Court Opinion

ID: 9854063
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 06:00:13.87223+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:22:53.914419
License: Public Domain

BUTTLER, P. J.,
dissenting.
Because I do not agree that we review de novo in this action for money damages only and because there is evidence to support the trial court’s judgment, I dissent.
The majority recognizes, appropriately, that there is a substantial question concerning our scope of review in this discrimination case brought under ORS 659.121(1). The only case in which that question was analyzed is Wincer v. Ind. Paper Stock Co., 48 Or App 859, 618 P2d 15 (1980). In that case, the plaintiff was denied reemployment after he was released for work following his recovery from an injury compensable under the Workers’ Compensation Law. He then filed an action seeking to restrain the employer from continuing that unlawful practice, ORS 659.030, for reinstatement with back pay and attorney fees. ORS 659.121(1); ORS 659.415. He demanded, but was denied, a jury trial. On the merits, the trial court found that the defendant had not violated ORS 659.415.
On appeal, he assigned error to the trial court’s denying him a jury trial. In rejecting his contention, we pointed out that Article I, section 17, of the Oregon Constitution merely preserves that right in classes of actions in which a jury trial was available when the constitution was adopted. We concluded:
“Historically injunctions and reinstatement of contracts were a matter tried in equity. Back wages due under an employment contract followed as a matter of course upon equitable reinstatement of the contract. Plaintiff seeks an injunction and reinstatement of his employment contract *678with the attendant back wages. These remedies were the type sought in equity at the time the constitution was adopted.” 48 Or App at 863. (Footnote omitted.)
Because the plaintiff in Wincer clearly was seeking what has historically been considered equitable relief, we also held that our review was de novo. Wincer was decided correctly.
In Cook v. Coos-Curry Electric Cooperative, Inc., 86 Or App 600, 740 P2d 201 (1987), the plaintiff had been reinstated, albeit belatedly, to his former position following his recovery from a compensable injury. He then brought an action for back pay. Without any analysis of the question, we stated simply that our review was de novo, citing Wincer. We did not say that an action seeking back pay was equitable in nature. In Davis v. Surcamp, 86 Or App 310, 738 P2d 1006 (1987), the question was whether the trial court had erred in dismissing the plaintiffs case, after trial, for failure to state a claim under ORS 659.121(1). The plaintiff alleged that the defendant had refused to reinstate him after his recovery from a compensable injury and that he had been unable to find other employment until a specified date. He sought only lost wages, without reinstatement. We held that, because the facts alleged would have entitled the plaintiff to reinstatement, his complaint stated a claim under ORS 656.121(1). In the final sentence, we stated that we declined the plaintiffs request to review de novo, “because we do not have the benefit of trial court findings.” 86 Or App at 314. Because the absence of trial court findings does not preclude de novo review of the record, we must have meant that we would not review the merits of the plaintiffs claim until the trial court had ruled, which the trial court had not done, given its dismissal under ORCP 21.
The majority seems to say that Holien v. Sears, Roebuck and Co., 298 Or 76, 689 P2d 1292 (1984), supports the proposition that awarding back pay is a type of equitable relief provided by ORS 659.121(1). 100 Or App at 672. That is not correct. In stating that the statute provided for equitable remedies, the court simply quoted the language of the statute, “such other equitable relief as may be appropriate, including but not limited to reinstatement * * * with or without back pay.” 298 Or at 95. (Emphasis supplied.) Clearly, reinstatement with or without back pay is an equitable remedy.
In my opinion, Wincer is the only viable precedent for *679determining whether a proceeding under ORS 659.121(1) is equitable in nature, requiring de novo review on appeal. I do not share the majority’s concern that, unless we hold that an action for back wages is equitable in nature, plaintiff has no remedy for the alleged unlawful employment practice. It makes no sense to say that one may recover back wages only if she also seeks reinstatement or an injunction. The legislature clearly intended by subsection (1) to provide a remedy to one in plaintiffs position, including back pay, and, because it makes no sense to require a plaintiff to seek an injunction or reinstatement in order to get back pay, the legislature could not have intended that result. It is difficult to imagine a case in which a plaintiff who is entitled to wages that are lost as a result of an unlawful employment practice, ORS 659.030, would not also be entitled to reinstatement, even though that relief is not sought. That is the substance of our opinion in Cook v. Coos-Curry Electric Cooperative, Inc., supra. However, in that kind of case, the remedy is not one that has been considered historically as equitable in nature; therefore, we do not review de novo. ORS 19.125(3).
Plaintiff contends that defendant discriminated against her because she filed two complaints with BOLI, the first alleging that defendant had discriminated against her because of her race, and the second alleging that defendant had discriminated against her for having filed the first complaint. As a result of the disparate treatment that she received following the dismissal of those two complaints, she claims that she became so distraught that she left her employment.
Although the majority applies the requirements for proof of a constructive discharge adopted recently in Bratcher v. Sky Chiefs, Inc., 308 Or 501, 783 P2d 4 (1989), it does so by a de novo review of the record. Because I conclude that we do not review de novo, the only question is whether there is evidence to support the trial court’s finding on the only issue on which the majority disagrees with the trial court: whether plaintiff left the employment because of the working conditions. The trial court found that plaintiff had failed to prove that her physical and emotional problems, which she alleged caused her to leave her employment, were caused by defendant’s response to her filing the complaints, rather than by her preexisting physical and emotional problems and her own actions on the job. There is evidence to support that finding, and we *680may not disturb it, even though we might evaluate the evidence differently.
Accordingly, I would deny the petition for reconsideration. Therefore, I dissent.