Yang v. Navigators Group, Inc.

155 F. Supp. 3d 327, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 477, 2016 WL 67790
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedJanuary 4, 2016
Docket13-cv-2073 (NSR)
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 155 F. Supp. 3d 327 (Yang v. Navigators Group, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Yang v. Navigators Group, Inc., 155 F. Supp. 3d 327, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 477, 2016 WL 67790 (S.D.N.Y. 2016).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

NELSON S. ROMAN, United States District Judge

Before the Court is Defendant Navigators Group, Inc.’s (“Defendant”) motion for summary judgment on Plaintiff Jennifer Yang’s (“Plaintiff’) claims for violations of the anti-retaliation provision of the Sar-banes-Oxley Act (“SOX”), 18 U.S.C. § 1514A, and the whistleblower protection provision of the Dodd-Frank Act (“DFA”), 15 U.S.C. § 78u-6(h)(i). For the following reasons, Defendant’s motion is GRANTED.

[330]*330BACKGROUND

The Court has reviewed the parties’ Local Civil Rule 56.1 statements, declarations, and accompanying exhibits. The facts as presented in the parties’ submissions, construed liberally and in the light most favorable to Plaintiff, largely track the facts as stated by the Court in its Memorandum Opinion and Order issued in this matter in connection with Defendant’s Rule 12(c) motion for judgment on the pleadings. (Docket No. 56.) The Court therefore assumes the parties’ general familiarity with the pertinent facts and procedural history of this matter, but highlights certain facts relevant to the resolution of this motion below.

Plaintiff was hired by Defendant as its Chief Risk Officer and began work on June 25, 2012. (Pl.’s Opp. to Def.’s Local Rule 56.1 Statement of Undisputed Material Facts (“Pl.’s 56.1”) ¶ 4.) Prior to joining Defendant, Plaintiff worked at AIG for over five years. (Id. ¶ 1.) Plaintiff reported directly to Defendant’s Chief Financial Officer (“CFO”), Ciro DeFalco.

At multiple times during her employment, Plaintiff contends that she alerted DeFalco of certain misrepresentations concerning Defendant’s risk models and risk sub-committees, which were illegal and constituted shareholder fraud. (Declaration of Jennifer Yang (‘Yang Decl.”) ¶ 40(c).) Defendant asserts that Plaintiff never stated in any email, memorandum, or document that she thought Defendant had engaged in anything “illegal,” including “fraud” or “shareholder fraud.” (Def.’s 56.1 ¶¶ 10-12.) Plaintiff admits that she never stated Defendant did anything “illegal,” but asserts that she did state Defendant engaged in “fraud” or “shareholder fraud.” (Pl.’s 56.1 ¶¶ 10-12.) Plaintiff cites to a number of documents as evidence that she raised issues concerning shareholder fraud' to DeFalco. Yang Decl. ¶ 40(c) (citing Declaration of Daniel J. Kaiser (“Kaiser Deck”), Exs. 1, 4, 8, 22, and Declaration of A. Michael Weber (“Weber Decl.”), Exs. 2, 7.))

Plaintiff also testified that she emailed Defendant’s Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”) Stanley Galanski on October 25, 2012, roughly one week prior to her termination, because she was “ ‘so concerned’ that ‘something untrue’ was being presented to [Defendant’s] Board of Directors and the rating agencies, thereby ‘constituting] shareholder fraud.’ ” (Pl.’s 56.1 ¶ 18 (citing Weber Decl., Ex. 1, at 202:16-21.))

Finally, Plaintiff also asserts that she alerted Defendant’s General Counsel, Bruce Byrnes, that, among other issues, Defendant’s SEC filings did not accurately represent Defendant’s risk management programs and its risk sub-committees. Yang Decl. ¶ 26.) .

STANDARD ON A MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure provides: “The court shall grant summary judgment if the movant shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a). The moving party bears the initial burden of pointing to evidence in the record, “including depositions, documents [and] affidavits or declarations,” id. at 56(c)(1)(A), “which it believes demonstrate[s] the absence of a genuine issue of material fact.” Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). The moving party may also support an assertion that there is no genuine dispute by “showing . ’.. that [the] adverse party cannot produce admissible evidence to support the fact.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c)(1)(B). If the moving party fulfills its preliminary burden, the onus shifts to the non-moving party to identify “specific [331]*331facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial.” Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986) (internal citation and quotation marks omitted). A genuine dispute of material fact exists when “the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party.” Id. at 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505; accord Bern v. Kissane, 510 Fed.Appx. 34, 36 (2d Cir.2013) (summary order). Courts must “construe] the evidence in the light most favorable to the non-moving party and draw[ ] all reasonable inferences in its favor.” Fincher v. Depository Trust & Clearing Corp., 604 F.3d 712, 720 (2d Cir.2010) (internal quotation marks omitted). In reviewing the record, “the judge’s function is not himself to weigh the evidence and determine the truth of the matter,” nor is it to determine a witness’s credibility. Anderson, 477 U.S. at 249, 106 S.Ct. 2505. Rather, “[t]he inquiry performed is the threshold inquiry of determining whether there- is the need for a trial.” Id. at 250, 106 S.Ct. 2505.

Summary judgment should be granted when a party “fails to make a showing sufficient to establish the existence of an element essential to that party’s case, and on which that party will bear the burden of proof at trial.” Celotex, 477 U.S. at 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548. The party asserting that a fact is genuinely disputed must support their assertion by “citing to particular parts of materials in the record” or “showing that the materials cited do not establish the absence ... of a genuine dispute.”' Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c)(1). “Statements that are devoid of any specifics, but replete with conclusions, are insufficient to defeat a properly supported motion for summary judgment.” Bickerstaff v. Vassar Coll., 196 F.3d 435, 452 (2d Cir.1999). The nonmov-ing party “may not rely on conclusory allegations or unsubstantiated speculation.” FDIC v. Great Am. Ins. Co., 607 F.3d 288, 292 (2d Cir.2010) (internal citation and quotation marks omitted). Moreover, “[a nonmoving party’s] self-serving statement, without direct or circumstantial evidence to support the charge, is insufficient to defeat a motion for summary judgment.” Fincher v. Depository Trust & Clearing Corp., No. 06 Cv. 9959 (WHP), 2008 WL 4308126, at *3 (S.D.N.Y. Sept.

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Yang v. Navigators Group, Inc.
674 F. App'x 13 (Second Circuit, 2016)

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Bluebook (online)
155 F. Supp. 3d 327, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 477, 2016 WL 67790, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/yang-v-navigators-group-inc-nysd-2016.