Daylis L. SMITH, Appellant, v. ADM FEED CORPORATION, Appellee.
No. 89-519.
Supreme Court of Iowa.
May 23, 1990.
456 N.W.2d 378
We held in Internal Energy Management that under the fiduciary shield doctrine a nonresident corporate agent is not individually subject to the forum state‘s in personam jurisdiction if that individual‘s only contact with the forum is by virtue of his acts as a fiduciary of the corporation. Id. at 710-12. Our review of the papers submitted in support of and in resistance to the motion to dismiss convinces us that the district court‘s ruling was correct with respect to the individual defendants. The attorney general has failed to demonstrate how any of these persons performed acts in this jurisdiction other than the acts of the corporation with which they were associated.
IV. Subject Matter Jurisdiction.
The defendants also urge that the district court was without subject matter jurisdiction over this controversy. We find no merit in that contention. For purposes of this argument, we must treat subject matter jurisdiction as involving the power of the court to hear and decide cases of the general class to which the proceeding belongs. The Iowa District Court being a court of general jurisdiction is clearly empowered to hear cases brought by the attorney general to vindicate alleged violation of the regulatory statutes which give rise to the claims in the present case.
We note in this regard, however, that subject matter jurisdiction should not be confused with legislative jurisdiction, i.e., whether a state may constitutionally apply the law of the forum in adjudicating the validity of transactions which took place in whole or in part in another jurisdiction, see Restatement (Second) of Conflict of Laws §§ 6, 9 (1971), or whether a state‘s choice of law rules permit application of its laws to a transaction which occurred in whole or in part outside of its borders. These are matters which go to the merits of the attorney general‘s claims and do not bear on in personam or subject matter jurisdiction of the court.3
We have considered all arguments presented and conclude that the judgment of the district court should be affirmed with respect to its dismissal of the claims against the individual defendants. The district court‘s judgment is reversed with respect to those claims against the corporate defendants which seek to enjoin the allegedly unlawful advertising carried on in this state by those defendants and those additional claims based on injuries which flow directly from the alleged unlawful advertising. Costs of appeal are taxed one-half to the appellant and one-half to the appellees.
AFFIRMED IN PART, REVERSED IN PART, AND REMANDED.
Diane M. Stahle and Gene R. La Suer of Davis, Hockenberg, Wine, Brown, Koehn & Shors, Des Moines, for appellee.
SCHULTZ, Justice.
Plaintiff Daylis Smith appeals a judgment in favor of his past employer, ADM Feed Corporation (ADM), in a disability discrimination claim filed under the Iowa Civil Rights Act,
Plaintiff began working as a truck driver for a feed mill in Baxter, Iowa, in 1969. In
In January 1986 plaintiff had back surgery to fuse two of his lumbar vertebrae, a procedure necessitated by an April 1984 work injury which had damaged his lower back. He was given a final release to return to his employment at ADM by his doctor in January 1987. In the release the doctor noted that plaintiff had been driving a truck since his surgery and stated: “As long as [plaintiff] does work that does not entail heavy lifting with his back or repetitive bending or stooping, then he could return to work.” Had this letter been interpreted by ADM as a complete or full medical release, plaintiff would have had enough seniority to return to his previous position. Defendant believed, however, that plaintiff did not have a release to do the type of work he had been doing before his surgery and notified him that it would be unable to rehire him.
In January 1988 plaintiff received an administrative release from the Iowa Civil Rights Commission (commission), issued pursuant to
Following a bench trial, the court dismissed the action, holding that defendant had established a legitimate business reason to terminate plaintiff and could not have reasonably accommodated his disability without incurring more than a de minimus cost. On appeal plaintiff contends: (1) He was entitled to a jury trial on his civil rights claim; (2) if he was not entitled to a jury trial, then the court‘s review of this “equity” proceeding should be de novo; (3) the court should have found that he spent at least eighty percent of his time driving the hopper-bottom grain truck; (4) the court should not have considered changes in the work environment made subsequent to his failure to be rehired; and (5) defendant could have reasonably accommodated his disability.
I. Right to a jury trial. Plaintiff urges that we find that there is a right to a jury trial for causes of action which arise under
A. Statutory Right. The question of whether there is a right to a jury trial is an issue of first impression for our court.1 The United States District Court for the Northern District of Iowa, sitting in diversity, has judicially estimated, by looking at both Iowa case law and relevant federal decisions, that we would conclude there is no right to a jury trial in a chapter 601A claim. Gray v. Nash Finch Co., 701 F.Supp. 704, 707, 709 (N.D.Iowa 1988). While we provide the ultimate interpretation of Iowa law, we agree with the district court‘s conclusion.
Defendant correctly asserts that the language of chapter 601A is silent on the issue of whether there is a right to a jury trial. We believe that the purpose of the chapter
A claimant has no right to a jury trial in an administrative proceeding “where jury trials would be incompatible with the whole concept of administrative adjudication.” Curtis v. Loether, 415 U.S. 189, 194, 94 S.Ct. 1005, 1008, 39 L.Ed.2d 260, 266 (1974) (citing NLRB v. Jones & Laughlin Steel Corp., 301 U.S. 1, 57 S.Ct. 615, 81 L.Ed. 893 (1937)). Permitting a jury trial in district court would substantially interfere with a statutory scheme which delegates to the court only that limited power held by the commission. Not only would the procedure change radically, but we believe that a greater emphasis would be placed on a money recovery over other available relief. We conclude that if the legislature intended to provide a different procedure when a case was removed from an administrative hearing it would have done so.
When faced with the same question of whether jury trials are permitted under a civil rights statute with language also creating an option to proceed before the commission or in district court, the New Jersey Supreme Court stated:
A jury trial with its attendant delays and the inherent limitations of the scope of jury verdicts could be counterproductive in terms of fulfilling the explicit legislative goal ... that was to reduce the agency backlog congestion and at the same time provide a judicial alternative that would be comparable to the administrative action so that the society‘s war against discrimination would not slacken.
... It is reasonable to believe that if the Legislature intended to confer the right to a jury trial when ... it authorized a complainant to bring an action in Superior Court, it would have expressly so provided....
Shaner v. Horizon Bancorp., 116 N.J. 433, 442-43, 561 A.2d 1130, 1135 (1989); see also Murphy v. Cartex Corp., 377 Pa.Super. 181, 194, 546 A.2d 1217, 1223 (1988) (no right to jury trial found in statute where no specific language or legislative history indicates intent to provide for materially different proceeding in court than before agency). We therefore conclude that the legislature did not intend for civil rights claimants to have a statutory right to a jury trial in district court under chapter 601A.
This is in contradistinction to civil damage actions brought pursuant to a violation of our old civil rights statute,
We do not agree with the dissent‘s observation that the ruling would come as a surprise to the legislature. On the contrary, a different result would be a greater surprise. In enacting
B. Constitutional Right.2 The plaintiff claims that prohibiting a jury trial in district court violates article 1, section 9 of the Iowa Constitution. This provision of our Bill of Rights provides that “[t]he right of trial by jury shall remain inviolate.” However, the right to a jury trial is not a fundamental right in proceedings created by statute. State ex rel. Bishop v. Travis, 306 N.W.2d 733, 734 (Iowa 1981). We look to the common law and not to present statutes to determine when the constitutional right to a jury applies. Iowa Nat‘l Mut. Ins. Co. v. Mitchell, 305 N.W.2d 724, 726-28 (Iowa 1981). The right to a jury trial that is preserved by the constitution is the right that existed at common law. Id. at 728. The common law distinguishes between cases at law where juries were allowed and cases tried in equity without a jury. Id. at 727. We have determined that there is no right to trial by jury in special proceedings under our constitution. See, e.g., State ex rel. Rake v. Ohden, 346 N.W.2d 826, 829 (Iowa 1984); Bishop, 306 N.W.2d at 736; Greenstreet v. Clark, 239 N.W.2d 143, 148 (Iowa 1976). Guided by these principles we analyze whether claims under section 601A.15 trigger the constitutional right to a jury trial.
We have stated that since chapter 601A is patterned after Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Equal Employment Opportunities Act), codified at
Plaintiff alleges that the district court‘s and our prior reliance on Title VII cases is misplaced. He asserts that a comparison of chapter 601A with Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Fair Housing Act), codified at
Payment to the complainant of damages for an injury caused by the discriminatory or unfair practice which damages shall include but are not limited to actual damages, court costs and reasonable attorney fees.
Plaintiff asserts this empowers the court to fashion relief more similar to that allowed under Title VIII than Title VII. We disagree.
Plaintiff points to the language of
The remedies available under this section are similar to the equitable remedies recognized by the federal courts in Title VII actions. See, e.g., Harmon, 583 F.2d at 411; Slack v. Havens, 522 F.2d 1091, 1094 (9th Cir.1975); EEOC v. Detroit Edison Co., 515 F.2d 301, 308-09 (6th Cir.1975); Robinson v. Lorillard Corp., 444 F.2d 791, 802 (4th Cir.1971); Johnson v. Georgia Highway Express, Inc., 417 F.2d 1122, 1125 (5th Cir.1969); Culpepper v. Reynolds Metals Co., 296 F.Supp. 1232, 1239 (N.D.Ga.1969) rev‘d on other grounds, 421 F.2d 888 (5th Cir.1970).
Unlike Title VIII, chapter 601A does not permit an administrative agency, or the district court under
The Court in Curtis also noted that the decision to award certain equitable relief in Title VII cases is committed to the discretion of the trial judge and is in contrast to a plaintiff‘s entitlement to actual damages should he prove unlawful discrimination in a Title VIII action. Id. 415 U.S. at 197, 94 S.Ct. at 1009-10, 39 L.Ed.2d at 268. We have viewed the award of actual damages, such as those for emotional distress, as being consistent with the commission‘s discretion in fashioning an appropriate remedy under
Relying heavily upon Curtis, plaintiff urges that the relief requested plus the remedy of damages provided by the legislature require that he be allowed a jury trial. It is true that the Supreme Court‘s decision in Curtis concentrated on the relief sought. We believe that it is appropriate to look at the essential nature of the cause of action, however, rather than solely at the remedy, to determine the right to a jury under our constitution.
In analyzing the constitutional right to a jury in light of similar statutory provisions, the New Jersey court stated:
We consider the nature of the underlying controversy as well as the remedial relief sought in determining whether the cause of action has been historically primarily equitable or legal in nature.
Shaner, 116 N.J. at 450-51, 561 A.2d at 1139. In Greenstreet, 239 N.W.2d at 147-48, we determined that a jury was not constitutionally required in a paternity proceeding under
As noted previously, chapter 601A remedies and procedures provide a wide range of latitude to the court. As applied to employees, it provides distinctive procedures and remedies not present in the common law tort of wrongful discharge or in breach of contract actions. We conclude that the legislature in enacting this chapter provided a new special proceeding, equitable in nature, that was unknown at common law. For this reason we hold that no jury is required under our constitution.
Other jurisdictions have arrived at the same conclusion. See Smith v. Milliken & Co., 189 Ga.App. 897, 377 S.E.2d 916, 918 (1989); Shaner, 116 N.J. at 456-57, 561 A.2d at 1141; South v. Toledo Edison Co., 32 Ohio App.3d 24, 513 N.E.2d 800, 803 (1986); Murphy, 377 Pa. Super. at 195, 546 A.2d at 1224; but see Schafke v. Chrysler Corp., 147 Mich.App. 751, 753, 383 N.W.2d 141, 143 (1985). We believe that the reasoning in those jurisdictions denying the right to a jury under their state constitutions is sound.
II. Scope of Review. Plaintiff claims that if his claim was properly tried without a jury, then it was tried in equity and our review on appeal should be de novo. This case was not tried in equity; the court ruled on objections, a practice ordinarily not followed in cases heard in equity. See Conkling v. Conkling, 185 N.W.2d 777, 782 (Iowa 1971).
We hold that this case was properly tried as a law action. As we indicated in the previous division, we believe that an action tried under section 601A.16 is a special proceeding. While much of the relief provided in section 601A.15(8) is equitable in nature, the legislature did not label the proceeding as equitable. Consequently, we must look elsewhere to determine whether the action is ordinary or equitable.
We believe that the legislative definition of forms of actions in
Additionally, our case law has also indicated that special proceedings are reviewable at law rather than de novo. Lawrence v. Thomas, 84 Iowa 362, 363-64, 51 N.W. 11, 11-12 (1892); see Santee v. Uhlenhopp, 184 Iowa 1131, 1133, 169 N.W. 321, 321 (1918); Union Bldg. & Sav. Assoc. v. Soderquist, 115 Iowa 695, 699, 87 N.W. 433, 435 (1901). We also note that the Ohio court in South conducted a review at law of an age discrimination proceeding rather than a de novo examination. 513 N.E.2d at 805.
We hold that our review on appeal is at law. We are therefore bound by the trial court‘s findings of fact if they are supported by substantial evidence.
III. Findings of Fact. Plaintiff challenges two findings of fact made by the trial court. While we address these contentions, we believe that these factual determinations, even if incorrect, are immaterial in light of the court‘s holding.
Plaintiff first alleges that the court erred in concluding that only half of his time was spent driving the hopper-bottom truck. Both plaintiff and the assistant plant manager agreed that plaintiff spent about eighty percent of his time driving a truck and the remaining twenty percent working
Plaintiff also claims that the trial court erroneously considered the fact that defendant stopped using the hopper-bottom truck in its operation six months after the decision was made not to rehire him. While the trial court did note in its conclusions of law that the work plaintiff could do would be substantially reduced with the discontinued use of the hopper-bottom truck, it did not rely upon this fact in its ultimate conclusion that defendant would incur more than a de minimus cost if it rehired plaintiff. The court stated:
In this case, to accommodate Smith, ADM would be required to hire another employee to travel with Smith when driving the flat-bottom truck, which could occupy as much as 40% of his time, even if they still operated the hopper-bottom truck. Plaintiff‘s working in the mill would require substantial change in business operations. At present, employees rotate jobs in the mill to relieve the monotony of the work and reduce the risk of injury. Any accommodation would impinge on the rights of other employees. Further, if Smith were unable to work in the mill for 20% of his time, the employer may be forced to hire other part-time persons or incur overtime expense. The cost of extra persons would be more than a de minimus cost to the employer. No such accommodation could be made based upon the operations of the facility.
(Emphasis added.)
It is clear that even if the court had concluded that plaintiff drove the hopper-bottom truck eighty percent of his time at work, as he claims, the court still would have concluded that defendant could not have reasonably accommodated his disability.
IV. Reasonable accommodation. Plaintiff claims that the defendant could have reasonably accommodated his physical disability and retained him as an employee. Plaintiff has the burden of proving a prima facie case of discrimination by a preponderance of the evidence. See e.g., Frank v. American Freight Sys., Inc., 398 N.W.2d 797, 800 (Iowa 1987); King v. Iowa Civil Rights Comm‘n, 334 N.W.2d 598, 601-03 (Iowa 1983); Iowa State Fairgrounds Sec. v. Iowa Civil Rights Comm‘r, 322 N.W.2d 293, 296 (Iowa 1982). The court correctly found that plaintiff has made out a prima facie case of discrimination based on his disability. Once this has been established, defendant may rebut the allegation with evidence of a “legitimate, non-discriminatory reason” for the challenged actions. Frank, 398 N.W.2d at 800; King, 334 N.W.2d at 601-08; Fairgrounds, 322 N.W.2d at 293.
In disability cases an employer may rebut this evidence under the “nature of the occupation” exception outlined in
Despite defendant‘s successful rebuttal of plaintiff‘s case, it is still required to reasonably accommodate his disability, unless it would be an undue hardship to do so. Frank, 398 N.W.2d at 802; Foods, 318 N.W.2d at 168;
The cost to the employer and the other ADM employees is less attenuated in plaintiff‘s case. His doctor has testified that he cannot now do any heavy lifting, repetitive bending or stooping. Whether plaintiff spent sixty or seventy-five percent of his time driving the hopper-bottom truck is irrelevant in light of the fact that his job still required him to spend at least twenty percent of his time driving the other trucks or helping out in the mill or warehouse. His disability would prevent him from performing those tasks, and the burden of covering for him would fall on the other employees or force defendant to hire a part-time worker. We agree with the trial court that this would be more than a de minimis cost to defendant.
V. Summary. We conclude that the trial court did not err in striking plaintiff‘s demand for a jury trial and in holding that defendant could not reasonably accommodate defendant‘s disability at their facility.
AFFIRMED.
CARTER, Justice (dissenting).
I dissent.
The majority concludes that jury trials are not available in
Actions in the district court are classified by
A civil action is a proceeding in a court of justice in which one party, known as the plaintiff, demands against another party, known as the defendant, the enforcement or protection of a private right, or the prevention or redress of a private wrong. It may also be brought for the recovery of a penalty or forfeiture.
Every other proceeding in a civil case is a special action.
Upon a request by the complainant, and after the expiration of one hundred twenty days from the timely filing of a complaint with the commission, the commission shall issue to the complainant a release stating that the complainant has a right to commence an action in the district court.
Id. (emphasis added). I submit that the “action in the district court” which is authorized by the preceding statute is an ordinary civil action. A plaintiff in such an
action demands relief against another party known as the defendant.
The only statutory classification of ordinary civil actions is that contained in
Issues of fact in an ordinary action must be tried by jury, unless the same is waived.
(Emphasis added.) This statute was superseded by
Although the practice just described probably received its impetus from the provisions of article I, section 9 of the Iowa Constitution concerning the right of jury trial, the criteria for determining that right developed by case decisions which paralleled the statutory law of juries antedating our rules of civil procedure and continued with the force and effect of statute under those rules. Consequently, these criteria have taken on legislative as well as constitutional significance. A departure therefrom should therefore require some express legislative directive. No such directive is to be found in that legislation which recognizes a right to bring a civil action after obtaining a release from the civil rights commission.
It should not come as a great surprise to the legislature that actions seeking traditionally legal relief for civil rights violations are triable to a jury under established procedures. Jury trials were available in civil rights actions brought under our earlier statutory law. See Brown v. The J.H. Bell Co., 146 Iowa 89, 123 N.W. 231 (1910); Humburd v. Crawford, 128 Iowa 743, 105 N.W. 330 (1905). Moreover, courts in other jurisdictions have concluded there is a right to jury trial in civil rights actions where traditionally legal relief is demanded. See Reiner v. New Jersey, 732 F.Supp. 530 (D.N.J.1990) (seventh amendment right to jury in state civil rights action in federal court); Stewart v. Yellow Freight Sys., Inc., 702 F.Supp. 230 (E.D.Mo.1988) (same); McMillan v. Lincoln Fed. Sav. & Loan Ass‘n, 678 F.Supp. 89 (D.N.J.1988) (same); Green v. American Broadcasting Co., 647 F.Supp. 1359 (D.D.C.1986) (right to jury trial under D.C. act and seventh amendment); Loomis Elec. Protection, Inc. v. Schaefer, 549 P.2d 1341 (Ala.1976) (right to jury under state constitution); Broward County v. La Rosa, 505 So.2d 422 (Fla. 1987) (same); King v. General Motors Corp., 136 Mich.App. 301, 356 N.W.2d 626 (1984) (same); Murphy v. American Home Prods. Corp., 136 A.D.2d 229, 527 N.Y.S.2d 1 (1988) (right to jury under rule declaring and enlarging state constitutional right); Perilli v. Board of Educ. Monongalia County, 387 S.E.2d 315 (W.Va.1989) (right to jury under state constitution).
The majority seeks to avoid the path over which our established procedures travel by characterizing jury trials as “incompatible with the whole concept of administrative adjudication.” In support of this claim, it states that the district court sits as the administrative agency. This is clearly not correct. The district court does not sit as a civil rights commission; it does not screen cases as does the commission; it does not investigate cases like the commission; nor does a court hear cases under the commission‘s rules. When the legislature sought to provide a partial answer to the backlog of undisposed claims before the civil rights commission, it did so by providing an alter-
The analogy to Title VII actions which the majority employs is not persuasive. Title VII of the federal act, by its terms, contemplates only equitable relief. A better analogy is found under Title VIII of the federal act. The United States Supreme Court has recognized that an action under Title VIII is one to enforce a “legal right.” In Curtis v. Loether, 415 U.S. 189, 94 S.Ct. 1005, 39 L.Ed.2d 260 (1974), the Court stated:
Whatever doubt may have existed should now be dispelled. The Seventh Amendment does apply to actions enforcing statutory rights, and requires a jury trial upon demand, if the statute creates legal rights and remedies, enforceable in an action for damages in the ordinary courts of law.
...
We think it is clear that a damage action under [Title VIII] is an action to enforce “legal rights” within the meaning of our Seventh Amendment decisions. A damage action under the statute sounds basically in tort—the statute merely defines a new legal duty, and authorizes the courts to compensate a plaintiff for the injury caused by the defendant‘s wrongful breach. As the Court of Appeals noted, this cause of action is analogous to a number of tort actions recognized at common law. More important, the relief sought here—actual and punitive damages—is the traditional form of relief offered in the courts of law.
Id. at 194-96, 94 S.Ct. at 1008-09, 39 L.Ed.2d at 266-67 (citations omitted) (footnotes omitted).
In an effort to avoid the result which is dictated by the nature of the relief demanded in the present case, the majority mischaracterizes “the essential nature” of this plaintiff‘s suit. As the path of time leads us farther away from the common law which existed in 1857, when the Iowa Constitution was ratified, we must be careful not to limit the right to a jury trial in statutorily based actions to those instances where these statutes merely codify 1857 common law. We should instead continue to apply the general statutory classification of ordinary and equitable actions based on the nature of the relief available under the newly created causes of action. Judged by this standard, the nature of the injury and the relief sought in the present case would have merited a jury trial in 1857.
The majority also draws some inaccurate conclusions concerning the effect of its decision on the administration of civil rights cases. It states that a jury trial with its attendant delays would be counterproductive in fulfilling the explicit legislative goal. If this is true, the fault lies in the fact that the commission does not have the capacity to fulfill the legislature‘s goal. Consequently, the legislature has seen fit to provide an alternative. The fact that such an alternative has become necessary is the circumstance which frustrates the original legislative goal. This has very little to do, however, with the procedure which should be employed in the civil actions which have been made available as an alternative to administrative adjudication. I submit that, ideally, administrative agencies should function in the manner of administrative agencies, and courts should function in the manner of courts.
The majority opinion overlooks the fact that, in many types of civil rights cases, and in employment-related cases in particular, a civil rights claim will be only one theory of recovery in a multifaceted claim for relief. In cases where the civil rights claim is brought before the commission and remains for commission consideration, the claimant must necessarily piecemeal the multifaceted assault. Where there has been a release to sue, however, there is a tremendous advantage for purposes of judicial administration in permitting all counts of the multifaceted claim to be joined in a single action and tried under a common procedure be it court trial or jury trial. An example of a case in which that procedure worked expeditiously is Annear v. State, 454 N.W.2d 869 (Iowa 1990), filed April 18, 1990.
I am confident that the legislature closely monitors the field of civil rights litigation in order to determine whether its goals and expectations are being realized. Given this circumstance, I can only conclude that the legislature has been aware that courts have been permitting jury trials in this type of litigation. The fact that it has taken no action to disapprove the jury trial procedure is a strong indication that the procedure is not contrary to that which the legislature intended.
I would hold that the district court erred in not granting plaintiff‘s request for jury trial, and would reverse the judgment on that ground.
LAVORATO, NEUMAN, and ANDREASEN, JJ., join this dissent.