United Broth. of Carpenters and Joiners of America, AFL-CIO v. Humphreys

• Decision Date: 31 August 1962
• Docket Number: AFL-CIO,No. 5435,5435
• Citation: 127 S.E.2d 98,203 Va. 781
• Parties: , 51 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2678, 45 Lab.Cas. P 50,617 UNITED BROTHERHOOD OF CARPENTERS AND JOINERS OF AMERICA,v. ROSCOE HUMPHREYS. Record
• Court: Virginia Supreme Court

Page 98

127 S.E.2d 98

203 Va. 781, 51 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2678, 45 Lab.Cas. P 50,617

UNITED BROTHERHOOD OF CARPENTERS AND JOINERS OF AMERICA, AFL-CIO v. ROSCOE HUMPHREYS.

Record No. 5435.

Supreme Court of Appeals of Virginia

August 31, 1962.

Beecher E. Stallard, for the plaintiff in error.

George M. Warren, Jr. (R. Russell Myers, on brief), for the defendant in error.

JUDGE: I'ANSON

I'ANSON, J., delivered the opinion of the court.

This is an appeal by the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, AFL-CIO, herein referred to as 'United Brotherhood,' from a judgment in the amount of $11,000 entered against it on two verdicts of a jury in an action for damages brought by the plaintiff, Roscoe Humphreys, against the defendants United Brotherhood; Lumber and Sawmill Workers Union No. 3092 of Bristol, Virginia, herein referred to as the 'local union'; and D. R. Parks; Clayton Price; Halvie E. Strouth; and H. Chase Strouth, union members, for injuries sustained as a result of two assaults committed on the plaintiff by Parks, Price and the Strouth brothers during the time the employees of Bristol Door and Lumber Company, Inc., of Bristol, Virginia, hereinafter referred to as 'Bristol Door,' were on strike. The action against the Strouths was abated for lack of service of process, and the local union, Parks and Price did not seek a writ of error to the judgments entered against them.

The assignments of error relied on by the United Brotherhood are that the trial court erred (1) in not striking plaintiff's evidence and entering judgment for it on the grounds that no agency relationship had been shown to exist between it and the plaintiff's assailants, and even if they were agents of United Brotherhood they were not acting within the scope of their authority in assaulting Humphreys; and (2) in granting an instruction which included language telling the jury that the United Brotherhood could be held liable if they found from a preponderance of the evidence that it ratified the acts of the plaintiff's assailants.

The evidence stated, under the established rule, in the light most favorable to the plaintiff shows that the plaintiff, Parks, Price and the Strouth brothers were employees of Bristol Door and members of the Lumber and Sawmill Workers Union No. 3092 of Bristol, Virginia, a local union affiliated with, chartered by, and a component part of the United Brotherhood, an international labor organization consisting of 3000 local unions with a membership of more than 800,000.

The local unions are subject to and governed by the general laws of the United Brotherhood and local by-laws approved by it. Members of local unions are required to pay monthly dues, one-half of which is paid to the United Brotherhood as a per capita assessment. The funds derived from the assessment are used to defray the operational expenses of the United Brotherhood and to pay wage benefits to members of local unions when they are on strike. The United Brotherhood has the power to discipline or expel members of local unions for violations of its mandates. Its general executive board has the power to authorize and sanction strikes by local unions, and the members of the locals receive financial and other support from United Brotherhood when a strike has been sanctioned by it. The general president has the power to deputize representatives to assist the local unions where labor disputes have arisen.

The local union was encountering difficulty in obtaining a new contract with Bristol Door, and upon its request the general president of United Brotherhood sent D. A. Dishner to Bristol as his representative to assist in the negotiations and to advise the local union on questions that might arise in connection therewith. A. O. McKinney, also a field representative of the general president, assisted Dishner and the local union committee in the negotiations, which lasted several weeks, but they were unsuccessful in their efforts to obtain a new contract.

When the plaintiff reported for work on the morning of July 29, 1958, he found that many employees were striking and forming a picket line around the Bristol Door plant, and he immediately joined them. That night a meeting of the union members was held to discuss and formally approve the strike. Dishner and McKinney addressed the meeting, advised the members how to organize their pickets, and told them that the United Brotherhood would pay strike wages during the time they were walking the picket line and supporting the strike. McKinney also prepared and posted written instructions for their guidance.

For a period of five weeks the plaintiff performed picket duty on regular shifts around the premises of Bristol Door, and he, along with others performing such duty, was paid strike wages from monies supplied by United Brotherhood. Dishner was usually present while the picketing was carried on, and he frequently conferred with the participants while they were in the picket line. During this period negotiations with Bristol Door continued and the local union held one or two meetings each week with either McKinney or Dishner attending and addressing the members.

Reports on the contract negotiations, the progress of the strike, and the business conducted at the local union meetings were sent to United Brotherhood each week.

Sometime during the day of Thursday, August 28, 1958, the plaintiff stated to fellow union members that he was going to abandon his picketing and return to work. That night, at a meeting of the local union at which the plaintiff, Parks, Price, the Strouth brothers, and the two representatives of United Brotherhood were in attendance, McKinney addressed the members and he was quoted by the plaintiff as having said:

'Well, he said, 'Fellows, I hear they's some talk that some of you wants to go back in to work up there.' Said, 'Work, if that company finds out we are weakening, we won't get a thing,' and said, 'If any of them does go back to work, all I can tell you is to entertain them on the way backward and forth.' And said, 'Watch what you say when you entertain them; some of them might have a bug planted on them."' (Emphasis added.)

The following Tuesday, September 2, the plaintiff reported for work at Bristol Door, and at the end of the work day he obtained a ride to a service station where he waited to take a bus for home. In the meantime Parks and Price had left the picket line and pursued the plaintiff to the service station in an automobile operated by Halvie Strouth. The plaintiff was asked, 'What did you go back for today?' and Parks and Price then assaulted him. After committing the assault they resumed their places in the picket line.

The next morning, September 3, the plaintiff reported for work and his employer sent him to the hospital where he was treated for the injuries received the previous afternoon.

After leaving the hospital that afternoon the plaintiff boarded a bus for home, and as he was getting off at his home Halvie Strouth, who was also a passenger on the bus, knocked him to the ground and pushed him underneath a wheel of the bus which ran over his hand, breaking a finger. Chase Strough arrived on the scene and joined in the affray.

The strike continued until November 11, 1958, and shortly thereafter unfair labor practice charges were filed against Bristol Door in the name of the local union and the United Brotherhood. The complaint was signed by McKinney as the representative of both United Brotherhood and the local union.

In support of United Brotherhood's contention that the evidence was not sufficient to justify the jury's finding that the plaintiff's assailants were agents of United Brotherhood and were acting within the course and scope of their agency, it relies heavily on and quotes extensively in its brief from the decision of the Supreme Court in United Mine Workers v. Coronado Coal Co., 259 U.S. 344, 66 L.ed. 975, 42 S.Ct. 570, 27 A.L.R. 762, and on subsequent appeal 268 U.S. 295, 69 L.ed. 963, 45 S.Ct. 551. It also cites Adamson v. United Mine Workers of America, 3 Utah 2d 37, 277 P.2d 972; United Construction Workers v. Haislip Baking Co. (4 Cir. Va.), 223 F.2d 872, cert. den. 350 U.S. 847, 100 L.ed. 754, 76 S.Ct. 87; and Abernathy v. Romaczyk, 202 Va. 328, 117 S.E.2d 88. In our opinion the cases relied on are distinguishable on the facts from the present case.

In the Coronado case, supra, the evidence shows that the district union called the strike, made all the preparations for it, and paid all the bills incident thereto; that a specific stipulation in the laws governing the international and district bodies provided that the district would bear the responsibility of a strike called by it unless expressly assumed by the international; and that the international union did not aid in its maintenance or do anything to indicate that it was assuming...