Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca10-87-01837/USCOURTS-ca10-87-01837-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
CONSOLIDATED FREIGHTWAYS CORPORATION OF DELAWARE,
Appellee
Does I and II
Appellee
Mark Griess
Appellant
Steve Lindner
Appellee
Robert Pate
Appellant

Document Text:

MARK GRIESS and 

ROBERT PATE, 

_ PUBLISH 

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS 

TENTH CIRCUIT 

Plaintiffs-Appellants, 

vs. 

Fl LED 

United Sc:ucs Coun of AppcaJs .,, 1 c· · .1 ent ) ,ir:.:ur~ 

AUG 7 198.9 

ROBERT L. HOECKER 

Clerk 

) 

) 

) 

) 

) 

) 

) 

) 

) 

) 

) 

) 

No. 87-1837 

CONSOLIDATED FREIGHTWAYS 

CORPORATION OF DELAWARE, 

STEVE LINDNER and DOES I and II, 

Defendants-Appellees. 

APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 

FOR THE DISTRICT OF WYOMING 

(D.C. No. C86-0264-B) 

Bernard Q. Phelan of Cheyenne, Wyoming, for Plaintiffs-Appellants. 

Lee Dale of Sherman & Howard, Denver, Colorado, for DefendantsAppellees. 

Before McKAY, SEYMOUR and BALDOCK, Circuit Judges. 

BALDOCK, Circuit Judge. 

Plaintiffs-appellants, Mark Griess and Robert Pate, each 

sustained injuries in separate accidents in early 1986 from a 

"long blade" forklift while in the employ of defendant-appellee, 

Consolidated Freightways (CF). CF admits that both men, as partAppellate Case: 87-1837 Document: 01019831248 Date Filed: 08/07/1989 Page: 1 
.. time or. "casual"._ dockworkers,... were .. told. that .if __ they filed 

worker's compensation claims, they would not be called back to· 

work. Despite CF's admonition, Griess and Pate made their 

respective claims under Wyo. Stat. §§ 27-12-101 through 27-12-805 

(1977) (repealed July 1, 1987). 

When CF removed the men from the list of available workers, 

they instituted suit in Wyoming state court. In their complaint, 

Griess and Pate alleged (1) retaliatory discharge by CF in 

violation of state public policy, and (2) culpable negligence on 

the part of defendants-appellees, coworkers Steve Lindner and Does 

I & II (coworkers). Rec. vol. I, doc. 1. CF removed the action 

to federal district court on the basis of diversity jurisdiction. 

28 u.s.c. § 144l(b). 

The district court granted CF's an9 coworker Lindner's motion 

.for summary judgment under Fed. R. Civ. P. 56. Rec. vol. I, doc. 

41. Although acknowledging no Wyoming authority was directly on 

point, the court held that the Wyoming Supreme Court would not 

recognize a cause of action for retaliatory discharge under the 

facts of this case because (1) the National Master Freight 

Agreement (collective bargaining agreement) between CF and the 

Teamsters supplied Griess and Pate with a remedy and (2) federal 

labor law, namely 29 u.s.c. § 185, preempted the state law claim. 

The court also held as a matter of law that coworker Lindner was 

not culpably negligent, but concluded that his acts constituted 

ordinary negligence at best. Griess and Pate appealed to this 

court. 28 U.S.C. § 1291. Our review is plenary. Missouri Pac. 

-2-

Appellate Case: 87-1837 Document: 01019831248 Date Filed: 08/07/1989 Page: 2 
.R.R •. , .. Co •... v .• ,_,Kansas .. Gas .. & Elec. Co .•. , ,862 .F.2d .. ,796,- 798 (10th.Cir. 

1988) (setting forth standard of review on appeal from grant of 

summary judgment). We reverse and remand. 

Retaliatory Discharge 

The parties agreed at oral argument that the Supreme Court's 

recent decision in Lingle v. Norge Div. of Magic Chef, Inc., 108 

S. Ct. 1877 (1988), disposed of CF's preemption argument. In 

Lingle, plaintiff contended that she was improperly discharged 

from her employment for filing a claim under the Illinois Worker's 

Compensation Act. The Court held that plaintiff's state'tort 

claim was not preempted by 29 u.s.c. § 185. Accordingly, Griess 

and Pate are not foreclosed on preemption grounds from pursuing 

their state retaliatoiy discharge claim against CF. 

But that still leaves us with the question of whether the 

State of Wyoming might recognize the tort of retaliatory discharge 

in this instance. The district court believed the collective 

bargaining agreement provided Griess and Pate with a remedy, and 

therefore found that Wyoming would not allow a cause of action in 

tort based on its decision in Allan v. Safeway Stores Inc., 699 

P.2d 277 (Wyo. 1985). In Allan, the court stated: "If there 

exists another remedy for violation of the social policy which 

resulted in the discharge of the employee, there is no need for a 

court-imposed separate tort action premised on public policy." 

Id. at 284. 

-3-

Appellate Case: 87-1837 Document: 01019831248 Date Filed: 08/07/1989 Page: 3 
... We .expressed our disag.r..eement. with the district .. court's 

interpretation of the collective bargaining agreement in an order 

of certification to the Wyoming Supreme Court dated January 18, 

1989. While article 3, section 2 of the agreement discusses both 

probationary and casual employees, only probationary employees are 

expressly covered under the terms of the agreement. Rec. vol. I, 

doc. 26, exh. A at 11-12. As noted, Griess and Pate were casual 

workers. We believe the contracting parties failure to provide 

express coverage for casual employees was not inadvertent, and 

find support for our conclusion in the union representative's 

refusal to file a grievance on behalf of Griess ahd Pate although 

only the representative was empowered to do so under article 7 of 

the agreement. Id. at 26. 

Therefore, consistent with our interpretation of the 

collective bargaining agreement, and in recognition of the 

principle that questions of state public policy are for the state 

alone to decide, we certified the following issue to the Wyoming 

Supreme Court pursuant to Wyo. R. App. P. 11.01: 

Whether Wyoming law provides an employee, injured in 

the course of his employment, a cause of action against 

his employer for retaliatory discharge based upon a 

violation of the State's public policy, where the 

employer discharges the employee as a result of the 

employee's worker's compensation claim and where the 

employee is not covered by the terms of a collective 

bargaining agreement? 

In a well-reasoned published opinion, the details of which need 

not be set forth here, the Wyoming Supreme Court answered yes. 

Griess v. Consolidated Freightways Corp., P.2d (Wyo. 1989) 

(available on Westlaw, 1989 WL 73738). Thus, the district court 

-4-

Appellate Case: 87-1837 Document: 01019831248 Date Filed: 08/07/1989 Page: 4 
er.red_ in,.gr.ant.ing" summar.y .judgment.. foe CF._ -Griess _and. Pate., must 

be permitted to pursue their. retaliatory.discharge claim against 

CF in the district court. 

Culpable Negligence 

Because the Wyoming Supreme Court had supplied us with ample 

law regarding what conduct constitutes culpable negligence, we 

declined to certify Griess' and Pate's claim against their 

coworkers. ~., Poulos v. HPC, Inc., 765 P.2d 364, 366-67 (Wyo. 

1988); Stundon v. Sterling, 736 P~2d 317, 318 (Wyo. 1987); 

Bettencourt v. Pride Well Serv., Inc., 735 P.2d 722, 729 (Wyo. 

1987); Bryant v. Hornbuckle, 728 P.2d 1132, 1136 (Wyo. 1986); 

Barnette v. Doyle, 622 P.2d 1349, 1362 (Wyo. 1981). Under Wyo. 

Stat. S 27-12-103(a) (repealed July 1, 1987), a worker's sole 

remedy for injuries incurred in extrahazardous employment at the 

time of the incidents in question was contained in the Wyoming 

Worker's Compensation Act, except where the worker's injuries were 

a result of coworkers' culpable negligence. In Barnette, 622 P.2d 

at 1362, the court defined culpable negligence as willful and 

serious misconduct. Willful was further defined "such as is done 

purposely, with knowledge ••• as to evince a reckless disregard 

of consequences." Id. In Bryant, 728 P.2d at 1136, the court 

explained: "The aggravating factor which distinguishes willful 

misconduct from ordinary negligence is the actor's state of mind. 

In order to prove that an actor has engaged in willful misconduct, 

-5-

Appellate Case: 87-1837 Document: 01019831248 Date Filed: 08/07/1989 Page: 5 
. one must ... demonstrate ,.that he.-.actr ... ,.Lth .... a. state o.f .mind. that 

approaches_ intent to do harm." 

Initially, we note that neither the district court )nits 

summary judgment order nor the parties in their appellate briefs 

address the claims against coworkers Does I & II. Because Griess 

and Pate at this stage of the litigation have yet to reveal these 

coworkers' identities despite completing discovery, or adduce any 

evidence of their wrongdoing, we direct the entry of judgment in 

favor of these unidentified coworkers for lack of evidence. 

Applying the Wyoming Supreme Court's definition of culpable 

negligence to the claim against coworker Lindner, however, we 

believe the record presents genuine issues of material fact 

regarding his potential liability. Although Lindner has denied 

knowledge. of the forklifts' purportedly defective condition, 

Griess and Pate have proffered evidence to the contrary sufficient 

to withstand summary judgment against them. Both men have stated 

that Lindner, as a terminal manager for CF, was present during 

safety meetings during which the dangerous ·condition of the 

forklifts was discussed. Rec. vol. I, doc. 33 at 11 12; id. doc. 

35 at 11 12. Moreover, to support their statements, they have 

submitted an attendance form indicating Lindner's presence at the 

meetings. Id. doc. 33 at exh. B. Thus, whether Lindner possessed 

knowledge of a high probability of harm to Griess and Pate, but 

failed to take steps to ensure their safety, is an issue unsuited 

for summary judgment. Poulos, 765 P.2d at 366-67. See also 

Romero v. Union Pac. R.R., 615 F.2d 1303, 1309 (10th Cir. 1980) 

-6-

Appellate Case: 87-1837 Document: 01019831248 Date Filed: 08/07/1989 Page: 6 
( is~ues of intent and I.IlOtive __ generally inappr:opriate for summary 

judgment). The district court erred in granting summary judgment 

for Lindner as well. 

REVERSED and REMANDED. 

-7-

Appellate Case: 87-1837 Document: 01019831248 Date Filed: 08/07/1989 Page: 7 
Appellate Case: 87-1837 Document: 01019831248 Date Filed: 08/07/1989 Page: 8