Adams v United States Airlines - Term Paper Example

DАМS v. UNIТЕD АIRLINЕS, INС., 578 F.Suрр. 26 (1983) Name Institution Facts Parties in the case In the case of Adams v. United States Airlines, Inc 578 F. Supp. 26 (1983), Billy sterling Adams, the plaintiff brought an action against his former employer; the United Airlines Inc. Adams was the plaintiff who bought action against the United Airlines, the defendant after his dismissal from the company. Is the case on Appeal? The case of Adams v. United States Airlines, Inc 578 F. Supp. 26 (1983) was not on appeal. Rather, the defendant was seeking the court to have summary judgment on the claims had brought against the airline citing the jurisdiction of the case as outside the court Adams had filed the action against the airline. Summary of the facts in the case In April 1983, the United States District court head the case of Adams V. United Airlines, where Adams, the plaintiff claimed that the defendant had prevented him from working with the firm after he suffered a back injury. Adams was a citizen of California and worked for the United Airlines as a ramp service. Adams worked in various international Airports such as the O’Hare and San Francisco. However, it was on November 30, 1976 that Adams suffered a back injury while working at the airport (Adams v. United Airlines. 1983). After the accident, his supervisor, Scanlon, took him to the Peninsula Hospital. After the injury, he worked periodically until July 1997 when United Airlines placed him under the Extended Illness Status. However, Adams earned seniority and retains benefits, but not a salary. It was at the end of the Extended Illness Status that United Airlines terminated Adams Employment. According to Adams, United Airlines terminated his employment making him file a memorandum against the firm’s decision claiming that it did dismiss him on racial grounds. He further claimed that United Airlines manipulated his medical records to arrive at the decision of disallowing him to resume his job. Adams thus sought action against his dismissal claiming that he was emotionally hurt (Adams v. United Airlines. 1983). The United Airlines, however, argue his case falls under the jurisdiction of the Railway labor Act. The 1936, Railway Labor Act extends to the air transportation industry and aims at reducing conflicts between transport service providers and their employees. Issues in the case What is the issue of the case? In the case of Adams V. United Airlines, Inc, the issue is whether the United Airlines breached the duty of good faith towards Adams by manipulating medical records to support the decision of wrongfully discharging him from the duty. When the United Airlines dismissed Adams from working as a ramp service, he saw the move as a breach of contract where United Airlines failed to exercise good faith or made attempt to keep him in his work (Blond, 2009). Adams claims that United Airlines conspired with its physicians to alter medical records to justify Adams’s dismissal. Consequently, Adams felt that United Airlines Inc. committed a tort against him for discharging him and causing him intense emotional distress following the termination of him employment. In Adams’s application memorandum, the district court was to determine whether the action against the plaintiff was a tort or a contractual issue as the defendant argued in filling the summary dismissal of Adams. The second issue before the court was whether United Airlines had dismissed Adams because of racial grounds as Adams alleged. After Adams employment ended, because United Airlines terminated his contract, he claimed that the firms actions were done in a racial perspective. The court was to determine if United Airlines terminated the employment of Adams under the influence of racial prejudice. In his claim, Adams argued that United Airlines acted in under the influence of racial prejudice because it failed in providing him with other job alternatives that could have taken into account his back injury. Is there more than one issue? The case had two issues where were all interacted to the United Airlines dismissal of Adams. Using both issues, Adams opined that his dismissal from United Airlines was on racial grounds and that the defendant had committed a tort by terminating his employment, albeit through what Adams alleged as manipulation of medical records (Adams v. United Airlines. 1983). Rule of law Is it statutory or case law? The case before the district court was a case law and not a statutory law because the judges relied on previous cases to reach a decision on the claims the plaintiff brought against the defendant. In a statutory law refers to a law the government legislates and passes within a given jurisdiction. However, a case law refers to a case that remains unwritten and Judges make when there is absence of a statutory law covering an aspect of law under question (Hess, & Orthmann, 2009). Precedent in the case When a court makes a decision based on common law, other judges could refer to the case when making future judgments. The interpretation of the previous law can serve as a precedent of a case given its authority in resolving a case with similar facts or legal principles (Miller, & Jentz, 2010). In making the decision in the case of Adams v. United Airlines, the judges relied on various cases as precedent to the case. In deciding on the first issue where the plaintiff argued that his dismissal constituted a tort, the court referred to the case of International Association of Machanist v. Central Airlines. In this case, the court argued that the Railway Labor Act had an application in the air transportation allowing firms reduce the impact of strikes and labor unrest among its employees (Adams v. United Airlines. 1983). With respect to this case, the judges argued that Adams’s action against the United Airlines could be resolved using adjustment board. In addition, the adjustment boards, helped resolve a minor grievance dispute in the case of Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineer v. Louisville & Nashville Railroad Company. Consequently, the Adams claim that the United Airlines committed a tort was rejected. In addition, the judges used the case of McDoneel Douglas v.Green, where the court set the rules for evaluating claims of discrimination that plaintiff bring before the court. In this landmark case, the court argued that the first plaintiff had the burden of proof of showing evidence that the defendant acted in a discriminative manner (Walsh, 2009). This would then give the defendant the opportunity to articulate some nondiscriminatory reasons for the employee’s rejection. Third, the plaintiff will have the opportunity to refute the defendant’s claim should there the defendant carry the burden. Using this rules, the court found that Adams’s claims that United Airlines acted on racial motivation to be untrue. Even with the mention of two employees of United Airlines who could have acted under motivation of racial prejudice, it was apparent that Adams had no fact to link the racial comment from the two with his dismissal from the firm. Application How did the judges apply the law? The decision of the judges to uphold the summary judgment, as proper, rests on their application of the various precedents they used in the case of Adams v. United Airlines Inc. Firstly, the court found that Adams’s claim, that the defendant committed a tort was, did was out of context because the case was a basis of contractual issue. The Railway Labor Act, with application in air and rail transportation industry, helped situate the claim as a minor dispute between the employer, the United Airlines, and the employee, Adams. As a result, the jurisdiction of the case was not a district court, but system adjustment boards that would resolve the issue surrounding collective bargaining between the plaintiff and the defendant. With the adjustment board being a robust system for resolving grievances, the court did not have merit to arbitrate dispute such as the dismissal of the Adams. The application of the Railway Labor Act makes sense because the act specified and provides an efficient channel where employers and employees can resolve issue concerning collective bargaining. Being that that acts covers provides the plaintiff with a body to raise his issues, it would be premature for the court to listen to the case against United Airlines. This is because; the act creates adjustment boards and gives them the mandate to arbitrate grievances between the employees and the transport carrier. Because Adams’s had not raised his claim with the adjustment board, it was fair for the court to rule that case as outsides its jurisdiction and subject to determination by the system board of adjustment for United Airlines. In addition, it was evident that Adams’s claim was contractual and did not have racial justification to warrant the court to listen to the case. The application of the rules the court derived from the case of McDoneel Douglas v.Green, helped prove that Adams’s claims that United Airlines dismissed him on racial basis was unfounded. Adams’ had the burden of prove and he failed to prove that the racial comment some employees of United Airline made linked to his dismissal. Indeed, this application made sense because the plaintiff could have had facts to strengthen his claim had there been sufficient reasons to prove that United Airlines dismissed him on racial ground. The court’s decision to give Adams the opportunity to prove that United Airlines acted under racial motivation makes sense because it is imperative to give a plaintiff the burden and prove before given the defendant an opportunity to article why this action are not discriminatory. The failure of the plaintiff to prove his racial claims against the defendant underlined a lack of racial motivation in the dismissal of Adams. Conclusion What was the decision of the court? After considering the facts and principles of the case, the court decided that United Airline summary judgment was proper and it granted it to the defendant. The granting of the summary judgment stemmed from the fact that Adams made allegations that did not withstand the defendant’s motion of summary judgment (Adams v. United Airlines. 1983). As a result, the judges hearing the case closed the cause and dismissed the plaintiff memorandum. How many judges were involved in the decision? In the case of Adams v. United Airlines, there was one judge, Decker, a senior district judge (Adams v. United Airlines. 1983). With no other judge making the ruling along Judge Decker, there was no dissent concerning the case. Was there a dissent? With the lack of majority view, and the dismissal of the cause against United Airlines, it is essential for Adams to drop his bid of seeking damages from United Airlines because he failed to prove his claims. This decision underscores his inability to provide evidence to back his claims linking the defendant move to dismiss him with racial claims. References Adams v. United Airlines Inc. 578 F. Supp. 26 (1983). Blond, N. C. (2009). Torts. Austin: Wolters Kluwer Law & Business. Hess, K. M., & Orthmann, C. M. H. (2009). Introduction to law enforcement and criminal justice. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning. Miller, R. L. R., & Jentz, G. A. (2010). Fundamentals of business law: Excerpted cases. Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning. Walsh, D. J. (2010). Employment law for human resource practice. Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning. Read More