Larsen v. Air California

313 F. Supp. 218, 75 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2156, 1970 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11744
CourtDistrict Court, C.D. California
DecidedMay 12, 1970
DocketCiv. No. 69-944
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 313 F. Supp. 218 (Larsen v. Air California) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, C.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Larsen v. Air California, 313 F. Supp. 218, 75 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2156, 1970 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11744 (C.D. Cal. 1970).

Opinion

[219]*219DECISION, FINDINGS OF FACT, AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

HAUK, District Judge.

DECISION

I

This action proceeded to trial on February 17, 1970 on Plaintiff’s First Amended Complaint in which the Plaintiff alleged that the Defendant, his prior employer, had violated the provisions of 50 U.S.C. App. § 459(g) (4) of the Selective Service Act of 1967. The Plaintiff seeks reemployment and reimbursement of back wages from the date of his discharge by Defendant. Jurisdiction in the case is based upon 50 U. S.C. App. § 459(d) and 28 U.S.C. § 1331 relating to the disposition of federal questions.

II

The Defendant herein is a regularly scheduled commercial airline transporting passengers within the State of California. Plaintiff was first employed by the Defendant in September 1967 as a co-pilot. For reasons unrelated to the case at bar, he was furloughed by the Defendant in November 1967 and recalled to work in March 1968. On June 4, 1968, Defendant notified the Plaintiff that he had been discharged with his termination to be effective on June 20, 1968.

Plaintiff’s original Complaint in this action was filed on May 15, 1969, approximately one year after the Plaintiff had been discharged by the Defendant. This original Complaint contained claims for relief based on (a) Defamation; (b) Breach of Contract; (c) Sections 394 and 394.5 of the California Military and Veterans Code; (d) 42 U.S.C. § 1985; (e) 50 U.S.C. App. § 459(c) (3); and (f) 50 U.S.C. App. § 459(g) (4). All but the last of the foregoing bases of liability were dismissed by the Court as failing to constitute claims upon which relief could be granted and the action proceeded to trial upon the sole question of whether the Defendant had violated the provisions of Section 459(g) (4) of the Selective Service Act of 1967.

Ill

During the period of his employment with Defendant, the Plaintiff was actively engaged in reserve training as an officer in United States Coast Guard Reserve. He had completed an extended tour of active duty with the Coast Guard in 1962 and has since continued his military training on a voluntary basis. His Reserve duties required him to attend at least one weekend of training drills per month. Plaintiff’s First Amended Complaint alleges that the Defendant denied him leaves of absence for attendance at his Reserve drills for the months of April and May, 1968, and that the Defendant did not properly restore him to his job after granting him a leave of absence for drills conducted on June 1 and 2 of 1968, all in violation of Section 459(g) (4) of the Selective Service Act of 1967. This statute reads, in pertinent part, as follows:

“Any employee * * * shall upon request be granted a leave of absence by his employer for the period required to perform active duty for training or inactive duty training in the Armed Forces of the United States. Upon his release from a period of such active duty for training or inactive duty training * * * such employee shall be permitted to return to his position with such seniority, status, pay, and vacation as he would have had if he had not been absent for such purposes.”

The Plaintiff’s allegations as to the April and May Reserve drills are without merit.1 Plaintiff’s testimony at the trial suggests that the “little scraps of paper” on which he had written his drill dates for April and May and had given to the Defendant’s Chief Dispatch[220]*220er were not considered by the Plaintiff at the time to be requests for leave of absence from his employment duties nor could the Defendant reasonably have viewed them as such. The Plaintiff testified that in early May, 1968, he first decided to request leaves of absence from the Defendant and told the Defendant’s President of this intention at a meeting with him on May 3, 1968. In addition, the testimony of both the Defendant’s management personnel and that of the Plaintiff himself indicated that the Plaintiff was at all times aware of potential conflicts between his Reserve duties and his employment with an airline that carried the bulk of its passenger traffic on its weekend flights, and was afforded an opportunity to accommodate his drill schedule to his employment schedule. Plaintiff’s testimony also revealed that he had missed only two days of Reserve drills during his employment with Defendant and that he had been able to make up at least one of these drills at a later date. It was not until May 1968 that Plaintiff submitted a formal request for a leave of absence for his Reserve drills on June 1 and 2 and this request was granted by the Defendant.

The Plaintiff’s case thus revolves around the circumstances surrounding his return to work after attending the drills on June 1 and June 2, 1968. The Plaintiff’s Complaint admits that he returned to the service of Air California on June 3, 1968 and the records of the Defendant indicate that he participated in routine flight duties on that date. It was on June 4, 1968, as a cumulative result of various reports received by Defendant’s management revealing substandard performance by the Plaintiff, that the Defendant’s Chief Pilot terminated the Plaintiff effective June 20, 1968.

There was substantial evidence presented at the trial to support the conclusion that the Plaintiff’s discharge was effected in good faith and without reference to his Reserve training obligations. The evidence in this respect reflected adversely on the Plaintiff’s technical ability, his ability to respond to criticism and instruction, and revealed a general demeanor marked by observable personality traits incompatible with flight-crew duty. Numerous written reports from other employees of the Defendant were introduced which indicated a generally deficient performance by Plaintiff in the discharge of his duties. Two witnesses at the trial testified that the Defendant had on one occasion fallen asleep or “dozed” while at the controls of an Air California passenger flight. None of the testimony or other evidence submitted supports the Plaintiff’s contention that this evidence was amassed as a subterfuge to justify Plaintiff’s termination and to deny him his rights under the Selective Service Act of 1967. In the face of such overriding evidence, Section 459(g) (4) can hardly be interpreted as entitling one to a life-time job. The scheme of Federal reemployment rights statutes does not require a court to disregard those aspects of the basic employment relationship which would make continued or renewed employment unreasonable. Green v. Tho-Ro Products, Inc., 232 F.2d 172 (3rd Cir. 1956); Dacey v. Trust Funds, Inc., 72 F.Supp. 611 (D.C.Mass.1947).

This conclusion is buttressed by evidence revealing that the Plaintiff had intentionally omitted from his August 8, 1967 employment application with Defendant reference to two prior employers, one of which had discharged the Plaintiff after five weeks of employment. In fact, Plaintiff’s employment record with his prior employers reveals a continuing pattern of difficulties and deficiencies similar, if not identical, to those which arose during the Plaintiff’s employment by Air California.

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313 F. Supp. 218, 75 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2156, 1970 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11744, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/larsen-v-air-california-cacd-1970.