 In 1944, the FTA had found themselves on the tail end of a controversial issue that had arisen in a court hearing that had to do with the contract negotiations between Reynolds and Local 22.White workers in the Employees Association were involved in a shouting match that broke out between union leaders, which ultimately resulted in William Deberry being charged with assaulting a white woman.This caused problems for the FTA because the public had predicted that FTA’s principles of "race mixing" would lead to violence and violation.