Cotton Belt R.R. v. Hendricks

• Decision Date: 28 March 1989
• Docket Number: No. 9645,9645
• Citation: 768 S.W.2d 865
• Parties: 111 Lab.Cas. P 56,066 COTTON BELT RAILROAD, Appellant, v. Gary HENDRICKS, Appellee.
• Court: Texas Court of Appeals

Page 865

768 S.W.2d 865

111 Lab.Cas. P 56,066

COTTON BELT RAILROAD, Appellant, v. Gary HENDRICKS, Appellee.

No. 9645.

Court of Appeals of Texas Texarkana.

March 28, 1989.

Roy I. McCutcheon, Houston, for appellant.

Clyde Lee, Texarkana, for appellee.

PER CURIAM.

Gary Hendricks brought this action against the Cotton Belt Railroad (hereafter referred to as "the Railroad") and twenty-one individually named defendants. He alleged defamation, libel, conspiracy and interference with contractual relationships. The cause went to the jury only on the theory of libel, and Hendricks requested damages based upon loss of earnings and mental anguish.

The Railroad contends that the trial court erred in hearing the case and in overruling its judgment non obstante veredicto and motion for new trial because the cause of action is pre-empted by the Railway Labor Act, 45 U.S.C.A. § 151, et seq. (1986). The Railroad further contends that the trial court erred by submitting the issues on libel and damages to the jury and rendering judgment on the jury's answers to the issues. This complaint is based upon the contention that the issue on libel contained an internal conflict which amounted to a comment on the weight of the evidence and also permitted the jury to find that while none of the Railroad's employees or its agents libeled Hendricks, the Railroad did. The Railroad also contends that there was no evidence or insufficient evidence that the Railroad libeled Hendricks and that there was no evidence or insufficient evidence to support the jury finding of damages. The Railroad further argues that the court's admission of testimony about a 1979 investigation of Hendricks over the Railroad's objection of irrelevancy constitutes reversible error.

Gary Hendricks had been employed by Cotton Belt Railroad from approximately 1967 through 1986. During the first part of that period of time, he was transferred from one job station to another along the Railroad. According to the testimony, including that of two psychologists, Hendricks had several character traits which were irritating to his co-workers. Witnesses testified that he worked as a clerk, but dressed in a three-piece suit while his co-workers wore jeans, and that he was an absolute perfectionist and a stickler for observing all rules. One of his co-workers testified that Hendricks always considered himself better than the rest of the workers and was always preaching to them about using bad language and drinking. Hendricks had reported several co-workers for rule violations and for being intoxicated on the job. His supervisor was one of the workers whom he reported for intoxication.

In October of 1983, a formal investigation was conducted under the collective bargaining agreement on an allegation that Hendricks and yardmaster Hamilton had violated two rules by being quarrelsome, otherwise vicious and entering into boisterous and profane language in the Texarkana yard office. Because of the rules violation, Hendricks and Hamilton were suspended for sixty days.

Several months after his return to work, a petition was circulated which reads as follows:

We, the undersigned employees of the Cotton Belt RR at Texarkana and other points wish to complain that Clerk Mr. G.D. Hendricks is causing numerous problems.

He is always using abusive language, is vicious, quarrelsome, and causes trouble on any shift he works. He has on numerous occasions caused everyone to be irritated and uneasy due to his undue accuations (sic) and we feel he has interminent (sic) periods of mental instability.

We the undersigned do strongly request that this man and his problems be delt (sic) with immediately before futher (sic) problems develop.

The petition contained the stamp of the general yardmaster, L.D. Hamilton, and was signed by approximately sixty co-workers, including Hamilton.

At approximately the same time, a lengthy and rather sarcastic poem appeared on a bulletin board and on Hendricks' desk, which he believed was written and placed there for the purpose of bringing him into ridicule. The poem did not mention him by name and there was no evidence as to the identity of the writer or the identity of the person who put it there.

The jury found that none of the numerous individuals cited had libeled Hendricks, but that the Railroad had. The jury further found that Hendricks was damaged in the amount of $50,000 for past and future mental anguish and past and future loss of earnings. The attorney for all defendants objected to the charge only on the ground that there was no evidence to support an affirmative finding on any of the issues.

The initial question is whether this cause of action has been pre-empted by federal statute. The Railroad contends that the Railway Labor Act and the cases which have applied it provide that this cause is pre-empted by federal law. ¹

The Railway Labor Act could not act to pre-empt litigation between Hendricks and his co-workers. The Act specifies that it applies to all disputes between the carrier and employees arising out of the application of employment agreements or otherwise. The plain language of the Act does not pre-empt an action between employees.

Although the Railroad's contentions are made under the Railway Labor Act, a number of the cases cited hereafter refer to the National Labor Relations Act, 29 U.S.C.A. § 151, et seq. (1973 & Supp.1988). This Act is similar in purpose to the Railway Labor Act, and the United States Supreme Court has determined that we may refer to the National Labor Relations Act for assistance in construing the Railway Labor Act. Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen v. Jacksonville Terminal Co., 394 U.S. 369, 89 S.Ct. 1109, 22 L.Ed.2d 344 (1969). The Railroad argues that the plain language of the Act requires Hendricks to bring any grievance to the National Railroad Adjustment Board because it involves a dispute "arising out of the application of such agreements or otherwise ... or growing out of any dispute between the carrier and the employees thereof." In a series of cases concerning the National Labor Relations Act, the Supreme Court has provided exceptions to pre-emption for several classes of situations. The Court has specifically held that state jurisdiction to enforce its laws prohibiting violence, defamation, the intentional infliction of emotional distress, or obstruction of access to property is not pre-empted by the National Labor Relations Act. Sears Roebuck & Co. v. Carpenters, 436 U.S. 180, 204, 98 S.Ct. 1745, 1761, 56 L.Ed.2d 209, 229 (1978); Beers v. Southern Pacific Transportation Co., 703 F.2d 425 (9th Cir.1983). Defamation is specifically addressed in Linn v. United Plant Guard Workers, 383 U.S. 53, 61, 86 S.Ct. 657, 662, 15 L.Ed.2d 582, 589 (1966). In the context of a battle between unions, the Court stated that libel was not pre-empted by the Act because it was merely a peripheral concern. The Court went on to restrict actionable libel to that "issued with knowledge of its falsity, or with reckless disregard of whether it was true or false," and it added, "Moreover, we believe that 'an overriding state interest' in protecting its residents from malicious libels should be recognized in these circumstances." The Court concluded that the state's concern with redressing malicious libel is so deeply rooted in local feeling and responsibility that it fits within the exceptions specifically carved out by San Diego Building Trades Council v. Garmon, 359 U.S. 236, 79 S.Ct. 773, 3 L.Ed.2d 775 (1959), which had restricted the scope of the exception to intimidation and threats of violence. ²

The defamation/libel exception to federal pre-emption was further examined by the Court in Farmer v. Carpenters, 430 U.S. 290, 300, 97 S.Ct. 1056, 1063, 51 L.Ed.2d 338, 350 (1977). The Court discussed Linn once again in the context of "the free discussion characteristic of labor disputes" and summarized the preceding cases by stating that they

reflect a balanced inquiry into such factors as the nature of the federal and state interests in regulation and the potential for interference with federal regulation.... [O]ur cases "demonstrate that the decision to pre-empt federal and state court jurisdiction over a given class of cases must depend upon the nature of the particular interests being asserted and the effect upon the administration of national labor policies of concurrent judicial and administrative remedies."

The Court continued its analysis by noting that no provision of the National Labor Relations Act protected the "outrageous conduct, threats, intimidation, and words" complained of by the petitioner and that the state has a substantial interest in protecting its citizens from the kind of abuse of which the petitioner complained. The Court then balanced the potential for interference with federal concerns against the legitimate and substantial interest of the state in protecting its citizens. The Court concluded that Congress did not intend to oust state court jurisdiction over actions for tortious activity such as that alleged in Farmer v. Carpenters, 430 U.S. 290, 97 S.Ct. 1056, 51 L.Ed.2d 338.

Sections 7 and 8 of the National Labor Relations Act, as cited by that Court, are more restrictive in their application than the parallel sections of the Railway Labor Act. The National Labor Relations Act is more specifically aligned with the rights of employees to organize, the types of collective bargaining that are permissible, and the particular types of unfair labor practices that are condemned. Although the purposes of one may be similar to the purposes of the other, the language of the Acts is measurably different.

Hendricks cites one case in direct support of his argument that the Railway Labor Act does not pre-empt state court...