Felger v. Tubetech, Unpublished Decision (3-15-2002)
Felger v. Tubetech, Unpublished Decision (3-15-2002)
Opinion of the Court
This appeal comes for consideration upon the record of the trial court and the parties' briefs. Appellant Colleen Felger (hereinafter "Ms. Felger") timely appeals the judgment of the Columbiana County Court of Common Pleas granting summary judgment in favor of Appellee Tubetech, Inc. (hereinafter "Tubetech"). As the trial court erred in granting partial summary judgment on two counts of Ms. Felger's complaint, we reverse the decision of the trial court and remand this matter for further proceedings.
Ms. Felger had been employed by Tubetech since 1988 and had acted as union president during this time. On April 21, 1994 Ms. Felger was injured on the job resulting in her filing a workers' compensation claim. Thereafter, Ms. Felger went through rehabilitation and was later re-employed by Tubetech. She returned to work in a light-duty position with an eye towards regaining her former job. However, on November 7, 1995, Tubetech discharged Ms. Felger after she allegedly made repeated allusions to violence and threatened to injure both the company president and her co-workers.
Ms. Felger filed a grievance on November 10, 1995 alleging her discharge was without just cause in a violation of the collective bargaining agreement. As her remedy, Ms. Felger requested reinstatement and back pay, contending the discharge was in fact due to a pattern of company sanctioned discrimination and harassment arising from both her worker's compensation claim and performance of union business. Ms. Felger's claim was brought to arbitration by her union on February 27, 1996 where it was decided Tubetech had discharged Ms. Felger for just cause, specifically finding that she was not fired discriminatorily or retaliatorily.
On May 6, 1996, Ms. Felger apparently filed a state-law complaint based on her claim that she was fired in retaliation for pursuing her rights under the workers' compensation laws. In November of that year, she voluntarily withdrew the complaint.Subsequently, Ms. Felger filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. In that action, the district court granted motions for partial summary judgment for Tubetech as to federal claims of employment discrimination based on sex and disability, and retaliation claims stemming from these. On July 30, 1998, the district court dismissed the remaining supplemental state law claims without prejudice.
Ms. Felger then filed a seven count complaint in state court on January 7, 1999, which alleged she was subjected to: 1) sex discrimination due to a hostile work environment; 2) retaliatory actions by her employer because she raised/reported the alleged sex discrimination; 3) handicap discrimination on the part of her employer because it failed to reasonably accommodate her alleged disability; 4) retaliatory actions by her employer because she raised a disability claim; 5) retaliation on the part of her employer for filing a workers' compensation claim and pursuing her rights under the workers' compensation system; and, 6) intentional infliction of emotional distress, which claim appears to arise out of all of the above allegations. Finally, Ms. Felger's husband alleged a loss of consortium claim stemming from the above allegations.
Ms. Felger filed a motion for partial summary judgment in the state court matter. In the meantime, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit reversed the District Court's ruling in part. The Sixth Circuit found the District Court used the wrong standard to grant summary judgment to Tubetech because of certain new law arising in the district. Thus, it remanded Ms. Felger's sex discrimination claims back to the District Court. It affirmed, however, the decision in favor of Tubetech as to Ms. Felger's federal disability claims.
In the state court action, the trial court granted Tubetech summary judgment with regard to Ms. Felger's sex discrimination retaliation claim and her disability discrimination claim. Thus, claims regarding the underlying issue of sex discrimination, her disability retaliation claim, her intentional infliction of emotional distress claim and her husband's derivative loss of consortium claim remain pending for trial in the common pleas court. It should be noted that the trial court's order as to the above reflects that Tubetech apparently withdrew its request for summary judgment on the sexual discrimination retaliatory claim. The trial court, however, granted summary judgment on that issue after Tubetech tried to withdraw its request. In a later series of filings, where Ms. Felger seeks to have the trial court correct and/or clarify its entry, the trial court leaves the substance of this order intact but declares that there is no just reason for delay and, later, that it is a final and appealable order.
Before addressing Ms. Felger's assignments of error, we must first consider whether the order appealed from is a final appealable order. If not, this court lacks jurisdiction to consider the merits of the assigned errors and must dismiss the appeal.
The Supreme Court of Ohio has set forth a two pronged analysis appellate courts should apply when considering whether an order constitutes a final appealable order under Civ.R. 54. See Wisintainer v.Elcen Power Strut Co. (1993),
As such, we will first address whether the order appealed from in this case conforms with R.C.
"(B) An order is a final order that may be reviewed, affirmed, modified, or reversed, with or without retrial, when it is one of the following:
An order that affects a substantial right in an action that in effect determines the action and prevents a judgment;
An order that affects a substantial right made in a special proceeding or upon a summary application in an action after judgment;
An order that vacates or sets aside a judgment or grants a new trial;
An order that grants or denies a provisional remedy and to which both of the following apply:
The order in effect determines the action with respect to the provisional remedy and prevents a judgment in the action in favor of the appealing party with respect to the provisional remedy.
The appealing party would not be afforded a meaningful or effective remedy by an appeal following final judgment as to all proceedings, issues, claims, and parties in the action.
An order that determines that an action may or may not be maintained as a class action.
Clearly, subsections 2-5 cannot apply. Accordingly, we must decide whether this partial summary judgment order affects a substantial right which effectively determines the outcome of the action and prevents the adverse party from obtaining a judgment on the issue or issues.
R.C.
As the Supreme Court has stated, "A final order either disposes of the whole case or some separate and distinct branch thereof." Noble v.Colwell (1989),
The Supreme Court indicated that appellate review of thesedeterminations should be deferential, stating: "In making its factual determination that the interest of soundjudicial administration is best served by allowing an immediate appeal,the trial court is entitled to the same presumption of correctness thatit is accorded regarding other factual findings. An appellate courtshould not substitute its judgment for that of the trial court where somecompetent and credible evidence supports the trial court's factualfindings. Seasons Coal Co. v. Cleveland (1984),"the trial judge makes what is essentially a factual determination — whether an interlocutory appeal is consistent with the interests of sound judicial administration, i.e., whether it leads to judicial economy." Id.
In the present case, there were three claims made by Ms. Felger regarding retaliatory action taken by her employer. However, only two of these claims were dismissed by way of the trial court's grant of partial summary judgment. In its order, the trial court implicitly, but necessarily, determined with respect to her sex discrimination retaliation claim and her workers compensation retaliation claim that Tubetech presented a legitimate non-retaliatory reason for discharging Ms. Felger. This same issue will again be addressed in the context of her disability retaliation claim. Ms. Felger is therefore bound by the trial court's original resolution of that issue.
If the partial summary judgment were reversed on appeal, all of the issues could be included in a trial of the entire dispute. If this court were to uphold the entry of summary judgment, the parties would proceed to trial knowing that they were trying only those issues actually in dispute. Otherwise, if Ms. Felger had to wait until after the trial on the other issues to appeal the entry of summary judgment against her, this court might hold that summary judgment was improvidently granted. The entire trial might have to be conducted again due to the similar elements of the claims dismissed and of those pending. Therefore, we find the trial court could have reasonably determined that "the avoidance of piecemeal trials" was more important in this case than "the avoidance of piecemeal appeals." See Wisintainer. Consequently, the trial court did not abuse its discretion in makingits factual determination that there was no just reason for delay.Accordingly, we will proceed to address this case on its merits. As her first assignment of error, Ms. Felger alleges:
For her second assignment of error, Ms. Felger asserts the following:"The trial court erred in granting appellees' motion for summary judgment as to appellants' retaliation claim based upon her opposition to and complaints regarding sex discrimination as alleged in count two of the complaint."
Both parties agree, as a result of the decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, summary judgment should not have been granted as to Count Two, retaliation for sexual discrimination on the grounds of res judicata. As demonstrated by the language dismissing Count Two, the trial court based its decision to grant Tubetech's motion for summary judgment solely on the grounds of res judicata. In light of the Circuit Court's reversal and remand, the federal claims have yet to be litigated. Thus, the doctrine of collateral estoppel no longer applies. As summary judgment on Count Two is improper, Felger's assignment of error is meritorious.
When reviewing a trial court's granting of summary judgment, we reviewthe evidence de novo, and apply the same standard used by the trialcourt. Varisco v. Varisco (1993),"The trial court erred in granting appellees' motion for summary judgment as to appellants' retaliation claim based on her filing and prosecution of worker's compensation claims, as alleged in count five of the complaint."
These factors make it clear that summary judgment should be grantedwith caution, being careful to resolve doubts in favor of the nonmovingparty. Id."(1) No genuine issue as to any material fact remains to be litigated;
"(2) the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law; and
"(3) it appears from the evidence that reasonable minds could come to but one conclusion, and viewing such evidence most strongly in favor of the party against whom the motion for summary judgment is made, that conclusion is adverse to that party." Welco Industries, Inc. v. Applied Cos. (1993),
67 Ohio St.3d 344 ,346 .
The party seeking summary judgment has the initial burden of informingthe court of the motion's basis and identifying those portions of therecord showing that there are no genuine issues of material fact on theessential elements of the nonmoving party's claim. Dresher v. Burt(1996),
The trial court found in its judgment entry that collateral estoppelbars Count Five of Ms. Felger's complaint, worker' compensationretaliation. The trial court reasoned, "the Plaintiff raised those issuesin the arbitration and therefore asked for them to be decided by thearbitrator." In support of this finding, the trial court refers to theholding in Hapgood v. City of Warren (Oct. 25, 1996), Trumbull App. No.95-T-5355, unreported. See also Hapgood v. City of Warren (C.A.6, 1997),
In Hapgood, an employee was dismissed for falsification of records and gross neglect of duty after filing workers' compensation claims. The discharged employee filed a grievance claiming under the collective bargaining agreement he was discharged without just cause. The matter was submitted to binding arbitration and after hearing testimony and briefs, the arbitrator overruled the grievance and found that the employee had falsified his workers compensation and was discharged with just cause.
After unsuccessfully pursuing his claim with the OCRC and EEOC, the employee filed a complaint in Common Pleas Court alleging 1) retaliatory discharge based on pursuit of workers compensation claims, and; 2) tortious conduct. The trial court in Hapgood granted summary judgment infavor of the employer. The Eleventh District opined:
"After reviewing the record, we determine that the doctrine ofcollateral estoppel is applicable to appellant's retaliatory dischargeclaim. Appellant has also failed to argue exactly how the issues in theinstant action are different from those in the previous proceedings. Webelieve that the issues and facts concerning the falsified workers'compensation are sufficiently intertwined with the issues and facts whichwould have to be determined under R.C.
The Hapgood court further explained that it was aware of the decisionin Traux v. EM Industries, Inc. (1995),
The Hapgood court, however, has applied what appears to be faulty logicin its decision. It distinguishes its facts from those of theUnited States Supreme Court line of cases and those of Truax by asserting thatthe issues to be litigated in each forum were essentially the same.However, logic dictates when an employee complains of being wrongfullydischarged, the reason for discharge will be at issue. This will alwaysbe the case. Therefore, the application of the Hapgood ruling should belimited to its facts. If Hapgood were applied in every case, the resultswould be wholly inconsistent with the reasoning of the United StatesSupreme Court.
In Alexander v. Gardner-Denver Co. (1974),
In Gardner-Denver, the statutory claim of racial discrimination and thecontractual claim of discharge without just cause involved the sameissue; i.e. the reason for the employee's discharge. Regardless of thatfact, the United States Supreme Court found: "In submitting his grievance to arbitration, an employee assertsindependent statutory rights accorded by Congress. The distinctlyseparate nature of these contractual and statutory rights is not vitiatedmerely because both were violated as a result of the same factualoccurrence." Id. at 49, 50. The Court added, "a contractual right to submit a claim to arbitration is not displacedsimply because Congress also has provided a statutory right againstdiscrimination. Both rights have legally independent origins and areequally available to the aggrieved employee." Id. at 52. Finally, the court explained: "An arbitrator is confined to interpretation of and application of thecollective bargaining agreement; he does not sit to dispense his ownbrand of industrial justice. * * * If an arbitral decision is based`solely upon the arbitrator's view of the requirements of enactedlegislation,' rather than on an interpretation of the collectivebargaining agreement, the arbitrator has authority to resolve onlyquestions of contractual rights * * *." Id. at 54.
The First District relied upon this very reasoning in Thomas v. Gen.Elec. Co., (1999),
Dissenting Opinion
WAITE, J., dissenting.
I disagree with the majority opinion here primarily because I do notbelieve we are yet presented with a final appealable order. This beingthe case, we have no jurisdiction to take and hear this matter and Iwould remand it back to the trial court explicitly for action on allpending matters and implicitly for its review of the interlocutorydecisions I believe it has so far entered.
Before we may address the merits of this appeal, we must address thejurisdictional issue. If, as the trial court ultimately declares, thepartial summary judgment entry is a final, appealable order, this Courthas jurisdiction to decide the matter. However, if the reverse is true,we lack jurisdiction and the matter must be sent back to the trial courtfor a complete resolution of all issues before it may be appealed.
It is clear that there is no magic to the simple inclusion of thewords, "no just reason for delay," into an entry. In order for ourjurisdiction to vest, an order must conform to the requirements of bothR.C. §
Clearly, subsections 2-5 cannot apply. We must decide then, if thispartial summary judgment order affects a substantial right whicheffectively determines the outcome of the action and prevents the adverseparty from obtaining a judgment on the issue or issues. R.C. §"(B) An order is a final order that may be reviewed, affirmed, modified, or reversed, with or without retrial, when it is one of the following:
"(1) An order that affects a substantial right in an action that in effect determines the action and prevents a judgment;
"(2) An order that affects a substantial right made in a special proceeding or upon a summary application in an action after judgment;
"(3) An order that vacates or sets aside a judgment or grants a new trial;
"(4) An order that grants or denies a provisional remedy and to which both of the following apply:
"(a) The order in effect determines the action with respect to the provisional remedy and prevents a judgment in the action in favor of the appealing party with respect to the provisional remedy.
"(b) The appealing party would not be afforded a meaningful or effective remedy by an appeal following final judgment as to all proceedings, issues, claims, and parties in the action.
"(5) An order that determines that an action may or may not be maintained as a class action."
In Chef Italiano, supra, the Court was faced with circumstances similarto that presently at bar. The corporation was suing both multiple partiesand for multiple claims. Ultimately, the Court ruled that when thepartial summary judgment completely disposed of certain of the multipleclaims, these claims were final and appealable. Without explicitly sayingso, the Court also ruled that for any claim where there may be a body ofinterest with matters remaining before the trial court, the issues werenot final and appealable despite the inclusion of the language mandatedby Civ.R. 54(B).
The Chef Italiano decision must be applied with caution, because onlytwo judges ultimately concurred in both judgment and opinion. Two othersconcurred in the syllabus and judgment (that requirements of both Civ.R.54(B) and R.C. §
This Court has previously ruled on the issue to a certain degree. InWalkosky v. Valley Memorials (Sept. 27, 2001), Jefferson App. No.00-JE-39, unreported, this Court pointed out that subsequent to ChefItaliano, Civ.R. 54(B) was amended to better address the issue ofmultiple claims arising out of the same transaction. Relying in part onHitchings v. Weese (1997),
For all of the foregoing, then, I believe that the majority, in reversing the interlocutory decisions, does so prematurely and without jurisdiction. I believe we must refuse jurisdiction, return the matter to the trial court and allow it to make a full and final determination as to all of the merits of this matter.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.