Dalton v. Jefferson Smurfit Corp., C-1-97-207.

Citation979 F.Supp. 1187
Decision Date30 September 1997
Docket NumberNo. C-1-97-207.,C-1-97-207.
PartiesBill DALTON, Plaintiff, v. JEFFERSON SMURFIT CORPORATION (U.S.), et al., Defendants.
CourtUnited States District Courts. 6th Circuit. United States District Courts. 6th Circuit. Southern District of Ohio

Alphonse Adam Gerhardstein, Sarah Poston, Cincinnati, OH, for plaintiff.

George Edward Yund, David A. Skidmore, Jr., Frost & Jacobs, Cincinnati, OH, for defendants.

ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART THE DEFENDANTS' MOTION TO DISMISS

DLOTT, District Judge.

Few areas of the legal landscape are cast in as many shades of gray as where the laws governing the unionized workplace have intersected with the nation's antidiscrimination laws. The questions presented in this case require exploration of this murky terrain.

Advancing both federal and state law claims, the Plaintiff, a former union employee, has filed an action which challenges the manner in which he was treated at his previous place of employment. His complaint sets forth four causes of action. The federal law counts allege violations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq., and provisions of the Civil Rights Act of 1866, 42 U.S.C. § 1981. The remaining counts, all brought as pendent state law claims, include a cause of action for violations of the Ohio Civil Rights Act, OHIO REV. CODE ANN. 4112.01 et seq. (Anderson 1995), and a second cause of action for the tort of intentional infliction of emotional distress.1

The litigation is presently before the Court on the Defendants' Motion to Dismiss for want of subject matter jurisdiction, FED. R. CIV. P. 12(b)(1), and for failure to state a claim upon which relief may he granted. FED. R. CIV. P. 12(b)(6). For reasons more fully explained below, the Defendants' Motion to Dismiss is hereby GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED IN PART.

Before narrating the relevant facts, the Court observes that, for purposes of their Motion to Dismiss, the Defendants have not challenged the factual allegations contained in the complaint, nor has the Plaintiff questioned the accuracy of the collective bargaining agreement attached as an exhibit to the Defendants' Motion to Dismiss.

I. BACKGROUND
A. The Unionized Work Setting and the Collective Bargaining Agreement

Jefferson Smurfit Corporation ("JSC") manufactures corrugated materials, including boxes and displays. Bill Dalton, an African-American, worked as a pipefitter in the maintenance department at JSC's Blue Ash, Ohio manufacturing plant. This plant, along with several other JSC facilities, operates against the backdrop of a unionized work force.

The racial composition of the union membership at the Blue Ash plant, however, is not as symmetrical as the boxes its members help to manufacture. Of the one hundred fifty union members working at the plant, only nine are African-American. Despite this lopsided disparity in numbers, Dalton joined the United Paperworkers International Union, AFL-CIO, Local No. 498 (the "Union"), when he started work at JSC in 1984. As a result, the terms and conditions of Dalton's employment were regulated by the provisions contained in the collective bargaining agreement negotiated between JSC and the Union.

That agreement contained a number of provisions delineating the respective rights and obligations of JSC and its union employees. JSC was authorized to impose discipline on an employee, up to and including discharge, for "justifiable reasons." One reason articulated in the agreement as a proper basis for such discipline was an employee's inability to "cooperate with the local management." Employees for their part, agreed to show up to work at the beginning of their scheduled shift. If employees were unable to meet this obligation due to sickness or for "other legitimate reasons," they were to notify JSC's local management "as soon as possible." In addition, employees working at "operations that by their nature are continuous"2 could not leave their work station until they were told otherwise by their supervisor or "until someone ha[d] taken over the responsibility of their respective position." The agreement also provided that neither JSC nor the Union would discriminate against an employee with regard "to [their] compensation, terms, conditions" or privileges of employment" on the basis of "race, color, religion, sex, age, handicap or national origin." In complying with this nondiscrimination clause, both JSC and the Union agreed that they were "subject to the specific provisions and exemptions" of various federal antidiscrimination statutes, including Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

As is standard in most agreements reached in a unionized setting, the collective bargaining agreement also contained a section providing a grievance and arbitration mechanism to resolve workplace disputes. In order to set the machinery of the grievance process in motion, the aggrieved employee was required to file a complaint with his or her immediate supervisor. The individual employee's participation in the process, however, began and ended with the filing of the complaint. All subsequent steps in the grievance process were handled through discussions between a representative for the Union and local management. The agreement also provided that if a dispute was not satisfactorily settled through the grievance process, the matter could be submitted to binding arbitration. However, only the Union had the authority to request that grievances be submitted to binding arbitration. In addition, arbitration was only appropriate for resolving disputes that involved "the interpretation, application or compliance with the terms" of the agreement. The arbitrator could not "change any of [the] terms or conditions" in the agreement nor "deprive the Company or the Union of any rights expressly or impliedly reserved therein." The parties agreed that the expenses of such arbitration were to be shared equally between the Union and JSC. Therefore, throughout the entire grievance and arbitration process, the aggrieved employee was stripped of any control over the direction or the manner in which his or her complaint was handled. In short, it was the Union that owned the individual employee's grievance for purposes of resolving workplace disputes.

B. The Dispute

Shortly after beginning his work duties in the maintenance department and for the remainder of his stay in that department, Dalton endured a "constant stream of racial epithets"3 and threats of physical harm from the defendant James Boyd, a co-worker in the maintenance department. In addition to this verbal barrage of racial abuse, Boyd took more concrete action. On numerous occasions, while Dalton was being lifted on a cherry-picker to perform repair work above ground, Boyd would operate the machine so as to knock Dalton against the ceiling and the walls.

In October 1994, the supervisor position for the maintenance department became available. Boyd applied for this position. Perturbed with the prospect of Boyd as his immediate supervisor, Dalton approached the defendant John Brooks, the production manager at the Blue Ash plant, to voice his concerns. Brooks attempted to assuage Dalton's fears by assuring him that Boyd had changed and that he would no longer engage in such racially motivated conduct. Soon thereafter, Boyd was promoted to the supervisor position.

Despite the assurances that had been given, Boyd continued his prior practice of hurling racial slurs at Dalton. With his new found position of authority, Boyd also explored new avenues to express his racist views. For example, unlike the assignments to other employees in the maintenance department, Boyd regularly assigned more work to Dalton than could be accomplished in the assigned period of time. Boyd also used Dalton's health condition as a means to act on his racist impulses.

In November 1994, Dalton was diagnosed with atrial fibrillation, a condition characterized by the rapid beating of the heart resulting in dizziness and weakness. After being diagnosed, Dalton returned to his normal job duties at JSC. On February 13, 1995, while on duty at work, Dalton began to experience the symptoms of atrial fibrillation. Dalton immediately called his doctor to seek his advice and assistance. Dalton's physician informed him to leave work immediately and to go to the Good Samaritan Hospital. Throughout this telephone conversation Boyd was standing nearby in the same room. However, in spite of his knowledge of Dalton's physical condition and the instructions from his physician, Boyd refused Dalton's request to leave work to go to the hospital. Instead, Dalton was forced to stay at work until he had completed his shift. As a result, Dalton remained at work for an additional three hours before he was able to leave for the hospital. Once at Good Samaritan Hospital, Dalton remained hospitalized for three days.

Upon his return to work, Dalton was asked to report to a meeting being held in defendant Tom Wiechel's office. At the time, Wiechel was the plant superintendent at the Blue Ash facility, a position which gave him supervisory control over Boyd and Brooks. Also present at this meeting was Boyd and John Wiggens, union president for Local 498. During this meeting, Wiechel warned Dalton to get along with Boyd and apprised Dalton that he would support Boyd in any future disputes. Afterwards, Brooks informed Dalton to do his job and to ignore Boyd.

Beginning the next day, Boyd continued with his verbal harassment of Dalton. By April 1995, Boyd's frequent racially abusive comments had so infected the work environment in this maintenance department that Dalton decided to bid on a position in the printing department even though the position entitled him to a lower hourly wage. Dalton was transferred in May to this position in the printing department.

Despite Dalton's attempt to extricate himself from the racially hostile work environment in the maintenance department, the specter of racial intolerance followed Dalton to...

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