Fox v. Lummus Company

Ian Fox (plaintiff) was hired by The Lummus Company (Lummus) (defendant) to work on a construction project in Iraq. Paragraph 5 of the employment agreement between Fox and Lummus provided that Lummus would reduce Fox’s salary on a monthly basis in order to equalize the after-tax salaries of employees of different nationalities. The contract provided that Fox’s salary would be reduced by a “theoretical tax” amount; the precise number was set forth in an attachment to the contract. In point of fact, no actual tax was ever levied upon Fox’s salary by any governmental authority. Fox sued Lummus in a federal district court in New York, contending that Lummus owed him the portion of his salary that Lummus had deducted. Claims one, two, and three of Fox’s complaint alleged breach of contract, unjust enrichment, and recovery in quasi-contract. Claim four alleged, among other things, that Lummus had applied “constant harassment and pressure” to Fox with the purpose of encouraging him to resign. Fox’s complaint also alleged that Lummus’s conduct had caused him mental and physical anguish and suffering to the order of $100,000 in injury. Prior to filing its response, Lummus moved (1) to dismiss claims one through three pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6), (2) for an order that Fox provide a more definite statement of his fourth claim pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(e), and (3) to strike the allegation and request for damages relating to mental suffering, pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(f).