Opinion ID: 74891
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Granberry, Krengel, Reasoner, and Wylie

Text: 11 Plaintiffs argue that this court’s decision in Bedinghaus v. Modern Graphic Arts, 15 F.3d 1027, 1032 (11th Cir. 1994), which awarded severance pay to employees from one company who were retained with a successive corporation, requires reversal of the district court’s order. We disagree. The panel itself distinguished Bedinghaus in noting that the termination benefits policy had no exception to severance pay eligibility based on a sale or reorganization where the employees remained in comparable positions. 15 F.3d 1032. 19 We find, however, there is a dispute of material fact as to the Plaintiffs’ claim for severance benefits owing to Plaintiffs Granberry, Krengel, Reasoner, and Wylie. In his deposition, Smith stated that he would consider awarding severance pay to any employee who had accepted a comparable position, but who was then terminated with less than a year of employment at Lockheed. Also in his deposition, Smith discussed the fact that in one of his letters to Plaintiffs’ counsel, he requested information on any Thiokol employee who had been laid off by Lockheed through December 1996. He stated that he would be willing to consider severance benefits for any previous Thiokol employee who had been laid off or let go from Lockheed prior to December 1996, provided there was no unusual problem or provocation on the employee’s part, such as violence. Plaintiffs argue that Granberry, Krengel, Reasoner, and Wylie accepted comparable positions with Lockheed but were terminated prior to one year’s employment. Notice of Granberry, Krengel, and Reasoner having been laid off on May 31, 1996, May 1, 1996, and May 1996, respectively, was submitted in an attachment to a letter dated February 26, 1997, from Plaintiffs’ counsel to Smith. There was no notice of Wylie having been laid off in that correspondence. In his letter of March 31, 1997 to Plaintiffs’ counsel, Smith acknowledges having received information that Granberry and Krengel were laid off by Lockheed 20 between December 1995 and October 1, 1996. Defendants mistakenly argued that Plaintiffs’ counsel never disclosed when Granberry and Krengel were terminated. In a follow-up letter to Smith dated April 25, 1997, Plaintiffs’ counsel repeated that Granberry, Krengel, and Reasoner had been laid off, in addition to noting that Wylie had also been laid off by Lockheed in May of 1996. While there is evidence in the record supporting Plaintiffs’ assertions on this issue, we find no evidence that Smith individually addressed the situation of these four employees and no specific indication of the grounds on which he determined they were not eligible for severance benefits. In his letter of June 13, 1997, Smith stated he was awarding severance benefits to employees DeSantis and St. John based upon the premise that, because DeSantis was laid off by Lockheed in December 1995 and St. John’s offer of employment was retracted in November 1995, the two “were not offered continued employment.” Because Smith has stated he would, and did, consider eligibility for employees who were terminated from Lockheed prior to a year’s employment, yet did not distinguish why these four employees who fell within his stated exception were denied benefits,12 we 12 Plaintiffs also argued this issue in their Motion for Summary Judgment. However, in their response, Defendants did not offer any further information to resolve Smith’s apparent contradiction in stating that he would consider granting severance benefits to any employees who were terminated by Lockheed prior to December 1996 but why he did not do so in the case of these four employees. Nor did Defendants’ appellate brief offer any specific information on this issue. 21 reverse the order of summary judgment as to these four Plaintiffs and remand this issue to the district court for further findings and a determination as to whether or not these four were exceptions under Smith’s stated criteria and should or should not have received separation benefits.