Benn v. UNISYS Corp.

176 F.R.D. 2, 1997 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16971, 1997 WL 677437
CourtDistrict Court, District of Columbia
DecidedOctober 20, 1997
DocketNo. CA 96-2642(PJA)
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 176 F.R.D. 2 (Benn v. UNISYS Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, District of Columbia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Benn v. UNISYS Corp., 176 F.R.D. 2, 1997 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16971, 1997 WL 677437 (D.D.C. 1997).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

ATTRIDGE, United States Magistrate Judge.

This matter is before the Court on defendant’s, Unisys Corporation’s, motion for summary judgment on plaintiff’s, Kenwin Benn’s, claims of discrimination and retaliation in violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1866, 42 U.S.C. §§ 1981 and 1983; Title VII, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq.; and the D.C. Human Rights Act, D.C.Code § 1-2501, et seq. In the joint pretrial statement filed by the parties on September 12, 1997, the plaintiff abandoned his claims pursuant to the Civil Rights Act of 1866, leaving only Benn’s claims of discrimination and retaliation in violation of Title VTI and the DCHRL for trial. [Jt ptstmt at 2-3]. Benn complains that discrimination against him began in January 1995 (the effective date of the Unisys reorganization), when his position of “director” was abolished, and he was “demoted to the position of Business and Development Manager”. [Pl’s compl. at 4, ¶ 17; id. at 5, ¶ 24].

Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(c), the parties consented to proceed before a U.S. Magistrate Judge for all purposes, including the entry of final judgment. Upon consideration of the motion, opposition, reply and the entire record, and for the reasons explained below, the Court concludes that, as a matter of law, Unisys is entitled to summary judgment against the plaintiff on the remaining [4]*4counts because Benn has failed to demonstrate that genuine issues of material fact remain and, as a result, failed to make a sufficient showing on essential elements of his case of which he carries the burden of proof at trial.

I. Summary Judgment: Undisputed Material Facts

(a) Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56 — Showing “Specific Facts” in Dispute

Discussions of the summary judgment standard begin with Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and the guidance provided by the Supreme Court in the seminal case interpreting Rule 56, Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). The Court held:

Under Rule 56(e), summary judgment is proper “if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.” In our view, the plain language of Rule 56(c) mandates the entry of summary judgment, after adequate time for discovery and upon motion, against a party who fails to make a showing sufficient to establish the existence of an element essential to that party’s case, and on which that party will bear the burden of proof at trial. In such a situation, there can be ‘no genuine issue as to any material fact,’ since a complete failure of proof concerning an essential element of the nonmoving party’s case necessarily renders all other facts immaterial.

Id. at 322-323, 106 S.Ct. at 2552-53. Once a moving party fulfills its obligations pursuant to 56(c), the onus is on the non-moving party to respond with “specific facts” to establish a genuine issue for trial. Celotex, 477 U.S. at 324, 106 S.Ct. at 2553. Subsection (e) of Rule 56 sets forth the extent to and means by which the non-moving party shall make the necessary evidentiary showing in order to survive a properly supported motion for summary judgment; it provides in pertinent part:

Supporting and opposing affidavits shall be made on personal knowledge, shall set forth such facts as would be admissible in evidence, and shall show affirmatively that the affiant is competent to testify to the matters stated therein. Sworn or certified copies of all papers or parts thereof referred to in an affidavit shall be attached thereto or served therewith. The court may permit affidavits to be supplemented or opposed by depositions, answers to interrogatories, or further affidavits. When a motion for summary judgment is made and supported as provided in this rule, an adverse party may not rest upon the mere allegations or denials of the adverse party’s pleading, but the adverse party’s response, by affidavits or as otherwise provided in this rule, must set forth specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial.

Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(e)(emphasis added). In italics the Court notes four areas in which Benn’s opposition to Unisys’ motion for summary judgment is deficient. First, the only Rule 56(e) evidence attempting to set forth “specific facts” in dispute is an affidavit affirmed by plaintiffs counsel, James G. Gore, Jr., who does not have personal knowledge of the events alleged in Benn’s complaint. Second and third, plaintiffs counsel cannot testify at trial as to the events he affirms in his affidavit as it would inadmissable hearsay. “The affidavit must be based on personal knowledge and not on the hearsay statement of another purported witness.” Hack v. H.V.R. Parts, Inc., 742 F.Supp. 283, 286 (W.D.Pa.1990). Finally, Benn has produced literally absolutely no evidence — only allegations — in support of his opposition to the summary judgment motion. See Farrell v. Potomac Electric Power Co., 616 F.Supp. 995, 1000 (D.D.C.1985)(“A11 the plaintiff has done is to make additional allegations, but as Rule 56(e) clearly provides, such allegations are not enough and do not raise a factual issue.”).

As the Rule 56 Advisory Committee’s Note to the 1963 amendment explains, the last two sentences were added to subsection (e) [supra at 2] because the Third Circuit had taken the view that summary judgment should be [5]*5denied even if the adverse party produced none or only some evidentiary matter to establish a genuine issue for trial. The Third Circuit was allowing the adverse party to rest on the pleadings if on their face the pleadings presented a triable issue. Adding the last two sentences, the Advisory Committee noted:

The very mission of the summary judgment procedure is to pierce the pleadings and to assess the proof in order to see whether there is a genuine need for trial. The Third Circuit doctrine, which permits the pleadings themselves to stand in the way of granting an otherwise justified summary judgment, is incompatible with the basic purpose of the rule.

Fed. R. Crv. P. 56, 1963 advisory committee’s note; accord Celotex, 477 U.S. at 325, 106 S.Ct. at 2553-54. The Supreme Court pointed out that the non-moving party need not produce evidence in a form that would be admissible at trial, but that he may not

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
176 F.R.D. 2, 1997 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16971, 1997 WL 677437, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/benn-v-unisys-corp-dcd-1997.