Bettis v. Oscar Mayer Foods Corp., 87-2901
| Decision Date | 19 June 1989 |
| Docket Number | No. 87-2901,87-2901 |
| Citation | 878 F.2d 192 |
| Parties | 131 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2853, 112 Lab.Cas. P 11,263, 4 Indiv.Empl.Rts.Cas. 858 John M. BETTIS, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. OSCAR MAYER FOODS CORPORATION and General Foods Corporation, Defendants-Appellees. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit |
K. Michael Latshaw, Willoughby & Latshaw, P.C., Decatur, Ill., for plaintiff-appellant.
Michael F. Rosenblum, Mayer, Brown & Platt, Chicago, Ill., Michael A. Brizel, General Foods Corp., White Plains, N.Y., Danuta Bembenista Panich, Mayer, Brown & Platt, Chicago, Ill., for defendants-appellees.
Before WOOD, Jr., RIPPLE, and MANION, Circuit Judges.
The plaintiff-appellant, John M. Bettis, filed a claim in federal court alleging that he had been discharged by Oscar Mayer Foods Corporation in retaliation for filing workers' compensation claims, that his discharge caused him intentional infliction of emotional distress, and that the parent company of Oscar Mayer, General Foods Corporation, was also liable for his discharge. Jurisdiction in the district court was based on diversity of citizenship pursuant to 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1332. The district court adopted the magistrate's recommendation that the entire case was preempted by section 301 of the Labor Management Relations Act of 1947 (LMRA), 29 U.S.C. Sec. 185(a), 1 and that Mr. Bettis had not exhausted his contractual remedies. It determined that Lingle v. Norge Division of Magic Chef, Inc., 823 F.2d 1031 (7th Cir.1987) (en banc), was dispositive of the entire case and that there were no genuine issues of material fact. Consequently, the court granted the companies' motion for summary judgment. Having the benefit of the Supreme Court's opinion in Lingle v. Norge Division of Magic Chef, Inc., 486 U.S. 399, 108 S.Ct. 1877, 100 L.Ed.2d 410 (1988), which was not available to the district court when it ruled, we reverse and remand the case for proceedings in conformity with this opinion.
John Bettis had been employed for approximately fifteen years by Oscar Mayer Foods Corporation (Oscar Mayer) in its Beardstown, Illinois slaughtering facility. Mr. Bettis was a member of District Local 431 of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, AFL-CIO-CLC (the Union). He worked in the boning department and the terms and conditions of his employment were governed by a collective bargaining agreement between Oscar Mayer and the Union. Mr. Bettis alleged that he received a number of work-related injuries during his employment. He maintains that, on December 11, 1981, he was afflicted with bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome and trigger finger syndrome affecting both wrists and hands. Appellant's Br. at App. 27-28. On the basis of this condition, Mr. Bettis filed a claim with the Illinois Industrial Commission (IIC) on February 16, 1983 and was awarded $6,250.15 for temporary total disability. Supplemental App. at 3. 2 In March 1982, Mr. Bettis sustained a cervical strain when a hog in a cooler fell on him. A second claim, based on this injury, was filed with the IIC on December 23, 1983. R. 16 at Ex. 1 D. On the same day, Mr. Bettis also reported to the IIC that he had received a cervical and lumbar strain of his neck and lower back on September 8, 1982, when the fork truck he was operating hit a "chuckhole." R. 16 at Ex. 1 C.
Mr. Bettis was discharged in November 1983. There is disagreement as to the events of November 17 and 18, 1983 that led to this discharge. The appellees maintain that Mr. Bettis was examined by the Oscar Mayer company doctor on November 17 and that he was found to be physically unfit to drive the fork truck. Supplemental App. at 81. The next day, Mr. Bettis reported to work but no departmental jobs were available that Mr. Bettis could perform with his medical restrictions. Consequently, he was laid off pursuant to section F-47 of the collective bargaining agreement. 3 Id. Mr. Bettis' account of what took place on these two days is quite different. He maintains that, on November 17, while working the evening shift, he was told that there would be an increase in the production requirements in the boning department and that a meeting was scheduled for the next day at 4:00 p.m. R. 16 at 5. On the morning of November 18, 1983, Mr. Bettis contacted an attorney for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to report the increased production requirements on the ground that they violated the Occupational Safety and Health Act. Mr. Bettis further alleges that OSHA then contacted Mr. Bettis' employer. Id. When Mr. Bettis reported for work on his regular shift, he was told that he was being laid off effective immediately. Mr. Bettis acknowledges that, on November 18, 1983, he "was informed that [he] was being laid off under paragraph 'F-47' of the Collective Bargaining Agreement in that a company doctor had restricted [him] from driving a fork truck, although [he] had been driving a fork truck for several months." R. 16 at Ex. 1, p 6. Nevertheless, he asserts that the companies' explanation for his discharge was pretextual. Indeed, in response to the November layoff or discharge, Mr. Bettis filed a grievance on May 9, 1984. In June 1984, before a hearing on the grievance, Mr. Bettis was rehired. On October 31, 1984, after the hearing, an arbitrator denied the grievance.
On January 31, 1985, Mr. Bettis was once again dismissed from his position. 4 Appellant's Br. at App. 17. After Mr. Bettis had been dismissed from his position, he sought relief through the appropriate grievance procedures. In July 1985, after the grievance was denied, the Union refused to take further action on his behalf. Mr. Bettis has not been rehired by Oscar Mayer.
On January 14, 1987, Mr. Bettis filed a complaint in the district court challenging his January 1985 discharge. He alleged that this discharge in January 1985 was in retaliation for exercising his rights under the Illinois Workers' Compensation Act, Ill.Rev.Stat. ch. 48, paras. 138.1-138.30, and the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, 29 U.S.C. Secs. 651-678, (Count I). He also claimed that his discharge constituted intentional infliction of emotional distress (Count II). These same allegations were made against General Foods Corporation (General Foods) on the basis that it, as the parent of Oscar Mayer, was responsible for all acts of its subsidiary (Counts III & IV). The companies maintain that, as a result of Mr. Bettis' various injuries, his physician placed numerous restrictions upon his ability to work. The companies assert that, by January 1985, these restrictions were so numerous and varied that Oscar Mayer had no position available that Mr. Bettis, with his seniority, could fill. Therefore, in accordance with Article F-47 of the collective bargaining agreement, the companies placed Mr. Bettis on medical layoff. R. 10 at 5. General Foods and Oscar Mayer moved for summary judgment and this motion was granted by the district court on November 3, 1987. Mr. Bettis filed a notice of appeal on November 16, 1987. We held the appeal in abeyance pending the decision of the Supreme Court of the United States in Lingle v. Norge Division of Magic Chef, Inc., 486 U.S. 399, 108 S.Ct. 1877, 100 L.Ed.2d 410 (1988).
The district court initially referred this case to a magistrate for report and recommendation. Ruling without the benefit of the Supreme Court's opinion in Lingle, the magistrate concluded that all of the claims set forth in the complaint were preempted by section 301 and that the plaintiff had not exhausted his contractual remedies. With respect to the preemption issue, the magistrate found this court's en banc opinion in Lingle controlling:
Having reviewed Lingle, it is concluded that Lingle is dispositive of this entire case. The parties agree that plaintiff's employment was governed by a collective bargaining agreement which provides for binding and final arbitration. The complaint, in its entirety, arises from the termination of plaintiff's employment, regardless of whether it is characterized a discharge or a disability layoff. Therefore, consideration of plaintiff's claims under either a retaliatory discharge or infliction of emotional distress theory would require an interpretation of the collective bargaining agreement. Lingle teaches us that such interpretations can only be made in the context of a Sec. 301 action. To conclude otherwise would be contrary both to the letter and spirit of Lingle.
R. 25 at 9. The district court, after reviewing the objections of the parties to the report and recommendation of the magistrate, determined that the analysis of the magistrate was correct and entered summary judgment for the defendants. This decision also was made before the Supreme Court's decision in Lingle.
In his brief before this court, Mr. Bettis presents one contention: the Supreme Court's decision in Lingle establishes that his claim alleging retaliatory discharge for the exercise of his rights under the Illinois workers' compensation statutes is not preempted by section 301. Consequently, the district court ought to consider it a claim based on state law and properly within its diversity jurisdiction. 5 In reply, the appellees assert that this case is distinguishable from Lingle. They note that, in this case, the employer has countered the allegation of retaliatory discharge with the assertion that Mr. Bettis was furloughed for physical disability in accordance with the terms of the collective bargaining agreement. Therefore, they submit, the court must necessarily interpret the collective bargaining agreement in determining the merits of the plaintiff's claim.
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