Scott v. Moore
| Decision Date | 16 November 1978 |
| Docket Number | Civ. A. No. B-75-26-CA. |
| Citation | 461 F. Supp. 224 |
| Parties | Paul E. SCOTT et al., Plaintiffs, v. Bill MOORE et al., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Texas |
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Robert Q. Keith, Mehaffy, Weber, Keith & Gonsoulin, Beaumont, Tex., for plaintiffs.
Martin Dies, Jr., Marlin Thompson, Stephenson, Thompson & Dies, Orange, Tex., William N. Wheat, Beaumont, Tex., Joseph F. Archer, Combs, Archer & Peterson, Houston, Tex., for defendants.
This is a case in which the Plaintiffs, Paul E. Scott, James T. Matthews, and others, while in the employment of another Plaintiff in this suit, A.A. Cross Construction Co., Inc., were attacked and beaten while constructing a pump station known as the Alligator Bayou Pump Station on the hurricane levee along Taylor's Bayou, near Port Arthur, in Jefferson County, Texas.
The evidence reflects that the attack evolved from a meeting held by the Executive Committee of the Sabine Area Building and Construction Trades Council on January 15, 1975, wherein a "citizen protest" was discussed and a time and place were chosen for such protest. The purpose of this demonstration was to voice concern over Cross Construction Company, Inc.'s bringing "outside" nonunion workers into a "union area." In addition, the evidence shows that the Plaintiffs were informed by several Defendants that if the Plaintiff, Cross Construction Co., Inc., continued to hire nonunion personnel for the work to be performed on the Alligator Bayou Station, there would be "serious trouble."
Unions represented and individuals present at the January 15, 1975 meeting included:
Walter Flowers, Laborers Local # 870
H. H. Silkwood, Cement Masons Local # 884
Pete Ellis, Pipefitters Local # 195
Randy Wylie, Carpenters Local # 753
John D. Wallace, Jr. Carpenters Local # 610
W. H. Carr, Carpenters Local # 753
J. L. St. Clair, Painters Local # 243
Jesse Martin, Boilermakers Local # 277
J. C. Vaughn, Boilermakers Local # 587
L. P. Vaught, Ironworkers Local # 125
A. B. Wheeler, Carpenters District Council
of Sabine Area
Pete Bean, Sheet Metal Workers Local # 198
Walter Keneson, I.B.E.W. Local # 479
Thereafter, on January 17, 1975, a large group of individuals, including union members present at the January 15, 1975 meeting, amassed at the entrance to the Alligator Bayou Construction site. From this group, several truckloads of men emerged, drove onto the construction site, assaulted and beat the Plaintiffs, burned and destroyed the tools and equipment of Plaintiff, Cross Construction Co., Inc., and threatened to continue violent actions if the nonunion workers did not leave the area or concede to union policies and principles.
A suit was then filed pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 1985(3) with jurisdiction predicated upon 28 U.S.C. 1343 and 1331. Section 1985(3) states, in relevant part:
If two or more persons in any State or Territory conspire ... for the purpose of depriving, either directly or indirectly, any person or class of persons of the equal protection of the laws, or of equal privileges and immunities under the laws; ... (and) in any case of conspiracy set forth in this section, if one or more persons engaged therein do, or cause to be done, any act in furtherance of the object of such conspiracy, whereby another is injured in his person or property, or deprived of having and exercising any right or privilege of a citizen of the United States, the party so injured or deprived may have an action for the recovery of damages, occasioned by such injury or deprivation, against any one or more of the conspirators.
To come within the purview of 42 U.S.C. 1985(3), a complaint is required to allege four matters:
Griffin v. Breckenridge, 403 U.S. 88, 102-103, 91 S.Ct. 1790, 29 L.Ed.2d 338 (1971).
In addition, the Griffin Court interpreted the language requiring intent to deprive of equal protection or equal privileges and immunities, to mean that such intent must have at its foundation some racial or perhaps otherwise class-based invidiously discriminatory animus. However, the Supreme Court refrained from deciding whether a conspiracy motivated by such invidiously discriminatory intent, other than racial bias, would be actionable under Section 1985(3).
Griffin, supra at 102, 91 S.Ct. at 1798.
The problem now before us does not involve an allegation of racial discrimination, nor an interference with the right to travel interstate. Rather, this Court is required to determine whether the Plaintiffs have shown a "class-based, invidiously discriminatory animus behind the conspirators' action." Griffin v. Breckenridge, supra. The central inquiry here is whether discrimination against employees of a non-union entity is the kind of invidiously discriminatory motivation the Court envisioned in Griffin.
It is the opinion of this Court that the Plaintiffs in the instant case have set out and proven a Section 1985(3) cause of action for the reasons hereafter stated.
In regard to the first requirement delineated by the Griffin decision necessary to have a Section 1985(3) cause of action, this Court finds that the Plaintiffs have established, and the facts show the existence of, a conspiracy by the Defendants. Elements of a conspiracy, agreement and intent, may be and often must be shown by circumstantial evidence. Industrial Bldg. Materials, Inc. v. Interchemical Corp., 437 F.2d 1336 (9th Cir. 1970). It is well established that one can be a party to a conspiracy even though he does not know of the existence or identity of all his co-conspirators, and even though he does not participate in all of their acts. Once the conspiracy exists, co-conspirators of whom a party to the conspiracy is unaware can bind him by their actions. United States v. Friedman, 445 F.2d 1076 (9th Cir. 1971). It is not essential that each conspirator participate in all the activities of the conspirators in furtherance of the conspiracy or have knowledge of such activities. It is sufficient if the conspiracy is established and that the convicted persons knowingly contributed their efforts in furtherance of it. McManaman v. United States, 327 F.2d 21 (10th Cir. 1964). One who knowingly joins a conspiracy takes it as he finds it, with or without knowledge of what has gone on before. Myzel v. Fields, 386 F.2d 718 (8th Cir. 1967). All co-conspirators are liable for acts done during the continuance of the conspiracy and in furtherance of some purpose of the conspiracy even though the acts may have occurred without the knowledge of one of the defendants. El Ranco, Inc. v. First National Bank of Nevada, 406 F.2d 1205 (9th Cir. 1968).
The violence perpetrated upon the Plaintiffs meets the second requisite set out in Griffin, i. e. a conspiracy "for the purposes of depriving another of equal protection or equal privileges and immunities." The Fifth Circuit, in McLellan v. Mississippi Power and Light Co., 545 F.2d 919 (1977), held that two elements must be present in order to satisfy Griffin's second requirement, namely, (1) the private deprivation of the enjoyment of the laws, and (2) a class-based, discriminatory motivation. In determining what a private deprivation of the enjoyment of legal rights entails, the Fifth Circuit found that the inquiry must initially concentrate on the legality of the defendants' activity apart from section 1985(3).
If the object of the defendants' conspiracy did not include a violation of some law (independent of section 1985(3) itself) which protects the plaintiff, the conspiracy could not have deprived the plaintiff of the `protection of the laws.' Put more simply, there can only be...
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