Hinote v. Oil, Chemical & Atomic Workers International Union, Local 4-23

777 S.W.2d 134, 1989 Tex. App. LEXIS 1896, 1989 WL 81225
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJuly 20, 1989
DocketC14-88-132-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 777 S.W.2d 134 (Hinote v. Oil, Chemical & Atomic Workers International Union, Local 4-23) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hinote v. Oil, Chemical & Atomic Workers International Union, Local 4-23, 777 S.W.2d 134, 1989 Tex. App. LEXIS 1896, 1989 WL 81225 (Tex. Ct. App. 1989).

Opinions

OPINION

PAUL PRESSLER, Justice.

Appellants were awarded $397,000 in actual and $785,000 in exemplary damages for injuries received during a bitter labor dispute in Jefferson County, Texas. The trial court overturned the jury verdict and granted judgment non obstante veredicto in favor of appellee. We reverse and render.

The review of a judgment n.o.v. is the same as that of a challenge to the legal sufficiency of the evidence. Aero Energy, Inc. v. Circle C. Drilling Company, 669 S.W.2d 821 (Tex.1985). In granting the judgment n.o.v. the trial court held that the evidence was legally insufficient to uphold the jury verdict. To uphold this order of the trial court, it must be found that there is no evidence to support the jury verdict. Tex.R.Civ.P. 301 states as follows:

Provided, that upon motion and reasonable notice the court may render judgment non obstante veredicto if a directed verdict would have been proper, and provided further that the court may, upon like motion and notice, disregard any jury finding on a question that has no support in the evidence.

The Texas Supreme Court has expressed this as follows:

To sustain the action of the trial court in granting respondent’s motion for judgment not withstanding the verdict, it must be determined that there is no evidence to support the jury findings. In making this determination we must review the record in the light most favorable to the jury findings considering only the evidence and inferences which support them and rejecting the evidence and inferences contrary to the findings.

Williams v. Bennett, 610 S.W.2d 144 (Tex.1980); Citing, Dodd v. Texas Farm Products Co., 576 S.W.2d 812 (Tex.1979); Douglass v. Panama Inc., 504 S.W.2d 776 (Tex.1974); See also, Navarette v. Temple Independent School District, 706 S.W.2d 308 (Tex.1986).

Several of the individual appellees were elected officers in the Amdel, Inc. group of Local 4-23. These appellees were:

1) L.M. “Max” Hildabridle; 1st Vice Chairman and Alternate in the Safety Committee.-
2) Robert Page; Intermediate Steward.
3) Glenn Gonsoulin; Departmental Steward.
4) Ray Lynch; Chaplain.

It is not clear from the record whether or not the other three individual appellees held official positions in the Union.

The evidence, in the light most favorable to the verdict, is as follows: On January 7, 1982 the Amdel, Inc. group (The American Petrofina Refinery Employees) of Local 4-23, a division of the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers Union (O.C.A.W.), AFL-CIO, voted to strike. The labor contract expired at midnight and a work stoppage began at that time. At issue was the refinery’s ability to determine how many men were needed to do a particular job. The refinery was concerned with productivity and a more efficient utilization of manpower. The Union was concerned that this might cause layoffs. At that time the security guards were no longer represented by the O.C.A.W. and did not participate in the work stoppage. Most of the guards were reassigned to prevent them from be[137]*137ing in the middle of the dispute when they were friends of some of those involved. Guards from other Fina refineries were brought in for security.

On September 22, 1982, almost ten months after the strike began, appellant, William H. Hinote, crossed the picket line. Mr. Hinote testified that he felt the Union was not working to resolve the strike. The day he returned, Mrs. Hinote received a telephone call at home. The voice stated, “Tell Bill we will get him.”, and, “you had better watch your little girl.” (Emphasis added). Similar calls were received at the store where Mrs. Hinote was employed.

On September 23, Mr. Hinote returned to work. A dummy, wearing clothes identical to those which Mr. Hinote had worn the day before, was hung from a hangman’s noose on the gate. The sign on the dummy read “This is what we do to scabs.” (Emphasis added). On September 26th the Hi-note home was bombarded with small rocks and ballbearings. On September 29th Mr. Hinote’s daughter found a large weight, like one used to weight large curtains, in their driveway. This type of weight is called a “dead man.” Mr. Hinote was also followed home on numerous occasions.

On October 2nd, Mr. Hinote left his house to go to work. As he approached his car, he was shot five times with a .22 caliber rifle. Mr. Hinote was struck twice in the right leg, once in the left knee, once in the abdomen and once in the hand. Mr. Hinote was able to crawl back to the house. An ambulance, the police and the refinery were called. The bullets were removed at Mid-County Hospital, and Mr. Hinote was placed in intensive care. He was released from the hospital approximately two weeks later.

The appellants’ first witness was William R. Crabtree, the personnel-employee relations manager at the Refinery. He testified that every work stoppage in the Port Arthur area with which he was familiar was accompanied by some type of violent activity. The violence which accompanied this work stoppage began on February 1, 1982, when the window of a security vehicle was shot out. On February 4th, a guardhouse was hit by three or four bullets from a weapon which fired thirty-thirty rounds. Three people were inside the guardhouse, but none was injured. The tires of several vehicles were slashed that same night. There were no pickets in the area at that time, but Mr. Crabtree testified that the acts of violence generally do not occur on the picket line. He stated that the acts usually occurred while employees were going to and from work, at the employees’ homes and around the plant’s perimeter. The gates at the plant had been equipped with video cameras which taped continuously.

On February 20, appellee Leo M. “Max” Hildabridle was involved in an altercation with a security guard. He and others had been throwing rocks at the guardhouse. The security guard, Tommy King, left the guardhouse to investigate the matter when Hildabridle threatened him with a knife. The police were called and spoke with Mr. Hildabridle. After the police officers had left, Roland Mendoza, a regular Fina security guard, went out to talk with Mr. Hilda-bridle. The taped conversation was played for the jury. It went, in part, as follows:

■King: It’s them right there, isn’t it?
Mendoza: That’s Corville and that’s Max on the left.
King: Okay. Huh? There’s another one. Want me to go with you?
Mendoza: Nah.
Mendoza: All right, (unintelligible)
Max: Call the f_’ law, Roland, on a g_d_threat with a knife.
Mendoza: Yeah. I can’t ...
Max: Mother f_, I could’ve cut your g_d_throat if I’d wanted to do that. You was close enough
Mendoza: I know you were close.

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Hinote v. Oil, Chemical & Atomic Workers International Union, Local 4-23
777 S.W.2d 134 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1989)

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Bluebook (online)
777 S.W.2d 134, 1989 Tex. App. LEXIS 1896, 1989 WL 81225, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hinote-v-oil-chemical-atomic-workers-international-union-local-4-23-texapp-1989.