{ "id": 3507592, "name": "SOUTHEASTERN ILLINOIS ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE, INC., Appellant, v. THE HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION et al., Appellees", "name_abbreviation": "Southeastern Illinois Electric Cooperative, Inc. v. Human Rights Commission", "decision_date": "1987-11-19", "docket_number": "No. 5-86-0430", "first_page": "806", "last_page": "814", "citations": [ { "type": "official", "cite": "162 Ill. App. 3d 806" } ], "court": { "name_abbreviation": "Ill. App. Ct.", "id": 8837, "name": "Illinois Appellate Court" }, "jurisdiction": { "id": 29, "name_long": "Illinois", "name": "Ill." }, "cites_to": [ { "cite": "377 N.E.2d 1208", "category": "reporters:state_regional", "reporter": "N.E.2d", "pin_cites": [ { "page": "1213" } ], "opinion_index": 0 }, { "cite": "61 Ill. App. 3d 315", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "Ill. 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App. 3d 354", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "Ill. App. 3d", "case_ids": [ 3593237 ], "pin_cites": [ { "page": "362-63" } ], "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/ill-app-3d/120/0354-01" ] }, { "cite": "382 N.E.2d 831", "category": "reporters:state_regional", "reporter": "N.E.2d", "weight": 2, "pin_cites": [ { "page": "834" } ], "opinion_index": 0 }, { "cite": "65 Ill. App. 3d 779", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "Ill. App. 3d", "case_ids": [ 3327742 ], "weight": 2, "pin_cites": [ { "page": "783" } ], "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/ill-app-3d/65/0779-01" ] }, { "cite": "378 N.E.2d 1281", "category": "reporters:state_regional", "reporter": "N.E.2d", "weight": 2, "pin_cites": [ { "page": "1286" } ], "opinion_index": 0 }, { "cite": "62 Ill. App. 3d 600", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "Ill. 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App. 3d", "case_ids": [ 3315576 ], "pin_cites": [ { "page": "377" } ], "opinion_index": 1, "case_paths": [ "/ill-app-3d/67/0374-01" ] }, { "cite": "421 N.E.2d 278", "category": "reporters:state_regional", "reporter": "N.E.2d", "pin_cites": [ { "page": "282" } ], "opinion_index": 1 }, { "cite": "96 Ill. App. 3d 148", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "Ill. App. 3d", "case_ids": [ 12125454 ], "pin_cites": [ { "page": "153" } ], "opinion_index": 1, "case_paths": [ "/ill-app-3d/96/0148-01" ] }, { "cite": "431 N.E.2d 1096", "category": "reporters:state_regional", "reporter": "N.E.2d", "weight": 2, "year": 1981, "pin_cites": [ { "page": "1097" }, { "page": "1097" } ], "opinion_index": 1 }, { "cite": "103 Ill. App. 3d 631", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "Ill. App. 3d", "case_ids": [ 5479353 ], "weight": 2, "year": 1981, "pin_cites": [ { "page": "633" }, { "page": "633" } ], "opinion_index": 1, "case_paths": [ "/ill-app-3d/103/0631-01" ] }, { "cite": "499 N.E.2d 1373", "category": "reporters:state_regional", "reporter": "N.E.2d", "pin_cites": [ { "page": "1375" } ], "opinion_index": 1 }, { "cite": "114 Ill. 2d 107", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "Ill. 2d", "case_ids": [ 5542407 ], "pin_cites": [ { "page": "113" } ], "opinion_index": 1, "case_paths": [ "/ill-2d/114/0107-01" ] }, { "cite": "815 F.2d 38", "category": "reporters:federal", "reporter": "F.2d", "case_ids": [ 519624 ], "opinion_index": 1, "case_paths": [ "/f2d/815/0038-01" ] } ], "analysis": { "cardinality": 923, "char_count": 20058, "ocr_confidence": 0.722, "pagerank": { "raw": 5.7167220390417214e-08, "percentile": 0.3586797917561989 }, "sha256": "b0a0b1303b296649c974c8119f2a11ab1a4d0044a25012489494ae36bc7f3bb7", "simhash": "1:b0aba1648317241d", "word_count": 3312 }, "last_updated": "2023-07-14T21:56:31.562358+00:00", "provenance": { "date_added": "2019-08-29", "source": "Harvard", "batch": "2018" }, "casebody": { "judges": [], "parties": [ "SOUTHEASTERN ILLINOIS ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE, INC., Appellant, v. THE HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION et al., Appellees." ], "opinions": [ { "text": "JUSTICE WELCH\ndelivered the opinion of the court:\nThis is a direct appeal from an order of the Illinois Human Rights Commission affirming the finding of an administrative law judge in favor of Tony Mason and against Southeastern Illinois Electric Cooperative (SIEC) based on a finding that SIEC unlawfully discharged Mason on the basis of his race. SIEC appealed to this court.\nThe evidence before the administrative law judge was as follows: SIEC employed Mason for over six years on SIEC line crews. The hazards of the work required trust and cooperation among the line crew members. The terms of a collective bargaining agreement between SIEC and Local 702 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (the union) controlled assignment of work. Mason was a member of the union. Plaintiff first worked with the SIEC line crew based at SIEC\u2019s Benton headquarters, then with the line crew based at Eldorado and finally with the line crew based at Marion. The other members of the Marion line crew were Don Fisher and foreman Terry Moore. Roy Wise was their supervisor. Wise hired Mason, and Wise had authority to fire. Moore did not. Mason was the only nonwhite employee of SIEC at all times during his employment.\nMason testified on his first day with the Marion crew he was shocked at the sight of Fisher and Moore wearing white paper hoods and carrying crosses imitative of the Ku Klux Klan. Plaintiff testified he did not complain because he was afraid of losing his job. According to Mason, Fisher kiddingly mentioned the matter to Wise the next time Wise was present, and the crosses stayed on the premises for a \u201clong\u201d time. Mason testified the foreman of the Benton crew told him he was hired because the company needed a minority employee to apply for a loan, and \u201cthat\u2019s when I got my nickname as their \u2018million dollar nigger.\u2019 \u201d Mason testified he did not like the nickname but no one was disciplined over it and he did not complain. According to Mason, on one occasion Wise took him aside and told him the other employees wouldn\u2019t joke with him if they did not like him. Asked whether Wise\u2019s comment made him feel better, Mason testified: \u201cNo, to me it was just covering up.\u201d\nIn late 1982, while Mason was recuperating from back surgery following an on-the-job injury, he began an affair with Moore\u2019s wife. Moore discovered the relationship. Moore\u2019s wife phoned Fisher, told him Moore was very upset and explained why, and warned that Moore carried a gun. Fisher relayed the message to Wise. The following day, January 25, 1983, Wise confronted Moore, who admitted his knowledge of the affair. At Wise\u2019s suggestion the three men discussed the situation in Wise\u2019s automobile. Mason described what happened there as follows: Moore, \u201cvery disturbed,\u201d said, \u201cIt\u2019s down the road for you, boy, you can no longer work here, your little secret love affair with my wife is all over.\u201d Wise said, \u201cLet\u2019s handle this like men now, let\u2019s try to solve this.\u201d Mason admitted the affair. Wise said, \u201cWe definitely have a problem here, I see no way of you continuing to work on this crew, we have a problem that cannot be solved.\u201d There was no discussion of Mason\u2019s transferring to another crew; Mason, thinking he was fired, said he would leave. He denied using the word \u201cquit.\u201d Moore told Wise he carried a gun and thought Mason did, too; Mason said he had no gun; Moore said he would \u201cput the gun up.\u201d Moore said he would not work that day; Wise told him to take as many days off as he liked. Before Moore left the vehicle, the three agreed to tell the rest of the men Mason\u2019s previous back injury made him unable to work and that Mason thought it best to leave.\nMason testified that while he was with the Marion crew he saw one SIEC serviceman with a woman not his wife on more than one occasion on company time. According to Mason, there were occasions when the serviceman said he could not perform certain services because he had to see \u201cRed,\u201d and on one occasion when the serviceman missed a safety meeting, an employee stated in Wise\u2019s presence that the serviceman was with \u201cRed.\u201d\nWise testified he became aware of the hood-and-cross incident \u201cquite some time afterward\u201d and knew employees called Mason the \u201cmillion dollar nigger.\u201d According to Wise, Moore was on sick leave for about 10 days after January 25, 1983. Wise testified he once asked Mason if the \u201cjoking\u201d bothered him, and that Mason never complained to him about racially motivated mistreatment. Wise testified he told \u201cthe other employees\u201d in a general way that he did not like racial innuendo. Wise testified that on January 25, 1983, in his car, he did not hear Moore say, \u201cBoy, you will have to leave, it\u2019s down the road for you.\u201d Wise testified he said, \u201cFellas, we have a very serious situation here, and for the safety of the crew and for everyone involved, something needs to be resolved,\u201d and Mason replied, \u201cWell, I\u2019ll just leave and you won\u2019t have to worry about me anymore.\u201d Wise testified he then asked Mason, \u201cIs that what you wish to do, Tony?\u201d and Mason replied, \u201cThat\u2019s what I\u2019ll have to do.\u201d\nMason filed a charge of racial discrimination with the Illinois Department of Human Rights on June 14, 1983. On July 22 Mason filed a complaint in the Federal district court for the Southern District of Illinois against SIEC and the union.\nAmong the findings and conclusions of the administrative law judge in his November 22, 1985, recommended order in the instant case were the following: He believed Mason\u2019s account of what happened in Wise\u2019s vehicle rather than Wise\u2019s; Wise brought Mason and Moore together on January 25, 1983, knowing Moore had a gun; Mason \u201cunderstandably\u201d believed Wise\u2019s failure to contradict Moore\u2019s statements and Wise\u2019s subsequent statements indicated Mason was fired; either Moore or Mason had to leave the crew, and the decision it would be Mason was in some degree based on race; this conclusion was supported by the incidents of racism on the job, which Wise tolerated and did not question Mason about until long afterward; and SIEC\u2019s asserted reasons for firing Mason were pretexts: Wise discharged Mason even though Moore was more dangerous under the circumstances, indicating Wise did not discharge Mason for safety reasons; and Wise did not discharge the serviceman whom Wise had reason to know was having an extramarital affair, indicating Wise did not discharge Mason for having an affair. The judge recommended the Human Rights Commission order Mason reinstated with back pay.\nThe Commission affirmed the recommended order on June 9, 1986. SIEC appealed to this court.\nAs SIEC observes, the recommended order of the administrative law judge was not without mischaracterizations of the evidence: The judge mistakenly concluded Mason reported the hood-and-cross incident to Wise; the judge stated the affair between Moore\u2019s wife and Mason ended before Mason returned to work (the evidence was the woman became Mason\u2019s wife); there were discrepancies as to details regarding the meeting in Wise\u2019s vehicle. SIEC referred to each of these matters in its objections to the recommended order, and the decision of the Human Rights Commission affirming the recommended order implies the Commission was aware of the objections and understood the facts.\nSIEC argues the findings by the administrative law judge were contrary to the manifest weight of the evidence. On review the findings and conclusions of an administrative agency are held to be prima facie true and correct. (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1985, ch. 110, par. 3\u2014 110.) Reviewing courts are not authorized to reweigh evidence or make independent determinations of facts, but are limited to considering whether the findings and conclusions of the agency are contrary to the manifest weight of the evidence. Rincon v. License Appeal Comm\u2019n (1978), 62 Ill. App. 3d 600, 606-07, 378 N.E.2d 1281, 1286.\nPreliminarily, SIEC argues the judge should not have relied on Mason\u2019s hearsay testimony indicating Wise was aware of an affair involving another SIEC employee on company time. Out-of-court statements used not as evidence of the fact asserted but as circumstantial evidence for another purpose do not fall under the hearsay rule. (Smith v. Solfest (1978), 65 Ill. App. 3d 779, 783, 382 N.E.2d 831, 834.) The testimony was admissible for the purpose of showing Wise\u2019s knowledge of the other employee\u2019s affair. (See Smith v. Solfest (1978), 65 Ill. App. 3d 779, 382 N.E.2d 831.) The comments of the judge indicate he considered this evidence to show SIEC\u2019s knowledge of another affair, not that the affair occurred. This court has endorsed the view that in an administrative proceeding the distinction between hearsay and nonhearsay affects the weight the evidence carries rather than its admissibility. City of Hurst v. Illinois Commerce Comm\u2019n (1983), 120 Ill. App. 3d 354, 362-63, 458 N.E.2d 568, 573-74.\nSIEC argues the judge should not have considered this testimony because the circumstances were so dissimilar, in that the compared incident was not shown to involve sex or the wife of a coworker. The law does not require complete coincidence of circumstances before cases may be compared to test an inference of racial discrimination. Some difference could be shown in almost any two sets of facts. Except in extreme cases, these differences should affect the weight of the comparison upon the inference proposed and not the admissibility of the comparison. The question of how much weight the comparison deserves is for the agency, here the Commission, to determine. See Rincon v. License Appeal Comm\u2019n (1978), 62 Ill. App. 3d 600, 378 N.E.2d 1281.\nSIEC argues the evidence does not support the conclusion that Mason was fired. True, the testimony does not indicate Wise used the words \u201cfired\u201d or \u201cterminated.\u201d Neither did Mason by anyone\u2019s account use the words \u201cquit\u201d or \u201cresign.\u201d The circumstances of Mason\u2019s departure were disputed; the issue required a determination of the credibility of the witnesses; the agency resolved the issue in favor of Mason. Questions as to the credibility of witnesses are best left to those who see and hear them testify. (McDonald v. Industrial Comm\u2019n (1968), 39 Ill. 2d 396, 403, 235 N.E.2d 824, 828.) That Mason did not request the shop steward\u2019s presence in the heat of the moment, met Wise to receive his final pay and did not complain to the union business agent until much later were matters for the agency to weigh but were not dispositive.\nSIEC argues the Commission incorrectly applied the doctrine of collateral estoppel on the issue of whether Mason quit or was fired and should have viewed the outcome of that issue in the Federal court case as dispositive of the instant case. The appeal from the Federal judgment was not concluded until March 25, 1987. (See Mason v. Southeastern Illinois Electric Cooperative, Inc. (7th Cir. 1987), 815 F.2d 38.) The appeal from the Federal court judgment was not concluded as of the Commission\u2019s June 9, 1986, decision, and should not have been the basis for the Commission to apply collateral estoppel. (See Ballweg v. City of Springfield (1986), 114 Ill. 2d 107, 113, 499 N.E.2d 1373, 1375.) Since the Commission considered the doctrine but concluded it did not affect the issues before the Commission, we have no cause to disturb the Commission\u2019s decision in that regard. The decision may be sustained upon any ground warranted by the record irrespective of whether the particular reasons assigned or specific findings are correct. Illinois Bell Telephone Co. v. Illinois Commerce Comm\u2019n (1953), 414 Ill. 275, 283, 111 N.E.2d 329, 334.\nSIEC argued at oral argument of this cause that Ballweg was wrongly decided. We express no opinion upon that issue, for we are bound to follow the opinions of our supreme court. See Village of Northbrook v. Cannon (1978), 61 Ill. App. 3d 315, 322, 377 N.E.2d 1208, 1213.\nFor the foregoing reasons, the order of the Human Rights Commission is affirmed.\nAffirmed.\nHARRISON, J., concurs.", "type": "majority", "author": "JUSTICE WELCH" }, { "text": "PRESIDING JUSTICE KARNS,\ndissenting:\nBecause I believe the doctrine of collateral estoppel applies in this instance, I would reverse the judgment of the Human Rights Commission.\nThe doctrine of collateral estoppel or \u201cissue preclusion\u201d provides that an adjudication on the merits of an issue by a court of competent jurisdiction precludes relitigation of the same issue in a subsequent action despite the fact that a different cause of action is pleaded in the subsequent action. (See Johnson v. Nationwide Business Forms, Inc. (1981), 103 Ill. App. 3d 631, 633, 431 N.E.2d 1096, 1097; Morris v. Union Oil Co. (1981), 96 Ill. App. 3d 148, 153, 421 N.E.2d 278, 282.) To be applicable, the issue decided in the prior adjudication must be identical with the one presented in the cause under review; the party against whom estoppel is asserted must have been a party or in privity with a party to the prior litigation; and there must have been a final judgment on the merits in the prior action. Johnson, 103 Ill. App. 3d at 633, 431 N.E.2d at 1097; Claiborne v. Hutchinson (1978), 67 Ill. App. 3d 374, 377, 385 N.E.2d 29, 32.\nOn July 22, 1983, Mason filed a complaint in the Federal district court for the Southern District of Illinois against Southeastern Illinois Electric Cooperative (SIEC) and Local 702 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (the union). Mason alleged in this complaint that he \u201cwas employed by defendant company *** until January 25, 1983, when plaintiff was unlawfully discharged by defendant.\u201d The first count claimed that the union breached its duty of fairly representing Mason in his grievance against SIEC under the Labor-Management Relations Act (29 U.S.C. \u00a7141 et seq. (1983)) and conspired with SIEC to permit Mason\u2019s discharge to stand. It further recited the union informed Mason the union agreed with SIEC that Mason \u201cvoluntarily resigned from his employment.\u201d In the second count, Mason alleged SIEC \u201cunlawfully discriminated against plaintiff on the basis of race by discharging him, in breach and violation of plaintiff\u2019s rights under the collective bargaining agreement, and that defendant local union breached its duty of fair representation owing to plaintiff in the processing of the grievance filed on plaintiff\u2019s discharge.\u201d SIEC denied Mason\u2019s allegations.\nThe Federal court submitted the case to a jury with two special interrogatories: (1) \u201cDo you find by a preponderance, of the evidence that plaintiff was discharged from his employment by [SIEC]?\u201d (2) \u201cDo you find by a preponderance of the evidence that plaintiff was discharged from his employment by [SIEC] without just cause?\u201d As to the second count, the issues instruction instructed the jury to determine whether Mason was discharged by SIEC and if so whether the discharge was without just cause, and recited that SIEC and the union denied \u201cthat such discharge was without just cause because of [Mason\u2019s] race.\u201d On March 15, 1985, the Federal jury reached a verdict for Mason and answered both special interrogatories in the affirmative. Mason then filed a written motion with the Human Rights Commission pertaining to his charge of racial discrimination filed with them in 1983, contending the administrative law judge should find (1) Mason was discharged from his employment without just cause, and (2) the discharge was because of Mason\u2019s race. Mason argued SIEC was estopped to deny the truth of these propositions in light of the verdict in the Federal court. The written motion noted Mason and SIEC were represented by the same attorneys in the Federal court as in proceedings before the Commission, and stated that \u201cthe issues of ultimate fact as to whether Tony L. Mason was discharged and whether his discharge was based upon race are identical in both forums. *** [T]hese identical issues were fully tried during a two-day jury trial ***, and each party fully presented its case to its own satisfaction before it rested, and each party litigated fully both questions before the case was submitted to the finder-of-fact.\u201d SIEC in its written response did not dispute the applicability of the principles of collateral estoppel to the issues Mason contended were conclusively adjudicated but noted the Federal judgment was not final in that the Federal court had not yet ruled on certain motions filed by SIEC.\nOn September 17, 1985, the Federal court entered judgment notwithstanding the verdict in favor of SIEC and the union. According to its order, Mason was not discharged; he quit; Mason did not produce sufficient evidence that the discharge was without cause even assuming a discharge occurred; and there was insufficient evidence that the union breached its duty of fair representation. The United States Court of Appeals affirmed the judgment of the Federal district court on March 25, 1987. Mason v. Southeastern Illinois Electric Cooperative, Inc. (7th Cir. 1987), 815 F.2d 38.\nThe Federal litigation of the issue whether Mason quit or was fired falls within the principles of collateral estoppel. The parties and the issues were the same. The only question was whether there was a final judgment on the merits.\nBy the time the administrative law judge issued its order, the Federal court had determined Mason had not been fired. Nonetheless, the majority points out that the appeal from the Federal judgment was not concluded until March of 1987, and under the holding in Ballweg v. City of Springfield (1986), 114 Ill. 2d 107, 113, 499 N.E.2d 1373, 1375, collateral estoppel could not apply, for the potential for appellate review had not been exhausted. Ballweg, however, mistakenly relies upon Relph v. Board of Education (1981), 84 Ill. 2d 436, 420 N.E.2d 147, a case pertaining to res judicata and the law of the case, for authority to support its position pertaining to collateral estoppel. According to section 13 of the Restatement (Second) of Judgments, \u201cfinal judgment\u201d for purposes of collateral estoppel \u201cincludes any prior adjudication of an issue in another action that is determined to be sufficiently firm to be accorded conclusive effect.\u201d (Restatement (Second) of Judgments \u00a713, at 132 (1982).) This definition does not require all appeals to have been exhausted; merely that an adequately deliberated and firm decision has been rendered by a court of competent jurisdiction. (See Restatement (Second) of Judgments \u00a713, comment g (1982).) The requirement of finality of judgment is interpreted strictly only when bar or merger under the principles of res judicata is at stake. (Restatement (Second) of Judgments \u00a713, comment g (1982).) \u201cThis is natural when it is considered that the effect of a judgment as bar or merger is to \u2018extinguish\u2019 a claim, and, when there is merger, to create a new claim based on the judgment itself.\u201d (Restatement (Second) of Judgments \u00a713, comment g, at 136 (1982).) Such is not the case for collateral estoppel, which merely precludes the relitigation of an issue. To hold otherwise would promote needless duplication of effort and expense. (See, e.g., Cranwill v. Donahue (1981), 99 Ill. App. 3d 968, 970, 426 N.E.2d 337, 339.) As Mason himself represented in his motion, the identical issues were fully tried, and each party fully presented its case and fully litigated the questions before submitting them to the finder-of-fact. For these reasons, I believe the question whether Mason quit or was fired had already been conclusively adjudicated by the Federal court by the time it reached the Human Rights Commission for decision and should not have been relitigated. I, therefore, would reverse the judgment of the Human Rights Commission on the basis of the doctrine of collateral estoppel.", "type": "dissent", "author": "PRESIDING JUSTICE KARNS," } ], "attorneys": [ "John M. Ferguson, of Belleville, Joseph R. Hale, of Shawneetown, and Robert B. Vining, Sr., of St. Louis, Missouri, for appellant.", "Harris, Lambert & Wilson, of Marion, for appellee Tony Mason." ], "corrections": "", "head_matter": "SOUTHEASTERN ILLINOIS ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE, INC., Appellant, v. THE HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION et al., Appellees.\nFifth District\nNo. 5\u201486\u20140430\nOpinion filed November 19, 1987.\nEARNS, RJ., dissenting.\nJohn M. Ferguson, of Belleville, Joseph R. Hale, of Shawneetown, and Robert B. Vining, Sr., of St. Louis, Missouri, for appellant.\nHarris, Lambert & Wilson, of Marion, for appellee Tony Mason." }, "file_name": "0806-01", "first_page_order": 828, "last_page_order": 836 }