Smithfield Foods v. United Food and Commercial
| Decision Date | 14 October 2008 |
| Docket Number | Civil Action No. 3:07cv641. |
| Citation | 585 F.Supp.2d 789 |
| Parties | SMITHFIELD FOODS, INC. and Smithfield Packaging Company, Plaintiffs, v. UNITED FOOD AND COMMERCIAL WORKERS INTERNATIONAL UNION, et al., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Virginia |
Gregory Branch Robertson, Michael Randolph Shebelskie, David Alan Rudlin, Kurt George Larkin, Lewis Franklin Powell, III, Shelley Low Spalding, Thomas Glascock Slater, Jr., Hunton & Williams LLP, Richmond, VA, George Robert Blakey, Notre Dame Law School, Notre Dame, IN, Walter Christopher Arbery, Hunton & Williams LLP, Atlanta, GA, Pro Hac, Vice, James Phillip Naughton, Hunton & Williams LLP, Norfolk, VA, for Plaintiffs.
Andrew Dean Roth, Matthew Hirsch Clash-Drexler, Robert William Alexander, Ramya Ravindran, W. Gary Kohlman, Robert Mark Weinberg, Bredhoff & Kaiser PLLC, Pro Hac, Vice, Carey Robert Butsavage, Butsavage & Assoc PC, Joshua Aaron Levy, Robert Lawrence Bredhoff, Robert Francis Muse, Stein Mitchell & Mezines, Washington, DC, Nichole Buck Vanderslice, Paul Wilbur Jacobs, II, Rowland Braxton Hill, IV, Christian & Barton LLP, Richmond, VA, for Defendants.
This matter is before the Court on the Motion for Summary Judgment (Docket No. 88) filed by Defendants United Food and Commercial Workers International Union ("UFCW"), United Food and Commercial Workers Local No. 400, Change to Win, Research Associates of America, Jobs with Justice, Gene Bruskin, Joseph Hansen, William T. McDonough, Leila McDowell, Patrick J. O'Neill, Andrew L. Stern, and Tom Woodruff (collectively "Defendants"). For the reasons set forth below, the Motion for Summary Judgment will be denied.
Smithfield Foods, Inc. is a Virginia corporation with its principal place of business in Smithfield, Virginia. (Amended Compl. at ¶ 8). Smithfield Packaging Company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Smithfield Foods. Id. at ¶ 9. Smithfield's largest asset is its pork processing plant in Tar Heel, North Carolina. Id. The Tar Heel plant is the world's largest pork processing plant and employs approximately 4,650 hourly employees. According to the Complaint, the UFCW has been unsuccessfully trying for well over a decade to become the bargaining representative for the employees of the Tar Heel plant. Id.
The National Labor Relations Act ("NLRA") 29 U.S.C. § 158(a)(3) permits a union to become a collective bargaining representative for an employer's employees if the union prevails in an election certified by the National Labor Relations Board ("NLRB"). The NLRA also permits an employer, under certain circumstances, to voluntarily recognize a union. See 29 U.S.C. § 158(a)(3) (2008).
According to the Amended Complaint, the UFCW publicly announced a "corporate campaign" against Smithfield in June 2006. Corporate campaigns include a "wide and indefinite range of legal and potentially illegal tactics used by unions to exert pressure on an employer ... [including] litigation, political appeals, requests that regulatory agencies investigate and pursue employer violations of state and federal law, and negative publicity campaigns aimed at reducing the employer's goodwill with employees, investors, or the general public." Food Lion, Inc. v. UFCW, 103 F.3d 1007, 1014 n. 9 (D.C.Cir. 1997). The alleged object of the Defendants' campaign against Smithfield was to force Smithfield to recognize the UFCW as the collective bargaining representative of the employees at the Tar Heel plant and agree to a collective bargaining contract or to force the Plaintiffs to become so unprofitable as to necessitate cessation of business operations. (Amended Compl. at ¶¶ 38-41).
Smithfield has presented a nine count Amended Complaint. Counts One through Four allege Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act ("RICO") claims, with violations of state extortion law forming the RICO predicate offense. Counts Five through Nine allege various state law claims. On May 30, 2008, 2008 WL 2233979, the Court denied the Defendants' Joint Motion to Dismiss under Fed. R. Civ. Pro. 12(b)(6) as to Counts Two through Nine of the Complaint, and granted the Motion as to Count One, with leave to file an Amended Complaint as to Count One (hereinafter "Mem. Op."). After additional discovery, and with a "fuller record before the Court," the Defendants have now moved for summary judgment.
The Defendants have presented six "undisputed material facts" which allegedly provide grounds for summary judgment. These six material facts are:
1. UFCW's sole request was that Smithfield agree to enter into a secret ballot election process which would be supervised by a mutually agreeable, neutral third party.
2-6. Attached copies of letters, emails, and depositions in which the parties undertake the process of trying to negotiate for the "voluntary" recognition of the UFCW. The crux of these attached documents is that in no way did the Defendants ever "demand" Smithfield's recognition. As such, the corporate campaign undertaken by the Defendants was an entirely lawful attempt to persuade Smithfield to recognize the union.
In sharp contrast to these six "uncontested" material facts, Smithfield has presented numerous citations to physical documents and deposition transcripts which allegedly permit the trier of fact to make a number of key permissible inferences. These inferences include, inter alia, that: (1) the Defendants are conducting the corporate campaign because they know that they can not win a "free and fair" election process; (2) the Defendants could have availed themselves of the opportunity to have a fair election process; (3) the Defendants instituted a "smear campaign" because they knew that they would not win a fair election; (4) the Defendants' true goal was a "rigged and fraudulent" election process; (5) the Defendants will not stop the corporate campaign until they gain recognition and a first contract; (6) the Defendants attempted to extort Smithfield into agreeing to recognition through a "sham election" and a "pre-negotiated" contract; and (7) the Defendants have continued their extortionate conduct to this day. (Pltfs' Opp. at 4-21). Based on the facts and the assertedly permissible inferences to be drawn from them, Smithfield contends that there remain disputed issues of material fact which must be tried to a jury.
Counts One through Four of the Amended Complaint allege federal Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organization ("RICO") claims. The Defendants have identified five so-called "fatal" flaws in Smithfield's RICO case. The Defendants contend that: (1) Smithfield has failed to satisfy RICO extortion's "wrongfulness" requirement; (2) Smithfield's claims are barred by the First Amendment; (3) Smithfield's claims are barred by the "federal labor laws;" (4) Smithfield has failed to meet RICO extortion's "obtaining from another" requirement; and (5) Smithfield has failed to meet the RICO "pattern" element.
Counts Five through Nine allege various state law claims. The Defendants contend that Smithfield's state law claims are preempted by the federal labor laws.
Summary judgment is appropriate where there is no genuine issue as to any material fact. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). Once a motion for summary judgment is properly made and supported, the opposing party has the burden of showing that a genuine dispute exists. See Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 586-87, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986). A material fact in dispute appears when its existence or nonexistence could lead a jury to different outcomes. See Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). A genuine issue exists when there is sufficient evidence on which a reasonable jury could return a verdict in favor of the non-moving party. See id.
Summary judgment is appropriate when, after discovery, a party has failed to make a "showing sufficient to establish the existence of an element essential to that party's case, and on which that party will bear the burden of proof at trial." Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). When a motion for summary judgment is made, the evidence presented must always be taken in the light most favorable to the non-moving party. See Smith v. Virginia Commonwealth Univ., 84 F.3d 672, 675 (4th Cir.1996).
A party cannot, however, "create a genuine issue of material fact through mere speculation or the building of one inference upon another." Beale v. Hardy, 769 F.2d 213, 214 (4th Cir.1985). Accordingly, the party who bears the burden of proof at trial cannot survive summary judgment without sufficient evidence to sustain his or her burden of proof on that point. Celotex Corp., 477 U.S. at 327, 106 S.Ct. 2548. These precepts and standards govern the resolution of the Defendants' Motion. Swann v. City of Richmond, 498 F.Supp.2d 847, 853 (E.D.Va.2007).
These principles guide the assessment of the Defendants' contention that Smithfield's RICO claims are fivefold flawed.
Smithfield has identified three property interests which allegedly were "wrongfully" targeted by the Defendants through the Smithfield Campaign. First, Smithfield alleges that the Defendants have continuously demanded that Smithfield recognize the UFCW and execute a contract with the UFCW. (Pltfs' Supp. Mot. at 1, 2). Second, Smithfield contends that the Defendants "sought to extort Smithfield's participation in an illegal shoebox election scheme."1 Id. at 2. Third, Smithfield states that the Defendants "sought to have Smithfield remain `neutral' during an election and waive all its other...
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