CIARDI v. LAUREL MEDIA, INC.
Filing
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OPINION re 4 MOTION to Strike Pursuant to FRCVP 12(b)(6) filed by LAUREL MEDIA, INC. Signed by Judge Maurice B. Cohill on 1/5/2012. (sjs)
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA
TRACY L. CIARDI,
Plaintiff,
vs.
LAUREL MEDIA INC.,
Defendant.
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Civ. No. 11-219E
OPINION
Pending before the Court is Defendant Laurel Media Inc.' s "Motion to Strike Pursuant to
FRCVP 12(b)(6)" [ECF #4]. Although titled as a motion to strike, in fact, this Motion is a
Motion to Dismiss Pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6) and forthwith, will be analyzed as such. For
the reasons set forth below, Defendant's Motion is denied as to Count I of the Complaint,
Plaintiffs breach of implied contract claim, and is granted with prejudice as to Count II of the
Complaint, Plaintiff s detrimental reliance/promissory estoppel claim.
I. Standard of Review.
In ruling on a Rule 12(b)(6) motion for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be
granted a Court must '''accept all factual allegations as true, construe the complaint in the light
most favorable to the plaintiff, and determine whether, under any reasonable reading of the
complaint, the plaintiff may be entitled to relief." Phillips v. County of Allegheny, 515 F .3d
224,233 (3d Cir. 200S) (quoting Pinker v. Roche Holdings Ltd., 292 F.3d 361, 374 n. 7 (3d Cir.
2002) and citing Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 563, n.S (2007)). A valid
complaint requires only "a short and plain statement ofthe claim showing that the pleader is
entitled to relief." Fed.R.Civ.P. 8(a)(2). Rule 8 "demands more than an unadorned, the
defendant-unlawfully-harmed-me accusation." Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 129 S.Ct. 1937,
1949 (2009) (citing Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555).
"To survive a motion to dismiss a complaint must contain sufficient factual matter,
accepted as true, to 'state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face. '" Iqbal, 129 S.Ct. at 1949
(quoting Twombly, 550 U.S. at 570). "A claim has facial plausibility when the plaintiff pleads
factual content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable
for the misconduct alleged." Id. (citing Twombly, 550 U.S. at 556). "Factual allegations of a
complaint must be enough to raise a right to relief above the speculative level." Twombly, 550
U.S. at 555. "This [standard] 'does not impose a probability requirement at the pleading stage,'
but instead 'simply calls for enough facts to raise a reasonable expectation that discovery will
reveal evidence of the necessary element." Phillips, 515 F .3d at 234 (quoting Twombly, 550
U.S. at 556). Thus, "a plaintiffs obligation to provide the 'grounds' of his 'entitle[ment] to
relief requires more than labels and conclusions, and a formulaic recitation of the elements of a
cause of action will not do." Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555 (citation omitted).
The Supreme Court in Iqbal explained that although a court must accept as true all of the
factual allegations contained in a complaint, that requirement does not apply to legal
conclusions; therefore, pleadings must include factual allegations to support the legal claims
asserted. Iqbal, 129 S.Ct. at 1949. "Threadbare recitals of the elements of a cause of action,
supported by mere conclusory statements do not suffice." Id. (citing Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555).
See also Phillips, 515 F .3d at 232 ("We caution that without some factual allegation in the
complaint, a claimant cannot satisfy the requirement that he or she provide not only 'fair notice,'
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but also the 'grounds' on which the claim rests.") (citing Twombly, 550 U.S. at 556 n. 3).
Accordingly, to survive a motion to dismiss, a plaintiff must plead "factual content that allows
the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct
alleged." Iqbal, 129 S.Ct. at 1949.
Finally, if court decides to grant a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim upon
which relief can be granted pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6), the court must next decide
whether leave to amend the complaint must be granted. As explained in Phillips, supra.: "We
have instructed that if a complaint is vulnerable to 12(b)(6) dismissal, a district court must permit
a curative amendment, unless an amendment would be inequitable or futile." Phillips, 515 F.3d
at 236 (citing Grayson v. Mayview State Hosp., 293 F.3d 103, 108 (3d Cir.2002)).
II. Factual Allegations.
Plaintiffs Complaint alleges the following facts. Plaintiff currently resides in Aventura,
Florida. Complaint, ~ 1. Defendant, acting through its Chairman and Chief Executive Officer,
Dennis Heindl ("Mr. Heindl"), initiated a series of communications with Plaintiff regarding her
moving from Florida to work for Defendant at its radio station, WDDH, in Ridgway,
Pennsylvania. Id. at ~ 4. Mr. Heindl arranged for Plaintiff to fly to Ridgway on March 18, 2011
to see the station and to meet him and his staff. rd. at ~ 5. Plaintiff met with Mr. Heindl on
March 18 and 19,2011. rd. at ~~ 7-10. On March 18, 2011, Plaintiff and Mr. Heindl discussed
what Plaintiffs yearly salary would be and agreed that she would be paid an initial salary of
$40,000 per year, of which $10,000 would be advanced, similar to a signing bonus, and the
remaining $30,000 would be paid bi-weekly. Id. at ~ 7. Mr. Heindl also led Plaintiff to believe
that she would be paid a quarterly bonus in the range of $750 to $1000, similar to those that were
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paid to other employees of her stature. Id. On March 19, 2011, as he drove Plaintiff to the
airport to return to Florida, Mr. Heindl stated to Plaintiff that: (1) he did not like to have turnover
at the radio station; (2) the radio station employees were like a family to him; (3) he was looking
to purchase a radio station in Florida, and that if she remained employed with the Ridgway radio
station, and if he bought a radio station in Florida, he would consider promoting her to station
manager of the Florida station; (4) she would get raises every year; (5) he would pay for new
furniture if Plaintiff needed it; and (6) she would receive bonuses every quarter. Id. at ~ 9. Mr.
Heindl also stated to Plaintiff on March 19,2011, that he needed an answer quickly as to whether
or not she would come to work for Defendant Lauren Media, Inc. Id. at ~ 10.
"Based upon the aforesaid representations, inducements, and promises," by Mr. Heindl to
Plaintiff, Plaintiff resigned from her job in Florida. Id. at ~ 11. She gave notice to her employer
on March 21,2011 and her last day of work in Florida was on March 27, 2011. Id.
Prior to Plaintiff leaving Florida, on March 22, 211, she received an e-mail from Mr.
Heindl which indicated that his wife was looking for an apartment or house for Plaintiff. Id. at ~
12. Also before Plaintiffleft Florida, on or about March 23 or 24,2011, Mr. Heindl called
Plaintiff and informed her that his wife was still looking for an apartment for Plaintiff, and that in
the meantime, Plaintiff could stay at their lodge. Id. at ~ 13.
From March 28,2011 to April 11, 2011, Plaintiff packed and organized everything she
needed in order to move from Florida to Pennsylvania. Id. at ~ 14. Prior to Plaintiff moving from
Florida to Pennsylvania, Plaintiff never received any communication from Mr. Heindl that" she
would be coming up to Ridgway for only a look-see, or for a short period oftime." rd.
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Plaintiff flew from Florida to Pennsylvania on April 12, 2011. Id. at ~ 15. Plaintiffs
belongings were shipped to Pennsylvania; Defendant paid for the shipping of the items. Id.
Plaintiff began working for Defendant on April 14,2011. Id. at ~ 6. She spent April 14
and 15 doing production and commercials; the station had jingles and liners produced to be used
for the show Plaintiff was going to host. Id.
Plaintiff was on the air from April 20 to April 22. Id. at ~ 17. During that time she also
helped to produce and obtained business cards, and all of the staff and Mr. Heindl expressed their
satisfaction with how she sounded on air. Id.
Plaintiff continued working on air and doing production from April 25, 2011 to April 27,
2011. Id. at ~ 19. On April 27, 2011 Mr. Heindl interviewed Plaintiff for a show he hosted "Talk
of the Town" in order to introduce her to the listening audience as the station's new air talent. Id.
at ~ 20.
Plaintiff had dinner with Mr. and Mrs. Heindl on April 27, 2011; everything said about
Plaintiff's performance that evening was positive. Id. at ~ 21.
On April 28, 2011 Plaintiff worked on-air again and did more production. Id. at ~ 22.
On April 29, 2011, Mr. Heindl called Plaintiff and stated in a cold tone of voice "Hate to
be the bearer of bad news, Kiddo, but that position at the radio station is no longer available." Id.
at ~ 23. Plaintiff asked Mr. Heindl if she had done anything wrong. Id. at ~ 24. He replied "No,
it's not you. You didn't do anything wrong. That position is just not available any more. When
do you want to leave, tomorrow or Monday." Id. Plaintiff responded "Monday." Id.
Immediately after the telephone call ended, Mr. Heindl texted Plaintiff and stated:
Tracy...this whole thing has been a disaster. It has disrupted Rose and my life
and also the radio station. I am eliminating the job at the radio station and will
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have a one way ticket for you back to Florida on Monday. I will have and pay for
shipping your furniture back to you. You should take today and get your affairs
in order. Close out bank accounts and get refund on your apartment. If they do
not give it, I will reimburse you. You will be paid up until today (Friday). This is
how it is going to happen and I will not change my mind. I am sorry it did not
work out but there is nothing I can do about it. You do not have the experience
we are looking for and at least we tried ... Any questions please call.
Id. at,-r 25.
Plaintiff was willing to uproot herself from Florida and move to mostly rural, north
central Pennsylvania, only if the employment would be long-term, a minimum of four or five
years, and only if Defendant would honor its commitment to her, "as set forth in the
representations, inducements, and promises" set forth above, and only if Defendant would give
her a reasonable opportunity to perform her job duties. Id. at ,-r 26.
As of the date when Mr. Heindl notified Plaintiff that she was being terminated, she had
been employed by Defendant for just slightly more than two weeks.lQ.. at ,-r 29. During the
slightly over two week time period when she was employed by Defendant, Plaintiff never
received any indication from Mr. Heindl that her performance was substantially deficient and she
never received a warning that she had to improve her performance in order to continue to be
employed by Defendant. Id. at,-r 32.
III. Legal Analysis.
Plaintiff s Complaint contains two causes of action. Count I alleges a breach of implied
contract of continued long-term employment claim. Count II sets forth a detrimental
reliance/promissory estoppel claim.
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A. Count I - "Breach of implied contract of continued long-term employment,
based on substantial geographic dislocation."
Turning to Count I of Plaintiffs Complaint, Defendant contends that "Plaintiffs
Complaint contains no allegation of an offer of employment for a certain period of time by Mr.
Heindl; nor are there any allegations that plaintiff accepted an offer of employment for a set
period of time" and "[t]hus, plaintiff has failed to set forth any facts which demonstrate with
sufficient specificity that a contract of employment of a certain period of time was ever formed
between plaintiff and Laurel Media., Inc." Defendant's Motion, ~~ 11-12, p. 3 (emphasis in
original).
Plaintiffs position is that "[a] review of Plaintiffs allegations shows that Plaintiff has
adequately pled a claim for an implied employment contract for a reasonable period of time
based upon the additional consideration she provided to Defendant when she accepted
Defendant's job offer and relocated from Florida to Pennsylvania." Plaintiff s Responsive Brief,
p. 2 (citing Cashdollar v. Mercy Hospital of Pittsburgh, 406 Pa. Super. 606, 595 A.2d 70, 72
(1991)). See also Id. at pp. 5-6 ("[s]imilar to the plaintiff in Cashdollar, Plaintiff has alleged she
was induced by Defendant's representation to resign from her job in Florida, that she relocated
from Florida to rural Pennsylvania, and that she was fired a mere two weeks after beginning her
employment with Defendant. Such facts, if determined to be true, may establish an implied
employment contract in Pennsylvania, and are "enough to raise a right to relief above the
speCUlative level' .").
As explained by the Pennsylvania Superior Court in Cashdollar, supra.:
In Pennsylvania, an employment relationship is generally considered to be "at
will," and, absent a contract, may be terminated by either party at any time, for
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any reason or for no reason. However, an employee can defeat the "at-will"
presumption by establishing, inter alia, that the employee gave his employer
additional consideration other than the services for which he was hired. As this
Court stated in Darlington v. General Elec., supra, "a court will find 'additional
consideration' when an employee affords his employer a substantial benefit other
than the services which the employee is hired to perform, or when the employee
undergoes a substantial hardship other than the services which he is hired to
perform." It is a question of fact whether, in a given case, the additional
consideration furnished by the employee is sufficient to rebut the at-will
presumption.
Cashdollar, 595 A.2d at 72-73 (citations omitted). Applying the above-stated law to the facts of
the case before it, the Cashdollar court found that the plaintiff-employee had presented evidence
at trial to support the conclusion that he had undergone substantial hardships other than the
services which he is hired to perform such that there was additional consideration and the at-will
employment presumption had been rebutted; "[t]hus, we cannot say that the trial court erred in
holding that the jury could properly find, based on this evidence, that an implied contract for
employment existed between Cashdollar and Mercy. Id. at 74. In so holding, the court reasoned:
This Court has found insufficient additional consideration where an employee has
suffered detriments, in the course of his or her employment, that are
"commensurate with those incurred by all manner of salaried professionals."
However, in the instant case, there was sufficient evidence that, in taking the job
with Mercy, Cashdollar suffered greater hardship than those hardships "incurred
by all manner of salaried professionals." Cashdollar gave up his secure
employment with Fairfax Hospital Association where he had worked for over four
years at a salary of $82,000.00 per year. In addition, Cashdollar uprooted his
pregnant wife and two-year-old child and sold his home based on his
understanding that he was going to a job where his special talents would be
employed as Vice President of Human Resources at Mercy and also as a
participant in the Eastern Mercy Health Alliance. In light of these special
circumstances that attended Cashdollar's job change, we conclude that these
hardships constitute sufficient additional consideration to rebut the at-will
presumption. See Darlington v. General Elec., supra at 201, 504 A.2d at 315
(additional consideration regarded as sufficient when new employee must
undergo substantial hardship such as moving family to take new position) ....
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Id. at 73-74 (footnote and citations omitted). The Cashdollar plaintiff had only been employed
by the defendant for sixteen days when he was "abruptly fired for allegedly creating an unstable
working environment." Id. at 72.
Another case where it was concluded that additional consideration was present such that
an implied contract for a reasonable time period was found in what would otherwise have been
an at-will employment arrangement is News Printing Co, Inc. v. Roundy, 409 Pa. Super. 64, 597
A.2d 662 (1991). In News Printing, the plaintiff, who had been employed for approximately
three months before he was terminated, sued for breach of contract. The state appellate court
reviewed the trial court record and concluded:
we agree with the trial court that sufficient evidence was presented by [the
plaintiff-employee] to support the jury's finding that an implied contract for a
reasonable period of time existed between [the plaintiff and the defendant
employer]. By quitting his job [in Massachusetts], rejecting the job offer [in
Massachusetts], selling his Massachusetts house, and purchasing a home in
Pennsylvania, [plaintiff] provided additional consideration sufficient to rebut the
at-will presumption. Moreover, [plaintiffs] statement that he needed six months
to become effective and [defendant's] agreement to give [plaintiff] time to "get
into" the job indicate the parties' intent to enter into a contract of employment for
a reasonable period of time. Accordingly, the evidence is sufficient to support the
jury's finding that the at-will presumption was overcome.
Id. at p. 71. See also Scullion v. EMECO Industries, Inc., 398 Pa. Super. 294, 580 A.2d 1356
( 1990) (court affirmed trial court's finding that three months was not a reasonable period of
employment where the employee relocated his family from California to Hanover, Pennsylvania
and rejected a higher offer from his then current employer prior to accepting the position with the
defendant); Bair v. Purcell, 500 F.Supp.2d 468, 480 (M.D. Pa. 2007) (court denied summary
judgment on breach of contract claim by plaintiffs who were terminated approximately one year
after first being employed based on court's conclusion that a jury could find additional
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consideration to overcome the at-will presumption given evidence of plaintiffs' relocation, the
distressed sale of their home, their decision to forego other employment opportunities, and their
arguably stronger bargaining power than the average employee).
To the contrary, there are numerous cases wherein courts reviewing claims of this nature
have found that the detriments alleged by the employee-plaintiff to be "additional consideration"
are simply detriments commensurate with those incurred by all manner of salaried professionals.
For example, in Veno v. Meredith, 357 Pa. Super. 85,515 A.2d 571 (1986), the state appellate
court upheld the trial court's determination that there was insufficient evidence to overcome the
employment at-will presumption where the plaintiff was fired after eight years even though the
employee had given up ajob with a newspaper and moved his family from New Jersey to
Pennsylvania, and had throughout the years refused other employment opportunities); Quint v.
Thar Process, Inc., 2011 WL 4345925, *9 (W.D. Pa. Sept. 15,2011) (J. Standish) (court granted
motion to dismiss claim of employee who was terminated after working for eleven months where
employee had commuted between Michigan and Pennsylvania for first six months of
employment but did so as part of the parties' original agreement and seemingly had received
compensation for these travel expenses, employee had listed his house in Michigan for sale but
had not sold it, and his wife had relocated her employment to Pittsburgh); Pinderski v.
Commonwealth Telephone Enterprises, Inc., 2006 WL 2085996 (E.D. Pa. July 25, 2006) (court
granted motion to dismiss plaintiff s breach of contract claim on the basis that the employee,
who had been terminated less than one month after he began employment with defendant
employer, had not alleged "sufficient additional consideration;" plaintiff had alleged that at the
time defendant offered him the job, he resided in Illinois with his wife and children, that in order
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to accept the job, plaintiff and his family would have had to eventually move to Pennsylvania
and he had incurred expenses in preparing to move to Pennsylvania, and that when plaintiff
accepted the job offer, his wife resigned from a well-paying job); Shaffer v. BNP/Cooper Neff,
Inc., 1998 WL 575135, *7 (E.D. Pa. Sept. 4, 1998) (court granted motion for summary judgment
where employee was terminated approximately six months after transferring to Singapore where
transfer had originally been employee's idea, he neither sold a house or relocated family, and the
transfer provided employee with additional significant benefits); Shriver v. Cichelli, 1992 WL
350226, *5-6 (E.D. Pa. November 19, 1992) (court granted summary judgment on breach of
implied contract claim where plaintiff, who was terminated after being employed for four
months, had been unemployed prior to accepting the position and relocating from New
Hampshire to Pennsylvania, was willing to relocate, did not have to sell his home or move
children and family, and the relocation was not related to a demand by a then current employer).
Turning to the allegations contained in Plaintiffs Complaint, Plaintiff alleges that
based upon Defendant's job offer, she quit her job in Florida, moved herself and her
belongs from Florida to Pennsylvania (defendant paying for the belongings to be moved),
and that after working for Defendant for fifteen days, she was told that her position at the
radio station was being terminated the next day and that she should plan to return to
Florida. We find these factual allegations state a claim for breach of an implied contract of
employment for a reasonable period of time that is plausible on its face. Therefore,
Defendant's Motion with respect to Count I of the Complaint is denied.
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B. Count II - "Detrimental reliance/promissory estoppeI."
With respect to Count II of Plaintiff's Complaint, in her Brief in Response to Defendant's
Motion to Strike Pursuant to FRCVP 12(b)(6), Plaintiff states: "Plaintiff does not contest
Defendant's argument for dismissal of Plaintiff's detrimental reliance/promissory estoppel claim
at Count II of the Complaint. Plaintiff's Responsive Brief, p. 1 n. 1. As such, we will grant
Defendant's Motion with respect to Count II of the Complaint and dismiss said count with
prejudice.
IV. Conclusion.
For the reasons set forth above, Defendant's Motion is denied as to Count 1 of the
Complaint and granted with prejudice as to Count 2 of the Complaint. An appropriate order will
follow.
January 5, 2012
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