Lee v. Itt Standard

268 F.Supp.2d 315

James LEE, Anthony Miller, and Terry Williams, Plaintiffs, v. ITT STANDARD and United Steelworkers Local 897, Defendants.

No. 98-CV-183A.

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

April 2, 2002.

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Sanders & Sanders, Harvey P. Sanders, of Counsel, Amherst, for Plaintiffs.

Hodgson Russ Andrews Woods & Goodyear, LLP, Robert B. Conklin, and Adam W. Perry, of Counsel, Buffalo, for Defendant ITT Standard.

Law Offices of E. Joseph Giroux, Jr., Buffalo, for Defendant United Steelworkers Local 897.

DECISION AND ORDER

This case was referred to Magistrate Judge Leslie G. Foschio, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1), on May 14, 1998. On November 15, 1999, defendants ITT Standard and United Steelworkers Local 897 filed motions for summary judgment. On January 24, 2000, plaintiffs filed a response in opposition to the motion for summary judgment. Counsel for plaintiffs supplemental affidavits in opposition to the motions for summary judgment on March 22, 2000 and July 28, 2000. Defendant ITT Standard moved to strike plaintiffs' supplemental affidavits as untimely.

On March 20, 2001, Magistrate Judge Foschio filed a combined Report and Recommendation and a Decision and Order: (1) ordering that defendant ITT standard's motion to strike be granted in part and denied in part; (2) recommending that defendant ITT Standard's motion for summary judgment be granted as to plaintiffs Miller and Williams, but denied as to plaintiff Lee; and (3) recommending that defendant United Steelworkers' motion for summary judgment be granted as to plaintiffs Miller and Williams, but denied as to plaintiff Lee.¹ Both parties filed objections and the Court heard oral argument on July 27, 2001.

Plaintiffs object to the Magistrate Judge's Decision and Order granting in part defendant ITT Standard's motion to strike their July 28, 2000 submission. Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(A), the district court "may reconsider any pretrial matter under this subparagraph (A), where it has been shown that the magistrate's order is clearly erroneous or contrary to law." The Court finds that the Magistrate Judge's Decision and Order was neither clearly erroneous or contrary to law. Accordingly, plaintiffs' objections to the Decision and Order are denied.

Both plaintiffs and defendants object to the Magistrate Judge's Report and Recommendation, which recommends that summary judgment be; denied in part and granted in part. Specifically, defendants object to those portions of the Report and Recommendation that recommend denying their motion for summary judgment as to plaintiff Lee, and plaintiffs Miller and Williams object to those portions of the Report and Recommendation that recommend granting defendants' motions for summary judgment as to them.

Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1), this Court must make a de novo determination of those portions of the Report to which objections have been made. Upon a de novo review, and after reviewing the submissions and hearing argument from the parties, the Court hereby adopts Magistrate Judge Foschio's recommendation that summary judgment be granted to the defendants as to the claims raised by plaintiffs Miller and Williams.

As to the claims raised by plaintiff Lee, the Court notes that on February 8, 2002, counsel for defendant ITT Standard filed a suggestion upon the record of the death of plaintiff Lee. Pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 25(a)(1), the successors or representatives of plaintiff Lee shall have until May 9, 2002 to file a motion for substitution. The Court will reserve decision on defendants' summary judgment motions as to plaintiff Lee pending a motion for substitution.

Accordingly, for the reasons set forth herein and in Magistrate Judge Foschio's Report and Recommendation, defendants' motions for summary judgment are granted as to plaintiff Miller and plaintiff Williams. The Court reserves decision on the motions for summary judgment as to defendant Lee pending a motion for substitution. Plaintiffs' objections to the Magistrate Judge's Decision and Order granting in part defendant ITT Standard's motion to strike are denied.

IT IS SO ORDERED

PLEASE take notice of the entry of an ORDER filed on 4/2/02, of which the within is a copy, and entered 4/3/02 upon the official docket in this case. (Document No. 56.)

REPORT and RECOMMENDATION

DECISION and ORDER

FOSCHIO, United States Magistrate Judge.

JURISDICTION

This case was referred to the undersigned on May 14, 1998, by Honorable Richard J. Arcara for report and recommendation on dispositive motions. The matter is presently before the court on motions for summary judgment filed on November 15, 1999 by Defendant ITT Standard (Docket Item No. 16), and by Defendant United Steelworkers Local 897 (Docket Item No. 18), and to strike filed on March 23, 2000 by Defendant ITT Standard (Docket Item No. 32).¹

BACKGROUND

Plaintiffs James Lee, Anthony Miller and Terry Williams, employees of Defendant ITT Standard ("ITT"), and members of the United Steelworkers Local 897 ("the Union"), until their terminations in 1996, commenced this action on March 17, 1998, alleging they were wrongfully discharged on the basis of race (African American). Plaintiffs Miller and Williams also allege wrongful discharge based on disability. Plaintiffs assert four causes of action including violations of 42 U.S.C. § 1981 ("§ 1981"), Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e, et seq. ("Title VII"), the Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 12101 et seq., ("the ADA"), and the New York Human Rights Law, N.Y. Exec. Law § 296 ("N.Y. Exec. Law § 296"). Answers filed on May 8 1998 by the Union and on May 15, 1998 by ITT assert that Plaintiffs fail to state a claim as to either defendant and request dismissal, costs, and attorney fees.

On November 25, 1998, the parties stipulated to a Protective Order to maintain the confidentiality of certain discovery (Docket Item No. 12) ("Confidentiality Order"). Following discovery, ITT and the Union each moved for summary judgment on November 15, 1999. ITT's motion was accompanied by the Declarations of Adam W. Perry, Esq. ("Perry Declaration"), and Will Shine ("Shine Declaration"), exhibits, a Statement of Uncontested Facts ("Defendant ITT's Fact Statement"), and a Memorandum of Law (Docket Item No. 17) ("Defendant ITT's Memorandum"). The Union's motion was accompanied by a Statement of Undisputed Material Facts (Docket Item No. 19) ("Defendant Union's Fact Statement"), a Memorandum of Law (Docket Item No. 20) ("Defendant Union's Memorandum"), and the Affidavit of Guy Masocco (Docket Item No. 21) ("Masocco Affidavit") with attached exhibits.

On January 24, 2000, Plaintiffs filed a Memorandum of Law in Opposition to Defendants' Motions for Summary Judgment (Docket Item No. 24) ("Plaintiffs' Memorandum"), a volume of documents (Docket Item No. 25) containing Plaintiffs' Rule 56 Statement of Disputed Facts ("Plaintiffs' Rule 56 Fact Statement"), Affidavits by Plaintiffs James Lee ("Lee Affidavit"), Anthony Miller ("Miller Affidavit"), and Terry Williams ("Williams's Affidavit"), and by Plaintiffs' attorney Harvey P. Sanders, Esq. ("Sanders Affidavit I"), and exhibits. On February 17, 2000, certain documents pertaining to Plaintiffs' opposition to summary judgment, originally filed in the public record, were removed from the public record and, pursuant to the Confidentiality Order, filed under seal (Docket Item No. 26).

On February 22, 2000, both ITT and the Union filed papers in further support of their respective summary judgment motions. In particular, ITT filed a Reply Memorandum of Law (Docket Item No. 27) ("Defendant ITT's Reply Memorandum"), and a volume of documents (Docket Item No. 28), containing Reply Declarations of Adam W. Perry, Esq. ("Perry Reply Declaration") and Will Shine ("Shine Reply Declaration"), and exhibits. The Union filed a Reply Memorandum of Law (Docket Item No. 29) ("Defendant Union's Reply Memorandum"), and the Reply Affidavit of Guy Masocco (Docket Item No. 30) ("Masocco Reply Affidavit").

On March 22, 2000, Plaintiffs filed the Affidavit of Harvey P. Sanders, Esq. (Docket Item No. 31) ("Sanders Affidavit II"), with attached exhibits. In the affidavit, Sanders explains that the attached exhibits were originally omitted from the other exhibits Plaintiffs had submitted in opposition to Defendants' summary judgment motions. On March 23, 2000, Defendant ITT moved to strike such exhibits or, alternatively, for an Order permitting ITT to submit additional papers addressing Plaintiffs' recent submissions (Docket Item No. 32). The motion to strike was accompanied by the attached Declaration of Adam W. Perry, Esq., in Support of Motion to Strike ("Perry Declaration in Support of Motion to Strike"). In response to the motion to strike, Plaintiffs filed, on March 31, 2000, the Affidavit of Harvey P. Sanders, Esq. (Docket Item No. 33) ("Sanders Affidavit Opposing Motion to Strike").

On July 28, 2000, Plaintiffs filed the Supplemental Affidavit of Harvey P. Sanders, Esq. (Docket Item No. 34) ("Sanders Supplemental Affidavit"), directing the court's attention to newly discovered facts Plaintiffs maintain are relevant to their case. Defendant ITT filed, on August 8 2000, the Declaration of Adam W. Perry, Esq., in Response to the Plaintiffs' Second Untimely Submission (Docket Item No. 35) ("Perry Declaration Opposing Plaintiffs' Second Untimely Submission"). Oral argument was deemed unnecessary.

Based on the following, Defendant ITT's motion for summary judgment (Docket Item No. 16) is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part; Defendant Union's motion for summary judgment (Docket Item No. 18) is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part. Defendant ITT's motion to strike (Docket Item No. 32) is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part.

FACTS²

Plaintif...