Wertz v. Ingalls Shipbuilding, Inc.

790 So. 2d 841, 17 I.E.R. Cas. (BNA) 27, 2000 Miss. App. LEXIS 548, 2000 WL 1742833
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedNovember 28, 2000
Docket1999-CA-00048-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 790 So. 2d 841 (Wertz v. Ingalls Shipbuilding, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Mississippi primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Wertz v. Ingalls Shipbuilding, Inc., 790 So. 2d 841, 17 I.E.R. Cas. (BNA) 27, 2000 Miss. App. LEXIS 548, 2000 WL 1742833 (Mich. Ct. App. 2000).

Opinion

790 So.2d 841 (2000)

James C. WERTZ, Appellant
v.
INGALLS SHIPBUILDING INC., Appellee.

No. 1999-CA-00048-COA.

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

November 28, 2000.
Rehearing Denied February 27, 2001.
Certiorari Denied July 19, 2001.

*843 Jim Waide, David Chandler, Victor Israel Fleitas, Tupelo, Attorneys for Appellant.

Robert J. Ariatti Jr., William James Powers Jr., Paul Brooks Eason, Kathryn Russell Gilchrist, Jackson, Attorneys for Appellee.

BEFORE KING, P.J., LEE, AND MYERS, JJ.

KING, P.J., for the Court:

¶ 1. This appeal arises from the Jackson County Circuit Court's judgment sustaining Ingalls Shipbuilding, Inc.'s (Ingalls) motion for summary judgment. The circuit court found that James Wertz's claim for wrongful discharge was barred by Miss.Code Ann. § 15-1-49 (Rev.1995) and the claim for tortious interference with employment was barred by Miss.Code Ann § 15-1-35 (Rev.1995). The court further found that, in light of the evidence submitted by the parties, the savings statute, Miss.Code Ann. § 15-1-69 (Rev.1995), was inapplicable. Aggrieved by the decision of the circuit court, Wertz raises the following issues on appeal: 1) whether the circuit court erred in dismissing the appellant's claims based on the statute of limitations pursuant to Miss.Code Ann. § 15-1-69, and 2) whether genuine issues of material fact exist regarding the appellant's claims for wrongful discharge in violation of public policy and tortious interference with contract.

FACTS

¶ 2. James Wertz was hired by Ingalls in 1991 as an engineer and continued to work there until he was laid off in the fall of 1993. This lay off was ostensibly due to a reduction in the work force. Ingalls, as a marine contractor, built ships for the United States Navy. In March of 1993, Wertz reported to a Department of Defense representative that Ingalls was unlawfully failing to protect classified information. Wertz's charges were reported to Ingalls's director of security, Alvin Downs. The Department of Defense investigated Wertz's allegations of a security breach by Ingalls and determined them to be unfounded. Following this report, by memo dated May 7, 1993, Ingalls revoked Wertz's security clearance.

¶ 3. Ingalls conducted an annual evaluation of the employees. In his March 1993 evaluation, Wertz was described as an acceptable employee who "fully meets expectations." In an evaluation performed in August, approximately five months later, and subsequent to the allegation of a security breach, Wertz's performance was downgraded to "needs improvement." After this evaluation, Wertz was laid off allegedly due to a reduction in force.

¶ 4. In 1994 Wertz was employed by CDI Marine Company (CDI), a subcontractor for Ingalls. CDI assigned Wertz *844 to work at Ingalls's facility. Ingalls, through Downs, its security director, informed CDI that Wertz was banned from Ingalls's facility. CDI removed Wertz and laid him off alleging a lack of work. On November 15, 1995, Wertz filed suit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi, charging Ingalls with a retaliatory layoff and interference with an employment contract. Wertz, claiming to be a citizen of Louisiana, alleged that federal jurisdiction was appropriate because of diversity.

¶ 5. The district court conducted an evidentiary hearing on March 27, 1997. That court held that Wertz was a Mississippi resident when his lawsuit was filed, and that the federal court lacked diversity and subject matter jurisdiction. Eleven days after having his action dismissed in federal court, Wertz refiled in Jackson County Circuit Court. The Jackson County Circuit Court granted Ingalls a summary judgment, based upon this action being time barred, pursuant to Miss.Code Ann. § 15-1-49 (Rev.1995) and Miss.Code Ann § 15-1-35 (Rev.1995). Wertz has appealed that grant of summary judgment.

ANALYSIS AND ISSUES

I.

Whether the circuit court erred in dismissing the appellant's claims based on the statute of limitations pursuant to Miss.Code Ann. § 15-1-69.

¶ 6. Wertz argues that his cause of action is permitted pursuant to Miss.Code Ann. § 15-1-69[1] and that the circuit court erred in finding it inapplicable to this case. He contends that section 15-1-69 permits an action, dismissed for lack of subject matter jurisdiction in federal court, to be refiled in a Mississippi court within one year of dismissal, and the failure to apply this statute was manifest and grave error.

¶ 7. Miss.Code Ann. § 15-1-69, the savings statute, allows a properly filed action, which has been abated or avoided for any matter of form, to be refiled in the proper court within one year after the abatement or reversal of the original action. "Matters of form referred to in the savings statute may include orders of dismissal for lack of jurisdiction." Ryan v. Wardlaw, 382 So.2d 1078, 1079 (Miss. 1980). See also Hawkins v. Scottish Union & Nat'l Ins. Co., 110 Miss. 23, 69 So. 710, 712 (1915). One of the designs of the savings statute is to protect parties who have mistakenly chosen the wrong forum in which to bring their actions. Hawkins, 69 So. at 712. Dismissal of a suit filed in federal court within the limitation period for lack of jurisdiction is a dismissal for matter of form within section 15-1-69. Frederick Smith Enterprise Co. v. Lucas, 204 Miss. 43, 36 So.2d 812, 814 (1948). The plaintiff, however, must have exercised good faith in filing the first action in the wrong court. Hawkins, 69 So. at 712.

¶ 8. Ingalls laid Wertz off on October 8, 1993, and CDI laid him off on October 15, 1994. Wertz moved to Louisiana on November 14, 1995 to establish diversity to file his claim in federal court. *845 On November 15, 1995 Wertz filed wrongful discharge and intentional interference with contract claims in federal district court. Both claims were dismissed by the district court for lack of subject matter jurisdiction on March 27, 1997. Wertz subsequently filed the same claims in state circuit court on April 8, 1997. Ingalls filed a motion for summary judgment asserting that the statute of limitations had run on Wertz's claims. The court granted summary judgment in favor of Ingalls. Pursuant to section 15-1-49, the statute of limitation for claims of intentional interference with contract and wrongful discharge, Wertz had three years within which to file his claims. See Nichols v. Tri-State Brick and Tile, 608 So.2d 324, 332-33 (Miss. 1992). Although Wertz's wrongful discharge claim was filed in federal court within the three year period of limitation, it was not refiled in state court within the requisite three year period. The savings statute, section 15-1-69, is only available when the cause in good faith is erroneously misfiled. See Hawkins v. Scottish Union & Nat'l Ins. Co.,

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Bluebook (online)
790 So. 2d 841, 17 I.E.R. Cas. (BNA) 27, 2000 Miss. App. LEXIS 548, 2000 WL 1742833, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wertz-v-ingalls-shipbuilding-inc-missctapp-2000.