Opinion ID: 380054
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Liability of John Frank and James and Terry Grothaus

Text: 41 The district court's conclusion that John Frank, James Grothaus and Terry Grothaus conspired to intimidate the dissidents is not clearly erroneous. Nor can we overturn the court's conclusion that the beating of John Shimman was at the very least a foreseeable result of events which Frank and the Grothauses deliberately set in motion. 42 It is not disputed that John Shimman and his brothers were the leaders of a long established group of dissidents in District Two. The hostile relationship between the dissidents and the entrenched leadership, that of John Frank, is a matter of record. 43 In January of 1972, dissident Walter Shimman filed unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board against Local 18. He charged that the local had discriminated against him in job referrals and had threatened him and fellow dissidents with reprisals because of the dissidents' opposition to the established leadership. Dissident Glenn Oberle filed similar charges in April of 1972. The charges were consolidated and a hearing was held before an NLRB Administrative Law Judge in July of 1972. In an exhaustive opinion, the ALJ found that John Frank threatened to retaliate against the dissidents on numerous occasions in 1971 because of their anti-incumbent activities. He also found that Frank carried out his threats by denying Walter Shimman and Glenn Oberle job referrals to which they were entitled. The NLRB adopted the ALJ's findings and this court enforced the Board's order. International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 18, AFL-CIO, 205 NLRB 146 (1973), enforced, 500 F.2d 48 (6th Cir. 1974). 44 Much of the testimony which was presented to the ALJ was repeated in the trial below. This testimony supports the NLRB's finding that John Frank discriminatorily refused to permit dissidents Walter Shimman and Glenn Oberle to work because they ran for union offices in opposition to the incumbent leadership in 1971 and engaged in other intra-union political activities. 45 The antagonism between John Frank and the dissidents cannot be questioned. In the words of one witness, the dissidents were a thorn in John Frank's side. The district court found that when threats and job reprisals did not succeed in intimidating the dissidents, that Frank turned to violence. 46 We find extensive evidence in the record to support this finding. Former union member Barney McCoy testified that John Frank asked him to be one of a half-dozen good men to straighten some of these people out people like Jack (John) Shimman, Bill (William) Shimman and Bud (Glenn) Oberle. McCoy had no doubt what John Frank meant: 47 The substance was that he wanted whatever it took to get them out of the hall. Now, when you talk to this man when he makes a statement of that nature you know what it takes. The word murder wasn't in there, but you had a good idea whatever it took means. 48 McCoy testified that Frank promised that everything will be taken care of, including attorneys' fees should any of the men be caught. Frank mentioned two other good men to McCoy in the conversation: Kenneth Delaney and James Grothaus. Mr. Delaney was held in contempt of court for refusing to testify in the trial below. James Grothaus was one of the men who struck John Shimman on September 11, 1972. 49 In July of 1972, testimony was being taken before the NLRB's Administrative Law Judge on Glenn Oberle's and Walter Shimman's charges of discriminatory job referrals. At a union meeting during this time, John Frank verbally attacked Glenn Oberle for going to the NLRB. Ken Delaney and James Grothaus joined Frank in ridiculing dissident Oberle. 50 The dissidents usually took notes at union meetings. John Frank was strongly opposed to this practice. He ran the meetings and much of what he said was being taken down. During the NLRB hearing in July of 1972, dissident notes proved useful in refreshing the dissidents' recollections. With the help of the notes, the dissidents were able to testify with precision regarding John Frank's conduct. At an August, 1972 Advisory Board 17 meeting of District Two, the note-taking issue was brought up. This was the first such meeting since the NLRB hearings. Two dissidents testified at trial that James Grothaus stated at the advisory board meeting that no one taking notes was going to leave the meeting with the notes. John Frank stated that the dissidents were permitted to take notes, but that disciplinary proceedings might be invoked. 18 51 In August of 1972, union election results concerning the 1972 elections were published. As previously mentioned, the dissidents had fielded many candidates for a variety of union offices. William Shimman had run against John Possehl for Business Manager of Local 18. Glenn Oberle had run against John Frank for Vice-President of Local 18. These were statewide officers, voted on by the full membership of the local. In addition, the dissidents ran for offices within the district. Dissidents Ray Rojek and Walter Shimman ran for the position of district representative to the local's executive board. 19 In addition, Walter Shimman ran for a seat on the district advisory board. 20 52 The dissidents did not succeed in the statewide elections for union office, but made a good showing within District Two. In fact, Glenn Oberle collected more votes within the district than John Frank did for the Vice-President's spot. Moreover, the dissidents were very successful in the district level elections. Ray Rojek and Walter Shimman were elected as district representatives to the local's executive board. James Grothaus, who also ran for that office, was defeated. 53 On September 5, 1972, another district advisory board meeting took place. This was the first union meeting of any kind since the election results had been announced. John Frank presided at this meeting. He was not pleased with the dissidents' partial election successes. The district court credited testimony that John Frank stated at the meeting that dissident Ray Rojek needed a fist in his mouth, and that blood should flow in the streets, although not in the union hall. In addition, there was testimony that James Grothaus sat between dissidents Walter Shimman and Ray Rojek at the meeting and engaged in a tug of war with Mr. Rojek over the latter's briefcase. The district court reasonably found that the words and conduct of both Mr. Frank and Mr. Grothaus were threatening. 54 The regular membership meeting of District 2 took place on September 11, 1972. This was the meeting at which John Shimman was beaten. Since the meeting was attended by over 80 union members, there is extensive testimony in the record as to what occurred. There are, of course, many minor variances in the testimony. The district court's view of the testimony, reproduced above, is a fair and reasonable account of what happened. 55 Upon review of the record, we are convinced that the district court could have credited dissident testimony that the seating arrangement at the meeting was unusual in that Frank's supporters were seated in areas normally occupied by dissidents. The court could have reasonably inferred that Frank's verbal attacks on the dissidents during the meeting and his refusal to keep the meeting under control was part of a scheme to physically attack one of the dissidents. The court could have also inferred the existence of a conspiracy from Frank's open approval of James Grothaus' conduct when Grothaus threateningly rushed Ervin Shimman prior to getting a drink of water and stealing Shimman's notebook. 56 There is additional evidence from which the court could have inferred that the beating of John Shimman was not spontaneous. James Grothaus was self-employed. He had not worked as an operating engineer since December, 1971. His son, Terry Grothaus, worked for the Champion Spark Plug Company and had not worked as an operating engineer since 1970. Two friends of James Grothaus, Gary Agler and Albert Dawes were unknown to anyone else. The only union meetings ever attended by Terry Grothaus, Agler, or Dawes were the September 5, 1972, advisory board meeting where the dissidents were threatened and the September 11, 1972, general meeting where John Shimman was beaten up. The district court was not bound to accept Terry Grothaus, Agler's and Dawes' conflicting explanations as to why they picked those particular meetings to attend. Nor was the district court bound to accept James Grothaus' testimony that he never actually struck John Shimman, or Terry Grothaus' testimony, that he kicked John Shimman on the floor because Shimman had struck him while trying to retrieve the notes. 21 We note that James Grothaus and Terry Grothaus weighed over 220 pounds each. John and Ervin Shimman were estimated to weigh about 170 pounds each. 57 We reiterate that the incident in question here was not a spat among old friends. It was the culmination of years of antagonism. For example, there was testimony that John Frank continually threatened and verbally abused the dissidents. 22 The evidence outlined above supports the district court's conclusion that the defendants resorted to violence after their other efforts to silence the dissidents had failed. 23 58 As the district court noted, most of the facts in this case were not disputed. It is true that the defendants disclaimed liability and denied making some of the more egregious statements attributed to them. However, their credibility was for the fact-finder to determine. Ultimately, this case hinges on the reasonableness of the inferences drawn by the district court. Upon careful review of the record, we find the court's inferences reasonable and well-supported. John Shimman was beaten by thugs acting at the direction of John Frank because of Shimman's dissident activities. 24