Opinion ID: 2604
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: EEOC Complaint and Federal Lawsuit

Text: In July 2001, more than seven years after his retirement from Unisource, Paneccasio filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), alleging that Unisource, Alco, IKON, Georgia-Pacific, the IKON Board of Directors and Hope (collectively, defendants), had discriminated against him on the basis of age by terminating the 1991 Plan after inducing him to elect early retirement. On August 9, 2001, the EEOC dismissed Paneccasio's complaint for failure to state a claim under the ADEA, and issued a right to sue letter. Paneccasio then filed a complaint in the District of Connecticut alleging violations of the ADEA and ERISA, breach of contract, and related state statutory and common law claims. Defendants moved to dismiss Paneccasio's complaint, and the district court granted the motion as to the state law claims, holding them preempted under ERISA because they related to the 1991 Plan. Following discovery, the district court granted defendants' motion for summary judgment on the remaining ADEA and ERISA claims. As to the ADEA claim, the district court ruled that it was untimely filed and that there was no ground for equitable tolling, and (in the alternative) that Paneccasio could not establish a prima facie case of age discrimination. As to the ERISA claim, the court ruled ( inter alia ) that defendants could not be equitably estopped from denying liability on Paneccasio's ERISA claim because Paneccasio failed to present evidence of promises or misrepresentations at the time of the ERP that contradicted 1991 Plan provisions. See Paneccasio v. Unisource Worldwide, Inc., No. 3:01-cv-2065, 2006 WL 2128647, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 84821 (D.Conn. July 26, 2006). Paneccasio appeals the district court's summary judgment ruling and its refusal to reinstate the state law claims. We affirm the dismissal of the ADEA claim as untimely. We affirm the dismissal of the ERISA claim on the merits. Because the tolling issue that bears upon the ADEA claim depends on the merits of the ERISA claim, we discuss the ERISA claim first.