Tacket v. Delco Remy Div. of General Motors Corp.

• Decision Date: 02 April 1987
• Docket Number: No. IP 85-1398-C.,IP 85-1398-C.
• Citation: 678 F. Supp. 1387
• Parties: Thomas J. TACKET, Plaintiff, v. DELCO REMY DIVISION OF GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATION, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of Indiana

678 F. Supp. 1387

Thomas J. TACKET, Plaintiff, v. DELCO REMY DIVISION OF GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATION, Defendant.

No. IP 85-1398-C.

United States District Court, S.D. Indiana, Indianapolis Division.

April 2, 1987.

M. Michael Stephenson, Shelbyville, Ind., for plaintiff.

Herbert C. Snyder, Jr., Barnes & Thornburg, Indianapolis, Ind., for defendant.

NOLAND, District Judge.

ENTRY OF VERDICT AND JUDGMENT

This cause came before the Court for trial before a jury on February 17, 1987, during which testimony was given and evidence presented.

The defendant having moved for a directed verdict at the close of all of the evidence, the Court now, having reviewed the evidence, being duly advised in the premises and after due consideration hereby directs a verdict in favor of the defendant Delco Remy Division of General Motors and against the plaintiff, Thomas Tacket. In accordance with its Memorandum of Decision, the Court now DIRECTS A VERDICT and ENTERS JUDGMENT for the defendant.

IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED, ADJUDGED and DECREED that plaintiff take nothing by way of his complaint, and that a VERDICT and JUDGMENT BE ENTERED in favor of the defendant; with costs to be borne accordingly.

MEMORANDUM OF DECISION

This cause presents the question of whether certain statements made by management level personnel at Delco Remy Division of General Motors regarding a Delco employee, Thomas Tacket, constitute defamatory publications entitling the employee to recover damages. The jurisdiction of this Court is based upon diversity of citizenship. 28 U.S.C. § 1332 (1982). The Court bifurcated the issues to be presented to the jury into the liability issue and the damages issue. The parties presented their testimony and evidence pertaining to the liability issue to the jury, and, at the close of all of the evidence, the Court granted the defendant's motion for a directed verdict pursuant to Rule 50. Fed. R.Civ.P. 50.

I. FINDINGS OF FACT

The testimony and evidence presented at trial established the following facts.¹ Thomas Tacket ("Tacket"), the plaintiff in this case, was and remains an employee at Delco Remy Division of General Motors ("Delco") in Anderson, Indiana. Delco is a large manufacturing concern involving numerous plants (fifteen to twenty) and thousands of employees at its Anderson location. Delco employees are generally divided up into two categories unclassified — upper level management salaried personnel — and classified — ranging from lower level salaried management down to hourly personnel. Delco breaks its classified employees into two general subclasses:

a. Level Employees: these employees possess varying amounts of supervisory responsibility and generally are considered management personnel. The Levels are divided numerically from Level 5 to Level 8, with Level 8 serving as the highest ranking, classified category.

b. Bargaining and Nonbargaining Employees: Generally, these employees do not exercise supervisory/management-type authority, and they constitute lower levels of the employment hierarchy.

Delco first employed the plaintiff in January of 1971. The plaintiff rose through the Delco hierarchy, and in 1983, he was promoted to night superintendent in charge of all night operations for Plant 17. The plaintiff attained (and still retains) a Level 7 classification.

In February of 1985, Delco's Anderson facility, including Plant 17, was satisfying a significant production contract entitled the "9-S1 Project." A problem arose regarding the production or attainment of certain wooden shipping containers in connection with this project. Edward Spearman, a Level 6 foreman in Plant 17, contacted John Swan about the possibility of producing the aforementioned wooden containers in Plant 17. Trial Transcript, Vol. III, pp. 141-43. John Swan, then the general supervisor in charge of maintenance in Plant 17, Trial Transcript, Vol. II, p. 19, informed Spearman that Plant 17 was not interested in manufacturing the boxes. Trial Transcript, Vol. III, pp. 142-43. Subsequent to this exchange, the plaintiff testified that Swan approached the plaintiff informing him that Ken Tullis (Project Engineer) "was in trouble" regarding the containers and that Spearman was searching for an outside source (i.e., outside of the Delco plant) to produce the containers. Vol. II, p. 22. Tacket testified that as a Level 8 supervisor, Swan was his superior, id. at 19, and that Swan "told him to make sure that the requisitions that he would be receiving late that evening" were completely filled out. Vol. II, p. 23. Swan's testimony on this matter substantially contradicted Tacket's testimony.² In addition, testimony established that Swan, instead of possessing a Level 8 classification superior to Tacket, was in fact a Level 7 supervisor identical to Tacket. Vol. II, pp. 96-97 and Vol. II, p. 141.

Tacket received the aforementioned requisition forms shortly before his shift ended that night. The two requisition forms provided for the purchase of 2000 wooden shipping containers from an "S & T Specialties, P.O. Box 581, Elwood, Indiana," having a total purchase price of $90,000. Although Tacket was not scheduled to work again until the following afternoon, Tacket returned to Delco Remy the following morning and began to process the requisition forms. Vol. II, p. 24.

Tacket testified that he took the requisition forms to an assortment of Delco management personnel. First he took them to Roy Gore, an accountant, and then both he and Gore took the forms to Lyle Crouse, the plant manager of Plant 17. Upon presenting the forms to Crouse for his signature, Crouse refused to sign them, instructing Tacket to take the forms to another management person, Ken Tullis in Plant 1.³ Vol. II, p. 26. Tacket then, by himself, took the forms to Tullis, and the two of them took the forms to Tullis' superior, Lloyd Ford. At Ford's request, Tacket signed the forms because "the originating plant needs to sign them." Vol. II, p. 27. As a result, the completed forms included Ed Spearman's signature as foreman, Tacket's signature both as supervisor of Ed Spearman and as the authorizing supervisor in the originating department, and the counter-signature of Lloyd Ford beneath Tacket's latter signature. Tacket, through the use of his own personal contacts, obtained a HERC (emergency project) stamp on the forms. Vol. II, pp. 30-32.

Subsequent testimony established that Tacket lacked the authority to sign a requisition form as an authorizing supervisor in the originating department. Vol. III, pp. 17-18. Moreover, Tacket admitted upon cross-examination that he had never signed that type of requisition form in a similar fashion. Vol. II, p. 97.

Approximately one month later, the local union bargaining group began complaining about the shipping container project authorized by the aforementioned requisition forms because the the project was "outsourced." Vol. II, p. 33. Evidence was uncovered to indicate that S & T Specialties was a company operated by Ed Spearman, and that Spearman was manufacturing the disputed shipping containers in his garage. Approximately March 26, 1985, a group of high ranking management met in Plant 1 to discuss the possibility of suspending Tacket in order to investigate his involvement with S & T Specialties, Vol. III, pp. 24-26 and Vol. III, p. 91. Two of Tacket's superiors in Plant 17 present at the meeting, Bruce Hornaday and Lyle Crouse, were instructed to question Tacket about his involvement with S & T. Vol. III, p. 91. This group directed Mr. Crouse and Mr. Hornaday, Tacket's immediate supervisors, to conduct an investigation into Tacket's employment status and activities. Vol. III, p. 91. Approximately two days later on March 28, a second meeting was held and the group concluded that the suspension of Tacket was necessary in order to conduct an investigation into the shipping containers transaction. Vol. III, pp. 91-93. Mr. Crouse and Mr. Hornaday were given a list of questions to ask Tacket prior to suspending him pending the investigation into his involvement with S & T Specialties.⁴ Vol. III, p. 42. As a result of these events, the employment of Ed Spearman was terminated and the employment of Tacket was suspended with pay. Vol. II, p. 36.

The evidence established that various communications discussing the suspension of Tacket occurred on or shortly after March 28, 1985. A compendium of these communications, by individual witness, follows:

Jack Huffman: (Hourly, non-bargaining general foreman in Plant 17). March 29, a group of Plant 17 general foremen called to a meeting in order to notify them "ahead of the hourly rumors" that Tacket was "suspended pending an investigation into some illegal activity." Vol. I, pp. 37-39, the illegal activity being "the subject matter of the investigation." Vol. I, p. 56.

David Stone: (Manufacturing supervisor, Level 6, in Plant 3). Stone and some of his associates requested an explanation about Tacket from one of their superiors. Certain plant managers are subsequently called to a meeting in Plant 1 and told, "Spearman was discharged and Mr. Tacket was being investigated for how deeply he was involved with T & S sic." Vol. I, p. 68.

Ron Swindell: (Bargaining millwright in Plant 17; Spearman was his immediate supervisor). Mr. Flowers, a Level 7 or 8 supervisor called a meeting of a wide variety of employees and informed them that Spearman was terminated and Tacket "was also still suspended pending further investigation on his involvement with the misappropriation of the 813 requisition form." Vol. I, p. 94. Flowers refused to answer questions regarding what Spearman and Tacket had done. Vol. I, p. 93.

Lyle Crouse: (Plant manager, unclassified, Plant 17). Called a meeting of five Level 6, Plant 17, second shift supervisors and informed them that Tacket (one of their immediate supervisors) would not appear on the shift for awhile because he "has been suspended until we investigate further investigation

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