17-27 9-cv

Smith v. M et. M useum of A rt



### U N I T E D S TAT E S C OURT O F A P P EA L S F O R T HE S E C O

ND C I R C U I T



## S UM M ARY O RD E R

R UL I NG S B Y S U

M M A R Y OR D E R D O NO T H

A V E PR E C E D EN T I A

L E F FE C T

. C I T

A T I O N T O A S U

M M A R Y OR D E R F I L E D ON OR AF T E R J

A N U A R Y 1, 2007, I S PE R M I T T E D A

N D I S GO

V E R NE D B Y F E D E R

A L R U L E O F A P PE L L

A T E P R O C E D UR E 32. 1 AND TH IS CO UR T ’ S L O C

A L R U L E 32.1.1. WHEN C I T I NG A S U M M A R Y OR D E R I N A D O C U M EN T F I L E D W I T H T H I S C OUR T , A P

A R T Y M U S T C I T E E I T HE R T HE F E D E R A L A P PEN

D I X OR A

N E L E C T R O N I C DA T A B AS E ( W I T H T HE NO T

A T I O N “ S U M M A R Y OR D E R ”). A P

A R T Y C I T I NG A S U

M M A R Y OR D E R M U S T S E R V E A C O P Y O F I T O

N A NY P A R T Y NO T R

E PR E S EN T E D B Y C OU

N S E L

.
At a state d ter m of the U nited Stat es Co urt o f App eals for t he Se cond Circu it, h eld a t the Thur good Marsh all U nited State s Cou rthou se, 4 0 Fol ey Square, in t he Ci ty of New York, on th e 20 day of Se ptemb er, two th ousan d sev entee n.

th

PRESE NT: DENNI S JAC OBS,

JOSÉ A. CA

BRANE S, RICHARD C. WESL EY,

Circu it Ju dges.

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JAMES SMIT H,

Plain tiff- Appel lant,

-v.- 17-27 9-cv

THE METROP OLITA

N MUS EUM O F ART , JOHN AND J ANE D OES 1 -10, XYZ C ORP. 1-20, LOCAL UNIO N 150 3, DI STRIC T COUNCIL 37, AFSCME AFL -CIO,

Defen dants -Appe llees

.

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FOR A PPELLANT: RUDY A. DE RMESR OPIAN , Law Offi ce of Ru dy A. Derm esrop ian, LLC, New Y ork, NY.

1FOR A PPELL EES: CLIFF ORD R . ATL AS (S uzann e E. Peter s on the b rief) , Jac kson Lewis P.C. , New York , NY, for defen dants -appe llees Metro polit an Mu seum of Ar t, Jo hn and J ane D oes 1 -10, and X YZ Corp. 1-20

.

MAURE EN M. STAM PP (J essic a N. Tisch ler o n the brie f), K aufma n Dolow ich & Volu ck, L LP, N ew York, NY, for d efend ant-a ppell ee Local Unio n 150 3, Di stric t Counc il 37 , AFS CME A FL-CI O.

Appea l fro m a j udgme nt of the Unite d Sta tes D istri ct Court for the S outhe rn Di stric t of New Y ork ( Rakof f, J. ).

UPON DUE C ONSID ERATI ON, I T IS HEREB Y ORD ERED, ADJU DGED AND D ECREE D that the judgm ent o f the dist rict court be AFFIR MED

.

James Smit h sue d his unio n (Lo cal U nion 1503, or “ the Union ”) an d his form er em ploye r (th e Met ropol itan Museu m of Art, or “t he Mu seum” ), al legin g (1) age discr imina tion again st th e Mus eum, and ( 2) br each of th e dut y of fair repre senta tion again st th e Uni on. The Unit ed St ates 1 Distr ict C ourt for t he So uther n Dis trict of N ew Yo rk (Rako ff, J .) di smiss ed th e com plain t on motio n, co nclud ing that his c laims agai nst t he Mu seum were relea sed a nd th at his c laims agai nst t he Un ion w ere t ime-b arred . We revi ew that deter minat ion d e nov o. S ee Ru otolo v. C ity o f New York, 514 F.3d 184, 188 ( 2d Ci r. 20 08). We a ssume the parti es’ f amili arity with the under lying fact s, th e proce dural hist ory, and t he is sues prese nted for r eview

.

Smit h’s o perat ive c ompla int a lso a ssert ed a claimfor 1 the U nion’ s bre ach o f fid uciar y dut y and both part ies’ breac h of a col lecti ve ba rgain ing a greem ent; but S mith’ s brief s do not a ddres s the se cl aims on ap peal, so t hey a re deeme d aba ndone d.

21 . Th e Mus eum f ired Smith beca use i t bel ieved that he

had d eface d Egy ptian stat ues. Smit h dis puted the Museu m’s alleg ation and insti tuted a gr ievan ce pr ocedu re to chal lenge his t ermin ation . Be fore that proce ss co nclud ed, S mith, the Union , and the Museu m ent ered into a set tleme nt ag reeme nt (“the Rele ase”) , in which the Museu m agr eed t o pay Smit h six-a nd-a- half month s of salar y in excha nge f or hi s wai ver of al l pot entia l cla ims a gains t the Muse um. The R eleas e provi des:

Smith

. . . her eby v olunt arily , kno wingl y, an d willi ngly waive s (i. e. gi ves u p) an d rel eases the Museu m and [ass ociat ed en titie s] fr om, a ny an d all claim s, ri ghts, debt s, li abili ties, dema nds, and
cause s of actio n, kn own o r unk nown, aris ing u nder feder al[,] stat e, lo cal, or co mmon law,

. . . inclu ding but n ot li mited to c laims aris ing f rom his e mploy ment with the M useumor t he te rmina tion of hi s emp loyme nt .

. . . J. Ap p’x a t 20.

Smith argu es th at he revo ked t he Re lease befo re it took effec t. T he Re lease prov ides for r evoca tion:

Smith has seven (7) days after he s igns this Agree ment to re voke it by no tifyi ng th e Mus eum i n writi ng . Th e Agr eemen t wil l not beco me ef fecti ve
or en force able until the seven (7) day r evoca tion perio d has expi red[. ]

J. Ap p’x a t 23 (emph asis added ).

Smith fail ed to alle ge th at he comp lied with the
revoc ation proc edure s set out in th e Rel ease. The oper ative compl aint state s tha t, wi thin the d esign ated time perio d, he instr ucted his attor ney t o rev oke t he Re lease ; but the compl aint does not s tate that Smith ’s at torne y (or anyo ne else) comm unica ted t hat i ntent to t he Mu seum in wr iting

. Smith also alle ges t hat h e inf ormed the Museu m’s g enera l

3couns el of his inten t to revok e the Rele ase. But the 2 compl aint does not a llege that Smit h inf ormed the gener al
couns el wi thin the s even- day p eriod , or wheth er th e notif icati on wa s in writi ng. There fore, Smit h has not alleg ed th at he vali dly r evoke d the Rele ase. Cons equen tly, all o f Smi th’s claim s aga inst the M useumare barre d by the Relea se. 3

2. Smi th ar gues that if hi s Uni on-ap point ed at torne y faile d to commu nicat e Smi th’s revoc ation of t he Re lease to the M useum , the n the Unio n wou ld ha ve br eache d its duty of fair repre senta tion. The stat ute o f lim itati ons f or su ch a claimis s ix mo nths, begi nning “whe n the empl oyee knew or shoul d hav e kno wn of the breac h.” Carri on v. Ente r. As s’n, Metal Trad es Br anch Local Unio n 638 , 227 F.3d 29, 34-35 (2d Cir. 2000) (per curi am) ( quota tion marks omit ted).

Smith file d his clai m mor e tha n six mont hs af ter t he limit ation s per iod b egan to ru n. S mith signe d the Rele ase on Oc tober 2, 2 015. The Relea se be came effec tive on Oc tober 9, 20 15, s even days after exec ution . Th e Rel ease requi red the M useumto s end S mith a che ck fo r six -and- a-hal f mon ths of sa lary withi n thi rty d ays o f the effe ctive date , tha t is, by No vembe r 9, 2015. Smi th ad mitte d tha t he recei ved t he check . By the time Smith rece ived the c heck, he s hould have known that his inten t to revok e the Rele ase h ad no t bee n
commu nicat ed to the Museu m. T heref ore, the s tatut e of

Smit h’s c ompla int a ctual ly al leged that he i nform ed 2 “Shar on Co x,” a memb er of the Museu m’s B oard of Di recto rs, of hi s int ent t o wit hdraw . Hi s bri ef st ates this was e rror; he ac tuall y inf ormed “Sha ron C ott,” the Museu m’s g enera l
couns el.

Smit h’s r eply brief argu es th at th e Rel ease does not 3 bar h is ag e dis crimi natio n cla ims b rough t pur suant to N ew York State and City law b ecaus e the Rele ase “ do[es ] not speci fical ly relea se th e [Mu seum] fromthos e cla ims.” Appel lant’ s Rep ly Br . at 11 (e mphas is ad ded). Thi s arg ument is fr ivolo us. The R eleas e wai ves “ any a nd al l cla ims .

. . arisi ng un der f edera l[,] state , loc al, o r com mon l aw,” and in fa ct do es re feren ce th e New York Stat e and City Huma n Right s Law s (un der w hich Smith brou ght h is cl aims) . J. App’x at 2 0-21.

4limit ation s beg an to run at le ast b y Nov ember 9, 2 015.

Becau se Sm ith d id no t fil e his init ial c ompla int u ntil Augus t 201 6, mo re th an si x mon ths l ater, his claimagai nst the U nion is ti me-ba rred.

For t he fo regoi ng re asons , and find ing n o mer it in Smith ’s ot her a rgume nts, we he reby AFFIR M the j udgme nt of the d istri ct co urt.

FOR T HE CO URT: CATHE RINE O’HAG AN WO LFE, CLERK

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