Opinion ID: 716602
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Date of the Benefit Change

Text: 15 Pocchia concedes that at the time he was negotiating his retirement, he never inquired into the possibility that NYNEX would be implementing any new benefits programs. He claims that, in failing to so inquire, he was operating under the belief, often discussed in the company by employees not privy to high level information or whose work location was corporate headquarters, that no early retirement incentive would be offered by NYNEX. Pocchia's reasons for failing to inquire, however, are legally insignificant and do not give rise to any material issues of fact which would require examination by a trier of fact. While NYNEX had a fiduciary duty not to make affirmative misrepresentations or omissions, it did not have a duty to disclose proposed changes in the absence of inquiry by Pocchia. NYNEX only came under a duty to voluntarily disclose once it adopted the plan changes. 16 NYNEX presented evidence--principally an affidavit submitted by Robert F. Leonard, Director of Benefits Planning for NYNEX, and interrogatory answers provided by William Ferguson, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors of NYNEX--that suggests that NYNEX did not decide to adopt the new pension plan until November or December 1989. Pocchia argues that the evidence he presented to the district court was sufficient to raise a material issue of fact as to when NYNEX decided to adopt the new incentive program. He claims that at the time he was considering retirement, NYNEX had already approved the early retirement plan and that all that was needed to implement the plan was the rubber stamp of NYNEX's Board of Directors. 17 Pocchia claims that the affidavits of John C. Stetson and Patrick Lee, two NYNEX Service Company (NSC) attorneys, support Pocchia's contention that NYNEX knew about the new plan prior to his resignation. Pocchia also claims that it was common knowledge in late 1988 that the plan would be implemented and that NYNEX must have approved the plan well before it was formally adopted because, as a general practice, NYNEX was slow to implement change. Pocchia's claims are without merit. 18 Lee never submitted an affidavit; although he was deposed, the transcript of the deposition was never filed with the district court and therefore cannot be used to support a finding that material issues of fact exist. While Stetson indicated in his affidavit that Raymond Burke (Executive Vice President and General Counsel of NYNEX) and Lee had indicated that they were aware of the early retirement incentive program in 1988 and that it was common knowledge among NSC employees that such a program was being considered, Stetson subsequently recanted these claims in his deposition. In any event, under the rule we set forth today, consideration of a plan change, standing alone--which is all that the Stetson affidavit reveals--does not give rise to a duty to disclose voluntarily. Finally, Pocchia's added assertion that the plan must have been considered prior to his resignation because NYNEX was notoriously slow in implementing changes is simply too speculative to defeat a motion for summary judgment. See Fletcher v. Atex, Inc., 68 F.3d 1451, 1456 (2d Cir.1995) ([A] party may not 'rely on mere speculation or conjecture as to the true nature of the facts to overcome a motion for summary judgment.' ) (quoting Knight v. United States Fire Ins. Co., 804 F.2d 9, 12 (2d Cir.1986), cert. denied, 480 U.S. 932, 107 S.Ct. 1570, 94 L.Ed.2d 762 (1987)); Quarles v. General Motors Corp., 758 F.2d 839, 840 (2d Cir.1985) (per curiam) ([M]ere conjecture or speculation by the party resisting summary judgment does not provide a basis upon which to deny the motion.). 19 Thus, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to Pocchia, which we must, Adickes v. S.H. Kress & Co., 398 U.S. 144, 157, 90 S.Ct. 1598, 1608, 26 L.Ed.2d 142 (1970), we cannot conclude that Judge Trager erred in finding that Pocchia failed to sustain his burden of presenting evidence from which a jury could reasonably find that NYNEX had adopted an early retirement program by the time Pocchia resigned.