Northwestern Bell Case Summary

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PARTIES: U.S. West, Inc., a Colorado corporation was the sole shareholder in numerous subsidiaries, including Northwestern Bell Telephone Company ("Northwestern Bell"), Mountain States Telephone and Telegraph Company ("Mountain Bell"), and Pacific Northwest Bell ("PNB"). All these 3 companies provided the regional telecommunication services throughout the western United States. Jerry D. Mooberry worked as Director of New Products Stimulation for Northwestern Bell and had 2 employees Robert H.E. Frank and Tyrone G. Moreno working for him. U.S. West, Inc. was the defendant whereas Jerry D. Mooberry, Robert H.E. Frank and Tyrone G. Moreno were the plaintiffs in this case.
FACTS:
Northwestern Bell, subsidiary of U.S West, Inc., shared no common …show more content…

was their employer and liable for the acts of its subsidiary, Northwestern Bell.
LEGAL ANSWER AND WHO WINS: After considering various factors, Plaintiffs failed to establish a solid material proof to dispute District court’s judgment that Defendant US West, Inc. was not Plaintiffs' employer. Thus the district court’s judgment that Defendant was not Plaintiffs' employer for purposes of the Title VII and ADEA suits and that Defendant was not liable for the acts of its subsidiary, Northwestern Bell, was affirmed.
REASONING:
The court applied distinct 4 factors to determine whether a parent corporation is liable for the acts of its subsidiary. The following four factors are considered: (1) interrelation of operations, (2) centralized control of labor relations, (3) common management, and (4) common ownership or financial control. Defendant owned the subsidiaries but the operations were interrelated with those of defendant and its subsidiaries. Defendant and the subsidiary, Northwestern Bell had no common officers and had only one common manager, an officer of Defendant who manages the marketing operations for all three subsidiaries — Northwestern Bell, Mountain Bell and

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