Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca10-90-06186/USCOURTS-ca10-90-06186-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Associated Milk Producers, Inc.
Appellee
Mary Oleta Bilyeu
Appellant
W.E. Bilyeu
Appellant

Document Text:

P 1 LBD UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALU ,s_,l s Co f A peals mtcu tates urt o p 

FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT Tenth Circuit 

W.E. BILYEU; MARY OLETA BILYEU, 

Plaintiffs-Appellants, 

v. 

ASSOCIATED MILK PRODUCERS, INC., a 

Kansas corporation, 

Defendant-Appellee. 

APR -5 1991 

> ROBERT L. HOECKER 

> Clerk 

) 

) 

) No. 90-6186 

) (D.C. No. CIV-88-336-T) 

) (W.D. Okla.) 

) 

) 

) 

ORDER AND JUDGMENT* 

Before LOGAN, MOORE, and BALDOCK, Circuit Judges. 

After examining the briefs and appellate record, this panel 

has determined unanimously that oral argument would not materially 

assist the determination of this appeal. See Fed. R. App . P . 

3 4 ( a ) ; 10th Cir . R . 3 4 . 1. 9 . 

submitted without oral argument. 

The case is therefore ordered 

Plaintiffs W.E. Bilyeu and Mary Bilyeu appeal from an order 

of the district court granting defendant Associated Milk 

Producers, Inc.'s (AMPI) motion for a directed verdict. 

Plaintiffs brought this diversity action under Oklahoma law 

* This order and judgment has no precedential value and shall 

not be cited, or used by any court within the Tenth Circuit, 

except for purposes of establishing the doctrines of the law of 

the case, res judicata, or collateral estoppel. 10th Cir. R. 

36.3. 

Appellate Case: 90-6186 Document: 010110031766 Date Filed: 04/05/1991 Page: 1 
seeking to hold AMPI liable for an alleged attack upon Mr. Bilyeu 

by two employees of AMPI, Frank Booher and Floyd Chapman. The 

district court, in directing a verdict in AMPI's favor, held that 

plaintiffs' evidence failed to establish that Booher and Chapman, 

at the time of the alleged attack, were acting within the scope of 

their employment. 

Our review of a directed verdict is de novo. A directed 

verdict is appropriate when the evidence, and all the inferences 

therefrom, are so in favor of the moving party that reasonable 

persons could not differ in their conclusions. Banghart v. 

_H_o_l_l_yw_o_o~d __ Ge~n~--~P_a-r_t~n~e-r_s_h-i_p, 902 F.2d 805, 807 (10th Cir. 1990). 

In determining whether a directed verdict was appropriate, we do 

not weigh the evidence or pass upon the credibility of witnesses. 

Id. 

Plaintiffs assert two alternative grounds for submitting to 

the jury the scope-of-employment issue. They contend that the 

evidence shows that: (1) AMPI directed Booher and Chapman to harm 

Mr. Bilyeu, or (2) the conduct 

specifically authorized by AMPI, was 

and in furtherance of AMPI's 

of Booher and Chapman, if not 

nevertheless incidental to 

business. We conclude that 

plaintiffs have failed to raise a triable issue on either ground. 

The evidence and reasonable inferences therefrom, see Lucas 

v. Dover Corp., 857 F.2d 1397, 1401 (10th Cir. 1988), do not 

support a finding that AMPI specifically directed Booher and 

Chapman to harm Mr. Bilyeu. On our review of the record, any 

inference that AMPI authorized an attack on Mr. Bilyeu is based on 

2 

Appellate Case: 90-6186 Document: 010110031766 Date Filed: 04/05/1991 Page: 2 
mere speculation. 

verdict. 

This is insufficient to avoid a directed 

On the second contention, under Oklahoma law, an employer is 

liable for an unauthorized intentional use of force by an employee 

only if such conduct can be viewed as not unexpected in view of 

the employee's assigned duties. Compare Mistletoe Express Serv., 

Inc. v. Culp, 353 P.2d 9, 14-16 (Okla. 1959) with Allison v. 

Gilmore, Gardner & Kirk, Inc., 350 P.2d 287, 290 (Okla. 1960); see 

also Tulsa Gen. Drivers, Warehousemen, & Helpers Union v. Conley, 

288 P.2d 750, 753 (Okla. 1955)(discussing Ada-Konawa Bridge Co. v. 

Cargo, 163 Okla. 122, 21 P.2d 1 (1932), and Chicago, R.I. & P. Ry. 

Co. v. Radford, 36 Okla. 657, 129 P. 834 (1913)). In this case, 

plaintiffs presented no evidence to indicate how the nature of the 

employment of Booher and Chapman could be viewed as likely to lead 

to the use of force against others. In the absence of such 

evidence, plaintiffs failed to raise a jury question on whether 

AMPI could be liable for an unauthorized attack on Mr. Bilyeu by 

Booher and Chapman. 

Accordingly, the judgment of the United States District Court 

for the Western District of Oklahoma is AFFIRMED. 

Entered for the Court 

James K. Logan 

Circuit Judge 

3 

Appellate Case: 90-6186 Document: 010110031766 Date Filed: 04/05/1991 Page: 3