Franklin v. Pinnacle Entertainment, Inc.

1 F. Supp. 3d 979, 2014 I.E.R. Cas. (BNA) 152, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 23448
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Missouri
DecidedFebruary 25, 2014
DocketNo. 4:12-CV-307 CAS
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 1 F. Supp. 3d 979 (Franklin v. Pinnacle Entertainment, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Missouri primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Franklin v. Pinnacle Entertainment, Inc., 1 F. Supp. 3d 979, 2014 I.E.R. Cas. (BNA) 152, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 23448 (E.D. Mo. 2014).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

CHARLES A. SHAW, District Judge.

This matter is before the Court on defendant Pinnacle Entertainment, Inc.’s (“defendant”) Motion for Summary Judgment on the remaining claims in this action, Counts III and VI of plaintiffs’ Second Amended Complaint. Plaintiffs oppose the motion and it is fully briefed. For the following reasons, the motion for summary judgment will be granted.

I. Background

This action was filed in the Circuit Court of the City of St. Louis, State of Missouri, on November 18, 2011, by sixty-seven plaintiffs asserting state law claims for breach of contract, employment discrimination in violation of the Missouri Human Rights Act, Mo.Rev.Stat. § 213.010 et seq. (2000), and negligent and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The case arises out of the plaintiffs’ layoff from employment at defendant’s now-closed President Casino in St. Louis. Defendant removed the action to this Court based on diversity of citizenship pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1332 and 1441.

Plaintiffs were granted leave to file a First Amended Petition which added sev[982]*982eral parties to the action and asserted additional claims for breach of contract and fraudulent and negligent misrepresentation. Defendant moved to dismiss the First Amended Petition for failure to state a claim upon which relief may be granted. By Memorandum and Order of August 9, 2012, 2012 WL 6870447 (Doc. 70), the Court granted the motion to dismiss plaintiffs’ breach of contract, fraudulent misrepresentation, and negligent and intentional infliction of emotional distress claims. The Court refused to dismiss plaintiffs’ claims for negligent misrepresentation in Counts III and VI, and the age discrimination claims of fifteen plaintiffs under the Missouri Human Rights Act (“MHRA”) in Count VII.

By Memorandum and Order of December 28, 2012, 289 F.R.D. 278 (Doc. 79), the Court granted defendant’s motion for sanctions under Rule 11, Fed.R.Civ.P., and struck plaintiffs’ First Amended Petition from the record for filing error because in it were joined two plaintiffs who lacked standing and it misnamed approximately fourteen other plaintiffs. The Court ordered plaintiffs to file a Second Amended Complaint in order to correct the errors detailed in the Order of December 28, 2012.

Plaintiffs filed their Second Amended Complaint on January 4, 2013. This is the current Complaint in the case, and includes only two counts: Count III by all plaintiffs alleging negligent misrepresentation in connection with promises to transfer and rehire them at a different gaming facility owned by defendant if they continued to work at the President Casino until it closed; and Count VI by fifteen plaintiffs alleging negligent misrepresentation in connection with promises of severance packages, sick pay and bonuses if they continued to work at the President Casino until it closed.1

On July 10, 2013, the Court granted plaintiffs’ motion to voluntarily dismiss several plaintiffs from the action without prejudice, and the claims of plaintiffs Dierder Arnold, Jamie Bailey, Jose Ca-storeña, Paula Cranmer, Hazel Doss, Michael Holl, Mark Hughes, Scott Johnson, Timothy Lovett, Joan Nischbach, Darrian Oliver, Antionette Parker, James Perry, Curtis Pettis, Kevin Saeger, and David Sherrod were dismissed. See Memorandum and Order of July 10, 2013 (Doc. 122).

II. Summary Judgment Standard

The en banc Eighth Circuit recently clarified the appropriate standard for consideration of motions for summary judgment, including those filed in employment discrimination cases, explaining as follows:

Summary judgment is proper if the pleadings, the discovery and disclosure materials on file, and any affidavits show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. The movant bears the initial responsibility of informing the district court of the basis for its motion, and must identify those portions of the record which it believes demonstrate the absence of a genuine issue of material fact. If the movant does so, the nonmovant must respond by submitting evidentiary materials that set out specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial. On a motion for summary judgment, facts must be viewed in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party only if there is a genuine dispute as to those facts. Credibility determinations, the weighing of the evidence, and the drawing of legitimate inferences from the [983]*983facts are jury functions, not those of a judge. The nonmovant must do more than simply show that there is some metaphysical doubt as to the material facts, and must come forward with specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial. Where the record taken as a whole could not lead a rational trier of fact to find for the nonmoving party, there is no genuine issue for trial.

Torgerson. v. City of Rochester, 643 F.3d 1031, 1043 (8th Cir.2011) (en banc) (internal citations and quotation marks omitted).

“Although the burden of demonstrating the absence of any genuine issue of material fact rests on the movant, a nonmovant may not rest upon mere denials or allegations, but must instead set forth specific facts sufficient to raise a genuine issue for trial.” Wingate v. Gage Cnty. Sch. Dist., No. 34, 528 F.3d 1074, 1078-79 (8th Cir.2008) (cited case omitted). To show that “disputed facts are material, the party opposing summary judgment must cite to the relevant substantive law in identifying ‘facts that might affect the outcome of the suit’ ” and then “categorize the factual disputes in relation to the legal elements” of his claim. Quinn v. St. Louis County, 653 F.3d 745, 751-52 (8th Cir.2011) (quoted and cited cases omitted). Thus, to survive a motion for summary judgment, the non-moving party must “explain the legal significance of [his] factual allegations beyond mere conelusory statements importing the appropriate terms of art” and provide a “meaningful legal analysis explaining how, under the applicable law, the disputed facts might prove [his] claim at trial.” Id. at 752 (internal citations omitted).

III. Findings of Fact

A. Plaintiffs’ Failure to Comply with Local Rule 4.01(E)

As a threshold matter, Local Rule 4.01(E) provides with respect to summary judgment motions:

A memorandum in support of a motion for summary judgment shall have attached a statement of uncontroverted material facts, set forth in a separately numbered paragraph for each fact, indicating whether each fact is established by the record, and, if so, the appropriate citations. Every memorandum in opposition shall include a statement of material facts as to which the party contends a genuine dispute exists. Those matters in dispute shall be set forth with specific references to portions of the record, where available, upon which the opposing party relies.

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1 F. Supp. 3d 979, 2014 I.E.R. Cas. (BNA) 152, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 23448, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/franklin-v-pinnacle-entertainment-inc-moed-2014.