Plona v. United Parcel Service, Inc.

558 F.3d 478, 28 I.E.R. Cas. (BNA) 1345, 2009 U.S. App. LEXIS 4804, 2009 WL 564349
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
DecidedMarch 6, 2009
DocketNo. 08-3512
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 558 F.3d 478 (Plona v. United Parcel Service, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Plona v. United Parcel Service, Inc., 558 F.3d 478, 28 I.E.R. Cas. (BNA) 1345, 2009 U.S. App. LEXIS 4804, 2009 WL 564349 (6th Cir. 2009).

Opinion

OPINION

RONALD LEE GILMAN, Circuit Judge.

Gary Piona was fired from his job with United Parcel Service (UPS) for violating UPS’s policy that prohibits employees from possessing firearms on its premises. This caused him to sue UPS in federal court, alleging wrongful discharge in violation of the public policy embodied in Article I, § 4 of the Ohio Constitution, which guarantees Ohio citizens the right to bear arms for their defense and security. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of UPS, holding that Piona had failed to demonstrate that a clear public policy had been jeopardized by his discharge. In his timely appeal, Piona challenges the district court’s grant of summary judgment to UPS, as well as its denial of his motion for discovery sanctions against his former employer. For the reasons set forth below, we AFFIRM the judgment of the district court.

I. BACKGROUND

A. Factual background

Piona worked at a UPS package-sorting facility in Cleveland, Ohio. He routinely parked his car in an adjoining parking lot [480]*480owned by BT-OH, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of UPS. UPS has a lease with BT-OH that provides UPS the right to exercise full control over the lot.

In accordance with written company policy, UPS prohibits its employees from possessing firearms while on its property. Specifically, the UPS Position on Alcohol, Illegal Drugs, and Weapons provides: “All UPS employees are prohibited from using or possessing a firearm ... while on UPS property or while conducting official UPS business. This includes, but is not limited to: UPS vehicles, facilities (including parking lots, customer premises, etc.) and while on duty or during personal breaks.” (Emphasis added.) Piona had previously signed an acknowledgment form stating that he was aware of this policy.

In April 2006, sheriffs deputies conducted a K-9 unit search of cars in the parking lot after UPS contacted them about a package containing possible contraband. During the search, one of the dogs identified Plona’s car as a vehicle to inspect. Piona consented to the search and informed the sheriffs deputies that he had a firearm in the vehicle. The deputies found a .22 caliber Luger pistol under the front seat and its empty ammunition magazine in the glove compartment. Piona did not have a permit to carry a concealed weapon and had not registered the pistol. The deputies confiscated the weapon and reported their findings to UPS. Two UPS officials then met with Piona, who conceded that he was aware of UPS’s weapons policies and admitted that he had knowingly left the pistol in his car. The UPS officials accordingly discharged Piona, effective immediately.

B. Procedural background

Piona subsequently filed a lawsuit against UPS in federal court, alleging wrongful discharge. He claimed that his firing was in violation of the public policy regarding firearms embodied in Article I, § 4 of the Ohio Constitution. After the conclusion of discovery, UPS moved for summary judgment. In his response, Pio-na contended for the first time that UPS did not own the parking lot in which his car had been parked. UPS then searched for and located its lease with BT-OH, which had not been specifically requested in discovery, and cited the lease in its reply brief. Piona did not seek permission to file a sur-reply brief or to reopen discovery; he instead responded with a motion for sanctions and to disqualify opposing counsel. The district court denied Plona’s motion for sanctions and granted summary judgment in favor of UPS. It held that Piona could not demonstrate that a clear public policy had been jeopardized by his discharge. With regard to Plona’s motion for sanctions, the court held that UPS’s late production of the parking lot lease was excusable and did not prejudice Piona. This timely appeal followed.

II. ANALYSIS

A. Standard of review

We review de novo a district court’s grant of summary judgment. Int’l Union v. Cummins, Inc., 434 F.3d 478, 483 (6th Cir.2006). Summary judgment is proper where no genuine issue of material fact exists and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed. R.Civ.P. 56(c). In considering a motion for summary judgment, the district court must construe all reasonable inferences in favor of the nonmoving party. Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 587, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986). The central issue is “whether the evidence presents a sufficient disagreement to require submission to a jury or whether it is so one-sided that one party must prevail as a matter of law.” [481]*481Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 251-52, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986).

We review the denial of a motion for sanctions for an abuse of discretion. United States v. Allen, 516 F.3d 364, 374 (6th Cir.2008).

B. Wrongful termination claim

Piona alleges that UPS wrongfully discharged him in violation of public policy. Ohio has traditionally adhered to the employment-at-will doctrine, which permits an employer to terminate an at-will employment relationship “for any cause, at any time whatsoever, even if done in gross or reckless disregard of [an] employee’s rights.” Painter v. Graley, 70 Ohio St.3d 377, 639 N.E.2d 51, 55 (1994) (citations and internal quotation marks omitted). But in Greeley v. Miami Valley Maintenance Contractors, Inc., 49 Ohio St.3d 228, 551 N.E.2d 981, 987 (1990), the Ohio Supreme Court carved out an exception to the employment-at-will doctrine for situations where the employee’s discharge contravenes public policy. To maintain a so-called Greeley claim, a plaintiff must establish: (1) the existence of a clear public policy manifested in a state or federal constitution, statute or administrative regulation, or in the common law (the “clarity element”); (2) that a dismissal under circumstances similar to the plaintiffs dismissal would jeopardize the public policy (the “jeopardy element”); (3) that the plaintiffs dismissal was motivated by conduct related to the public policy (the “causation element”); and (4) that the employer lacked an overriding legitimate business justification for the dismissal (the “overriding justification element”). Wiles v. Medina Auto Parts, 96 Ohio St.3d 240, 773 N.E.2d 526, 529-30 (2002). The clarity and jeopardy elements are questions of law to be decided by the court. Id.

Here, Piona asserts that the “clear public policy” at issue is manifested in the Ohio Constitution, Article I, § 4, which states that “[t]he people have the right to bear arms for their defense and security....” He reasons that UPS violated this policy by terminating him for possessing an unloaded firearm in a parking lot that he characterizes as quasi-public property by virtue of its use by UPS customers and its ownership by a party other than UPS.

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558 F.3d 478, 28 I.E.R. Cas. (BNA) 1345, 2009 U.S. App. LEXIS 4804, 2009 WL 564349, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/plona-v-united-parcel-service-inc-ca6-2009.