Hardison v. Trans World Airlines

• Decision Date: 15 May 1974
• Docket Number: No. 20096-1.,20096-1.
• Citation: 375 F. Supp. 877
• Parties: Larry G. HARDISON, Plaintiff, v. TRANS WORLD AIRLINES et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Western District of Missouri

375 F. Supp. 877

Larry G. HARDISON, Plaintiff, v. TRANS WORLD AIRLINES et al., Defendants.

No. 20096-1.

United States District Court, W. D. Missouri, W. D.

May 15, 1974.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

William H. Pickett, Kansas City, Mo., for plaintiff.

James J. Mollenkamp, Michael D. Gordon, Jolley, Walsh, Gordon & Staab, Kansas City, Mo., for defendants.

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

JOHN W. OLIVER, District Judge.

This is an action by an individual plaintiff against his former employer, Trans World Airlines (TWA) and three labor organizations, International Association of Machinists and Aero Space Workers (The International), International Association of Machinists and Aero Space Workers, District 142 (District 142), and International Association of Machinists and Aero Space Workers, Local 1650 (Local 1650) seeking redress from alleged religious discrimination in violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Plaintiff asserts that his discharge from employment because of his refusal to work from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday pursuant to the tenets of his religion was a violation of his religious liberty, contrary to 42 United States Code, § 2000e-2. Plaintiff is a member of the Worldwide Church of God.

The jurisdiction of this Court is based upon 42 United States Code, § 2000e-5 (f). Defendant TWA is an employer engaged in interstate commerce and subject to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 United States Code, § 2000e et seq. Defendant unions are labor organizations likewise subject to the provisions of Title VII.

I.

Defendants first argue that this Court does not have jurisdiction in this case because of the alleged failure of the plaintiff to comply with the filing deadline of 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(d). That argument is answered by the decision of our controlling court in Richard v. McDonnell Douglas Corporation, 469 F.2d 1249 (8th Cir. 1972), which held that the 210-day statute of limitations is tolled upon receipt of the complainant's complaint by the E.E.O.C. Accordingly, in this case plaintiff's complaint of August 29, 1969, tolled the 210-day statute of limitations so that even if we assume that the E.E.O.C. assumed jurisdiction of plaintiff's case on November 18, 1969, the latest arguable date, plaintiff perfected his federal remedy well within the proper time. We find and conclude, therefore, that we do have jurisdiction of this case under the provisions of 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(d).

The defendant International challenges this Court's jurisdiction over it on the ground that there was no proper service of process on that organization. The alleged service was made by serving a copy of the complaint on James Tarwater, the financial secretary of Local 1650, who had no official capacity with the International.

We find and conclude that Local 1650 and The International are not autonomous and that, therefore, service upon the local constitutes valid service of process on The International. See Deboles v. Trans World Airlines, Inc., 350 F.Supp. 1274 (E.D.Pa.1972) and Claycraft Co. v. United Mine Workers of America, 204 F.2d 600 (6th Cir. 1953).

We further find and conclude that because Local 1650, District 142, and The International are not autonomous, the interests of the latter two organizations were adequately represented before the E.E.O.C. by Local 1650. The argument, therefore, of defendants, District 142 and The International, that they could not be sued in federal court because they were not named in the complaint before the E.E.O.C. is without merit. See Moody v. Albemarle Paper Co., 271 F.Supp. 27 (E.D.N.C.1967).

Defendants argue also that plaintiff failed to exhaust his administrative remedies, first, because he did not pursue administrative remedies set out in the Railway Labor Act (45 U.S.C. § 151 et seq.) and, second, because he did not otherwise pursue contract grievance procedures. The first argument is answered by Norman v. Missouri Pacific Railroad, 414 F.2d 73 (8th Cir. 1969), which reversed the district court's dismissal of a complaint filed pursuant to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Court of Appeals held that the complaint was cognizable under the Civil Rights Act absent specific prohibitions in the Railway Labor Act and that the Railway Labor Act did not foreclose efforts of employees to secure their statutory rights under the Civil Rights Act. No specific prohibition in the Railway Labor Act has been cited by defendants.

The second argument is answered by the recent decision of the Supreme Court in Alexander v. Gardner-Denver Co., 415 U.S. 36, 94 S.Ct. 1011, 39 L. Ed.2d 147 (February 19, 1974), which held that an employee is not foreclosed from suing in federal court under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 after arbitration proceedings resulted in an unfavorable ruling. The Court concluded that no election of remedies principles inhered in Title VII. Submission of a claim to one forum does not preclude a later submission to another, Justice Powell declared in the majority opinion. It follows, therefore, that plaintiff can choose to proceed under Title VII without resorting to grievance procedures at all.

II.

The relevant factual circumstances of this case are not substantially disputed. Many of the facts stipulated by the parties in Standard Pretrial Order No. 2 are simply not relevant. Other findings suggested by the parties in which there is dispute are for the most part irrelevant. The facts as we have found them include only those relevant to the resolution of the legal questions presented and for the most part are those which admit of very little dispute. The following discussion will serve as our findings of fact and conclusions of law pursuant to Rule 52(a), Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

A. Union Responsibility

Plaintiff names the three union defendants in his complaint and asks for an injunction against the unions to prevent them from failing to adequately represent the plaintiff and from depriving plaintiff of his right to freely exercise his religious beliefs without discrimination by the Union. In his suggested conclusions of law, plaintiff states merely that defendant unions "discriminated against plaintiff by reason of his religion in violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by enforcing a collective bargaining agreement which was discriminatory against plaintiff in its application." Plaintiff cites a number of cases in support of this proposition without discussion. We have studied all of those cases. Most are entirely irrelevant to the issue of whether the union should be held responsible for the violation, if any, of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Other are relevant only by broad application of the principles stated therein.

Labor union compliance with the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is dictated by 42 U. S.C. § 2000e-2(c):

It shall be an unlawful employment practice for a labor organization—

(1) to exclude or to expel from its membership, or otherwise to discriminate against, any individual because of his race, color, religion, sex, or national origin;

(2) to limit, segregate, or classify its membership or applicants for membership, or to classify or fail or refuse to refer for employment any individual, in any way which would deprive or tend to deprive any individual of employment opportunities, or would limit such employment opportunities or otherwise adversely affect his status as an employee or as an applicant for employment, because of such individual's race, color, religion, sex, or national origin; or

(3) to cause or attempt to cause an employer to discriminate against an individual in violation of this section.

Although it is nowhere stated directly by plaintiff, it appears that he is complaining that the union discriminated against him because of its failure to refuse to comply with the seniority provisions of the collective bargaining agreement between TWA and The International, which governed plaintiff's employment. A violation of those provisions would have been required in order to adjust his schedule with one of the other workers on his shift so that he would be able to observe his Sabbath.

Plaintiff, in arguing that the Unions discriminated against him by "enforcing a collective bargaining agreement which was discriminatory against plaintiff in its application," is arguing that the Union acted wrongly by standing by the contract and refusing actively to support plaintiff's efforts to avoid the seniority provisions of the contract. This actually amounts to an assertion that the Union has a rather stringent duty to accommodate.

The duty to accommodate, which we shall discuss in more detail later in this opinion, at the time the alleged discrimination in this case took place, was required by E.E.O.C. guideline 29 C.F.R. § 1605.1:

(b) The Commission believes that the duty not to discriminate on religious grounds, required by Section 703(a)(1) of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, includes an obligation on the part of the employer to make reasonable accommodations to the religious needs of employees and prospective employees where such accommodations can be made without undue hardship on the conduct of the employer's business. Emphasis supplied

The Unions interpret this language to mean that the duty is imposed only on the employer. They argue that that limitation was intentional because, they contend, a union has no power to accommodate. The Union only has power to control its own organization, make collective bargaining agreements with the employer, and enforce those agreements. The employer, the Unions conclude, is the only one who is in a position to accommodate.

We disagree. The language of the regulation does speak in terms of the employer but so have other provisions and regulations pursuant to the Act, which have been interpreted to include the union. For example, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2(h), the provision on seniority systems discussed below has been applied to unions. See, e. g., Local 189, United...