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Sahli v. Bull HN Information Systems9/9/2002
Middlesex.
May 8, 2002
Anti-Discrimination Law, Employment, Termination of employment, Age. Employment, Discrimination, Retaliation. Constitutional Law, Right to petition government. Practice, Civil, Costs.
CORDY, J.
In this case, we hold that a lawsuit filed by an employer against a former employee who has lodged a charge of discrimination is not an act of retaliation or interference in violation of the State's antidiscrimination laws where the lawsuit had a legitimate basis in law and in fact.
1. Background. Sonja Sahli worked in the human resources department of Bull HN Information Systems, Inc. (Bull), for eight years. She was laid off in April, 1995, at age fifty-three. After she was notified about the impending layoff, Sahli applied for, but was not selected to fill, a vacant position in the human resources department. Before she left Bull, Sahli signed a release and severance agreement, in which she agreed to release Bull from any "current or prior claims arising out of employment with or termination from Bull," in exchange for eight weeks of her salary as severance payment.
Several months after leaving Bull, Sahli learned that the person who was hired to fill the vacant position was a younger woman. Believing that she was not chosen to fill the position because of her age, Sahli filed a charge of discrimination with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (MCAD), asserting, inter alia, that:
(1) "Bull's policy and practice in the event of a lay-off is to place a laid-off employee in another vacant position within the company, where possible."
(2) "I was amply qualified for [a vacant position in the human resources department]."
(3) "I heard that Bull had filled the [vacant position] with an outside applicant who was a number of years younger than I was. On information or belief, the person who was hired for the position was less qualified for it than I was."
(4) "I believe that Bull failed to follow its policy and practice in my case of relocating laid-off employees into vacant positions within the company and failed to hire me for the [vacant position] because of my age."
In response to Sahli's MCAD charge, Bull filed a complaint for declaratory relief in the Superior Court alleging that Sahli's discrimination charge was barred by the terms of the release that she had signed when she left Bull. Bull contended that the essence of Sahli's discrimination claim was Bull's failure to relocate her into a vacant position instead of laying her off, and as such, was a claim arising out of her termination. Therefore, Bull asked the court to "declar the parties' respective rights, duties, and obligations under the Release Agreement," find that Sahli's bringing of the discrimination charge violated its terms, and order the return of Sahli's severance payment.
One month after Bull filed its complaint, Sahli filed a second charge of discrimination with the MCAD alleging that Bull's complaint constituted discriminatory retaliation in violation of G. L. c.151B, §4 (4) (retaliation claim), and threats, intimidation, coercion, and interference with her protected rights in violation of G. L. c. 151B, § 4 (4A) (interference claim). She also filed a motion to dismiss Bull's complaint in the Superior Court, arguing that the release did not bar her MCAD charge because it involved a "failure to hire" claim that did not accrue until she discovered, several months after she had left Bull, that the person who filled the vacant position was a younger woman. Without deciding the merits of Bull's claim, a Superior Court judge allowed Sahli's motion to dism
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