posted on Friday, May 18, 2007 2:20 PM
by
Lou Michels
Zealous Negotiation
It's not uncommon to see litigants in employment or labor law cases lose it over what happened to them at work. For many people, their job is inexorably tied to their self-image -- damaging one usually means damaging the other. I frequently define employment law as family law in a corporate setting.
But it's unusual to see the lawyers lose it and go after each other. That's apparently what happened during contract negotiations between the Teamsters and a bakery in Cleveland. According to a recent complaint filed by a Teamsters attorney, negotiations went from verbal to physical when the bakery's counsel punched and choked the union lawyer before being collared by a union official. The lawsuit, which seeks damages for permanent injuries, medical expenses, loss of income and emotional distress (there's always emotional distress in there somewhere), alleges that the bakery's law firm was responsible for the lawyer's actions because the firm allegedly trained its lawyers to be aggressive and intimidating. As it was so eloquently put in the complaint, "It was common, expected, encouraged, and authorized business practice of defendants to harass, curse, intimidate, provoke, taunt and abuse opposing counsel and parties." Or, as they say in the business, the firm wanted its lawyers to have a lot of crust.
Bolstering the union attorney's case, the bakery attorney pleaded no contest to reduced charges of disorderly conduct and intoxication and paid a $100 fine over the incident in criminal court.
Intoxication? At a collective bargaining agreement negotiating session? Apparently, someone took being a member of the "bar" too literally. But at least no one will accuse him of being a cream puff in his representation of the bakery's interest.