Brownlie v. Kanzaki Specialty Papers Inc.3/12/1998
Hampden.
J. Gibb Brownlie was discharged from his position as vice-president of public affairs for Kanzaki Specialty Papers, Inc. (Kanzaki), in February, 1992. He had been demoted in 1990, when he turned sixty, and demoted again in 1991. After he was discharged, Brownlie filed a complaint with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (MCAD) in April, 1992, alleging age discrimination. General Laws c. 151B, Section 4 (1B), makes it an unlawful practice for an employer to refuse to hire or employ or to bar or to discharge from employment any individual because of his or her age. (Under G. L. c. 151B, Section 1 (8), a person over forty years may claim age discrimination.) Brownlie withdrew his complaint from the MCAD and filed his action in the Superior Court in December, 1992.
In June, 1994, a jury returned a verdict on special questions in favor of Brownlie. He was awarded compensatory damages in the amount of $262,252 and emotional distress damages in the amount of $50,000. The trial Judge subsequently ordered Kanzaki to pay double damages in the amount of $624,504, attorney's fees in the amount of $157,492.50, and costs in the amount of $10,404.35. He concluded that the president of Kanzaki had "reason to know" that the termination violated G. L. c. 151B, Section 4. The trial Judge also denied Kanzaki's posttrial motions for judgment notwithstanding the verdict or a new trial. Kanzaki filed a timely appeal from the final judgment and from the denial of its posttrial motions.
We proceed with the factual background and a Discussion of the issues open on appeal.
1. Factual background. We state the facts under the standard applicable to a motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict. Kanzaki is a specialty paper company and a subsidiary of Kanzaki Japan, a Japanese corporation. In 1991, the year immediately prior to Brownlie's discharge, annual sales were $89,641,000. Kazuhico Watanabe was the president of Kanzaki during the relevant time period, and he reported daily to the president of Kanzaki Japan. Kanzaki Japan had a written policy that required all employees, including senior managers, to retire at age sixty. Although a mandatory retirement policy was in effect at Kanzaki Japan, Watanabe knew that age discrimination was illegal in Massachusetts and in the United States.
In December, 1986, Kanzaki purchased a plant in Massachusetts from Ludlow Corporation, another paper company. Brownlie had been employed by Ludlow in various positions from 1978 to 1986. After Kanzaki purchased the Ludlow plant, most of the former Ludlow employees, including Brownlie, became employees of Kanzaki.
Brownlie was fifty-six years old at the time he was hired by Kanzaki. From December, 1986, until June, 1989, he was marketing services and public relations manager. His duties included responsibility for advertising, sales promotion, public relations, and product management.
On June 1, 1989, Watanabe promoted Brownlie, then age fifty-nine, to the position of vice-president of sales and marketing and Brownlie received a salary increase from $46,000 to $71,000. He was responsible for advertising, sales promotions, public relations, and product management, and reported directly to Watanabe. He also managed the inside sales force, which was comprised of approximately eight people, and the field sales force, which was made up of approximately twelve sales people and three regional managers.
In August, 1990, when Brownlie was sixty years old, Watanabe relieved Brownlie of his sales responsibilities and transferred those tasks to Hamlet Collina, a new employee who was forty-nine years old. Collina became vice-president of sa
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