LePage v. Bath Iron Works

Superior Court of Maine·Decided December 13, 2005·No. ANDcv-04-198·Unpublished

Opinion

STATE OF MAINE RECEIVED & FILED SUPERIOR COURT ANDROSCOGGIN, ss. CIVIL ACTION 9EC 1 3 2005 Docket No. CV-04-198 . . -

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DANIEL LEPAGE, ANDROSCOGGIN ~

Plaintiff SUPERlOR COURT ORDER ON DEFENDANT'S

MOTION FOR

SUMMARY JUDGMENT

BATH IRON WORKS CORP., and GENERAL DYNAMICS CORP., Defendants

PROCEDURAL HISTORY AND BACKGROLTND On September 10, 2004, Daniel LePage filed a three-count complaint against Bath Iron Works Corp. (BIW) and General Dynamics Corp. (GD) in the Androscoggin County Superior Court. In h s complaint, Mi. LePage claimed that, during h s employment as a security guard for BIW, he had been subjected to unlawful employment discrimination, and intentional infliction of emotional distress by the defendants, and that the defendants had violated the Whstleblower's Protection Act (WPA), 26 M.R.S.A. § 831. GD filed its answer on October 4, 2004, denying any violations and asserting nineteen affirmative defenses. BIW filed its answer on October 7, 2004, also denying all violations and asserting nineteen affirmative defenses.

The court issued a scheduling order on October 8, 2004, establishng various deadlines, and stating that the case was not subject to the requirements of M.R. Civ. P. 16B. T h s statement was based upon the court's mistaken understanding that Mi. LePagers complaint about BIW and GD had been subjected to review by the Maine Human Rights Commission (MHRC). Counsel for BIW appropriately brought that error to the court's attention by filing a motion to compel alternative dispute resolution on October 19, 2004. Without objection, the court granted that motion on October 27, 2004. Thereafter, the parties conducted discovery for several months, attended an unsuccessful ADR session on February 9,2005, and concluded discovery in June 2005.

On June 23, 2005, the defendants filed a motion for summary judgment, based upon their assertions that Mr. LePage's claims against them were not timely, that he had failed to allege a cognizable claim of disability, that he had failed to establish a prima facie case for violation of the WPA, that h s claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress was barred by the Workers' Compensation Act, and that he had failed to establish the elements of any of h s claims against GD. With that motion, the defendants filed a Statement of Undisputed Material Facts (DSMF) containing forty- seven (47) paragraphs.

On July 19, 2005, Mr. LePage filed his response in opposition to the motion. With that document, he filed h s responses to the DSMF, but did not file any additional statements of material fact as permitted by M.R. Civ. P. 56(h)(2). In many of h s responses to the DSMF, however, Mr. LePage used either the "qualify" or "deny" response to add informabon that was not directly addressed by the asserted fact, and did not change the factual basis for the asserted fact. If a responding party believes that the court should consider facts not presented in the moving party's statement of material facts, the moving party should recite those facts in its additional statements of material fact, rather than in the "qualifying" response. A denial or qualifying response is not an opportunity to add facts to the record. However, because counsel for defendants responded to these added statements, the court must identify them in some fashion. These assertions will be referred to as the plaintiff's additional statements of material fact (PASWIF).

With his response to the motion for summary judgment, Mr. LePage filed an affidavit from Fred Moody, a former security officer at BIW and, without additional affidavits, attached photocopies of five documents.

On July 26, 2005, the defendants filed a motion to strike Moody's affidavit and four of the five documents Mr. LePage attached to his response. The defendants argued that Moody's affidavit failed to comply with M.R. Civ. P. 56(e), and that the documents were hearsay, not part of the record, and not supported by affidavit. On that same date, defendants replied to the plaintiff's opposition to their pending motion. As noted above, in that reply, defendants responded to Mr. LePage's "qualify" or "deny" responses as though they had been asserted as additional statements of material fact. Defendants' responses will be referred to as defendants' responsive statements of material fact (DRSMF).

On August 2, 2005, Mr. LePage filed his objection to the motion to strike. He argued that the documents he submitted, without affidavit, "are of a quality that could be admissible at tnal." In addition, he argued that Moody's affidavit did comply with the requirements of M.R. Civ. P. 56 (e). Defendants replied to that opposition on August 9, 2005. The findings and conclusions below are based upon the court's review of the parties' submissions, and reflect a reading of the record that gives the plaintiff the benefit of all favorable inferences.

DISCUSSION

Before discussing the merits of the pending motion for summary judgment, the motion to strike must be disposed of. As noted above, with h s opposition to the defendant's motion for summary judgment, plaintiff filed an affidavit and copies of five documents. After review of the affidavit and the documents, the court grants the defendants' motion to strike as it refers to proposed exhbits 1, 2,4, and 5, and grants, in part, the motion as it refers to the Moody affidavit. Although the jurat included on the Moody affidavit is not precisely tailored to the requirements of the rule, some of the statements made are clearly based entirely upon Mr. Moody's personal knowledge. Specifically, paragraphs 1, 2, 3, 4, and 7 are based upon his personal knowledge and would be admissible at trial. The documents, on the other hand, are not self- authenticating, and have not been either identified by any competent witness or supported by affidavit. They are not admissible evidence and, therefore, cannot be used to support or deny an asserted fact.

Summary judgment is appropriate if the record shows that "there is no genuine issue as to any material fact . . . and that [a] party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." M.R. Civ. P. 56(c). In determining whether this burden has been met, the court must view the record in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party, and must accept as true the uncontroverted facts properly appearing in the record. Champagne v. Mid-Maine Med. Ctr., 1998 ME 87, q[ 5, 711 A.2d 842, 844.

The record in h s case permits the court to find the following: Since 1982, Daniel LePage has been employed as a security guard at BIW. Plaintiff's complaint, P[¶ 4, 9. After September 11, 2001, the United States Navy required BIW to arm those security guards who perform some discrete functions at the shpyard. DSMF 1. For safety reasons, BIW implemented a process patterned after established United States Department of Transportation procedures to determine whch guards should be permitted to carry firearms. DSMF 2, as qualified. In order to qualify to carry a firearm, each guard had to pass a physical examination, a psychological examination, and a qualification on the shooting range. DSMF 3.' BIW engaged Dr. Joseph Wojcik to

' Plaintiff's denial is not responsive to the fact asserted, and is not supported by the record references provided.

conduct the psychological component of the qualification process. DSMF 4.2 BIW's Chief of 'Occupational Medicine, Maria Mazzora, M.D., was given the responsibility for mahng the final decision about which guards would be qualified to carry firearms. DSMF 6, as qualified by PASMF 6.

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