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Frazier v. J.R. Simplot Company6/22/2001
Twin Falls, March 2001 Term
2001 Opinion No. 53
Frederick C. Lyon, Clerk
Appeal from the District Court of the Fifth Judicial District of the State of Idaho, Minidoka County. Hon. J. William Hart, District Judge.
The order of the district court is affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded.
This is an appeal from an order granting summary judgment dismissing the complaint on the ground that the claims were barred by the statute of limitations. When ruling on the motion for summary judgment, the district court refused to consider an affidavit submitted by the plaintiff because the court found that the affidavit conflicted with the plaintiff's prior deposition testimony. We affirm the order in part, reverse it in part, and remand this case for further proceedings.
I. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
Beverly Frazier was employed by the J.R. Simplot Company for almost twenty years. She was terminated on June 22, 1996, when the job she had been doing was eliminated. From 1989 until her termination, she was a clerk in the parts room. In 1996 the Simplot Company decided to close the parts room and to "outsource" that work to an independent contractor. After her job was terminated, Frazier began working for the independent contractor.
On August 28, 1997, the Beverly Frazier filed a seven-count complaint against the Simplot Company alleging claims for gender discrimination/disparate treatment, hostile workplace environment, discriminatory wage rates, retaliation, breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and negligent retention/supervision. In her complaint, Frazier alleged that throughout her employment with the Simplot Company she had been subjected to physical and verbal abuse based upon her gender, that she had been paid less and denied jobs because of her gender, and that she was the subject of retaliation because she reported such conduct.
On September 17, 1999, the Simplot Company moved for summary judgment based upon the two-year statute of limitations provided in Idaho Code ยง 67-5908(2). The Simplot Company based its motion primarily upon Frazier's deposition testimony. In her deposition, she testified that she had been denied jobs for which men were hired in 1978, 1979, 1984, and 1985, all of which occurred more than two years before she filed her lawsuit. Frazier testified that after 1989, when she went to work in the parts room, she was not subjected to physical and verbal abuse or problems in the form of sexual harassment. She was unable to provide facts supporting her claim regarding discriminatory wages based upon her gender. The Simplot Company also argued that Frazier had not identified any incidents of alleged retaliation occurring after 1989; that she had not stated a claim for violation of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing; that any claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress was barred by the statute of limitations; and that her claim for negligent supervision was both barred by the statute of limitations and not an actionable claim where the alleged damage was purely emotional trauma.
At the hearing on the motion for summary judgment, Frazier voluntarily dismissed her claims for intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligent retention/supervision. Eleven days later, the district court issued its order granting the motion for summary judgment on the ground that Frazier's claims were barred by the statute of limitations.
Frazier then filed a motion for reconsideration, alleging that Frazier's affidavit filed before the hearing on the motion for
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