 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Employee Leasing Services in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Weidler v. Big J Enterprises Inc.12/15/1997
Opinion Number: 1998-NMCA-021
{1} Big J Enterprises (Big J) appeals a jury verdict, including punitive damages, for Matthew Kehoe (Kehoe) based on a claim of retaliatory discharge. Kehoe cross-appeals the trial court's ruling regarding prejudgment interest. We affirm the verdict and the award of prejudgment interest on the compensatory damages portion of the award.
FACTS
{2} Big J is a construction company owned by Gary Johnson and his wife, Dee. One of its largest customers is the Intel Corporation plant in Rio Rancho. In 1991, Big J employed approximately four hundred people, many of whom worked at the Intel site on various projects. The number of employees at the site would vary depending on the labor needs for the particular projects. In particular, the number of workers would fluctuate greatly during a shutdown. A "shutdown" refers to the time when the plant is not operational. It was during that time that maintenance and refurbishment of the plant's fabrication rooms would take place. As a result, Big J would add more employees to accommodate the increased workload. After every shutdown, once most of the work was done, there would be a layoff by Big J. The leads or foremen of a particular crew would be responsible for recommending who should be laid off. However, management had the only authority to effect the layoffs. The Big J management team who could authorize layoffs at the Intel site included Jim Dorough, head of Fab 9; Rod Camplaign, head of Fab 7; and Jerry Hess, supervisor at Intel.
{3} Kehoe began working for Big J at the Intel site in February 1991 as a licensed mechanical journeyman. He worked on a variety of projects involving ceilings and floors, sheet metal and fiberglass work. From February 1991 until October 1991, he reported to three different people, working on whatever project needed to be done. In October 1991, he was assigned to work under the supervision of Ray Saiz. It was while he was working under the supervision of Saiz that several incidents occurred involving Kehoe and what might be termed "safety concerns."
{4} On December 13, 1991, during demolition and removal of duct work, in two separate incidents, several drops of sulfuric acid solution came in contact with Kehoe. Kehoe was wearing standard safety gear and no injury was reportedly suffered. However, Kehoe was required to replace the pair of work boots he was wearing because of contamination. Later that day, Saiz commented to others referring to the incidents as Kehoe getting "his first golden shower." Testimony classified the remarks as pornographic, connoting that Kehoe had been urinated on.
{5} These remarks were repeated to Kehoe, who became upset and expressed concern about the nonchalant handling of the incidents. Kehoe talked to other workers that day about the incidents and his concerns. Over the weekend, Kehoe decided that he would bring up the jokes and the casual handling of the acid pipe on Monday, at the weekly safety meeting. In fact, Kehoe never spoke at the meeting. He testified that Saiz pulled him out of the meeting before he could do so and told him, for the first time, that his job was not secure. Kehoe accused Saiz of threatening his job because of the acid incidents. Saiz vehemently denied doing any such thing. During his testimony, Saiz denied that he called Kehoe out of the safety meeting. Saiz did acknowledge that he had heard from others that Kehoe was upset about the acid incidents. In fact, Kehoe's roommate testified that he told Saiz that Kehoe was going to report him to OSHA. Saiz denied that he had been told Kehoe was going to call OSHA; he testified that he recalled Kehoe was going to the union.
{6} The
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 New Mexico Employee Leasing Services
Employee Leasing Services
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Employee Leasing Services in your area.
|
|