Morris v. Union Pacific R. Co.

• Decision Date: 11 February 1992
• Docket Number: No. 60094,60094
• Parties: John MORRIS, Plaintiff/Appellant, v. UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD CO., and Missouri Pacific Railroad Co., Defendants/Respondents.
• Court: Missouri Court of Appeals

Page 911

825 S.W.2d 911

John MORRIS, Plaintiff/Appellant, v. UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD CO., and Missouri Pacific Railroad Co., Defendants/Respondents.

No. 60094.

Missouri Court of Appeals,

Eastern District,

Division Four.

Feb. 11, 1992.

Motion for Rehearing and/or Transfer to

Supreme Court Denied March 9, 1992.

Application to Transfer Denied

April 21, 1992.

Gray & Ritter, John G. Simon, St. Louis, for plaintiff/appellant.

Thompson & Mitchell, Dan H. Ball, James W. Erwin, St. Louis, for defendants/respondents.

AHRENS, Judge.

Plaintiff, John Morris, appeals from a summary judgment in favor of defendants, Union Pacific and Missouri Pacific Railroads, on his petition for harassment and intimidation. Plaintiff claims damages pursuant to the Federal Employers' Liability Act (F.E.L.A). We affirm.

Our review of the trial court's order granting defendants' summary judgment is made of the entire record construed in a light most favorable to the party against whom judgment is entered. Continental Casualty Co. v. Maxwell, 799 S.W.2d 882, 887 (Mo.App.1990). The record reveals the following facts. Plaintiff began employment with defendants on January 11, 1969. In 1972 or 1973, he began experiencing "high pressure harassment" from a supervisor, Jack Sheridan. ¹ After plaintiff "bumped" another worker, Sheridan threatened to "run [plaintiff] off the job." Sheridan continuously watched plaintiff and tried to intimidate him. Sheridan demanded more production from plaintiff and on one occasion threatened to fire him when he thought plaintiff had failed to include rubber seals in an engine assembly. Lastly, Sheridan intimidated plaintiff into returning to work after plaintiff had been injured, and laughed at a cartoon about plaintiff that had been posted on a bulletin board.

Nine other supervisors contributed to the "harassment" of plaintiff. One supervisor gave plaintiff permission to be absent from work and upon his return conferred with him about his absenteeism. The supervisor also changed a job description after plaintiff was placed on the job, and then complained of plaintiff's lack of production. According to plaintiff's coworkers, a second supervisor made remarks concerning a credit union's repossession of plaintiff's car. Plaintiff was watched too closely, placed on jobs for which he had no experience, denied a promotion and vacation rights, and intimidated into returning to work while he was ill. Lastly, several supervisors falsified absentee forms and "harassed" plaintiff concerning allegedly unauthorized absences.

In the 1970's, plaintiff began to suffer from depression and slight headaches as a result of the supervisors' conduct. The headaches continued, and plaintiff in 1984 or 1985 began experiencing the headaches that form the basis of his complaint in the instant case. Plaintiff began suffering from stress in 1984, dizziness and loss of sleep in 1985 or 1986, and nightmares in 1987.

On June 25, 1975, certain of defendants' employees filed a class action suit in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas, alleging defendants had violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq. and 42 U.S.C. § 1981. The complaint alleged discrimination on the basis of race concerning the terms and conditions of employment including job assignments, transfers, promotions, or terminations. Plaintiff was a class member of the suit.

A settlement agreement was incorporated into a consent decree preliminarily approved by the District Court on June 8, 1986. At a fairness hearing on the decree, plaintiff raised objections based upon dissatisfaction with his proposed monetary allocation. On September 18, 1986, the Court addressed plaintiff's objections in its order giving final approval to the decree, stating that "pursuant to the terms of the proposed Consent Decree Mr. Morris may decline payment as a subclass member and seek individual redress not based upon pattern and practice claims." In consideration of a $3,620.28 payment and pursuant to the consent decree, plaintiff elected to waive all race discrimination claims that were raised or that could have been raised in the litigation. Plaintiff's release applies to "all claims of any kind based upon the same underlying facts as [plaintiff's] race discrimination claims" for events occurring prior to November 11, 1986.

After settlement of the case, the conduct of which plaintiff complained in the race discrimination case grew worse. Defendants instituted new absentee forms and a "point system" that was allegedly enforced only against employees who had been active in the discrimination suit.

On October 14, 1987, plaintiff was granted a temporary medical leave of absence from his employment with defendants. On October 16, 1987, plaintiff submitted to defendants medical documentation recommending that plaintiff remain off work until November 15, 1987, due to stress and hypertension. On December 18, 1987, plaintiff's supervisor, M.L. Tegtmann, wrote to plaintiff and requested medical documentation to support plaintiff's absence beyond November 15, 1987. Plaintiff on December 26, 1987, wrote that he was still under the care of a doctor and that verification was forthcoming.

On January 4, 1988, Tegtmann instructed plaintiff to report for a formal investigation concerning plaintiff's failure to provide the requested documentation. On the same date, plaintiff wrote Tegtmann and enclosed two medical certificates, one advising plaintiff to remain off work until December 16, 1987, and the other indicating plaintiff would be able to return to regular work on January 18, 1988. By a disability certificate dated January 21, 1988, plaintiff's doctor excused him from work until January 22, 1988. On January 25, 1988, defendants' doctor recommended that plaintiff return to work on January 27, 1988. Plaintiff returned to work on that date.

On February 8, 1988, a different doctor recommended that plaintiff be placed on indefinite medical leave. Defendants placed plaintiff on a medical leave of absence effective that date. The investigation regarding plaintiff's failure to timely supply medical documentation was postponed until plaintiff returned to work. Plaintiff has not worked since February 8, 1988.

On February 29, 1988, plaintiff filed a Charge of Discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (Commission), alleging harassment concerning his medical leave of absence. Plaintiff stated he believed he was being harassed because of his race and in retaliation for having participated in the class action suit against defendants. The Commission determined the evidence adduced did not establish a violation of Title VII and informed plaintiff of his right to seek review of the determination. Plaintiff was also informed that if no review were requested, the charge would be dismissed and that, following dismissal, he could pursue the matter further only by filing suit in federal district court by February 8, 1989. Plaintiff filed no such suit.

On October 25, 1988, plaintiff filed the instant suit pursuant to the F.E.L.A., based on conduct of the defendants occurring between January, 1969, to February, 1988. Count I alleged defendants negligently failed to prevent their supervisors from harassing plaintiff, and negligently failed to provide reasonably adequate help and a reasonably adequate work environment. Count II alleged the conduct set forth in count I was intentional. Lastly, count III alleged defendants negligently hired and/or retained certain supervisors when defendants knew or should have known the supervisors were harassing and intimidating plaintiff.

On or about November 16, 1990, defendants filed a motion for summary judgment, alleging they were entitled to summary judgment on all counts because (1) plaintiff's claim was for racial discrimination and harassment and, as such, was preempted by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act; (2) plaintiff's claim accrued in the 1970's and was therefore barred by the three-year statute of limitations applicable to F.E.L.A. claims, 45 U.S.C. § 56; and (3) plaintiff's claim, as a minor dispute, was required to be adjudicated through the grievance mechanism of the Railway Labor Act, 45 U.S.C. § 151 et seq. Alternatively, defendants sought summary judgment on all counts because (1) plaintiff in his class action suit had waived all claims based upon events prior to the date of the waiver; (2) the events occurring after the waiver did not constitute "unconscionable abuse" or "outrageous conduct" sufficient to give rise to a claim for emotional distress; and (3) plaintiff failed to elicit facts or circumstances indicating his injury was a reasonably foreseeable result of actions taken after the date of the waiver. Lastly, as to count II, defendants sought summary judgment because the F.E.L.A. provides no remedy for intentional acts.

On March 5, 1991, the trial court granted defendants' motion for summary judgment, stating that "[p]laintiff has failed to make a showing sufficient to establish the existence of a claim that is not barred by the defenses raised by Defendant."

On appeal from this order, plaintiff contends the trial court erred in granting defendants' motion because (1) the court erroneously assumed that the conduct of defendants which forms the basis of plaintiff's claim was racially motivated, that the F.E.L.A. does not provide a remedy for "racial harassment," and that Title VII preempts such a claim; (2) plaintiff's claim is not barred by the three-year statute of limitations under the F.E.L.A.; (3) plaintiff's claim is not barred by res judicata, since the conduct forming the basis of his claim in a prior Title VII class action is not the same conduct forming the basis of his present action; (4) plaintiff's claims are not "minor disputes" within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Railway Labor Act; and (5) sufficient evidence supported a finding that plaintiff's...