Weyerhaeuser
Encyclopedia
Weyerhaeuser is one of the largest pulp and paper
companies in the world. It is the world's largest private sector
owner of softwood
timber
land; and the second largest owner of United States timberland, behind Plum Creek Timber
. Weyerhaeuser has approximately 20,000 employees in 13 countries, including the United States
, Canada
, Australia
, New Zealand
, China
, Mexico
, Ireland
, France
, and Uruguay
.
land purchased from James J. Hill
of the Great Northern Railway. In 1929, the company built what was then the world's largest sawmill in Longview, Washington
. Weyerhaeuser's pulp mill in Longview, which began production in 1931, sustained the company financially during the Great Depression
. In 1959, the company eliminated the word "Timber" from its name to better reflect its operations. In 1965, Weyerhaeuser built its first bleached kraft pulp mill in Canada. Weyerhaeuser implemented its High Yield Forestry Plan in 1967 which drew upon 30 years of forestry research and field experience. It called for the planting of seedlings within one year of a harvest, soil fertilization
, thinning, rehabilitation of brushlands, and, eventually, genetic improvement of trees.
Weyerhaeuser consolidated its core businesses in the late 1990s and ended its services in mortgage bank
ing, personal care products, financial services, and information systems consulting. Weyerhaeuser also expanded into South America
, Australia
, and Asia
. In 1999, Weyerhaeuser purchased MacMillan Bloedel Limited
, a large Canadian forestry company. Then in 2002 after a protracted hostile buyout, the company acquired Willamette Industries, Inc.
of Portland, Oregon
. On August 23, 2006, Weyerhaeuser announced a deal which spun off its fine paper business to be combined with Domtar
, a $3.3 billion cash and stock deal leaving Weyerhaeuser stock holders with 55 percent ownership of the new Domtar
company.
In March 2008, Weyerhaeuser Company announced the sale of its Containerboard Packaging and Recycling business to International Paper
for $6 billion in cash, subject to post closing adjustments. The transaction included nine containerboard mills, 72 packaging locations, 10 specialty-packaging plants, four kraft bag and sack locations and 19 recycling facilities. The transaction affected approximately 14,300 employees.
In late 2008 Weyerhaeuser created a wholly owned subsidiary, Weyerhaeuser NR, to contain its non-timber business activities including, among others, the Cellulose Fibers and iLevel businesses, and hold ownership of the company's vast timber lands. Weyerhaeuser NR's corporate articles on file with the Washington State Secretary of state authorize the issue of 200 shares of general stock by Weyerhaeuser NR, but it is unknown at this time whether such shares have issued or who holds them. Weyerhaeuser NR's board of directors and officers are all also officers or directors of the parent company. Separating these businesses was necessary to facilitate the company's transition into a Real Estate Investment Trust
(REIT), which it announced on December 15, 2009.
Weyerhaeuser underperformed the Standard & Poor's 500 in total shareholder return both in 2008 and over the previous five years. According to Peter Robison and Christopher Donville of Bloomberg News, as reported in the Seattle Times (April 17, 2009), "Weyerhaeuser is in a financial crisis so deep the largest U.S. lumber producer turns down the heat in its offices to save money..." On September 28, 2009, Moody's reported Weyerhauser's proposed new notes rated at Ba1, a rating that puts them with junk bonds. S&P rated Weyerhaeuser's credit at BBB- and downgraded Weyerhaeuser stock from stable to negative on December 16, 2009.
Weyerhaeuser imports timber products from Malaysia, Chile
, and Brazil
, and has timber operations or offices in 44 American states, Canada, and 18 other countries. Weyerhaeuser is one of North America
's largest distributors of wood
products; it owns more than seven million acres (28,000 km²) of land in the U.S., and holds logging
rights to more than 35 million acres (142,000 km²) of land in Canada. Weyerhaeuser has expanded beyond its roots in lumber
and wood
products; it controls more than 100 subsidiaries in fields such as construction, real estate
sales, and development.
The company's operations are divided into four major business segments:
consists of: Debra A. Cafaro, Mark Emmert
, Daniel S. Fulton, John W. Kieckhefer
, Arnold Langbo, Don Mazankowski
, Nicole Piasecki, Steven Rogel
, Richard Sinkfield, D. Michael Steuert, James Sullivan, Kim Williams
, and Charles Williamson.
have identified Weyerhaeuser as the 63rd-largest corporate producer of air pollution
in the United States, with roughly 17.5 million pounds of toxic air released annually into the air. The pollution has had questionable effects on their employees.
Major pollutants indicated by the study include formaldehyde
, sulfuric acid
, acetaldehyde
, manganese
compounds, and chlorine dioxide
.
The Environmental Protection Agency
has named it a potentially responsible party for at least 18
Superfund
toxic waste sites.
s into the parking lot of their Valliant, Oklahoma
paper mill plant looking for drugs in vehicles in response to an employee drug overdose. They found no drugs, but the dogs alerted on 12 cars with guns in them. Some of the employees were provided by sub-contractors, including KBR, Inc. (formerly Kellogg, Brown & Root) and Kenny Industrials.
On November 14, 2002, the vehicles in the parking lot were searched for a second time. All employees were warned that if contraband, either drugs or firearms, were found a second time, they would be terminated. 12 employees were found with contraband and were immediately suspended. Various employees were dismissed as a result.
Several of the fired men, the plaintiff
s (appellants), filed a civil suit against Weyerhaeuser (a defendant
or appellee) for wrongful termination in Oklahoma state court. The plaintiffs (appellants), Steve Bastible, John Bryan, Douglas Rowan, Donald Payne, Larry Mullens and Scott Darden (case No. 05-7037), Jimmie Wyatt (case No. 05-7038), and Ryan Lewis (case No. 05-7039) lost in lower court and appealed to the United States Court of Appeals
. which upheld the lower court's decision.
Pulp and paper industry
The global pulp and paper industry is dominated by North American , northern European and East Asian countries...
companies in the world. It is the world's largest private sector
Private sector
In economics, the private sector is that part of the economy, sometimes referred to as the citizen sector, which is run by private individuals or groups, usually as a means of enterprise for profit, and is not controlled by the state...
owner of softwood
Softwood
The term softwood is used to describe wood from trees that are known as gymnosperms.Conifers are an example. It may also be used to describe trees, which tend to be evergreen, notable exceptions being bald cypress and the larches....
timber
Timber
Timber may refer to:* Timber, a term common in the United Kingdom and Australia for wood materials * Timber, Oregon, an unincorporated community in the U.S...
land; and the second largest owner of United States timberland, behind Plum Creek Timber
Plum Creek Timber
Plum Creek Timber is the largest private landowner in the United States. Most of its lands were originally purchased, or otherwise acquired as timberland....
. Weyerhaeuser has approximately 20,000 employees in 13 countries, including the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, and Uruguay
Uruguay
Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
.
History
In January 1900, Frederick Weyerhaeuser founded Weyerhaeuser Timber Company with 15 partners and 900,000 acres (3,600 km²) of Washington timberTimber
Timber may refer to:* Timber, a term common in the United Kingdom and Australia for wood materials * Timber, Oregon, an unincorporated community in the U.S...
land purchased from James J. Hill
James J. Hill
James Jerome Hill , was a Canadian-American railroad executive. He was the chief executive officer of a family of lines headed by the Great Northern Railway, which served a substantial area of the Upper Midwest, the northern Great Plains, and Pacific Northwest...
of the Great Northern Railway. In 1929, the company built what was then the world's largest sawmill in Longview, Washington
Longview, Washington
Longview is a city in Cowlitz County, Washington, United States. It is the principal city of the "Longview, Washington Metropolitan Statistical Area", which encompasses all of Cowlitz County. Longview's population was 36,648 at the time of the 2010 census and is the largest city in Cowlitz County...
. Weyerhaeuser's pulp mill in Longview, which began production in 1931, sustained the company financially during the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
. In 1959, the company eliminated the word "Timber" from its name to better reflect its operations. In 1965, Weyerhaeuser built its first bleached kraft pulp mill in Canada. Weyerhaeuser implemented its High Yield Forestry Plan in 1967 which drew upon 30 years of forestry research and field experience. It called for the planting of seedlings within one year of a harvest, soil fertilization
Fertilizer
Fertilizer is any organic or inorganic material of natural or synthetic origin that is added to a soil to supply one or more plant nutrients essential to the growth of plants. A recent assessment found that about 40 to 60% of crop yields are attributable to commercial fertilizer use...
, thinning, rehabilitation of brushlands, and, eventually, genetic improvement of trees.
Weyerhaeuser consolidated its core businesses in the late 1990s and ended its services in mortgage bank
Mortgage bank
A Mortgage bank specializes in originating and/or servicing mortgage loans.A mortgage bank is a state-licensed banking entity that makes mortgage loans directly to consumers...
ing, personal care products, financial services, and information systems consulting. Weyerhaeuser also expanded into South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, and Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
. In 1999, Weyerhaeuser purchased MacMillan Bloedel Limited
MacMillan Bloedel Limited
MacMillan Bloedel Limited, sometimes referred to as "MacBlo", was a Canadian forestry company headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia. It was formed through the merger of three smaller forestry companies in 1951 and 1959. Those were the Powell River Company, the Bloedel Stewart Welch Company,...
, a large Canadian forestry company. Then in 2002 after a protracted hostile buyout, the company acquired Willamette Industries, Inc.
Willamette Industries, Inc.
Willamette Industries, Inc. was a Fortune 500 forest products company based in Portland, Oregon, United States. In 2002 the lumber and paper company was purchased by competitor Weyerhaeuser of Federal Way, Washington in a hostile buyout and merged into Weyerhaeuser's existing...
of Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
. On August 23, 2006, Weyerhaeuser announced a deal which spun off its fine paper business to be combined with Domtar
Domtar
Domtar Corporation is the largest integrated producer of uncoated freesheet paper in North America and the second largest in the world based on production capacity, and is also a manufacturer of papergrade pulp....
, a $3.3 billion cash and stock deal leaving Weyerhaeuser stock holders with 55 percent ownership of the new Domtar
Domtar
Domtar Corporation is the largest integrated producer of uncoated freesheet paper in North America and the second largest in the world based on production capacity, and is also a manufacturer of papergrade pulp....
company.
In March 2008, Weyerhaeuser Company announced the sale of its Containerboard Packaging and Recycling business to International Paper
International Paper
International Paper Company is an American pulp and paper company, the largest such company in the world. It has approximately 59,500 employees, and it is headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee.-History:...
for $6 billion in cash, subject to post closing adjustments. The transaction included nine containerboard mills, 72 packaging locations, 10 specialty-packaging plants, four kraft bag and sack locations and 19 recycling facilities. The transaction affected approximately 14,300 employees.
In late 2008 Weyerhaeuser created a wholly owned subsidiary, Weyerhaeuser NR, to contain its non-timber business activities including, among others, the Cellulose Fibers and iLevel businesses, and hold ownership of the company's vast timber lands. Weyerhaeuser NR's corporate articles on file with the Washington State Secretary of state authorize the issue of 200 shares of general stock by Weyerhaeuser NR, but it is unknown at this time whether such shares have issued or who holds them. Weyerhaeuser NR's board of directors and officers are all also officers or directors of the parent company. Separating these businesses was necessary to facilitate the company's transition into a Real Estate Investment Trust
Real estate investment trust
A real estate investment trust or REIT is a tax designation for a corporate entity investing in real estate. The purpose of this designation is to reduce or eliminate corporate tax. In return, REITs are required to distribute 90% of their taxable income into the hands of investors...
(REIT), which it announced on December 15, 2009.
Weyerhaeuser underperformed the Standard & Poor's 500 in total shareholder return both in 2008 and over the previous five years. According to Peter Robison and Christopher Donville of Bloomberg News, as reported in the Seattle Times (April 17, 2009), "Weyerhaeuser is in a financial crisis so deep the largest U.S. lumber producer turns down the heat in its offices to save money..." On September 28, 2009, Moody's reported Weyerhauser's proposed new notes rated at Ba1, a rating that puts them with junk bonds. S&P rated Weyerhaeuser's credit at BBB- and downgraded Weyerhaeuser stock from stable to negative on December 16, 2009.
Operations
| Financial Information | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | |
| Net Sales (US$M) | 21,896 | 22,629 | 21,931 | 19,873 | 18,521 | 14,545 |
| Net Earnings (Loss) (US$M) | 395 | 733 | 1283 | 277 | 241 | 354 |
Weyerhaeuser imports timber products from Malaysia, Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
, and Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, and has timber operations or offices in 44 American states, Canada, and 18 other countries. Weyerhaeuser is one of North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
's largest distributors of wood
Wood
Wood is a hard, fibrous tissue found in many trees. It has been used for hundreds of thousands of years for both fuel and as a construction material. It is an organic material, a natural composite of cellulose fibers embedded in a matrix of lignin which resists compression...
products; it owns more than seven million acres (28,000 km²) of land in the U.S., and holds logging
Logging
Logging is the cutting, skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks.In forestry, the term logging is sometimes used in a narrow sense concerning the logistics of moving wood from the stump to somewhere outside the forest, usually a sawmill or a lumber yard...
rights to more than 35 million acres (142,000 km²) of land in Canada. Weyerhaeuser has expanded beyond its roots in lumber
Lumber
Lumber or timber is wood in any of its stages from felling through readiness for use as structural material for construction, or wood pulp for paper production....
and wood
Wood
Wood is a hard, fibrous tissue found in many trees. It has been used for hundreds of thousands of years for both fuel and as a construction material. It is an organic material, a natural composite of cellulose fibers embedded in a matrix of lignin which resists compression...
products; it controls more than 100 subsidiaries in fields such as construction, real estate
Real estate
In general use, esp. North American, 'real estate' is taken to mean "Property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals, or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this; an item of real property; buildings or...
sales, and development.
The company's operations are divided into four major business segments:
- Timberlands — Growing and harvesting treeTreeA tree is a perennial woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or trunk with clear apical dominance. A minimum height specification at maturity is cited by some authors, varying from 3 m to...
s in renewable cycles. - Wood Products — Manufacturing and distribution of building materials for homes and other structures.
- Pulp and PaperPulp and PaperPulp and Paper is the name of the largest United States-based trade magazine for the pulp and paper industry. See also: Paper engineering, Pulp and Paper Merit Badge...
— Produces a variety of paperPaperPaper is a thin material mainly used for writing upon, printing upon, drawing or for packaging. It is produced by pressing together moist fibers, typically cellulose pulp derived from wood, rags or grasses, and drying them into flexible sheets....
s and the pulp used to produce papers, absorbent products, photographic filmPhotographic filmPhotographic film is a sheet of plastic coated with an emulsion containing light-sensitive silver halide salts with variable crystal sizes that determine the sensitivity, contrast and resolution of the film...
, and several others. - Real Estate — Builds homes and develops land. Weyerhaeuser has six subsidiaries collectively called Weyerhaeuser Real Estate CompanyWeyerhaeuser Real Estate CompanyWeyerhaeuser Real Estate Company is a United States based home building and real-estate development company. WRECO was formed in 1969 as a wholly owned subsidiary of Weyerhaeuser Company and is based in Federal Way, Washington.-About:...
or WRECO, the largest of which is Pardee HomesPardee HomesPardee Homes is a residential real-estate company founded in 1921 by George Pardee Sr. He was joined by his three sons in the Los Angeles housing boom after World War II. They began building in southern Nevada in 1952, selling affordable homes to veterans for...
.
North Carolina TOSA Program
Weyerhaeuser also offers teachers the opportunity to experience life outside their classrooms during their summer breaks. The North Carolina TOSA Program, Teachers on Summer Assignment, offers a variety of internships to teachers, featuring such activities as forestry research, assisting in the pine nurseries, and reptile/amphibian tracking (to name a few). This six-week paid program provides teachers with insight on the business and its principles of sustainable pine farming and encourages the teachers to develop curricula for use in their classrooms that are not only aligned with the standard courses of study, but also include favorable views on Weyerhaeuser's tree farm management practices.Corporate governance
The Weyerhaeuser board of directorsBoard of directors
A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...
consists of: Debra A. Cafaro, Mark Emmert
Mark Emmert
Mark A. Emmert, Ph.D., was named president of the NCAA on April 27, 2010. He is the fifth CEO of the NCAA; he assumed his duties on 1 November 2010. Emmert was previously the 30th president of the University of Washington, his alma mater, taking office in June 2004, becoming the first alumnus in...
, Daniel S. Fulton, John W. Kieckhefer
John W. Kieckhefer
John W. Kieckhefer was an American businessman. He took over Enterprise Box & Lumber Company, which was a family-run business started by his grandfather, Charles Kieckefer and later run by his father William Kieckhefer. When he became the company's president, he changed the name to Kieckhefer...
, Arnold Langbo, Don Mazankowski
Don Mazankowski
Donald Frank "Don" Mazankowski, PC, OC, AOE is a Canadian politician who served as a cabinet minister under Prime Ministers Joe Clark and Brian Mulroney. He was also Deputy Prime Minister under Mulroney....
, Nicole Piasecki, Steven Rogel
Steven Rogel
Steven R. Rogel is the former Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of The Weyerhaeuser Company. Rogel has been a member of the company's board of directors since December 1, 1997, and was elected chairman and CEO on April 20, 1999...
, Richard Sinkfield, D. Michael Steuert, James Sullivan, Kim Williams
Kim Williams
Kim Williams was an American naturalist, writer, and the longest-ever running guest commenter on NPR where she was a guest commentator on the radio show All Things Considered for over ten and a half years.-Biography :...
, and Charles Williamson.
Environmental record
Researchers at the University of Massachusetts AmherstUniversity of Massachusetts Amherst
The University of Massachusetts Amherst is a public research and land-grant university in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States and the flagship of the University of Massachusetts system...
have identified Weyerhaeuser as the 63rd-largest corporate producer of air pollution
Air pollution
Air pollution is the introduction of chemicals, particulate matter, or biological materials that cause harm or discomfort to humans or other living organisms, or cause damage to the natural environment or built environment, into the atmosphere....
in the United States, with roughly 17.5 million pounds of toxic air released annually into the air. The pollution has had questionable effects on their employees.
Major pollutants indicated by the study include formaldehyde
Formaldehyde
Formaldehyde is an organic compound with the formula CH2O. It is the simplest aldehyde, hence its systematic name methanal.Formaldehyde is a colorless gas with a characteristic pungent odor. It is an important precursor to many other chemical compounds, especially for polymers...
, sulfuric acid
Sulfuric acid
Sulfuric acid is a strong mineral acid with the molecular formula . Its historical name is oil of vitriol. Pure sulfuric acid is a highly corrosive, colorless, viscous liquid. The salts of sulfuric acid are called sulfates...
, acetaldehyde
Acetaldehyde
Acetaldehyde is an organic chemical compound with the formula CH3CHO or MeCHO. It is one of the most important aldehydes, occurring widely in nature and being produced on a large scale industrially. Acetaldehyde occurs naturally in coffee, bread, and ripe fruit, and is produced by plants as part...
, manganese
Manganese
Manganese is a chemical element, designated by the symbol Mn. It has the atomic number 25. It is found as a free element in nature , and in many minerals...
compounds, and chlorine dioxide
Chlorine dioxide
Chlorine dioxide is a chemical compound with the formula ClO2. This yellowish-green gas crystallizes as bright orange crystals at −59 °C. As one of several oxides of chlorine, it is a potent and useful oxidizing agent used in water treatment and in bleaching....
.
The Environmental Protection Agency
United States Environmental Protection Agency
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is an agency of the federal government of the United States charged with protecting human health and the environment, by writing and enforcing regulations based on laws passed by Congress...
has named it a potentially responsible party for at least 18
Superfund
Superfund
Superfund is the common name for the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 , a United States federal law designed to clean up sites contaminated with hazardous substances...
toxic waste sites.
Employee Firearms Policy
On October 1, 2002, the company sent detection dogDetection dog
A detection dog or sniffer dog is a dog that is trained to and works at using its senses to detect substances such as explosives, illegal drugs, or blood. Hunting dogs that search for game and search dogs that search for missing humans are generally not considered detection dogs...
s into the parking lot of their Valliant, Oklahoma
Valliant, Oklahoma
Valliant is a town in McCurtain County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 771 at the 2000 census.Valliant was founded June 2, 1902, and named for Frank W...
paper mill plant looking for drugs in vehicles in response to an employee drug overdose. They found no drugs, but the dogs alerted on 12 cars with guns in them. Some of the employees were provided by sub-contractors, including KBR, Inc. (formerly Kellogg, Brown & Root) and Kenny Industrials.
On November 14, 2002, the vehicles in the parking lot were searched for a second time. All employees were warned that if contraband, either drugs or firearms, were found a second time, they would be terminated. 12 employees were found with contraband and were immediately suspended. Various employees were dismissed as a result.
Several of the fired men, the plaintiff
Plaintiff
A plaintiff , also known as a claimant or complainant, is the term used in some jurisdictions for the party who initiates a lawsuit before a court...
s (appellants), filed a civil suit against Weyerhaeuser (a defendant
Defendant
A defendant or defender is any party who is required to answer the complaint of a plaintiff or pursuer in a civil lawsuit before a court, or any party who has been formally charged or accused of violating a criminal statute...
or appellee) for wrongful termination in Oklahoma state court. The plaintiffs (appellants), Steve Bastible, John Bryan, Douglas Rowan, Donald Payne, Larry Mullens and Scott Darden (case No. 05-7037), Jimmie Wyatt (case No. 05-7038), and Ryan Lewis (case No. 05-7039) lost in lower court and appealed to the United States Court of Appeals
United States court of appeals
The United States courts of appeals are the intermediate appellate courts of the United States federal court system...
. which upheld the lower court's decision.
External links
- Weyerhaeuser (official website)
- Weyerhaeuser 2008 SEC Form 10K (annual report)
- http://content.lib.washington.edu/cdm4/results.php?CISORESTMP=results.php&CISOVIEWTMP=item_viewer.php&CISOMODE=thumb&CISOGRID=thumbnail,A,1;title,A,1;subjec,A,0;descri,200,0;none,A,0;20;title,none,none,none,none&CISOBIB=title,A,1,N;subjec,A,0,N;descri,200,0,N;none,A,0,N;none,A,0,N;20;title,none,none,none,none&CISOTHUMB=20%20(4x5);publis,none,none,none,none&CISOTITLE=20;title,none,none,none,none&CISOHIERA=20;subjec,title,none,none,none&CISOSUPPRESS=1&CISOTYPE=link&CISOOP1=all&CISOFIELD1=subjec&CISOBOX1=Weyerhaeuser&CISOOP2=all&CISOFIELD2=subjec&CISOBOX2=&CISOOP3=all&CISOFIELD3=descri&CISOBOX3=&CISOOP4=all&CISOFIELD4=CISOSEARCHALL&CISOBOX4=&c=all&CISOROOT=/reportsHistorical Annual Reports for Weyerhaeuser]