Walker v. Anderson Elec. Connectors, Civ. A. No. 89-AR-1482-M.

• Decision Date: 06 August 1990
• Docket Number: Civ. A. No. 89-AR-1482-M.
• Citation: 742 F. Supp. 591
• Parties: Ann WALKER, Plaintiff, v. ANDERSON ELECTRICAL CONNECTORS, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of Alabama

742 F. Supp. 591

Ann WALKER, Plaintiff, v. ANDERSON ELECTRICAL CONNECTORS, et al., Defendants.

Civ. A. No. 89-AR-1482-M.

United States District Court, N.D. Alabama, M.D.

July 9, 1990.

Memorandum Opinion August 6, 1990.

C. Michael Quinn, Ann K. Norton, Gordon, Silberman, Wiggins & Childs, Birmingham, Ala., for Ann Walker.

William F. Gardner, William K. Thomas, Richard Taylor Abbot, Jr., Cabaniss, Johnston, Gardner, Dumas & O'Neal, Birmingham, Ala., for Anderson Elec. Connectors.

John C. Falkenberry, Birmingham, Ala., for Local 2601 Intern. Ass'n of Machinist and Aerospace Workers.

Judy W. Evans, Harris Evans & Downs, P.C., Birmingham, Ala., for AMI Brookwood Medical Center.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

ACKER, District Judge.

Plaintiff, Ann Walker, was permitted, in response to the jury verdict of June 19, 1990, to suggest to the court by special motion what judgment should be entered on that verdict. The pre-trial posture of the case is set out in Walker v. Anderson Electrical Connectors, 736 F.Supp. 253 (N.D.Ala.1990), and need not be repeated.

At this juncture, defendant-employer, Anderson Electrical Connectors, is understandably no longer complaining about the jury trial of a Title VII case (at least not in this case). This court, nevertheless, cannot resist a short addendum to its series of opinions holding that the parties to a Title VII case are entitled, upon demand, to trial by jury on the money issues, including the "back pay" issue, which many courts have described as a form of equitable relief thereby avoiding the Seventh Amendment issue. On April 10, 1990, a district court in Montana held: "Congress, in enacting the ADEA, did not abrogate the states' eleventh amendment immunity from suit in federal court and, consequently, the eleventh amendment precludes an award of back pay against a state thereunder." Black v. Goodman, 736 F.Supp. 1042, 1045 (D. Mont.1990). It is, of course, a well understood principle that the Eleventh Amendment provides states immunity from claims for legal relief but not from appropriate equitable relief. By finding the State of Montana immune from a claim for "back pay," the court was necessarily finding that "back pay" constitutes a legal remedy. It would be an impermissible anomaly for "back pay" to be a legal remedy under the ADEA but an equitable remedy under Title VII. If "back pay" is a legal remedy, the Seventh Amendment clearly controls who shall make the factual determinations.

After this case was submitted to the jury which Walker had demanded over defendants' strenuous objection, the jury answered special interrogatories as follows:

1. Did defendant, Anderson Electrical Connectors (Square D), commit any act or acts of sexual harassment against plaintiff, Ann Walker, in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 at any time less than 180 days before plaintiff filed her complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on February 28, 1989?

YES X NO ___

2. ONLY if the jury has answered "YES" to Question No. 1, did the said sexual harassment proximately cause plaintiff to lose any time from work?

YES ___ NO X

3. ONLY if the jury has answered "YES" to Question No. 1 and "YES" to Question No. 2, state the amount of wages, if any, which plaintiff has proven by a preponderance of the evidence that she lost as a proximate result of defendant Anderson Electric Connectors' said conduct violating the Civil Rights Act.

$ ____

4. Did defendant, Local 2601, International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers, commit any act or acts of sexual harassment against plaintiff, Ann Walker, in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 at any time less than 180 days before plaintiff filed her complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on February 28, 1989?

YES ___ NO X

5. ONLY if the jury has answered "YES" to Question No. 4, did the said sexual harassment proximately cause plaintiff to lose any time from work?

YES ___ NO ___

6. ONLY if the jury has answered "YES" to Question No. 4 and "YES" to Question No. 5, state the amount of wages, if any, which plaintiff has proven by a preponderance of the evidence that she lost as a proximate result of defendant, Local 2601, International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers', said conduct violating the Civil Rights Act.

$ ____

7. Did defendant, Anderson Electric Connectors (Square D), invade the privacy of plaintiff, Ann Walker?

YES X NO ___

8. ONLY if the jury has answered "YES" to Question No. 7, did the said invasion of plaintiff's privacy proximately cause plaintiff any injury?

YES ___ NO X

9. ONLY if the jury has answered "YES" to Question No. 7 and "YES" to Question No. 8, state the amount of compensatory damages, if any, which plaintiff has proven by a preponderance of the evidence that she sustained as a proximate result of said defendant's invasion of plaintiff's privacy (giving said defendant credit for any lost wages which may have been awarded by the jury in answer to Question No. 3, that is, if the jury finds the said lost wages to have been proximately caused both by invasion of privacy and by sexual harassment).

$ ____

10. ONLY if the jury has answered "YES" to Question No. 8 and ONLY if the jury finds that plaintiff, Ann Walker, has proven by clear and convincing evidence that defendant Anderson Electrical Connectors consciously or deliberately engaged in oppression, fraud, wantonness, or malice with regard to the plaintiff, state the amount of punitive damages to be assessed against defendant, Anderson Electrical Connectors, for the purpose of punishing it and deterring similar future acts of invasions of privacy.

$ ____

Neither Walker's complaint nor her statement-of-position in the pre-trial order indicated any intention by her to seek any form of relief except monetary damages and attorney's fees. There was no request for reinstatement or for any kind of declaratory, injunctive or other equitable relief. This fact made it easier than it otherwise would have been for this court to grant plaintiff's demand for a jury trial. Certainly, the absence of any prayer for equitable relief subtracted somewhat from defendants' arguments against trial by jury.

The court did not give any instruction to the jury on "nominal damages." There was no such charge requested by Walker and no exception taken to the court's failure to charge on "nominal damages" as an alternative form of compensation.

In her post-verdict motion, Walker asks this court to award her nominal damages, to grant her declaratory and injunctive relief, including a declaration that she is the prevailing party, and to grant her attorney's fees under 42 U.S.C. § 1988.

Under any view of the jury responses, it is obvious that Walker did not prevail against the union defendant, Local 2601, International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers. Therefore, Local 2601 is, without question, entitled to a final judgment in its favor.

As to defendant-employer, Anderson Electrical, the jury found that it had committed one or more acts of sexual harassment against Walker in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, but the jury also found that Walker suffered no lost time from work, and thus no monetary loss as a proximate result of the said harassment. With respect to Walker's pendent state claim for invasion of privacy, the jury similarly found that Anderson Electrical's invasion of Walker's privacy caused Walker no injury.

It is tempting to speculate about the jury's rationale. From the evidence, it theoretically could be that the jury found only one act of sexual harassment by the former Anderson Electrical supervisor, who, incidentally, was a prominent witness for Walker. This could logically explain the finding of harassment without injury. It is also theoretically possible that the jury found that Walker provoked undue male familiarity and thus proximately caused her own injury, if any. It alternatively could be that the jury found that Walker's psychological condition and resulting hospitalization was feigned, or was the product of drug abuse, or was the product of childhood psychological trauma and was not the proximate consequence of any harassment in the work place. These are, of course, mere speculations, which, though perhaps justified by the evidence, cannot be used as an excuse for substituting the court's judgment for that of the jury. The entire purpose of the Seventh Amendment, a purpose which this court subscribes to as much as the framers subscribed to it, if applied in Title VII cases as this court has done, and believes must be done, would be lost if the court allowed itself to second-guess the jury. This court does not know, and will not state, what it would have done had this been a bench trial and had it been called upon to evaluate the various witnesses for their credibility. With the jury sitting in the box as mandated by the Seventh Amendment, this court deliberately left the weighing of the evidence to the jurors.

Walker argues that this court's discretionary powers under Title VII include the right to develop appropriate relief beyond what the jury gave. Walker argues that the court is required under these precise circumstances to award at least nominal damages in recognition of Walker's success on the liability question. Walker's argument is flawed in several respects, and all of the flaws are occasioned by two facts: (1) that this was a jury trial, and (2) that Walker never requested nominal damages as an alternative form of relief. By failing to take exception to the jury charge which did not mention nominal damages, Walker gave up that option. Also, insofar as Walker's request for nominal damages is concerned, even nominal damages, if they are to be awarded, must be the proximate consequence of the wrongful act complained of, and the jury in this case rejected any such causal connection. It was undisputed that Walker has been off work and lost wages. This...