign immediately and be paid severance through the end of November 2001; 2) remain employed by the [r]espondent while looking for a job with another company and receive severance through the end of November 2001, if he found a job and resigned before then; 3) remain employed by the [r]espondent until his position was eliminated, most likely at the end of the year; or 4) remain employed by the [r]espondent and look for another position within the company.

(Id. at 16.)

Accordingly, the arbitrator granted Sirius's motion for summary judgment. (Id. at 17, 19-20.)

II.

The task for a party seeking to vacate an arbitration award is a formidable one. The party challenging an arbitration award generally bears a heavy burden of proof, and limited review of arbitration decisions is necessary both to effectuate the parties' agreement to submit their disputes to arbitration and to avoid costly and protracted litigation about issues the arbitrators have already decided. See, e.g., DiRussa v. Dean Witter Reynolds Inc., 121 F.3d 818, 821 (2d Cir.1997); Willemijn Houdstermaatschappij, BV v. Standard Microsys. Corp., 103 F.3d 9, 12 (2d Cir.1997); In re Arbitration Between Space Sys./Loral, Inc. v. Yuzhnoye Design Office, 164 F.Supp.2d 397, 403 (S.D.N.Y.2001); see also Wedbush Morgan Sec., Inc. v. Robert W. Baird & Co., 320 F.Supp.2d 123, 126 (S.D.N.Y.2004).

A.

The petitioner argues that the award should be vacated because the arbitrator manifestly disregarded the law. See Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc. v. Bobker, 808 F.2d 930, 933 (2d Cir.1986) (explaining the judicially created doctrine of manifest disregard of the law). The Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has repeatedly emphasized that review of an arbitration award for manifest disregard of the law is "severely limited," an...