Estwick v. U.S.Air Shuttle

950 F. Supp. 493, 8 Am. Disabilities Cas. (BNA) 1315, 1996 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 20104, 1996 WL 729379
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. New York
DecidedDecember 9, 1996
DocketCV-94-2851 (CPS)
StatusPublished
Cited by23 cases

This text of 950 F. Supp. 493 (Estwick v. U.S.Air Shuttle) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Estwick v. U.S.Air Shuttle, 950 F. Supp. 493, 8 Am. Disabilities Cas. (BNA) 1315, 1996 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 20104, 1996 WL 729379 (E.D.N.Y. 1996).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

SIFTON, Chief Judge.

Plaintiff Ruth Estwick is the widow of Earl Estwick and administratrix of his estate. Mrs. Estwick brings this suit against her husband’s former employer pursuant to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2 (“Title VII”); the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, 29 U.S.C. § 621 (“ADEA”); and the Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. § 12101 (“ADA”). Defendant USAir Shuttle moves for summary judgment on the grounds that the plaintiff lacks standing, that she has failed to exhaust administrative remedies, that the action did not survive her. husband’s death, for failure to allege the elements of an action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and for failure to raise a triable issue of fact under Title VII, the ADA, or the ADEA. For the reasons stated below, the motion is granted in part and denied in part.

BACKGROUND

The following statement of facts is taken from documentary evidence submitted by the parties and the transcript of Mrs. Estwiek’s deposition taken during October and November 1995. Mrs. Estwick was at that time recovering from brain surgery for a subdural hematoma and evidenced significant confusion during the deposition. Moreover, it appears from the transcript that she had little personal knowledge of the underlying events. Although depositions and affidavits from supervisors and co-workers of the deceased would have been preferable, both plaintiff and defendant have chosen to rely on a record that is, to put it mildly, skeletal. The facts are largely undisputed; however, relevant disputes are noted.

Earl Estwick was employed by USAir Shuttle (the “Shuttle”) as a shift manager at LaGuardia Airport from September 1, 1989 until he was laid off on September 10,1992. 1 Prior to working at the’ Shuttle, Mr. Estwick worked for Pan American Airways from 1959 to his retirement in 1988. Mr. Estwick was a black male, suffering from prostate cancer, who, at the time he was laid off, was two months short of his 63rd birthday.

The quality of Mr. Estwick’s work with the Shuttle is in dispute. Defendant has submitted one letter from a supervisor named Art Calvo reprimanding Estwick for letting his shift get “out of control” on August 5, 1990, and a letter from a customer complaining *497 about Mr. Estwiek’s conduct when her flight was delayed in April 1992. The plaintiff has submitted four memoranda from Mr. Est-wick’s personnel file complimenting his job performance or referring to compliments from customers.

During 1992 and 1993, the Shuttle reduced staff from 1,004 employees to 761 employees. As part of the staff reduction, Shuttle management decided in late 1992 to eliminate two LaGuardia shift managers. According to the affidavit of Terry Hallcom, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Shuttle, the decision was made based on the employment dates and recent merit increases of all shift managers. Mr. Estwick, who is black, and another white employee, Fred Trumsdorff, were laid off. Estwick was at that time the most junior shift manager in point of seniority and had received a 5% pay increase, which, along with TrumsdorfPs 5% increase was the lowest of any other shift manager. 2

On October 7, 1992, Mr. Estwick wrote Hallcom a letter complaining that his final paycheck did not compensate him for accrued overtime or return time 3 and holidays worked although several others had been so compensated. Patricia Evers, USAir’s Director of Compensation and Benefits, responded by letter dated October 26, 1992, that the Shuttle’s policy was to compensate management employees for overtime solely by compensatory time off, not pay. Evers also stated that the Shuttle did not allow employees to carry over holidays from one j^ar to the next. She wrote that Mr. Estwiek had been paid for deferred holidays accrued during 1992 with his final paycheck. Finally, Evers stated that no management employee had ever received pay for unused compensatory time or holidays.

On June 18, 1993, Mr. Estwick filed a charge of discrimination based on age, race, and disability with the New York State Division of Human Rights and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. On April 21, 1994, after Mr. Estwiek’s death from prostate cancer on September 20, 1993, the EEOC issued a no probable cause determination.

Mr. Estwick’s widow Ruth commenced this suit pro se as executrix of his estate against the Shuttle on June 16, 1994. At a December 2, 1994 status conference before Magistrate Go, plaintiff requested, and was granted, time to obtain counsel. Plaintiffs attorney filed an amended complaint on March 2, 1995, in Mrs. Estwick’s name as administratrix of Mr. Estwick’s estate. Mrs. Estwick was appointed administratrix of his estate on January 25,1995.

DISCUSSION

Defendant USAir Shuttle moves for summary judgment on the grounds that the plaintiff lacks standing, that she has failed to exhaust administrative remedies, that the action did not survive her husband’s death, that she has failed to allege the elements of an action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and for failure to raise a triable issue of fact under Title VII, the ADA, or the ADEA. Although the defendant has styled this as a summary judgment motion, the challenges with respect to standing, failure to exhaust administrative remedies, survival, and insufficiency of the § 1983 claim are addressed to the legal sufficiency of the complaint under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). The Court considers these claims before turning to the cross-motions for summary judgment with respect to the merits of the Title VII, ADEA and ADA causes of action.

A motion to dismiss pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) should be granted only if it “appears beyond doubt that the plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of his claim which would entitle him to relief.” Cohen v. Koenig, 25 F.3d 1168, 1172 (2d Cir.1994) (quoting Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 45-46, 78 S.Ct. 99, 102, 2 L.Ed.2d 80 (1957)). In considering a motion to dismiss, the court must accept as true all factual allegations presented in the *498 complaint. Bio-Technology Gen. Corp. v. Genentech, Inc., 886 F.Supp. 377, 380 (S.D.N.Y.1995). “The court’s function on a Rule 12(b)(6) motion is not to weigh the evidence that might be presented at trial but merely to determine whether the complaint itself is legally sufficient.” Id. (quoting Goldman v. Belden, 754 F.2d 1059, 1067. (2d Cir. 1985)).

Survival of Actions Under Title VII, ADA and ADEA

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950 F. Supp. 493, 8 Am. Disabilities Cas. (BNA) 1315, 1996 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 20104, 1996 WL 729379, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/estwick-v-usair-shuttle-nyed-1996.