735 F.2d 1412 | D.C. Cir. | 1984
Lead Opinion
Petitioner Francis V. Geddes seeks review of a determination of the Benefits Review Board, U.S. Department of Labor, which denied his claim for back pay and benefits under section 49 of the Longshoremen’s and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (the “Act”).
I. Background
Petitioner Geddes was employed as a bus driver by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (“WMATA”) for seven years prior to his injury. In March of 1975, a public hearing was held concerning proposed rate increases for WMATA buses. Geddes testified in opposition to the proposed rate increases as a private citizen at the public hearing, noting instances of wasteful mismanagement at WMATA. Within two days of Geddes’ appearance at the hearing, WMATA fired him from his job. After much publicity and press coverage of the firing, Geddes was reinstated the following week.
Once reinstated, however, Geddes was subjected to intense harassment by WMA-TA officials. He was put under unusually strict surveillance on the job; he received citations for fabricated violations; and his supervisors spread lies about him.
Geddes’ claims under the Act sought both compensation for total temporary disability as well as back pay due to WMA-TA’s allegedly unlawful refusal to permit him to return to work. A hearing on both claims was held before an Administrative Law Judge in April 1979. In his subsequent decision and order, the AU determined that WMATA supervisors’ harassment of Geddes during the course of his employment caused Geddes’ psychological/physical illness. The AU held that Geddes was entitled to compensation for temporary total disability from 11 April 1978 until 11 August 1978. In addition, the AU found that WMATA unlawfully discriminated against Geddes by refusing to allow him to return to work after his recovery. This, the AU held, violated section 49 of the Act, which prohibits an employer from discriminating in any manner against an employee because the employee has
WMATA petitioned the AU for reconsideration of the section 49 discrimination issue only; it did not challenge the AU’s finding that the supervisors’ harassment of Geddes at work made him ill. The petition for reconsideration was granted and a supplemental hearing was held. In his decision upon reconsideration, the AU found that WMATA became aware of Geddes’ interest in returning to work in October 1978. He further found that WMATA treated Geddes as an “outcast,” hoping to prevent him from returning to work.
Geddes appealed that finding to the Benefits Review Board of the Department of Labor. The sole issue on appeal was whether the AU properly denied Geddes’ discrimination claim under section 49. The Board affirmed the AU’s decision and this petition for review ensued.
II. Analysis
review of the decision of the- Benefits Review Board is limited to a review for errors of law and for findings of fact not supported by substantial evidence in the record considered as a whole.
A. Elements of a Discrimination Claim Under Section h9
Geddes seeks back pay on the ground that WMATA discriminated against him in violation of section 49 of the Act. That section provides:
It shall be unlawful for an employer or his duly authorized agent to discharge or in any other manner discriminate against an employee as to his employment because such employee has claimed or attempted to claim compensation from such employer____11
The elements of a meritorious complaint under section 49 are twofold. First, the employer must commit a discriminatory act. Second, the discriminatory act must be motivated by animus against the employee because of the employee’s pursuit of his rights under the Act.
Turning to the first element of the section 49 offense claimed here, the AU heard testimony about WMATA’s discriminatory treatment of Geddes, which was alleged to be WMATA’s refusal to allow Geddes to return to work from the time of his recovery until June 1980. Geddes testified that he made numerous attempts to return to work beginning in the fall of 1978 and that
In addressing the issue of WMATA’s motivation for its actions, the AU found that WMATA had animus against Geddes, which finding is supported by substantial evidence in the record considered as a whole. There was testimony that WMATA supervisors passed Geddes’ claim form around the office while laughing at his claim and ridiculing his illness.
The AU not only concluded that WMA-TA believed that Geddes was not a “team player” and that it had animus against him but he also concluded that this animus prompted WMATA’s unwillingness to allow Geddes to resume his job. According to the AU, WMATA treated Geddes as an “outcast,” intending to induce him never to return to work.
Although Geddes successfully proved that WMATA’s animus motivated its attempts to prevent Geddes from returning to work, the AU denied petitioner’s claim under section 49 because Geddes failed to prove that the animus against him was at least partially motivated by his filing of a claim for compensation. The AU noted that WMATA’s harassment of Geddes began when Geddes testified at the public hearing in 1975. He concluded that “general animus” continued to motivate WMA-TA’s actions even after Geddes filed his claim for compenation under the Act. The AU denied Geddes’ claim, therefore, because Geddes failed to prove that his filing of a compensation claim was a separate, contributing factor in WMATA’s refusal to let him return to work, when this refusal was viewed in the context of WMATA’s repeated harassment of and discrimination against Geddes over the course of three years.
B. Allocating the Burden of Proof
In finding that WMATA’s motivation for its actions against Geddes was unrelated to Geddes’ exercise of his rights under the Act, the AU placed too heavy a burden on Geddes to prove that the filing of his compensation claim contributed to the animus against him. Claimants seeking relief under the Act have long enjoyed the benefit of a light standard of proof in making their claims. The settled law articulated by the Supreme Court is that although a claimant seeking relief bears the burden of persuasion, the Act must be liberally construed in light of its beneficient and humanitarian purposes.
This light standard of proof should be applied to Geddes’ claim that WMATA violated section 49 by preventing him from returning to work during the period of October 1978 to June 1980. The petitioner need not prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the employer’s animus was due to the filing of a claim. Instead, doubtful questions of fact must be resolved and inferences must be made in favor of the petitioner. On remand, the Benefits Review Board should apply this light standard of proof to its evaluation of the evidence'
addition, the Benefits Review _ . . . , . , „ Board improperly allocated the burden of proof in this case. The AU not only required Geddes to prove that WMATA committed a discriminatory act motivated by animus, but he required Geddes to separate WMATA’s long-standing animus due to Geddes’ testimony at a public hearing in 1975 from animus based on Geddes’ attempts to receive compensation for his work-related illness. The proper rule, however, is that once Geddes proves that WMATA committed a discriminatory act caused by animus, the evidentiary burden of proof should shift to WMATA to prove that its animus was not even partially motivated by Geddes’ exercise of his rights under the Act.
Such an allocation of the burden of proof . ,. . . , „„ , f is essential m order to effectuate the bene- .... „ , ^ flCient P™?oses of the Act Puttm^ the responsibility on the petitioner to separate WMATAs motivation for harassment before the Petitioner filed his compensation claim from the reasons for harassment after the filing of the claim places a herculean ^ur<^en on a claimant seeking relief under section 49. The mandate that the Act t»e liberally interpreted in order to avoid harsh results counsels a shifting of the evidentiary burden of proof under the facts of this case. We note that courts have properly shifted the burden of proof in other contexts under the Act in order to effectuate its humanitarian purposes. For example, in New Orleans (Gulfwide) Stevedores v. Turner
Furthermore, shifting the evidentiary burden of proof in the instant case is consistent with the principles underlying evidentiary shifts in other areas of law. Under the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur in tort law, for example, a rebuttable inference or presumption of negligence arises when the plaintiff proves facts from which it would be reasonable to conclude that the defendants were at fault, and when an explanation of the event is more accessible to the
Both of those reasons for shifting the evidentiary burden of proof are present in the instant case. When, as in this case, an employee who sought compensation under the Act introduces sufficient evidence to prove that his employer subsequently both committed a discriminatory act and was motivated to do so by animus, it is reasonable to presume that, unless otherwise explained, the employer’s act was at least ,. ’ . partially motivated by the employee s claim J J . . tor compensation. This presumption is , , . , , , particularly appropriate when, as here, the employer’s animus against its employee was the cause of the employee’s original illness and his claim for compensation. Under such circumstances, it is likely that the employee’s filing of a compensation claim will contribute to the employer’s animus against the employee. In addition, in cases such as the instant one it is likely that the employer will have greater access than the employee will have to evidence that can prove the motivation for its actions. Thus when a claimant under section 49 proves that the employer committed a discriminatory act motivated by animus, and particularly when, as here, the employer’s hostility towards the employee was the cause of the original injury and compensation claim, it should be presumed that the filing of the compensation claim contributed to the employer’s motivation for the discriminatory act. This presumption is, of course, rebut-table,
jjj Conclusion
„ We vacate the decision on review and „„„„ , . ,, „ j... 0 . remand the case to the Benefits Review t> j ¿ ., .. „ ,, ., Board for consideration of the evidence m H of the staridarcl and burden of f_ The liberal standard of proof avail. ,, , ,. , , , ,, , able to claimants under the Act should be r , , ,,. .... , , . „ , , applied to this petitioners claim for back , , „ ,, Pay and benefits under section 49 of the .„ .... ,. „. Act. Furthermore, if petitioner satisfies this evidentiary burden by proving a discriminatory act caused by animus, a rebut-table presumption will arise that the animus was motivated at least in part by the petitioner’s filing of his claim for compen-sati0n. The burden of proof then shifts to WMATA to prove that its animus was not motivated, even in part, by Geddes’ exercising 0f his rights under the Act.
. . Accordingly, the order on review is va- . , , ,, . cated and the case is remanded for further ^ proceedings consistent with this opinion,
So ordered.
. 33 U.S.C. §§ 901-50 (1976); id. § 948a.
. Decision and Order, No. 81-277, 28 February 1983, Joint Appendix ("J.A.") at 17.
. See Decision and Order of the Administrative Law Judge, 28 November 1979, J.A. at 3-4.
. Id. at 5-6.
. 33 U.S.C. §§ 901-50 (1976) is extended to employers in the District of Columbia by D.C.Code Ann. § 36-501 (1968).
. J.A. at 5, 12-13 & n. 1. Petitioner now seeks back pay for the period from October 1978 to 27 June 1980, the date on which WMATA stated that Geddes could return to work.
. J.A. at 3-9.
. Decision and Order upon Reconsideration, 2 December 1980, J.A. at 12, 15.
. Id. at 15.
. See Voris v. Eikel, 346 U.S. 328, 74 S.Ct. 88, 98 L.Ed. 5 (1953); Director, Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs v. Robertson, 625 F.2d 873 (9th Cir.1980).
. 33 U.S.C. § 948a (1976).
. See Gondolfi v. Mid-Gulf Stevedores, 11 BRBS 295 (1979).
. See id.
. J.A. at 208.
. J.A. at 9.
. J.A. at 15.
. Id.
. See Voris v. Eikel, 346 U.S. 328, 333, 74 S.Ct. 88, 91, 98 L.Ed. 5 (1953); Alley v. Julius Garfin-kle & Co., 1 BRBS 66 (1974).
. See Strachan Shipping Co. v. Shea, 406 F.2d 521 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 395 U.S. 921, 89 S.Ct. 1773, 23 L.Ed.2d 238 (1969); Gondolfi v. Mid-Gulf Stevedores, 7 BRBS 1001, 1004 (1978).
. 625 F.2d 873, 878 & n. 9 (9th Cir.1980); see also Reed v. S.S. Yaka, 373 U.S. 410, 415, 83 S.Ct. 1349, 1353, 10 L.Ed.2d 448 (1963).
. 7 BRBS 1001, 1004 (1978).
. 661 F.2d 1031 (5th Cir.1981)
. Id.
. See W. Prosser, Handbook of the Law of Torts 211-26 (4th ed. 1971).
. See, e.g., Texas Department of Community Affairs v. Burdine, 450 U.S. 248, 101 S.Ct. 1089, 67 L.Ed.2d 207 (1981).
. See generally J. Wigmore, Evidence §§ 2485-2489 (J. Chadbourn ed., 1981).
Dissenting Opinion
(dissenting):
At contest in this case is whether the employer, WMATA, may be held liable under Section 49 of the Act, for having discriminated against the claimant in his efforts to return to work between October, 1978, and June 27, 1980. The crucial issue is the motivation for WMATA’s actions. The majority remands the case to reconsider whether the employer’s discrimination against Geddes was partly motivated by his having filed a claim for disability compensation. The majority opinion indicates that the Benefits Review Board somehow erred in two respects: first, by imposing on
From the record, it does not appear to me that the first error to which the majority opinion refers ever occurred in the administrative proceedings. On the second point, I would hold that the burden of proof was properly allocated and applied. The administrative law judge (AU) properly stated the law, correctly evaluated the evidence, and concluded unambiguously from the evidence that there was “no [creditable] evidence” that the employer’s discrimination against Geddes had been “motivated by animus against him because he filed a compensation claim.” See infra. The Board reached the same conclusion and affirmed. Accordingly, I believe that a remand of this case is unwarranted and futile, and I must respectfully dissent.
1. The Light Burden of Proof on the Claimant
Particularly in view of the majority opinion, close attention to the AU’s opinion is necessary. The Board’s affirmance of the AU adopted his legal analysis, his standard for evaluating the evidence, and his factual findings. The AU set forth the legal framework for his decision as follows:
[A]nimus against the employee for filing a compensation claim ... may be inferred from the circumstances of the case. Dill v. Sun Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, BRB No. 76-504, 6 BRBS 738 (November 21, 1977). The Claimant has the burden of proof under this section. Martin v. General Dynamics Corporation, BRB No. 78-191, 9 BRBS 836 (June 15, 1978). But, unlike a civil case, a Claimant bringing a case under Section 49 does not have to prove his discrimination claim by a preponderance of the evidence. Gondolfi v. Mid-Gulf Stevedores, BRB No. 77-331, 7 BRBS 1001 (February 28, 1978). The evidence presented is to be evaluated in terms of the “beneficient [sic] or humanitarian” purposes of the Act and in accord with the rule that any doubtful question of fact must be resolved in favor of the injured employee. Alley v. J. Garfinckel and Company, 1 BRBS 6, BRB No. 74-111 (August 6, 1974).
Geddes v. Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, No. 79-DCWC-136, slip op. at 2 (Dec. 2, 1980) (decision and order upon reconsideration) (hereinafter “AU Decision”) (JA 12, 13). Contrary to the majority’s discussion of the proper burden of proof, Majority Opinion at 1416-1417, the AU’s legal analysis here was entirely sound. Both as to the slight burden on the claimant and as to the required construction of doubtful evidence in favor of the claimant, the AU indicates that he was fully aware of the proper standards, and there is nothing to indicate that he did not apply them. The majority’s suggestions to the contrary are simply unfounded.
2. The Majority’s Theory of a Shifting Burden of Proof
The majority also states that the burden of proof was improperly allocated in this case — that once the claimant had shown the existence of a general “animus” against him, then the burden should have been shifted onto WMATA to rebut the inference that its discrimination had been partly motivated by the filing of the disability claim. The majority views this perceived error as grounds for a remand of the case. I cannot agree. Neither the factual record in this case nor the statute provides any basis for a remand.
A. The Facts
The factual record reveals the futility of a remand. Having considered all of the evidence, the AU found the following:
[T]here is no evidence in the record to which I attach any weight that will support a finding that any of the acts or attitudes taken against the Claimant were motivated by animus against him because he filed a compensation claim. Rather, the testimony of the WMATA witnesses in both hearings has convinced me that his treatment was the result of an ongoing feeling at WMA-*1420 TA, stemming from the public hearing incident, that Mr. Geddes was not a “team player” and perhaps was considered an undesirable employee. It is clear from the evidence presented by the Claimant that WMATA was aware at least that Mr. Geddes was inquiring about if not actually attempting to return to work. But instead of assisting him, the Employer treated the Claimant as an outcast, undoubtedly intending to induce Mr. Geddes to leave WMATA permanently. However, the language of Section 49 is specified in limiting sanctions to only those situations in which discrimination results because an employee has claimed or attempted to claim compensation.
On the basis of the evidence presented, I find that the discrimination directed against the Claimant began at the time of the public rate hearings in 1975 and that the Employer’s subsequent actions against the Claimant were motivated by general animus against the Claimant, not by the fact that he filed a workmen’s compensation claim.
AU Decision at 4 (JA 15) (emphasis added).
This specific finding that the employer’s action was “not [motivated] by the fact that he filed a workmen’s compensation claim,” and the Board’s concurrence in that finding, disposes of this case. Quite clearly, the AU found on the evidence that the employer’s actions against Geddes were motivated by the ill will toward Geddes that arose when the claimant spoke out against WMATA in 1975, and not by his filing of a claim. The AU found no evidence to the contrary. With this specific finding negating the fact that the employer was partly motivated by Geddes’ filing his compensation claim — a finding that is fully supported by the administrative record — I cannot see the need, desirability, or justification for a remand. When WMATA had a motivation as strong as existed here to discriminate against an employee who was considered disloyal, and who was once fired because of that alleged disloyalty and only rehired because of pressure, I cannot agree that “it is reasonable to presume that, unless otherwise explained, the employer’s act was at least partially motivated by the employee’s claim for compensation.” Majority Opinion at 1418. There is no sound reason to manufacture such a presumption in this case. On the record before us, the motivation is completely “otherwise explained.” The harassment to which Geddes was subjected before he filed his compensation claim, including the aborted attempt to discharge him, constitutes strong support in favor of a conclusion that filing the compensation claim was not the cause of WMATA’s subsequent refusal to permit him to return to work. The proper conclusion to draw from that evidence was for the trier of fact, who faced up to the motivation issue and squarely found no creditable evidence to support Geddes’ Section 49 claim.
B. The Majority’s Misguided Legal Analysis
Furthermore, even if there were some factual ambiguity in the record, I could not agree that the case ought to be remanded for reconsideration in light of the majority’s suggested theory of the shifting burden of proof. As the majority concedes, a Section 49 claimant bears some burden of proof, albeit a light one. As the majority must also acknowledge, that burden applies to the motivation element of a Section 49 offense. In the precise language of the statute, the discrimination must result “because [the] employee has claimed ... compensation from [the] employer ____” 33 ILS.C. § 948a (1976) (emphasis added). The burden of proof, to the extent that it exists, is where the statute puts it — upon the claimant.
Viewed against the purposes of Section 49, the majority’s theory does not make sense. In almost all cases where some discrimination is found — as in that at bar— there will be some motive for the discrimination, and very few such motives will be entirely benign. The purpose of Section 49, however, is not to serve as an all-purpose restraint on improper employer activi
. Of course, collective bargaining agreements, federal statutes, state laws, and the Constitution may preclude employment actions based on other employer motivations. Those sources of contractual and legal rights, however, give rise to different cases — cases outside the scope of Section 49.
