Dale C. Richardson v. Communications Workers of America, Dale C. Richardson v. Communications Workers of America, Dale C. Richardson v. Western Electric Company, Inc.

443 F.2d 974
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
DecidedJune 4, 1971
Docket20330_1
StatusPublished

This text of 443 F.2d 974 (Dale C. Richardson v. Communications Workers of America, Dale C. Richardson v. Communications Workers of America, Dale C. Richardson v. Western Electric Company, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Dale C. Richardson v. Communications Workers of America, Dale C. Richardson v. Communications Workers of America, Dale C. Richardson v. Western Electric Company, Inc., 443 F.2d 974 (8th Cir. 1971).

Opinion

443 F.2d 974

Dale C. RICHARDSON, Appellant,
v.
COMMUNICATIONS WORKERS OF AMERICA et al., Appellees.
Dale C. RICHARDSON, Appellee,
v.
COMMUNICATIONS WORKERS OF AMERICA et al., Appellants.
Dale C. RICHARDSON, Appellee,
v.
WESTERN ELECTRIC COMPANY, Inc., Appellant.

No. 20326.

No. 20329.

No. 20330.

United States Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit.

June 4, 1971.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED Edith D. Hakola, Arlington, Va., Dan J. Whiteside, Omaha, Neb., for Dale C. Richardson.

Robert E. O'Connor, Omaha, Neb., for Communications Workers of America and others.

Hird Stryker, Jr., of Fraser, Stryker, Marshall & Veach, Omaha, Neb., for Western Electric Co., Inc.

Before LAY, HEANEY and BRIGHT, Circuit Judges.

LAY, Circuit Judge.

This case brings to us issues of both liability and damages under § 301(a) of the Labor Management Relations Act, 1947. 29 U.S.C.A. § 185(a).1 A jury returned a verdict of $20,000 in favor of Dale C. Richardson against both his former employer Western Electric Company, Inc., and the Communications Workers of America, AFL-CIO, its District 7 and its Local 7495 (hereafter Union) for breach of the existing collective bargaining agreement by reason of discrimination and wrongful discharge from employment. The complaint basically alleged violation of the collective bargaining contract wherein both the employer and the Union covenanted not to "discriminate, coerce or interfere with employees because of membership or nonmembership in the Union."2 The trial court reduced the verdict to $1,500 as the maximum recoverable due to the fact that the bargaining agreement "could have" terminated on March 20, 1967, some six and one-half months after the plaintiff's discharge.3 On appeal the plaintiff alleges error in the trial court's (1) limitation of the damages to the life of the collective bargaining contract, and (2) refusal to allow evidence of mental anguish or to submit it to the jury as an element of damage. Defendant Western Electric cross-appeals from the denial of its motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict. The Union contends on cross-appeal that the plaintiff's action should have been dismissed for failure to exhaust contractual remedies.

The plaintiff, Richardson, was originally employed in Minneapolis, Minnesota, by Western Electric on July 2, 1957. After transferring to Omaha, Nebraska, in 1962 he maintained his previous membership in the Communications Workers of America, AFL-CIO. At the time of his discharge on September 1, 1966, he had reached the highest grade which an hourly employee could hold (Grade 5) and was second in seniority among the 164 hourly rated shop and warehouse employees in the Omaha plant. In 1965, Richardson became concerned over possible misuse of union funds and, getting no satisfactory explanation, he and two others withdrew from union membership in January of 1966. The withdrawal of the three left 161 employees as members of the Local. The evidence is that thereafter Richardson and the other two continuously received harassment and abuse both within the plant and outside it. Demonstrations against Richardson occurred daily in which the entire employee force took part. The record shows that obscenities were repeatedly directed at Richardson and the other two men by officers, stewards, and members of the Union. On September 1, 1966, Richardson and another employee got into an altercation. Richardson was discharged for violation of company rules.4 The evidence disclosed that, at a meeting with management, the Union had urged Richardson's discharge.

The court submitted special interrogatories to the jury which it answered as follows:

"Question Number One

"Do You Find from a Preponderance of the Evidence Regarding the Union's Conduct Toward the Plaintiff, from the Time He Discontinued His Union Membership, that the Union Would Have Failed to Fairly and in Good Faith Represent the Plaintiff in His Grievance Through the Steps of the Grievance Procedure, Including Arbitration, if Plaintiff had Requested the Union to do so?

"Yes √ No

"[If your answer to question number one is no, you need not proceed further]

"Question Number Two

"Do You Find from a Preponderance of the Evidence that Section 25 of the Collective Bargaining Agreement which Provides that, `Neither the Company Nor the Union Nor any of its Agents Shall in any Manner Discriminate, Coerce, or Interfere with Employees Because of * * * Nonmembership in the Union * * * Neither the Union, Nor the Members, Representatives or Agents Thereof Shall Intimidate or Coerce any Employee into Membership or Continuing Membership Therein' was Breached in Regard to the Plaintiff by:

[A] Western Electric Company, Incorporated

"Yes No √

[B] Communications Workers of America, AFL-CIO International Labor Organization

[C] Communications Workers of America, AFL-CIO Local 7495

"Question Number Three

"Do You Find from a Preponderance of the Evidence that the Plaintiff was Wrongfully Discharged in Breach of the Collective Bargaining Agreement by the Defendant, Western Electric Company, Incorporated?

"Question Number Four

"If so, do You Find from a Preponderance of the Evidence that the Wrongful Discharge was Proximately Caused by Actions of:

[A] Communications Workers of America, AFL-CIO an International Labor Organization

[B] Communications Workers of America, AFL-CIO Local 7495

"Yes √ No"

We pass first on plaintiff's claim against Western Electric.

It is now settled that an individual employee may, pursuant to § 301(a), litigate a claim for relief in federal court against an employer for wrongful discharge under a collective bargaining agreement. Republic Steel Corp. v. Maddox, 379 U.S. 650, 85 S.Ct. 614, 13 L.Ed.2d 580 (1965); Humphrey v. Moore, 375 U.S. 335, 84 S.Ct. 363, 11 L.Ed.2d 370 (1964); Smith v. Evening News Ass'n, 371 U.S. 195, 83 S.Ct. 267, 9 L.Ed.2d 246 (1962). Cf. Textile Workers Union of America v. Lincoln Mills, 353 U.S. 448, 77 S.Ct. 912, 1 L.Ed.2d 972 (1957). Although the trial court recognized this right, it limited plaintiff's damages to the period of time from the date of discharge to the termination date of the collective bargaining agreement. Western Electric justifies such limitation in reliance, inter alia, on Rentschler v. Missouri Pac. R.R., 126 Neb. 493, 506, 253 N.W.

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Bluebook (online)
443 F.2d 974, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dale-c-richardson-v-communications-workers-of-america-dale-c-richardson-ca8-1971.