Johnson v. Hugo's Skateway

• Decision Date: 27 October 1992
• Docket Number: 90-2509,Nos. 90-2499,s. 90-2499
• Citation: 974 F.2d 1408
• Parties: , 36 Fed. R. Evid. Serv. 769 James H. JOHNSON, a/k/a James H. Ferebee; Commonwealth of Virginia, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. HUGO'S SKATEWAY; Lois Leasing Firm, Incorporated, Defendants-Appellants. James H. JOHNSON, a/k/a James H. Ferebee; Plaintiff-Appellant, and Commonwealth of Virginia, Plaintiff, v. HUGO'S SKATEWAY; Lois Leasing Firm, Incorporated, Defendants-Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fourth Circuit

Page 1408

974 F.2d 1408

61 USLW 2173, 36 Fed. R. Evid. Serv. 769

James H. JOHNSON, a/k/a James H. Ferebee; Commonwealth of

Virginia, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. HUGO'S SKATEWAY; Lois Leasing Firm, Incorporated,

Defendants-Appellants.

James H. JOHNSON, a/k/a James H. Ferebee; Plaintiff-Appellant, and Commonwealth of Virginia, Plaintiff, v. HUGO'S SKATEWAY; Lois Leasing Firm, Incorporated,

Defendants-Appellees.

Nos. 90-2499, 90-2509.

United States Court of Appeals Fourth Circuit.

Argued April 7, 1992.

Decided Sept. 8, 1992.

As Amended Oct. 27, 1992.

Earle Duncan Getchell, Jr., McGuire, Woods, Battle & Boothe, Richmond, Va., argued (Paul G. Gill, Cynthia E. Hudson, on brief), for defendants-appellants.

Douglas Bruce McFadden, McFadden, Evans & Sill, Washington, D.C., argued (James A. Kline, IV, Jerusa Carl Wilson, Jr., on brief), for plaintiff-appellee Johnson.

William Mark Dunn, Asst. Atty. Gen., Richmond, Va., argued (Mary Sue Terry, Atty. Gen., on brief), for plaintiff-appellee Com. of Va.

Before ERVIN, Chief Judge, and RUSSELL, WIDENER, HALL, PHILLIPS, MURNAGHAN, SPROUSE, WILKINSON, WILKINS, NIEMEYER, HAMILTON, LUTTIG and WILLIAMS, Circuit Judges.

OPINION

NIEMEYER, Circuit Judge:

A jury awarded James H. Johnson, a black male, $25,000 compensatory damages and $175,000 punitive damages for racially motivated harassment and intimidation by Hugo's Skateway, a roller skating rink in Warrenton, Virginia, in violation of § 8.01-42.1 of the Virginia Code. In addition, the district court awarded $15,654 for attorneys fees and expenses, although Johnson had filed requests for almost $138,000. On appeal from the judgment, Hugo's contends that (1) the evidence was insufficient to support the jury's finding of a statutory violation, (2) the award of compensatory damages was excessive, and (3) the award of punitive damages, in addition to being excessive, violated the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Johnson cross-appealed, contending that the district court abused its discretion in awarding him only $15,000 for attorneys fees.

The issues were argued before a panel of this Court which affirmed the judgment below, except that the award of punitive damages was remanded for reconsideration by the district court with directions to conduct a post-verdict review, applying "standards similar to those enumerated by the Alabama courts" as described in Pacific Mut. Life Ins. Co. v. Haslip, --- U.S. ----, 111 S.Ct. 1032, 113 L.Ed.2d 1 (1991). 949 F.2d 1338 (4th Cir.1991). The Court en banc thereafter granted Hugo's petition for rehearing, ordering that the earlier panel opinion be vacated and the case reheard by the Court en banc.

We now affirm the jury's finding of liability and its award of compensatory damages. Because we conclude, however, that the scheme applied in this case for awarding punitive damages denied Hugo's due process in violation of the Fifth Amendment, ¹ ] we vacate the award of punitive damages and remand for a new trial on punitive damages. Finally, we remand for further consideration the district court's award of attorneys fees and expenses.

I

James H. Johnson, also known as James H. Ferebee (Johnson), is an adult black male who on February 17, 1989, joined four white friends for an evening of roller skating at Hugo's Skateway in Warrenton, Virginia. Hugo's is an asset of Lois Leasing Firm, Incorporated, which is in turn co-owned by Hugo and Edith Stribling. Johnson was the only black patron at Hugo's that night, the only other black person in attendance at the rink that evening being a Hugo's employee.

About an hour before closing time, Hugo's assistant manager, Daniel Wright, at the direction of Edith Stribling, approached Johnson at rinkside and asked Johnson to accompany him off the skating floor. When doing so, however, Wright asked only that Johnson accompany him to the "back room." Wright admitted that he never told Johnson why he wanted to see him. Johnson asked what he had done wrong and offered to correct any perceived misbehavior on his part or to leave the premises if Wright wished him to do so, but Wright did not request that Johnson leave.

Johnson, an out-of-towner, testified that he felt threatened by the white manager's unexplained request, in an overwhelmingly white establishment, to accompany him to a "back room." While Johnson had had occasion to visit a room in the rear of the building previously, there was no evidence that Johnson was familiar with the "back room" to which Wright asked him to proceed that night.

When Johnson failed to do as he was instructed, Edith Stribling called the Fauquier County Sheriff's office. Some fifteen to thirty minutes later, Deputy Sheriff R. Edward Wines arrived. Deputy Wines had known the Striblings for years, having been formerly employed by the Striblings as a private security guard. Before Deputy Wines arrived at the rink, Stribling did not attempt to talk to Johnson, who sat on a bench directly in front of the glass-enclosed office where Stribling worked.

Upon arriving at the rink, Deputy Wines immediately approached and spoke with Stribling, who directed his attention to Johnson. Thereafter Deputy Wines arrested Johnson by throwing him to the ground, placing him in a choke hold, and handcuffing him. Johnson was transported to a magistrate's office and then to the Fauquier County jail where he was held overnight without bond.

There is conflicting evidence as to Edith Stribling's motivation for sending the assistant manager to get Johnson off the skating floor or calling the sheriff to effectuate Johnson's removal from the rink. Edith Stribling testified that she saw Johnson, skating too fast, come up behind and lift a child out of Johnson's way so that he could skate through. This dangerous activity was, according to Stribling, the reason for her actions. The assistant manager, Daniel Wright, indicated that he was sent to get Johnson because Johnson was skating in the center of the rink, an area designated for "special" skating, which had become too crowded.

Other evidence as to Stribling's motivation came from one of her former employees who testified that Stribling made derogatory comments about mixed-race couples and that the Striblings were "biased against blacks." Other testimony was offered that Stribling sent Wright to remove Johnson "shortly after" Johnson and a white female companion were seen skating together in the center of the rink.

Johnson filed this suit against both Hugo's and Deputy Wines in the district court on November 13, 1989, alleging deprivation of his civil rights under 42 U.S.C § 1983; false arrest and false imprisonment under Virginia common law; and racially motivated harassment and intimidation in violation of § 8.01-42.1 of the Virginia Code. Johnson also charged Deputy Wines with assault and battery under Virginia common law. At trial, the district court directed a verdict in favor of Hugo's on the false arrest, false imprisonment, and § 1983 claims, and the jury returned a verdict against Hugo's for racially motivated harassment and intimidation, awarding Johnson $25,000 compensatory damages and $175,000 punitive damages. The jury returned a verdict against Deputy Wines on all but the racial harassment and intimidation claim, and it awarded Johnson $200 compensatory and $500 punitive damages. On Johnson's application for attorneys' fees and expenses in the amount of $114,778, as amended by a supplemental application for an additional $23,199, the district court awarded Johnson $15,654. The Commonwealth of Virginia was permitted to intervene in this case under 28 U.S.C. § 2403(b) in response to the constitutional challenge to the punitive damages provisions of Va.Code Ann. § 8.01-42.1.

II

Hugo's contends first that the jury's verdict against it was not supported by substantial evidence of acts of "intimidation or harassment" against Johnson which were "motivated by racial ... animosity." See Va.Code Ann. § 8.01-42.1(A). ² In resolving this issue we must view all of the evidence in the light most favorable to Johnson, drawing all reasonable inferences in Johnson's favor, and then determine whether a reasonable jury could have found a verdict in Johnson's favor. See Foster v. Tandy Corp., 828 F.2d 1052, 1055 (4th Cir.1987). When isolating Hugo's conduct from that of Deputy Wines, the question in this case becomes a close one, involving the sufficiency of circumstantial evidence and rational inferences to be drawn therefrom. Nevertheless, being mindful of the Seventh Amendment's commission of factual questions to the jury and of our limited role of review, we conclude that the evidence was sufficient to support the verdict.

When Johnson arrived at Hugo's Skateway on February 17, 1989, Edith Stribling, one of the owners of Hugo's, was working at the cash register and accepted Johnson's payment for himself and two of the white women who accompanied him. According to testimony, Stribling's views as to the propriety of interracial couples had been previously made known to her employees by comments such as "Did you see that hussy with that nigger?" Johnson was an accomplished skater and later that evening he endeavored to teach skating techniques to one of the women. The lesson was conducted in the center of the rink, a section set off by painted lines for skaters who would "like to do something a little out-of-the-ordinary." The lesson was described by a Hugo's employee as follows: "They [were] skating--one would get at one end, and one would go to the other. And they would come to the middle and meet, and they would grab hands and spin around in circles."

Shortly after this, the rink's assistant-manager, at Stribling's behest, came up to Johnson and without explanation told Johnson "they wanted to see him in the back room." Although the manager was an "elderly man," Johnson stated that he was threatened and intimidated by him, a statement which the jury might have deemed credible....