Trinity Industries, Inc. v. Dole, Civ. A. No. 4-90-324-K.
| Decision Date | 06 March 1991 |
| Docket Number | Civ. A. No. 4-90-324-K. |
| Citation | 760 F. Supp. 1194 |
| Parties | TRINITY INDUSTRIES, INC. v. Elizabeth DOLE, Secretary of Labor, et al. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Northern District of Texas |
Robert E. Rader, Jr., Angela Darby Dickerson, Locke, Purnell, Rain, Harrell, Dallas, Tex., for plaintiff.
Robert A. Fitz, U.S. Dept. of Labor, Dallas, Tex., for defendants.
Pending before the Court are Defendant's Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings or alternatively, for Summary Judgment, filed July 6, 1990, and Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment, filed October 12, 1990. After careful consideration of the Motions, the parties' briefs and the applicable law, the Court is of the opinion that summary judgment should be entered in favor of the Plaintiffs for the reasons that follow.
Section 6 of the Occupational Safety and Health ("OSH") Act, 29 U.S.C. § 655, directs the Secretary of Labor ("the Secretary") to adopt and promulgate safety and health standards for the workplace. Section 5 of the Act, 29 U.S.C. § 654, requires employers to comply with the Occupational Safety and Health standards promulgated by the Secretary. The Secretary enforces the Act by conducting workplace inspections and by reviewing various accident and exposure records which employers are required to maintain. If the inspectors discover violations during a workplace inspection, they issue citations and proposed penalties.
If the employer contests such citations, the Secretary advises the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission, which then dockets the matter and assigns an administrative law judge to hear the case. If, at the hearing, the Secretary wishes to provide evidence of alleged violations other than the OSHA inspector's testimony, she may subpoena employee witnesses to appear and testify.
The legislative history of the OSH Act reflects Congress' desire to afford employees the opportunity to "apprise the inspector of all possible hazards to be found in the workplace, as well as to insure that employees generally will be informed of the inspector's presence and the purpose and manner of his inspection." S.Rep. No. 91-1282, 91st Cong., 2d Sess. at 11, reprinted in 1970 U.S.Code Cong. & Admin. News 5177, 5188 hereinafter "Legislative History".
In accordance with the Act, the Secretary of Labor has promulgated a Field Operations Manual for OSHA. The Manual provides that OSHA may conduct interviews of employees during the course of its investigations. It further provides that the interviews may be held in a private fashion, if the employee so desires.
On April 11, 1990, an industrial accident occurred at Trinity's Fort Worth, Texas plant, triggering an investigation by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration ("OSHA"). During the investigation, the OSHA Inspector, Gerald Forrester, requested to interview six employees who worked in the area where the accident occurred. All six employees are Hispanic and none speaks English. The employees agreed to be interviewed by Forrester, but specifically requested that Jose Vela, a bilingual supervisor at Trinity, act as interpreter. The employees also requested that Trinity plant manager Mike Rawlings attend the interviews since they all trusted Rawlings and desired his help in answering OSHA's questions.
OSHA Inspector Forrester interviewed three employees and obtained signed statements with the assistance of the interpreter, Jose Vela. The three remaining employees indicated that they were willing to speak with Forrester if Vela acted as interpreter and if Rawlings could attend. Instead of completing the interviews in this manner, however, OSHA issued administrative subpoenas to all six employees, which directed them to appear at OSHA's offices and give sworn statements before a court reporter. The interviews were to be conducted by Inspector Forrester and a bilingual OSHA employee, while neither Vela nor Rawlings would be allowed to attend.
Rule 56(e) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure provides in pertinent part:
When a motion for summary judgment is made and supported as provided in this rule, an adverse party may not rest upon mere allegations or denials of his pleading, but his response, by affidavits or as otherwise provided in this rule, must set forth specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial. If he does not so respond, summary judgment, if appropriate, shall be entered against him.
Furthermore, the non-moving party must rebut a properly supported motion for summary judgment with "significant probative" evidence. Ferguson v. National Broadcasting Co., Inc., 584 F.2d 111, 114 (5th Cir.1978). That evidence must be such that a reasonable jury could reach a verdict favoring the non-moving party. LTV Educ. Sys., Inc. v. Bell, 862 F.2d 1168, 1172 (5th Cir.1989); see also Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 2510, 91 L.Ed.2d 202, 211-12 (1986). Here, the uncontroverted evidence shows that there are no fact issues to be resolved by the Court. Hence, our only task is to apply the law to the given facts.
The threshold issue for determination is whether the Plaintiff, Trinity Industries, has standing to bring this action. In general, a plaintiff must prove three elements to establish standing: (1) an actual or threatened injury (2) that is fairly traceable to the defendant's improper conduct and (3) which is likely to be redressed by the requested relief. Allen v. Wright, 468 U.S. 737, 104 S.Ct. 3315, 82 L.Ed.2d 556 (1984). In addition, a party seeking review of a federal agency action pursuant to § 10 of the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. § 702, must fall within the "zone of interests to be protected or regulated by the statute or constitutional guarantee in question." Association of Data Processing Serv. Org., Inc. v. Camp, 397 U.S. 150, 153, 90 S.Ct. 827, 829, 25 L.Ed.2d 184 (1970); accord Clarke v. Securities Indus. Ass'n, 479 U.S. 388, 394, 107 S.Ct. 750, 754, 93 L.Ed.2d 757 (1987). In applying these requirements, courts must be mindful of their underlying purpose: ensuring that claims are brought by the proper parties so that effective and diligent prosecution will result.
The Court finds that the Plaintiff has met each of these three initial requirements for standing. Regarding the first requirement, actual or threatened injury, Plaintiff argues from experience that it is often the case that if an employee's request to have a company representative present is denied and he is compelled to submit to a private interview, there is a strong likelihood that he will misunderstand and give mistaken answers in response to complicated and unnecessarily technical questions asked by the OSHA official. These mistaken answers, in turn, often form the basis for the issuance of invalid citations which Trinity must defend, thereby incurring unnecessary expenses.
While the financial expense incurred in defending these citations is, alone, sufficient to meet the "injury in fact" requirement, Transportation Inst. v. Dole, 841 F.2d 1132 (D.C.Cir.1987); Evanston Ins. Co. v. Merin, 598 F.Supp. 1290, 1302 (D.N. J.1984), Plaintiff has advanced other distinct arguments for injuries which it sustains by reason of the Defendant's conduct. Because OSHA must call company employees to testify during its case-in-chief, the company is harmed by the disruption of having those employees absent from work. Trinity is further harmed by having to take an adversarial posture against its employees at trial, since in defense of the citation the company must cross-examine its own employees, a process which may result in both impeachment and accusations of perjury. Finally, Trinity's harmonious relationship with its employees is disturbed by a lawsuit that generates animosity on the part of employees who, wishing to avoid the entire process of testifying, often blame the company for the whole affair.
The second requirement is also satisfied, given that the direct cause of Trinity's alleged harms is the Defendant's conduct in issuing citations based upon ill-informed answers to misunderstood questions. The Court finds that the final requirement — that the alleged harm be capable of redress by the requested relief — is also satisfied here. Plaintiff seeks declaratory relief to clarify the employee's right to have his employer present during the interview, which it has shown through affidavits greatly lessens the likelihood of misunderstood questions and meritless citations.
Id. at 399-400, 107 S.Ct. at 757. Here, Trinity's interests are regulated by the Occupational Safety and Health Act ("OSH" Act) and Trinity seeks a uniform interpretation and application of the Act. The company has important interests at stake in attending employee interviews and the Court believes that under the Supreme Court's standard in Clarke, Trinity's interests are not so marginally related to the purposes...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Trinity Industries, Inc. v. Martin, 91-1476
...On March 6, 1991, Judge Belew granted summary judgment for Trinity and denied the same for the Secretary. 6 Trinity Industries, Inc. v. Dole, 760 F.Supp. 1194 (N.D.Tex.1991). The district court held that Trinity had standing to seek clarification of employee's rights in OSHA interviews; tha......