O'Brien v. Xpo CNW, Inc.

362 F. Supp. 3d 778
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. California
DecidedDecember 14, 2018
DocketNo. C 16-03869 JSW
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 362 F. Supp. 3d 778 (O'Brien v. Xpo CNW, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
O'Brien v. Xpo CNW, Inc., 362 F. Supp. 3d 778 (N.D. Cal. 2018).

Opinion

JEFFREY S. WHITE, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

Now before the Court are the parties' cross-motions for summary adjudication. Defendants XPO CNW, Inc. and XPO Logistics, Inc. ("Defendants") move for summary adjudication of the second cause of action for intentional interference with contract, the third cause of action for elder abuse, and Plaintiff's claims for punitive damages. Plaintiff Christopher O'Brien, acting as trustee of the Raymond F. O'Brien Revocable Trust, seeks partial summary judgment of his first cause of action for breach of contract. Having carefully reviewed the parties' papers, considered *781their arguments and the relevant legal authority, the Court hereby DENIES Defendants' motion for summary adjudication and GRANTS Plaintiff's motion for partial summary judgment.

BACKGROUND

From 1958 through 1995, Raymond O'Brien ("O'Brien") served first as controller, and ultimately as a President, CEO, and Chairman of the Board of Directors for Consolidated Freightways, Inc. ("the Company"). In 1997, the Company changed its name to CNF, Inc. and then again in 2006 to Con-Way, Inc. The Company was acquired by XPO Logistics, Inc. ("XPO") in November 2015 and then changed its name again to XPO CNW, Inc.

Prior to his retirement from CEO of the Company in 1987, O'Brien received a number of letters thanking him for his many years of service and offering him an office, secretary, and car service after his retirement ("the Agreement"). Plaintiff accepted this offer and continued to receive these benefits from 1987 through 1988. In addition, from 1988 through 1995, O'Brien continued to serve on the Board of Directors and the Company continued to provide a secretary, car service, and on-site office. From 1995 through 2006, the Company continued to provide the full-time secretary and car service, but the office was moved off-site.

After the Company changed its name to Con-Way, Inc. in 2006 and through 2011, it continued to provide O'Brien with a secretary, car service, and his own off-site office. In 2011, O'Brien's secretary retired and he proposed, as way to reduce costs, to forego his full-time secretary, car service, and office, and instead agreed that the Company would pay him $ 6,000 a month for the remainder of his life ("the Modified Agreement"). Since that time, from 2011 through November 2015, O'Brien sent regular monthly invoices and the Company sent the $ 6,000 each month to O'Brien. In 2015, the Company merged with XPO Logistics, Inc. and the monthly payments were included in the "employee benefits" section of a Disclosure Letter that accompanied the merger agreement. However, beginning in December 2015, the Company refused to make the monthly payments.

O'Brien filed this action in May 2016 in an effort to recover the $ 6,000 monthly retirement compensation he says he was owed. O'Brien passed away in February 2017, and his son, Christopher O'Brien, acting as trustee of the family trust, continued this action to recover the amounts the trust contends are still due. Plaintiff claims the trust is owed $ 107,268.49 for contract damages ($ 90,000 of missed payments in addition to prejudgment interest). Plaintiff moves for partial summary judgment on his first cause of action for breach of contract.

Defendants move for summary adjudication on the causes of action, for intentional interference with contract and elder abuse, and for punitive damages. The Court shall address the Plaintiff's motion first as the other causes of action rely in part upon the existence of a contract for their premise.

The Court shall address additional specific facts in the remainder of its order.

ANALYSIS

A. Legal Standards on Motion for Summary Judgment.

A principal purpose of the summary judgment procedure is to identify and dispose of factually unsupported claims. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett , 477 U.S. 317, 323-24, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). Summary judgment is proper when the "pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there *782is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a). "In considering a motion for summary judgment, the court may not weigh the evidence or make credibility determinations, and is required to draw all inferences in a light most favorable to the non-moving party." Freeman v. Arpaio , 125 F.3d 732, 735 (9th Cir. 1997).

The party moving for summary judgment bears the initial burden of identifying those portions of the pleadings, discovery, and affidavits that demonstrate the absence of a genuine issue of material fact. Celotex , 477 U.S. at 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548 ; see also Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c). An issue of fact is "genuine" only if there is sufficient evidence for a reasonable fact finder to find for the non-moving party. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc. , 477 U.S. 242, 248-49, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). A fact is "material" if it may affect the outcome of the case. Id. at 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505. Once the moving party meets its initial burden, the non-moving party must go beyond the pleadings and, by its own evidence, "set forth specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial." Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(e).

In order to make this showing, the non-moving party must "identify with reasonable particularity the evidence that precludes summary judgment." Keenan v. Allan

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Bluebook (online)
362 F. Supp. 3d 778, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/obrien-v-xpo-cnw-inc-cand-2018.