Opinion ID: 2975410
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: summary judgment on first claim

Text: Marzuola argues that the district court erred both in finding that he abandoned his first claim for relief under the 1994 policy and in finding that his claim as pleaded was insufficient to put Continental Tire on notice of claims under the 2005 policy. This court “review[s] a grant of 3 summary judgment de novo.” Logan v. Denny’s, Inc., 259 F.3d 558, 566 (6th Cir. 2001). Summary judgment is proper where “the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c). The essence of Marzuola’s argument is that his original claim for relief was pled broadly enough to cover both the 1994 and 2005 policies, so that when he chose to concentrate on the 2005 policy in his opposition, he was neither abandoning his old claim nor making a new one. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8(f) states: “All pleadings shall be so construed as to do substantial justice.” Even under the liberal pleading rules, however, his original first claim for relief was insufficient to put Continental Tire on notice of claims under the 2005 policy. The first claim for relief in Marzuola’s first amended complaint alleges that “Plaintiff’s rights to severance pay at the rate of one month of salary for every year or partial year worked were vested benefits and could not be adversely affected by purported amendments” and requests relief in the form of thirty months salary, an amount which was based on his reading of the 1994 policy. In Count 2, Marzuola similarly claims that his right to “12 Moths [sic] of Health Care Coverage and Life Insurance from the date of termination” under that same policy was unalterable and demands that Continental Tire provide such benefits under “the Plan.” Finally, in the second claim for relief, Marzuola requests only a “Declaratory Judgment” that the release is “invalid and unenforceable as a matter of law,” and specifically that paragraph 5 of the release, which limits the employee’s ability to sue, is invalid. Citing “specific information, and only that specific information” relating to one cause of action cannot put the defendant on notice of violations unrelated to that information. See Minadeo 4 v. ICI Paints, 398 F.3d 751, 763 (6th Cir. 2005). Marzuola argued only that the 1994 policy was unalterable, requested monetary relief under the terms of the that policy, and mentioned the 2005 policy only for the purposes of arguing that it was an invalid modification and that the release was unenforceable. No mention is made of any monetary relief under the 2005 policy, and no information is provided on what such relief might include. The district court correctly determined that Marzuola had abandoned his claim to benefits under the 1994 claim (a determination which defendant ratified at oral argument), and that his claim for relief was insufficiently pled to put Continental Tire on notice of any monetary claims under the 2005 policy. As Marzuola had no remaining claims, summary judgment was proper as a matter of law.1