Great Coastal Exp., Inc. v. International Broth. of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of America, s. 80-1217

CourtUnited States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (4th Circuit)
Citation675 F.2d 1349
Docket Number73-2393,Nos. 80-1217,73-2448 and 81-2073,s. 80-1217
Parties110 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2058, 93 Lab.Cas. P 13,447 GREAT COASTAL EXPRESS, INC., Appellee, v. INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS, CHAUFFEURS, WAREHOUSEMEN AND HELPERS OFAMERICA, Appellant. GREAT COASTAL EXPRESS, INC., Appellee-Cross-Appellant, v. INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS, CHAUFFEURS, WAREHOUSEMEN AND HELPERS OFAMERICA, Appellant-Cross-Appellee. GREAT COASTAL EXPRESS, INC., Appellant, v. INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS, CHAUFFEURS, WAREHOUSEMEN AND HELPERS OFAMERICA, Appellee.
Decision Date12 April 1982

Ira R. Mitzner, Washington, D. C. (Barry Wm. Levine, Kenneth M. Simon, Jeffrey M. Johnson, George Kaufmann, Dickstein, Shapiro & Morin, Washington, D. C., on brief), for appellant.

J. W. Alexander, Jr., Charlotte, N.C. (Blakeney, Alexander & Machen, Charlotte, N.C., James M. Minor, Jr., Minor, Marshall, Forb & Batzli, P. C., Richmond, Va., on brief), for appellee.

Before BUTZNER, Circuit Judge, INGRAHAM, * Senior Circuit Judge, and RUSSELL, Circuit Judge.

INGRAHAM, Senior Circuit Judge.

These proceedings were initiated by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of America ("IBT" or "the Union") in an effort to obtain relief from a judgment the Union argues was procured through fraud on the court. In No. 80-1217, IBT appeals the denial by the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia of its Motion to Set Aside Judgment on the grounds of fraud on that court. Great Coastal Express, Inc., v. International Brotherhood of Teamsters, 86 F.R.D. 131 (E.D.Va.1980). In Nos. 73-2393 and 73-2448, the Union has filed an original petition in this court for relief from our affirmance of the underlying judgment, Great Coastal Express, Inc. v. International Brotherhood of Teamsters, 511 F.2d 839 (4th Cir. 1975), cert. denied, 425 U.S. 975, 96 S.Ct. 2176, 48 L.Ed.2d 799 (1976), on the same grounds. 1

This dispute arises out of a 1970 strike by IBT against Great Coastal. Great Coastal subsequently brought suit against IBT on two theories: (1) damages to property and equipment caused by union violence; and (2) lost business caused by illegal secondary boycotting. The union violence claim was eliminated from the case by directed verdict at the close of Great Coastal's case in chief. The jury then awarded over $1,000,000 in damages on the secondary boycott claim, which prompted a new trial on damages alone and a second, reduced verdict. The judgment was affirmed as to both liability and damages by this court. Great Coastal Express, supra. IBT subsequently uncovered evidence that the company itself had planned and executed several of the acts of violence described during the suit, and petitioned the district court and this court for relief from the judgment. The district court concluded that company witnesses had indeed perjured themselves in the original trial, but that such facts did not constitute a fraud on the court under Hazel-Atlas Glass Co. v. Hartford-Empire Co., 322 U.S. 238, 64 S.Ct. 997, 88 L.Ed. 1250 (1944), or support an independent action for relief. For reasons developed below, we affirm the denial of relief and deny the direct petition in this court.

I. Background

A. History of this Litigation.

Great Coastal is an interstate truck carrier based in Richmond, Virginia. In 1970, the company's employees were represented by Local 592, an affiliate of the IBT. From 1964 to March 31, 1970, the parties were signatories to the National Master Freight Agreement. Negotiations for a new agreement were unsuccessful and Local 592 went on strike in August 1970. On December 10, 1970, Great Coastal filed an action in a Virginia state court which was removed by IBT to the Eastern District of Virginia pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1441(b), as an action purporting to state a claim under § 8(b)(4) of the Labor-Management Relations Act, 29 U.S.C. 158(b)(4), over which the United States District Courts have original jurisdiction.

The case was tried before a jury on the two theories described above, damages caused by union violence and illegal secondary boycotting. From the outset, union counsel objected to the introduction of evidence of violence that was not shown to be connected to the union. On the proffer of Great Coastal that all such evidence would ultimately be linked to the IBT, the district court permitted the company to go forward. Company witnesses testified to wide-spread and savage acts of violence directed towards its employees and property. At the close of the company's case, however, the district court granted the union's motion for directed verdict on the violence claims, holding that the company had failed to meet its burden under United Mine Workers v. Gibbs, 383 U.S. 715, 735-37, 86 S.Ct. 1130, 1143-44, 16 L.Ed.2d 218 (1966), of linking the acts of violence to IBT. The secondary boycott claim was allowed to go to the jury, and the jury found liability on this ground.

Although counsel for Great Coastal stated during closing argument that it had shown actual damages proximately resulting from the unlawful secondary boycott activities amounting to $942,065, the jury returned a verdict of $1,300,000. On the union's motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict, the district court concluded that "the damage award ... was substantially out of touch with damages allegedly proven." 350 F.Supp. 1377, 1380 (E.D.Va.1972). The excessive verdict, in the court's opinion, suggested that The jury, while well intentioned, was in spite of the Court's instructions to the contra influenced in its consideration of damages by the gross and vicious conduct attributed to the members of the local union and their sympathizers.

Id. The court denied the motion for JNOV as to the remaining issues raised by the union, but directed a retrial on damages alone. The second jury reached a verdict of $806,093 and judgment was entered on the secondary boycott claim in that amount.

On appeal to this court, IBT argued that the district court erred in submitting to the jury the question whether the local union and its members were agents of the International; that the company had failed to demonstrate what part of its losses were caused by illegal activity as distinguished from legal activity; that the court erred in restricting the new trial to damages; and that the instructions to the second jury were inconsistent and improper. This court affirmed on all issues. Great Coastal Express, supra, 511 F.2d at 841. With respect to the partial new trial issue, the opinion of the court observed that "the union does not contest the fact that there was evidence from which a jury could find an illegal secondary boycott," id. at 842, and further, "it goes without saying that the jury had abundant evidence" to find that IBT had committed unlawful secondary boycotting. Id. at 844. We concluded there was no basis for believing that the evidence of violence had so inflamed the jury as to fatally infect the liability verdict with prejudice, particularly in light of the district court instructions, and that IBT had not overcome the presumption of validity of a verdict. Id. at 847. Certiorari was denied by the Supreme Court and the union paid Great Coastal a total of $961,653.67, representing the judgment plus interest and costs.

In February of 1977, counsel for IBT first received information that the company had deliberately sabotaged its own equipment on at least one occasion, and had committed other acts of violence in the evident expectation that responsibility for these acts could be laid on the union. Counsel investigated these matters between March and December 1977 and turned over the results of their investigation to the Justice Department. The Department's response in August 1978 was that the applicable statute of limitations precluded any criminal action with respect to the allegations. The Department made a similar response to an inquiry by the district court in November 1979.

IBT filed its motion to set aside the judgment in the district court on December 14, 1978. The court allowed post-judgment discovery and held a two-day evidentiary hearing. At the hearing, two of the company's witnesses from the 1972 trial admitted that part or all of their testimony had been false, and other evidence of fraudulent company practices was introduced. Stressing that the allegations of fraud on the court all were instances of either perjury or fabricated evidence, the district court considered it unnecessary to address the evidence in greater detail but denied relief as a matter of law. The court's decision may be briefly summarized as follows: relief under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b)(3) would be forthcoming except that the union had not filed its motion within the Rule's one-year time limitation, and this limitation could not be evaded through use of 60(b)(6); perjury and fabricated evidence do not rise to the level of fraud on the court under the savings provisions of Rule 60(b), and that IBT had not shown attorney involvement in the fraud; and similarly that perjury and fabricated evidence were "intrinsic" rather than "extrinsic" forms of fraud and would not support an independent action in equity for relief from a judgment. Great Coastal Express v. International Brotherhood of Teamsters, 86 F.R.D. 131, 136-40 (E.D.Va.1980). This is the principal decision appealed from.

The case was briefed and argued before this panel at the November 1980 sitting. We remanded, 639 F.2d 780, with directions that the district court supplement the record with specific findings of fact based upon the evidentiary hearing that had been held. The district court provided these findings by memorandum dated August 27, 1981, and we allowed supplemental briefing and further oral argument.

B. The District Court's Findings of Perjury and Fabricated Evidence. 2

The district...

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