Austin v. Torrington Co.
| Decision Date | 13 June 1985 |
| Docket Number | 7:84-1531-14,7:84-2076-14,7:84-2279-14,7:84-2322-14,7:84-2323-14 and 7:84-2324-14.,7:84-2257-14,Civ. A. No. 7:84-763-14,7:84-2182-14,7:84-2062-14,7:84-999-14 |
| Citation | 611 F. Supp. 191 |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of South Carolina |
| Parties | Carroll L. AUSTIN, Charles S. Glaser, Judy C. Howard, Nancy Brown, Anthony L. Duckett, Josephine Hill, David R. Frick, Ronnie Dean Duckett, James A. McAbee, Jr., John Edward Ward, Robin W. Caldwell, Plaintiffs, v. The TORRINGTON COMPANY, a subsidiary of Ingersoll-Rand Company, Inc., Defendant. |
J. Kendall Few, Greenville, S.C., for plaintiffs.
Jack H. Tedards, Jr. and Thomas L. Stephenson of Leatherwood, Walker, Todd & Mann, Greenville, S.C., Robert L. Thompson, Elizabeth F. Reveley, Stephen M. Paskoff, and Thomas A. Pogue of Elarbee, Thompson & Trapnell, Atlanta, Ga., for defendant.
This matter is before the Court on Defendant's motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict (judgment n.o.v.) or, in the alternative, for a new trial, and for stay of execution. For the reasons stated herein, Defendant's motion for judgment n.o.v. or a new trial is denied, and Defendant's motion for stay of execution is dismissed for mootness.
Plaintiffs were all formerly employed by Defendant, The Torrington Company (Torrington), at its Tyger River plant in Union, South Carolina. Plaintiffs alleged that Torrington, through its personnel manager, Paul Love, slandered and blacklisted them. During the trial, Torrington moved for a directed verdict at the close of Plaintiffs' case and at the close of all evidence. The motions were denied. The jury returned a verdict of actual and punitive damages for each Plaintiff.
On a motion for a directed verdict or on motion for judgment n.o.v., the evidence must be considered in the light most favorable to the party against whom the directed verdict or judgment n.o.v. is asked; any conflict in evidence must be resolved in his favor and every conclusion or inference that can be legitimately drawn therefrom in his behalf must be drawn. Burcham v. J.P. Stevens & Co., Inc., 209 F.2d 35, 37 (4th Cir.1954).
Plaintiffs' claims arose from a telephone conversation between Torrington's personnel manager Love and Bill Dowd, the personnel manager of Webb Forging Company, which operates a plant in Carlisle, South Carolina. Dowd testified that in this conversation, Love said that he could not recommend Plaintiffs for employment. Love referred to Plaintiff Austin as having an emotional problem, to Plaintiffs Anthony and Ronnie Duckett as being militants, and to Plaintiff Howard as being an organizer for NOW and ERA. A reasonable inference was that the remaining Plaintiffs all fell into an "undesirable" category. Dowd typed the information given him by Love and retained it at his desk. Dowd's testimony effectively established that this conversation could not have occurred later than the end of August, 1982.
Plaintiff Austin learned of this list from a security guard who testified that he saw it on Dowd's desk, made a copy, and delivered it to his cousin Austin in March, 1984. Plaintiff Austin filed his Complaint in April, 1984 charging, inter alia, blacklisting and defamation. There is no evidence indicating that any of the other Plaintiffs could have reasonably discovered the existence of the blacklist prior to the filing of Austin's Complaint. Between May 7, 1984 and September 28, 1984, suits by the other Plaintiffs were filed. It is undisputed that the statute of limitations could only operate to bar the slander claim contained in the seven Plaintiffs' suits which were filed after September 1, 1984 (A. Duckett, Hill, Frick, R. Duckett, McAbee, Ward, Caldwell).
Torrington's motion is based on 14 grounds. Only the contention that Plaintiffs' lawsuits were time-barred by the statute of limitations warrants extended discussion.
Provisions governing the limitation of civil actions under South Carolina law are found in S.C.CODE ANN. § 15-3-10, et seq. (Law.Co-op.1976 & Supp.1984). The general rule is that civil actions must be commenced within the stated period after the cause of action has accrued. § 15-3-20. A cause of action is said to have accrued at the moment when the plaintiff has a legal right to institute and maintain the action. Brown v. Finger, 240 S.C. 102, 111, 124 S.E.2d 781, 785 (1962). The length of the governing period varies with different causes of action, from those of 20 years for actions by the state, § 15-3-310, or upon a bond or other writing secured by a mortgage of real property, § 15-3-520, to 10 years for first and second actions for recovery of land, § 15-3-340, or founded on title or for rents or services, § 15-3-350. A six-year statute governs actions on contracts, § 15-3-530(1), and "any other injury to the person or rights of another, not arising on contract" and not otherwise expressly enumerated by statute, § 15-3-530(5). A recent statute provides also that actions (other than medical malpractice actions) governed by Section 15-3-530(5) shall be commenced within six years after the person "knew or by the exercise of reasonable diligence should have known that he had a cause of action." § 15-3-535. The "exercise of reasonable diligence" means that "an injured party must act with some promptness where the facts and circumstances of an injury would put a person of common knowledge and experience on notice that some right of his has been invaded or that some claim against another party might exist." Snell v. Columbia Gun Exchange, Inc., 276 S.C. 301, 303, 278 S.E.2d 333, 334 (1981).
The statute governing causes of action for slander and libel is notably one of the shortest, requiring that an action be commenced within two years from the date it accrues. § 15-3-550(1). A cause of action for blacklisting is of common law origin in South Carolina. It exists separately from the elements of conspiracy or defamation. See Parker v. Southeastern Haulers, 210 S.C. 18, 28, 41 S.E.2d 387, 391-92 (1947); Rhodes v. Granby Cotton Mills, 87 S.C. 18, 42-44, 68 S.E. 824, 833-34 (1910). As such, it is independent of these other causes of action, not merely an outgrowth of another traditional tort, and is controlled by the six-year limitation period of Section 15-3-530(5). Cf. Ford v. Hutson, 276 S.C. 157, 167, 276 S.E.2d 776, 781 (1981) ().
The jury's verdict in the instant case did not specify whether damages were based upon the slander of Plaintiffs by Defendant's employee Love, or upon the "blacklist" which was created separately therefrom. It was obvious to the Court that a special verdict separating the award of damages under the two causes of action would not have been helpful to Torrington because the facts supporting the two causes of action were so inextricably intertwined that a verdict and an award of damages on blacklisting would have compelled the same result on slander. Therefore, the question of whether damages were based upon slander, governed by a two-year statute of limitations, or blacklisting, governed by a six-year statute, is now effectively mooted, rendering the statute of limitations issue academic. Nevertheless, the Court does address the issue of when the slander cause of action accrues, commencing the running of the two-year statute of limitations. While the Supreme Court of South Carolina has never spoken on this issue, this Court is confident that if presented with this same question it would rule that Plaintiffs' slander actions were not time-barred.
The South Carolina legislature has seen fit to allow varying lengths of time before a particular wrong must be pursued through the courts. In affixing a particular length of time to a cause of action it may be presumed that the legislature has acted rationally and according to a fixed and informed purpose. See Bradley v. Hullander, 277 S.C. 327, 330, 287 S.E.2d 140, 141 (1982). The logic of statutes of limitations is that litigation must be commenced within a specified time in order that evidence be readily available and that controversies be ended within a reasonable period of time. Webb v. Greenwood County, 229 S.C. 267, 276, 92 S.E.2d 688, 691 (1956). However, the legislature has enacted a tolling statute to protect litigants in particular situations where they could not have reasonably had notice of a claim against another or of an invaded right. As such, these statutes reflect an appropriate balance in policy of discouraging a plaintiff who sleeps on his rights, and yet not unreasonably shielding a wrongdoer.
The logic behind a shorter statute of limitations for defamatory utterances is apparent under most circumstances. The gist of defamation lies in the injury caused to one's reputation, the feeling entertained...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Sunshine Sportswear & Electronics v. WSOC TELE.
...requires such an action to be commenced within two years from the date it accrues. S.C.Code Ann. § 15-3-550; Austin v. Torrington Co., 611 F.Supp. 191 (D.C.S.C. 1985). Rule 3(a) of the South Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure dictates that a civil action is "commenced" in South Carolina stat......
-
Jones v. City of Folly Beach
...S.C. at 269, 384 S.E.2d at 693; see Matthews v. City of Greenwood, 305 S.C. 267, 407 S.E.2d 668 (Ct.App.1991). Cf. Austin v. Torrington Co., 611 F.Supp. 191, 195 (D.S.C.1985) (district court applied the discovery rule to an action for defamation but the ruling was limited to the facts of th......
- Czerniak v. City of Milwaukee
-
Austin v. Torrington Co.
...defendant's motion, among others, for judgment non obstante veredicto, or in the alternative for a new trial. This motion was denied, 611 F.Supp. 191, and this appeal followed in timely It is apparent that there were some factual differences in the various situations involving the eleven pl......