Clark v. Esser

• Decision Date: 23 October 1995
• Docket Number: No. 92-CV-72341-DT.,92-CV-72341-DT.
• Citation: 907 F. Supp. 1069
• Parties: Gary CLARK, Larry Dyer, Gerald Gallagher, Robert Naslanic, Dwight Walker and Mary Knox, Plaintiffs, v. James F. ESSER, Jim Cianciolo, Betty Cardinal, Leon Cooper, Greg Lowran, Rick Oliver, David Witulski, Bill Duttman and Teamsters Local 243, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Michigan

907 F. Supp. 1069

Gary CLARK, Larry Dyer, Gerald Gallagher, Robert Naslanic, Dwight Walker and Mary Knox, Plaintiffs, v. James F. ESSER, Jim Cianciolo, Betty Cardinal, Leon Cooper, Greg Lowran, Rick Oliver, David Witulski, Bill Duttman and Teamsters Local 243, Defendants.

No. 92-CV-72341-DT.

United States District Court, E.D. Michigan, Southern Division.

October 23, 1995.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Ellis Boal, Detroit, Michigan, for plaintiffs.

Curtis G. Rundell, II, Troy, Michigan, for defendants.

OPINION AND ORDER DENYING DEFENDANTS' MOTION FOR JUDGMENT NOTWITHSTANDING THE VERDICT AND THE INDIVIDUAL DEFENDANTS' MOTION FOR RELIEF FROM JUDGMENT

ROSEN, District Judge.

I. INTRODUCTION

Plaintiffs, members of a political caucus known as "rank and file teamsters" or "RAFT" within Teamsters Local 243, instituted this action against Defendants, members of a political caucus known as "Esser-Cinci" within Local 243 and Local 243 itself, claiming that Defendants deprived Plaintiffs of their right to free expression, as protected by the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act ("LMRDA," or "Landrum-Griffin Act"), 29 U.S.C. 411(a)(2). In particular, Plaintiffs claim that the individual Defendants filed a retaliatory defamation, libel, and slander action against them in state court. The individual Defendants, whose state court defamation case was dismissed, filed a defamation counterclaim against Plaintiffs in the instant matter.

The case was tried before a jury on June 21 through 25, 1993. At the close of Plaintiffs' case, Defendants made an oral motion for directed verdict, which was denied by the Court. On July 15, 1993, after a jury rejected Defendants' defamation counterclaim and returned a verdict in favor of Plaintiffs in the amount of $30,000, Defendants filed the instant motion seeking judgment as a matter of law on Plaintiffs' Landrum-Griffin Act claim, or, in the alternative, a new trial.

While this motion was pending, this Court was informed that Mr. Francis J. Kortsch, counsel for Defendant Local 243, had been suspended from the practice of law by the State of Wisconsin prior to the trial. Because Mr. Kortsch's admission to practice in this Court was premised on his good standing in his home state of Wisconsin, this Court conducted a hearing to determine what action, if any, was necessitated by Mr. Kortsch's Wisconsin suspension. As a consequence, Mr. Kortsch was barred from continuing his representation of Defendant Local 243, and consideration of the instant motion was delayed until Local 243 could obtain new counsel.¹ On November 1, 1994, Defendant Local 243's new counsel filed a supplemental brief in support of Defendants' motion. Plaintiffs responded to the brief filed by Mr. Kortsch on August 11, 1993, and to the supplemental brief on December 5, 1994; Defendant Local 243 replied on December 9, 1994.

Next, on April 3, 1995, the individual Defendants filed a motion for relief from judgment, or in the alternative for a stay of execution of that judgment. The individual Defendants assert that it was "understood by all" throughout the trial that liability for Plaintiffs' LMRDA claims could rest only with Defendant Local 243. By order dated April 24, 1995, this Court granted the motion for a stay of execution pending resolution of Defendants' outstanding motions.

Having considered all of the documents filed by the parties, as well as the arguments made by their counsel at a hearing held on this matter on August 23, 1995, and for the reasons stated below, the Court hereby denies Defendants' request for judgment as a matter of law or for a new trial, and denies the individual Defendants' motion for relief from judgment.

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW

The standards governing consideration of a motion for judgment as a matter of law, whether considered before or after submission of the case to the jury, are as follows:

Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the party against whom the motion is made, a directed verdict is proper if reasonable minds could only come to a conclusion against the non-movant. In coming to this conclusion neither the credibility or weight of the evidence should be considered.

Littlejohn v. Rose, 768 F.2d 765, 770 (6th Cir.1985), cert. denied, 475 U.S. 1045, 106 S.Ct. 1260, 89 L.Ed.2d 570 (1986). Furthermore, a post-verdict motion for judgment as a matter of law will be considered only if a similar motion was made before the jury charge. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 50(a)(2) and 50(b).

Turning to the motion for new trial, Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 59 states that "a new trial may be granted ... for any of the reasons for which new trials have been granted in actions at law in the courts of the United States...." Specific grounds for new trial can include:

that the verdict is against the weight of the evidence, that the damages are excessive, or that for other reasons the trial was not fair, and that the motion may also raise questions of law arising out of substantial errors in the admission or rejection of evidence or the giving or refusal of instructions.

11 Charles A. Wright & Arthur R. Miller, Federal Practice & Procedure § 2805, at 37-38 (1973).

"The grant of a new trial ... falls within the trial court's discretion to act to prevent a miscarriage of justice." Fryman v. Federal Crop Ins. Corp., 936 F.2d 244, 248 (6th Cir.1991). This broad discretion vested in the trial court in deciding a Rule 59 motion for new trial extends to motions predicated upon the sufficiency of the evidence and errors in jury instructions. See City of Cleveland v. Peter Kiewit Sons' Co., 624 F.2d 749 (6th Cir.1980). See generally C. Wright and A. Miller, 11 Federal Practice and Procedure § 2818 and cases cited therein.

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 61 makes clear that the court must disregard any error or defect in the proceeding which does not affect the substantial rights of the parties. It provides, in pertinent part:

No error in either the admission or the exclusion of evidence and no error or defect in any ruling or order or in anything done or omitted by the court or by any of the parties is grounds for granting a new trial ... unless refusal to take such action appears to the court inconsistent with substantial justice. The court at every stage of the proceeding must disregard any error or defect in the proceedings which does not affect the substantial rights of the parties.

The Court will apply the above principles in deciding Defendants' motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict or for a new trial.

III. ARGUMENTS OF THE PARTIES

Defendants make several arguments in support of their motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict or for a new trial. In their initial brief (filed by Francis Kortsch on July 15, 1993), they argue:

I. Lack of subject matter jurisdiction because the state court litigation, however construed, does not constitute "discipline" under § 411 of the Landrum-Griffin Act.

II. Insufficient evidence of union complicity in preparing or advancing the state court action.

III. Insufficient evidence that the state court action was filed for an improper purpose.

IV. Failure to exhaust internal union remedies.

In a supplemental brief (filed by Defendant Local 243's new counsel on November 1, 1994), Defendants also argue:

V. Because the First Amendment protects the right of citizens to petition the courts for redress of grievances, the commencement of a public proceeding against a union member can never constitute an actionable infringement of his rights, or at most can constitute an infringement only if it is a "sham" proceeding.

As a result of this alleged failure of the Court to properly construe the law, Defendant Local 243 argues that improper jury instructions were given.

In addition to attacking the merits of these contentions, Plaintiffs also contend that arguments I, IV and V should not be addressed by this Court due to Defendants' failure to raise these points of law in their initial motion for directed verdict,² and their failure to object to the jury instructions.

Regarding the individual Defendants' motion for relief from judgment, Defendants contend that the trial was conducted with the implicit understanding, by all parties, that only Defendant Local 243 could be held liable for any infringement of Plaintiffs' rights under Title I of the Landrum-Griffin Act. Accordingly, the individual Defendants conclude that the judgment of this Court holding all of the Defendants liable reflects a "clerical mistake" that should be corrected by issuing an amended judgment naming only Defendant Local 243. Plaintiffs respond that their complaint properly named both the individual Defendants and Local 243, and that their trial brief explicitly asserted the joint and several liability of the Local and the members of "Esser-Cinci."

IV. ANALYSIS

A. THIS COURT WILL ADDRESS DEFENDANTS' ARGUMENTS DESPITE THEIR FAILURE TO RAISE THEM IN THEIR MOTION FOR DIRECTED VERDICT OR TO OBJECT TO THE JURY INSTRUCTIONS.

Defendants' motion for directed verdict after the completion of Plaintiffs' case-in-chief rested exclusively on the alleged insufficiency of the evidence to establish either union complicity or improper motive in filing the state lawsuit. Furthermore, Defendants did not object to the jury instructions given by the Court. Plaintiffs contend that because arguments I, IV, and V above were not raised in Defendants' motion for directed verdict, they may not be raised in a subsequent motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict. Moreover, to the extent that argument V above asserts that the jury was improperly instructed, Plaintiffs argue that Defendants' failure to object to the jury instructions at trial bars them from objecting to those instructions in a post-trial motion.

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 50 controls this Court's decision whether to grant a motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict. Rule 50(a)(2) specifies the requirements for a ...