Opinion ID: 1678730
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: 85-300 Adams v. Farlow

Text: The facts pertinent to this appeal are as follows: In early December 1984, E.E. Langner, ACIPCo's works manager and also a member of Management and the Board of Directors, issued a memorandum addressed to the Operatives concerning the enforcement of Plant Rule 12, which prohibits ACIPCo employees from quitting work, leaving assigned work area, ... or leaving during working hours without permission from immediate supervisor. In his memorandum to the Operatives, Langner stated the following: In order that we do not have any misunderstanding about Plant Rule # 12, I offer the following clarification. Any employee must have permission to leave the plant while on Company time. Merely telling your supervisor that you are going to town or going to see your lawyer does not mean that you are granted permission to leave. The reason for needing to leave the plant must be given in order for any supervisor to make a logical decision on whether permission should be granted or not. In the case of members of the Board of Operatives, if their supervisor or superintendent does not feel that he has sufficient reason to okay the Board Member leaving the plant, then the Board Member must obtain permission from Glenn Hicks, the Works Manager, or Assistant Works Manager. Plant Rule # 12 will be enforced in the future. Apparently from the time of this memorandum and up until August 30, 1985, all of the Operatives abided by Plant Rule 12. The Operatives do not dispute Management's contention that the Operatives were never denied permission to leave the plant during their working hours to see their attorney; that no one ever inquired about the Operatives' reason or purpose for going to see their attorney; and that the Operatives were always able to perform their duties as Operatives and as trustees without violating this or other plant rules. In August 1985, the Operatives learned that ACIPCo had hired, or was planning to hire, temporary contract labor from Manpower, Inc. Because the Operatives were of the opinion that the employment of contract labor was in violation of the Eagan trust, three of the members of the Operatives requested Carl P. Farlow, in his capacity as chairman of the board of trustees, to call a special trustees meeting for the purpose of discussing ACIPCo's use of contract labor. Farlow refused because he did not think that the use of Manpower, Inc., fell within the province of the board of trustees. Farlow also assured these Operatives that no Manpower, Inc., workers would work 40 hours a week if any ACIPCo employee was working less than 40 hours a week. After Farlow refused to call a special meeting, several Operatives members orally requested the vice chairman of the board of trustees, Leland Adams, to call the meeting. The rules and regulations governing the board of trustees, which are included in the by-laws of ACIPCo as Article VII, provide at Section 3 the procedure for calling a special trustees meeting: Special meetings of the Board may be called at any time on three days' notice to all of the members of the said Board, which said notice may be verbal or in writing, and shall state the time and place of holding of the meetings. ... The call shall be made by the Secretary, at the instance of the Chairman, or, in his absence or inability to act, at the instance of the Vice Chairman. In the event that the Chairman should refuse or fail, or in his absence or inability to act, the Vice Chairman should be absent, or refuse or fail upon written request of a majority of the members of either the Board of Operatives or the Board of management to make the call, then the meeting may be called at the instance of a majority of the members of either of said Boards, but such call must be in writing, stating the time and place of meeting, and given to each member of the Board of Trustees at least ten days prior to the meeting, and no business other than that specified in the call shall be considered at such meeting. (Emphasis added.) On August 16, 1985, after Adams also refused to call the meeting, a majority of the Operatives, acting under the above provision, issued a written call for a special trustees meeting to be held on August 27, 1985. When Farlow received his notice of this meeting, he then instructed the secretary of the board of trustees to call a special meeting for August 23, 1985, four days prior to the meeting called by the Operatives. Upon receiving notice of the August 23 meeting, two of the Operatives, Adams and Bradford, went to the secretary, P.W. Green, and asked for an agenda of the meeting called by Farlow. Green explained that there was no agenda but told them that he presumed the purpose of the meeting was to discuss the contract labor issue. At the August 23 meeting, Farlow told the Operatives that the meeting was called in response to their request for a meeting, and he took the position that the August 27 meeting called by the Operatives was improper because it had not been called in accordance with the by-laws. Farlow's interpretation of the portion of the by-laws quoted supra required the Operatives to submit their request in writing to Adams, the vice-chairman, upon Farlow's refusal to call the meeting. The Operatives disagreed and explained that they were not then prepared to discuss the contract labor issue because, for example, they had not prepared the resolutions they planned to introduce. Farlow told the Operatives that there would not be an August 27 meeting, and that Management would not attend any meeting the Operatives attempted to conduct. The Operatives assembled on August 27 for the trustees meeting they had called. None of the members of Management were present. Several of the Operatives attempted, but were unable, to find any of the members of Management and were informed that Farlow was away from the plant and that all the others were out of town. The Operatives proceeded with their trustees meeting and passed the following resolution: Be it resolved that the Board of Trustees of the John J. Eagan Trust, as codicil to the will of John J. Eagan, deceased, established that John J. Eagan Trust prohibits the American Cast Iron Pipe Company while owned by and administered under the terms and conditions of that trust, except as this Board of Trustees may from time to time agree in emergency or unforeseen circumstances, from utilizing any labor in the production of any goods produced and sold by the American Cast Iron Pipe Company, except as is provided by those persons who are employed by American Cast Iron Pipe Company and are beneficiaries of the John J. Eagan Trust. The Board of Trustees does hereby resolve that the use of contract labor, whether provided by an entity engaged in the provision of contract labor as a legal business or otherwise, is contrary to the provisions of the John J. Eagan Trust and is prohibited by the terms and conditions thereof except as to professional services provided by professional persons. Be it further resolved that the Board of Trustees does hereby appoint as a Labor Problem Management Committee of the Board of Trustees the following members of the Board of Trustees: Leland C. Adams, Jr., Chairman, Carl P. Farlow, Vice Chairman, James Frederick, Gary Bradford, Richard Bragdon. The Board of Trustees hereby further directs the aforesaid committee to immediately inform Manpower, Inc. that all contract labor presently provided by Manpower, Inc. for use in American Cast Iron Pipe Company is to be immediately removed from the premises, and any and all contracts or agreements signed or otherwise entered into by American Cast Iron Pipe with Manpower, Inc. are immediately cancelled. The committee is further authorized to make payment of any sum now due, and to negotiate with Manpower the payment of any penalties that may be due under the terms and conditions of any contract or agreement entered into between Manpower, Inc. and American Cast Iron Pipe Company. Be it further resolved by the Board of Trustees that the aforesaid committee is directed to meet at the call of the Chairman and to draw up and approve, by majority vote of the members of the committee, the chairman having the full right to vote, rules and regulations for the recall of former employees or laid-off employees of American Cast Iron Pipe Company to perform such work as American Cast Iron Pipe Company may from time to time require, that in the absence of recall of such former employees or laid-off employees of American Cast Iron Pipe Company might otherwise be performed by contract labor. The rules and regulations so adopted by a majority vote of the aforesaid committee shall be final and binding unless the Board of Operatives and the Board of Management members of the Board of Trustees shall unanimously vote to change or alter all or some of the rules and regulations drawn up and adopted by the aforesaid committee. Be it further resolved that the Board of Trustees does hereby forever prohibit American Cast Iron Pipe Company from employing contract labor for any purpose whatsoever and does direct that all labor provided to American Cast Iron Pipe Company, except for professional labor such as is provided by attorneys, accountants, doctors, nurses, and persons in recognized professions, shall be provided by employees of American Cast Iron Pipe Company. ... The resolution went on to provide that the prohibition against using contract labor at ACIPCo would also apply to any wholly-owned subsidiaries of ACIPCo as soon as practicable. On Friday, August 30, 1985, three days after the August 27 meeting, Adams had an appointment scheduled with the Operatives' attorney to prepare the necessary letters to be delivered to Farlow and the other committee members informing them of the above resolution. Early that morning, Adams asked his supervisor, Bert Bowlin, for permission to leave the plant during his working hours to see the Operatives' attorney. According to Adams, Bowlin gave him permission to leave. Bowlin, however, testified that he did not give Adams permission, and that since the December 7, 1984, memorandum (quoted supra ), he had required Adams to obtain permission from Langner, the works manager. Adams testified that he did go to Langner's office to see him or one of his assistants about leaving the plant, but that none of them was present. Adams then went to see Glen Hicks, the personnel director, who was in a meeting. Because he was running late for his 8:00 a.m. appointment, Adams did not wait for Hicks and, instead, asked Hicks's secretary to tell him where he was going and that he could be reached there. When Hicks learned that Adams left the plant without obtaining his permission, he reported it to Langner around 9:30 a.m. Langner then checked with Bowlin, Adams's supervisor, to see if he had given Adams permission to leave. Upon learning that Bowlin had not given Adams permission to leave, Langner prepared a written reprimand on Adams that same day. The following Monday was Labor Day, an ACIPCo holiday, so the workload meeting between the Operatives and one or more representatives from the works manager's office, which is regularly scheduled to be held every other Monday, was held at noon on Tuesday, September 5, 1985. At that meeting, Langner presented to each of the Operatives a written memorandum, set out below, concerning a change in the compensation to Operatives members for attending special Operatives meetings: September 5, 1985 TO: MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF OPERATIVES I am sure that you are aware that the plant has failed to produce any profit this year through July. In an effort to reduce costs we have made economies in operating procedures and use of materials. Most of our employees have taken up the slack, assumed extra duties and have done an excellent job of decreasing manhours per ton of product. At the same time we have made significant improvements in the quality of our products. I am extremely grateful to these employees for their efforts. However, we are still not in a good cost position and must continue to work hard at reducing our manufacturing costs. As a part of this cost reduction program, I call your attention to Article VI, Section IV, of the `Rules and Regulations of the Board of Operatives,' adopted by the Board of Operatives on July 14, 1970. This paragraph, listed in Section B2 of the ACIPCo Policy Manual, clearly states that a member of the Board of Operatives `... shall be allowed during his regular working hours such time as may be required to properly attend to the business of the Board of Operatives and his wages or salary or standing in his department shall not be affected by his absence from his regular work for the above reason.' Board members will be compensated for time they are required by the Company to attend committee meetings and investigations, as well as for the regular meeting of the Board on the first Monday of each month whether during regular working hours or not. Pay for special Board meetings not held during regular working hours must be authorized by the Works Manager's office. Since the Board of Operatives in recent years has been allowed to operate outside the boundaries of the Rules and Regulations which they adopted in 1970, time for adjustment will be allowed. We will begin complying with the rules concerning pay with the estimate beginning September 23, 1985. Most of the Board members will realize very little effect from this compliance with the rules. I am also asking the Board of Operatives to please not have more persons than are required in committee meetings, investigations, etc. For instance, on Friday, August 16, there were seven Board members in the meeting investigating a discipline case. There should have been four. One other request is that you please report to your job at starting time. If you are tied up in a meeting, call and let your supervisor know and also let him know when he can expect you on the job so that he can arrange his people to cover for you. Most of you already do this. I appreciate your cooperation with the above. /s/E.E. Langner E.E. Langner Vice President & Works Manager (Emphasis added.) Prior to this change, the Operatives did not have to obtain approval in order to be paid for non-scheduled Operatives meetings held before or after their respective regular working hours. The Operatives are paid their regular shift differential for time charged to Board business during their normal scheduled work shift and hours. They are paid the first shift rate (apparently a higher rate) for time charged to board business in excess of regularly scheduled work hours. According to Langner, the requirement that overtime pay for non-scheduled meetings be authorized was imposed in response to alleged abuses by some of the Operatives, which he had either witnessed or which had been reported to him, resulting in excessive amounts of overtime claimed by the Operatives. At the conclusion of the September 3 workload meeting, Langner told Adams to report to Langner's office at 1:30 p.m. Adams went to Langner's office at 1:30 p.m. as directed, accompanied by another member of the Operatives. Hicks, the personnel director, was also present. At this meeting, Langner informed Adams that he was being given a writen reprimand for violating Plant Rule 12 on August 30, 1985, by leaving the plant without permission. Langner read the reprimand to Adams but did not give him a copy. On that same day, September 3, 1985, Farlow wrote Adams a letter in response to Adams's letter informing Farlow of the resolution passed by the Operatives acting as the board of trustees at their August 27 meeting which Management refused to attend. In this letter, set out in pertinent part below, Farlow once again disavowed and disaffirmed the validity of any of the actions taken by the Operatives purportedly acting as the board of trustees at the August 27 meeting, because he contended the meeting was improperly called and a quorum was not present: Dear Lee: This is in reply to your letter to me of August 30, 1985. As pointed out in the meeting of the Board of Trustees held on Friday, August 23, at which you were present, the attempted call of a meeting for August 27 was ineffective for failing to comply with Section 3 of Article VII of the Rules and Regulations of the Board as set out in the By-Laws of the Company and no meeting could be held pursuant to it. Consequently, no valid action could have been taken. Furthermore, even if a meeting had been properly called, no action could have been taken since a quorum was not present. As you know, the meeting called by the Secretary at my instance as Chairman of the Board of Trustees for August 23 was for the purpose of considering the use of contract labor, the matter referred to in the ineffective call of a meeting for August 27. This was done to accommodate the desire of the majority of the Board of Operatives to consider this matter and for a time when the members of the Board of Management could be present. At the August 23 meeting the Board of Operatives then stated they were not prepared to discuss the matter, but would be prepared to do so at a meeting on August 27. It was pointed out that a meeting could not and would not be held on August 27 pursuant to the defective call, but that another meeting for that purpose could be held later upon a proper call. The resolution attached to your letter of August 30 has not been adopted by the Board of Trustees and is of no effect. So that there will be no misunderstanding, I want to make it clear that any action taken by any person purporting to act on behalf of American Cast Iron Pipe Company based on that resolution will be without proper authority and in direct disobedience thereof, and will be interfering with lawful business relationships of the Company. If the Board of Operatives wishes to present such a resolution to a properly called meeting of the Board of Trustees with a quorum present, it is, of course free to do so. In fact, as Chairman of the Board I will be willing to direct the Secretary to call such a meeting at a mutually convenient time if you wish me to do so. Yours very truly, /s/Carl P. Farlow Carl P. Farlow (Emphasis added.) The Operatives contend that the phrase without proper authority, included in the sentence emphasized above, is in reference to Plant Rule 6, which prohibits [d]isobedience to proper authority, the minimum penalties for which include: reprimand for a first offense; two-week layoff for a second offense; and discharge for a third offense. Responding to what it perceived to be threats of punitive actions against them by Management, the Operatives filed a motion in this case on September 16, 1985, seeking a temporary restraining order and temporary and permanent injunctive relief. [2] Specifically, the Operatives asked the trial court to grant the following relief: 23. Immediately issue a temporary restraining order against the defendants Farlow, Green, Doughty, Bragden and Langner providing as following: (a) Restraining the said defendants from requiring the plaintiffs to obtain permission to leave the Acipco premises to consult with the attorney for the Board of Operatives and from imposing reprimands or any other form of discipline in connection therewith; (b) Directing the immediate removal of the reprimand of 3 September from the record of plaintiff Adams; (c) Restraining the defendants from enforcing the provisions of the 3 September letter from the defendant Langner to the Board of Operatives and directing that the Board of Operatives shall have the right to meet at the call of its chairman and to perform necessary board business without permission from any other persons and that the members of the Board of Operatives shall be paid for all time spent in attending such meetings and board business; (d) Restraining the defendants from interfering with the plaintiffs or any of them acting to perform the full and complete requirements of the resolution adopted at the 27 August meeting of the Board of Trustees or imposing or attempting to impose any discipline on any of the plaintiffs acting in accordance with such resolution; (e) Restraining the defendants from imposing on the plaintiffs any restrictions or limitations not imposed in practice prior to 3 September 1985; (f) Restraining the defendants from disciplining, harassing or intimidating the plaintiffs until further order of this Court; (g) Restraining the defendants from violating their duties as trustees of the Eagan Trust to act solely in accordance with the law of Alabama in protesting or challenging the conduct of the plaintiffs as trustees of the Eagan Trust in the management and control of Acipco. .... 25. Issuing a permanent injunction in accordance with the foregoing upon a hearing on the merits. By an order dated September 17, 1985, the trial court denied the Operatives' request for a temporary restraining order. Following a ten-day trial and the submission of briefs by both parties, the trial court entered a rather lengthy order on December 6, 1985, denying the Operatives' motion for preliminary injunction. [3] It is from this order that the Operatives appeal. In Howell Pipeline Co. v. Terra Resources, Inc., 454 So.2d 1353, 1356 (Ala. 1984), this Court set out a three-pronged test by which the trial court can review an application for a preliminary injunction: 1. `... if [the trial judge] finds that the party has presented a fair question as to the existence of the right to be protected, and further finds that temporary interference to preserve the status quo is convenient and expedient, then he may exercise his discretion and grant the injunction.' 2. `... An injunction should not be granted unless it is necessary to prevent irreparable injury.' 3. `Injunctions ... will not be granted merely to allay apprehension of injury; the injury must be both imminent and irreparable in a court of law.'  Double C. Productions, Inc. v. Exposition Enterprises, 404 So.2d 52, 54 (Ala. 1981). `In measuring the relief sought by a complainant against this standard, the trial court, then, in its discretion and under the individual facts and circumstances of each case, ... may consider and weigh the relative degree of injury or benefit to the respective parties....' Id., citing Valley Heating, Cooling and Electric Company v. Alabama Gas Corporation, 286 Ala. [79] at 82, 237 So.2d [470] at 472 [(1970)]. Additionally, as recently recognized by this Court in Marshall Durbin & Co. of Jasper, Inc. v. Jasper Utilities Board, 483 So.2d 399, 400 (Ala.1986): Equally important is the proposition stated by this Court in Alabama Education Association v. Board of Trustees of the University of Alabama, 374 So.2d 258 (Ala.1979): `Furthermore, the law in this State is settled that, on a motion for preliminary injunction, the burden is on complainant to satisfy the court that there is at least a reasonable probability of ultimate success on the merits of the controversy. Postal Telegraph v. City of Mobile, 179 F. 955 (C.C.S.D.Ala. 1909).' 374 So.2d at 261. A party appealing from the grant or denial of a motion for a preliminary injunction also bears a heavy burden because a trial court's decision to grant or deny a motion seeking a preliminary injunction will not be disturbed on appeal, absent a gross abuse of discretion. Marshall Durbin & Co. of Jasper, Inc., supra ; Howell Pipeline Co., supra . This gross abuse of discretion must be such as to result in manifest injustice unless this Court sets aside the trial court's order. Having reviewed the record in this case, along with the respective briefs and arguments of counsel for both sets of parties, we cannot say the trial court grossly abused its discretion in denying the Operatives' request for preliminary injunctive relief. Indeed, as to the permission to leave rule issue, the removal of the reprimand issue, and the approval of overtime pay for special Operatives' meetings issue, we agree with and hereby adopt the order of the trial court: 1. The Plaintiffs seek to restrain the Defendants from requiring the Plaintiffs to obtain permission to leave the Acipco premises to consult with the attorney for the Board of Operatives and from imposing reprimands or any form of discipline in connection therewith. The evidence has shown that since at least December 7, 1984, the Plaintiffs have been seeking and requesting permission prior to their leaving the plant premises during their working hours to consult with the Board of Operatives' attorney. Until the incident involving Leland C. Adams, Jr. resulting in a written reprimand to him on September 3, 1985, (discussed later herein), the evidence shows that the Plaintiffs had suffered no difficulty, injury or damage as a result of following the permission procedure. There has been no evidence presented that any of the Plaintiffs have been denied permission to leave the plant premises to consult with their attorney on Board of Operatives business or that any of the Defendants have ever demanded to know or tried to learn the reasons it was necessary for the Plaintiffs, or any of them, to meet with their attorney at a particular time. To the contrary, the evidence has shown that Plant Rule 12 ... has been in existence for many years and that the evidence has failed to show that it has been applied unfairly or more restrictively to the Plaintiffs than any other wage employee. 2. The Plaintiffs seek the Court to mandatorily direct the immediate removal of the written reprimand of September 3, 1985, from the record of Plaintiff Leland C. Adams, Jr. Whether Adams has shown a fair question to raise as to the existence of a right to relief is borderline and doubtful; however, it is clear and the Court so finds and concludes that Adams has failed to show that he has or is likely to suffer immediate and irreparable injury unless the Defendants are mandatorily ordered to remove by preliminary injunction the reprimand given him on September 3, 1985. The evidence shows that Adams had previously been cited for leaving the plant premises without permission from an authorized person and received a reprimand for such conduct. The evidence shows now that Adams has again been cited for the same violation of the plant rules and has again been reprimanded. Pursuant to the plant rules, Adams could have been fired on either occasion but such has not been the result. At most, Adams has only shown an apprehension of injury and a speculation as to the consequences of future actions by the Defendants. 3. The Plaintiffs seek to restrain the Defendants from enforcing the provisions of a letter dated September 3, 1985, of Defendant E.E. Langner, Jr. to the members of the Board of Operatives. This letter states in pertinent part that, `Board members will be compensated for time that they are required by the Company to attend committee meetings and investigations, as well as for the regular meeting of the Board on the first Monday of each month whether during regular working hours or not. Pay for special Board meetings not held during regular working hours must be authorized by the Works Manager's office.' The Plaintiffs seek the Court's mandatory order preliminarily that the Board of Operatives shall have the right to meet at the call of its chairman and to perform necessary Board business without permission from any person and that the members of the Board of Operatives shall be paid for all time spent in attending such meetings. The evidence shows that this claim apparently seeks the result that one or more of the Plaintiffs, as members of the Board of Operatives, be paid overtime for any special Board meetings called and held at a time that the Board member or members are not on duty during their regular shift or working hours and to further be paid overtime at any time an individual Board member considers it necessary to perform necessary Board business during times not during regular working hours. The letter and policy complained of clearly applies only to overtime compensation of Board members for attending special meetings of the Board of Operatives and does not attempt to or purport to regulate or control when the Board of Operatives may choose to meet. Neither has there been any evidence presented that any of the Defendants attempted to dictate or interfere with the right to hold such meetings or the timing of them. As to the Operatives' request that Management be restrained from interfering with the Operatives' attempts to implement the contract labor resolution passed on August 27, 1985 (quoted supra ), we agree with the trial court that the Operatives are not entitled to the issuance of a preliminary injunction as to this matter because they have failed to establish that imminent and irreparable injury will result if the injunction is not issued. However, we do not agree that this claim fails to show a fair question to raise as to the existence of a right to relief, which is, nevertheless, only one of several factors to be considered. In the portion of its order dealing with the resolution, the trial court stated the following: The resolution has been shown to be of doubtful validity. It was adopted by some of the trustees comprising only one voting unit of the trust, to-wit, the members of the Board of Operatives. This procedure is not authorized by the codicil creating the trust or the by-laws of the company. The evidence shows that the purported meeting of the Board of Trustees was not properly called or noticed. Further, that the action taken by the trustees present at the meeting held on August 27, 1985, and now sought to be sanctioned by this Court, was outside of the stated purpose set forth in the defective notice of the meeting. It is further clear that the subject matter of the resolution is beyond the power and authority of the trustees and an invasion of the management prerogatives of the Board of Directors of the company or possibly the prerogatives properly exercised by the stockholders of the company. (Emphasis added.) Based on our reading of the clear language of Article VII, Section 3, setting forth the procedure for calling a special trustees meeting, we cannot agree with the trial court's preliminary finding that the meeting was not properly called. However, the error of this preliminary finding by the trial court does not compel reversal because of the narrow issue here presented. [4] Management argues that Article VII, Section 3, requires that when the chairman of the board of trustees refuses to call a special meeting, as he did in the present case, a majority of either board must submit to the vice chairman a written request to call a special meeting, upon which he must refuse or fail to act before a majority of that board may call the meeting themselves. This construction of Section 3 does not comport with the plain language of that provision. As the following pertinent sentences make clear, resort to the vice chairman by a majority of either board is required only in the absence of the chairman or his inability to act: The call shall be made by the Secretary, at the instance of the Chairman, or, in his absence or inability to act, at the instance of the Vice Chairman. In the event that the Chairman should refuse or fail, [ or in his absence or inability to act, the Vice Chairman should be absent, or refuse or fail upon written request of a majority of the members of either the Board of Operatives or the Board of Management to make the call], then the meeting may be called at the instance of a majority of the members of either of said Boards. (Brackets and emphasis added.) The bracketed portion of the second sentence above is sub-disjunctive; that is, applicable only in the event of the second contingency expressed, viz., the chairman's absence or inability to act. Thus, in the present case, where the chairman refused, it was unnecessary for a majority of the Operatives to submit to the vice chairman a written request to call a special meeting before they could make the call themselves. We reserve opinion as to the correctness of the other preliminary findings of the trial court with respect to the validity of the resolution passed by the Operatives in their capacity as the board of trustees. The evidence on these issues should be fully developed upon a consideration of the merits of the Operatives' complaint seeking a preliminary injunction. Based on the foregoing, the order of the trial court denying the Operatives' motion for preliminary injunction is due to be affirmed.