Caudill v. Farmland Industries, Inc., 90-1285WM
| Decision Date | 04 January 1991 |
| Docket Number | No. 90-1285WM,90-1285WM |
| Parties | 54 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. 560, 55 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 40,372, 5 Indiv.Empl.Rts.Cas. 1639 Herbert F. CAUDILL, Appellant, v. FARMLAND INDUSTRIES, INC., Appellee. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit |
Bert S. Braud, Kansas City, Mo. (Popham, Conway, Sweeney, Fremont & Bundschu, Kansas City, Mo., on the brief), for appellant.
Holly McCoy Zimmerman, Kansas City, Mo., for appellee.
Before LAY, Chief Judge, and BRIGHT, and TIMBERS, * Circuit Judges.
Appellant Herbert F. Caudill (Caudill) appeals from an order, entered February 12, 1990, in the Western District of Missouri, D. Brook Bartlett, District Judge, granting the motions of appellee Farmland Industries, Inc. (Farmland) for a directed verdict and judgment n.o.v., or, in the alternative, for a new trial.
Caudill commenced this action in 1986, alleging two causes of action: (1) that Farmland retaliated against Caudill in violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act ("ADEA"), 29 U.S.C. Secs. 621-634 (1988), by causing a subsequent employer to terminate him; and (2) that Farmland tortiously interfered with Caudill's employment relationship with a subsequent employer. The jury returned a verdict in favor of Caudill on both causes of action. The district court then granted Farmland's motion for a directed verdict and judgment n.o.v.
On appeal, Caudill contends that the district court erred in granting Farmland's motion, asserting that the evidence was sufficient to support the jury's verdict. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm the judgment of the district court.
We shall summarize only those facts and prior proceedings believed necessary to an understanding of the issues raised on appeal. Since this is an appeal from a directed verdict, we are required to view the evidence in the light most favorable to Caudill. Brooks v. Woodline Motor Freight, Inc., 852 F.2d 1061, 1063 (8th Cir.1988).
After working in several jobs related to the grain and agricultural industry, Caudill came to Kansas City in 1982 as General Manager and Treasurer of the Kansas City Terminal Elevator Company (Kansas City Terminal). While employed by Kansas City Terminal, Caudill was interviewed by Farmland, which was in the process of acquiring Kansas City Terminal through a Farmland subsidiary, FarMarCo. Ultimately, Farmland did not hire Caudill. After his termination from his position at Kansas City Terminal, Caudill filed his initial age discrimination charge against FarMarCo on May 2, 1985. The merits of that charge are not before us.
In July 1985, Caudill was hired by the Double Circle Farm Supply Company (Double Circle), another subsidiary of Farmland. Double Circle provided temporary managers to local cooperatives. Caudill was placed as an interim manager with Double Circle Coop in Waco, Texas (Waco Coop). Waco Coop is not a subsidiary of Farmland but is a member cooperative of Farmland. It purchases its products from Farmland. During the course of Caudill's term as interim manager of Waco Coop, he had some disagreements with his boss, Doyle Smith, concerning the purchase of feed. Smith wanted Caudill to buy Farmland products to sell to Waco Coop, although Caudill could buy the feed more cheaply elsewhere. Smith reminded Caudill on several occasions that Caudill was an employee of Farmland and that Farmland signed his paychecks.
During this period, Waco Coop had obtained financing from yet another Farmland subsidiary, the Cooperative Financial Association (CFA). CFA was the vehicle by which member coops, such as Waco Coop, could finance their businesses. In December 1985, Bill Moon, vice-president of CFA, wrote to Waco Coop, stating that CFA no longer would be able to provide financing because "a continuous difference of opinion of management and operational policies prevail between your Board and management personnel and individuals in Farmland assigned the responsibilities to assist you with management and operational support." At that time, Waco Coop had approximately $1,000,000 in outstanding debts to CFA. A meeting between Waco Coop and CFA was scheduled for January 1986 to discuss continued financing. By that time Waco Coop had hired Caudill as their manager, so that Caudill was working directly for Waco Coop rather than for Double Circle.
At a break in the January meeting, Caudill was approached by Harry Cleburg, a Farmland executive, who asked Caudill what his intentions were with respect to the pending age discrimination claim he had filed in 1985. Caudill stated that he was going forward with the claim. Following the Cleburg-Caudill discussion, Caudill was asked to leave the meeting. At that point, Cleburg advised the Waco Coop Board of Directors that unless there was "cooperation" between Caudill and CFA, CFA would not continue financing Waco Coop. Waco Coop obtained alternate financing from the M Bank. In February 1986, it repaid CFA the approximately $1 million in outstanding loans that it owed CFA. There remained only a $66,000 loan from CFA to Waco Coop. Caudill was retained as manager of the Waco Coop. From that point until July 1986, Caudill experienced no problems in his relationship with the Board of Directors of Waco Coop. There were no complaints at the June or July meetings of the board about his performance, and no mention of the possibility of terminating Caudill was made at those meetings.
On July 17, 1986, ten days before the regularly scheduled July meeting of the Waco Coop board, Caudill amended his age discrimination complaint to include a retaliation charge against Farmland. He alleged that Cleburg told the Waco Coop president that, unless Caudill was fired, Farmland would no longer finance Waco Coop. Caudill received a letter from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), dated July 25, 1986, which stated that the retaliation amendment had been received by the EEOC and that "[a] copy of your charge or notice of your charge will be provided to the Respondent [Farmland] within ten days of the date your charge was received as required by law." The amendment bore an EEOC date-stamp of July 21, 1986.
On July 30, 1986, three days after the regular Waco Coop board meeting, the Waco Coop board held an emergency meeting at the Waco Holiday Inn. The minutes of that meeting show that a motion was made to terminate Caudill immediately and that the motion was unanimously approved. Two other employees--Jack Bird and Greg Caudill--also were terminated. Later that day, Caudill received a letter setting forth the reasons for his termination. These included his alleged failure to carry out the board's mandates with respect to expenditures; his alleged failure to explain discrepancies in financial reporting; and his alleged violation of Waco Coop's anti-nepotism policy. Caudill claimed at trial that the reasons set forth in the letter were pretextual.
On July 30, 1986, Caudill filed another retaliation claim against Farmland. He alleged that Farmland exercised influence over Waco Coop in having Caudill terminated. In his federal court complaint, Caudill added a claim for tortious interference with his business relationship with Waco Coop.
The claims for retaliation and tortious interference were tried to a jury on September 25-27, 1989. Farmland moved for a directed verdict at the close of Caudill's evidence and at the close of all the evidence. Judge Bartlett denied the first motion for a directed verdict and took the second under advisement. The case was submitted to the jury which found for Caudill on both causes of action. It awarded him $110,000 in damages. Judge Bartlett then granted Farmland's motions for a directed verdict and judgment n.o.v., or, in the alternative, Farmland's motion for a new trial. He concluded, in a ten-page written order dated February 9, 1990, that "there was insufficient evidence from which a reasonable jury could conclude that Farmland caused plaintiff's termination." Since we find that Judge Bartlett properly directed a verdict for Farmland and granted judgment n.o.v., we need not reach the question whether he properly granted, in the alternative, Farmland's motion for a new trial.
The standard for ruling upon a directed verdict and a judgment n.o.v. are the same. See Simpson v. Skelly Oil Co., 371 F.2d 563, 567 (8th Cir.1967). Affirming the granting of such motions is appropriate where the evidence is such that, without weighing the credibility of the witnesses, there can be but one reasonable conclusion as to the verdict. Mulholland v. Schneider Service Co., 661 F.2d 708, 711 (8th Cir.1981). The district court's conclusion here that there...
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