Flint Constr. Co. v. Hall

• Decision Date: 30 December 2004
• Citation: 904 So.2d 236
• Parties: FLINT CONSTRUCTION COMPANY v. Robert Lee HALL, Jr.
• Court: Alabama Supreme Court

904 So.2d 236

FLINT CONSTRUCTION COMPANY v. Robert Lee HALL, Jr.

1020288.

Supreme Court of Alabama.

December 30, 2004.

J. Larry Stine and Mark A. Waschak of Wimberly, Lawson, Steckel, Nelson & Schneider, P.C., Atlanta, Georgia; and John Earl Paluzzi, Carrollton, for appellant.

Robert Lee Hall, Jr., John A. Owens, and Anna Northington Hutcheson of Owens & Millsaps, LLP, Tuscaloosa, for appellee.

LYONS, Justice.

Robert Lee Hall, Jr., sued Flint Construction Company alleging, among other claims, that Flint had discharged him in retaliation for his filing a claim for workers' compensation benefits. After a trial on the retaliatory-discharge claim, the jury returned a verdict in favor of Hall, awarding him $400,000 in compensatory damages and $200,000 in punitive damages. The trial court entered a judgment on the jury's verdict. Flint then filed a post-judgment motion for a judgment as a matter of law ("JML") or for a new trial, which was denied by operation of law pursuant to Rule 59.1, Ala. R. Civ. P. Flint appeals; we affirm.

I. Factual Background and Procedural History

Flint, a Georgia corporation, is a construction company that installs pipeline systems for the natural-gas industry. Flint's business office is located in Lawrenceville, Georgia. The company does the majority of its work in Georgia, but it also does work on pipeline projects in other states. At all times pertinent to this appeal, Bob Good was the president of Flint, Terry Fuller was the vice president, James "Dooley" Eaves was the general superintendent, and Nelson Grams was the safety director and had the responsibility of dealing with workers' compensation claims.

Flint initially hired Hall in 1980 as a laborer at an hourly wage. From 1980 through 1986, Hall worked intermittently for Flint on various projects. In 1986, Flint offered Hall a permanent, full-time position as a foreman installing plastic pipe on large construction projects. As a foreman, Hall had supervisory authority over other employees and was paid a salary rather than an hourly wage. In weeks when Flint's employees were unable to work a full week on a project, salaried employees were guaranteed their pay for 50 hours of work even if they did not actually work that number of hours. Alternatively, when a project demanded that Flint's employees work overtime, salaried employees were paid for only 50 hours, even if they worked more. Because most of Flint's construction projects required Hall, an Alabama resident, to be away from home for extended periods, Flint also paid Hall a "living allowance" when he was working on projects too far away from home for him to return home at night.

On December 13, 1990, Hall injured his left knee on the job. He later reinjured the same knee. Flint paid Hall's medical expenses in connection with those injuries and paid temporary disability benefits for the days on which he missed work. On December 14, 1993, Flint and Hall settled his workers' compensation claim concerning the 1990 knee injury in the Pickens Circuit Court. The settlement petition filed with the court contained the statement: "[The parties] agree and represent unto the Court ... [t]hat they are subject to the provisions of the [Workers'] Compensation Statute of Alabama, as amended." The petition was signed by Hall and by Anthony N. Fox as "Attorney for Flint Construction." The trial court approved the settlement and entered a final order in accordance with its terms. On May 16, 1996, Flint and Hall settled his workers' compensation claim concerning the reinjury to his knee, again in the Pickens Circuit Court. The second settlement petition filed with the court also contained the statement: "[The parties] agree and represent unto the Court ... [t]hat they are subject to the provisions of the [Workers'] Compensation Statute of Alabama, as amended." The petition was signed by Hall and by Fox as "Attorney for Flint Construction." The trial court approved the settlement and entered a final order in accordance with its terms. Hall stated that on one occasion when he was in Flint's main office, Grams showed him "some paperwork" concerning his injuries and informed him that at that point the expenses for his knee injury totaled over $68,000.

According to Hall, although he continued to work his left knee still bothered him. In late January 1996, Hall testified that he had a telephone conversation with Good in which he told Good about the problems he was having at work because of the pain in his knee. He said:

"I called Bob from Savannah, Georgia and I told him the situation. And he told me, well — y'all excuse me, Bob and I had a close relationship and we always used first names. He said, `well, Lad, it's wintertime and you know things are slow.' He said, `you got things so you can leave?' I said, `yes, sir.' I said, `they don't want but a four-man crew down here, a welder and three workers with him.' And he said, `well, that been taken care of?' And I said, `yes, sir. The welder's here and Petro Fowler and Raymond King —' and, I believe, Earl Tyson was the three mens I was leaving down there with him. And he said, `well, you go home and take care of what you got to do to get your leg well and just when you get ready to come back, come back.' And I said, `yes, sir.' So, I left."

Good testified that he did not recall such a conversation.

In addition to the problems with his knee, Hall was diagnosed in March 1996 with diabetes, and he was hospitalized for several days in late March for that illness. Flint's employment records reflect that Hall did not work from January 26, 1996, until April 13, 1996. He was paid his full salary from January 26 until approximately three weeks before he returned to work. He was paid one-half of his regular salary for those three weeks.

Eaves, the general superintendent, testified that in March 1996 he tried repeatedly to reach Hall to find out where he was and why he was not working. Eaves says that when he could not reach Hall by telephone, he wrote him a letter. The record contains a letter to Hall from Eaves dated March 7, 1996, in which Eaves stated that if Flint did not hear from Hall within "a reasonable time frame (14 days)," his position would be considered vacated. Hall testified that he could not think of any reason why Eaves had not been able to reach him by telephone and that after receiving the letter from Eaves, he telephoned Good. He said:

"I told him I was still off getting my leg better. And I told him I was, you know, generally sick, I just didn't have no strength. I didn't know what was wrong and I told him I was sick, too. And at this time, Bob told me, he said, `all right.' He said, `well, come back —' you know, he told me again to don't worry about it."

The record also contains a letter to Hall from Good dated March 20, in which Good stated that Hall would be discharged on April 6, 1996, unless he contacted Flint. After receiving that letter, Hall testified that he again telephoned Good. He said:

"At this time, I had received a letter from Bob [Good]. And I called Bob from the hospital and told him I was in the hospital and I was diagnosed as a diabetic. And he said, `diabetic?' He said, `well, that's sort of serious now.' And I said, `yeah. My blood sugar was over six hundred.' ... He told me to get better and when I got better, to come back."

Hall returned to work full-time in April 1996.

James Eaves testified that among Flint's complaints about Hall was Hall's refusal to take a job assignment in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in February 1997. Hall testified that he had a conversation with Eaves in February 1997 at Flint's annual safety meeting in which Eaves told him he had three projects he needed help on—one in Chattanooga, one in Bastrop, Louisiana, and one in Atlanta, Georgia. Hall said Eaves gave him the option to choose where he would prefer to go, and he chose Bastrop. Hall said that he informed both Eaves and Grams, the safety director, at the safety meeting that he had a doctor's appointment the following Monday, but that on Monday morning, Eaves telephoned him at home and asked why he was not in Chattanooga. Hall said when he reminded Eaves he had a doctor's appointment, Eaves said, "you refusing the work?" Hall said he told Eaves that he was not refusing the work, but that he had to keep his appointment. At that point, Hall said Eaves said to him, "[W]ell, we don't have to pay you another dime on your knee." Hall said he then reminded Eaves that Eaves had given him the choice of going to Chattanooga or to Bastrop, and, although he said he was prepared to go to Bastrop, he asked Eaves what he wanted him to do. Hall said they had an understanding that he was to go to Bastrop, but that Eaves telephoned him later in the week and told him he was needed on a job in Tuscaloosa. After he was no longer needed in Tuscaloosa, Hall said, he went to work on the job in Bastrop.

Flint assigned Hall to the project in Bastrop in April 1997. The supervisor in charge of the Bastrop project was Kenneth "Kimbo" Eaves, James Eaves's brother. Hall reported to work in Bastrop. Hall testified that on April 8, 1997, he hurt his back while trying to help another worker pick up a concrete form. He says that after he picked up the form, he realized that his left knee would not bend to allow him to put the form down and that when he bent over to put the form down, he strained his back. Hall says that the pain radiated into his right leg.

Hall testified that he continued to work on the day of the injury and for several days thereafter until his pain became so severe that he was forced to seek treatment. He saw his family physician at home and then sought chiropractic care in Bastrop. In order to see the chiropractor, Hall had to obtain permission from Flint. Hall says that he gave the necessary form for medical treatment to Kenneth Eaves, who faxed it to Grams and later returned the completed form to Hall. Hall saw the chiropractor for...