Cox v. International Union of Operating Engineers, AFL- CIO

Decision Date18 March 1982
Docket NumberNo. 81-4320,AFL-CIO,81-4320
Parties110 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2358, 93 Lab.Cas. P 13,380 Walter COX, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. INTERNATIONAL UNION OF OPERATING ENGINEERS,, et al., Defendants-Appellees. Summary Calendar.
CourtU.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit

Ross R. Barnett, Sr., Jackson, Miss., for plaintiff-appellant.

Charles T. Sykes, Jr., Gulfport, Miss., for defendants-appellees.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi.

Before RUBIN, SAM D. JOHNSON and GARWOOD, Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM:

A Mississippi resident sued another Mississippi resident and the union to which they both belonged, the International Union of Operating Engineers, AFL-CIO, and the International's Local 624, alleging that the individual defendant, who is an officer of Local 624, slandered him. The defendants promptly removed to federal court alleging that the action is one over which the United States District Courts are given original jurisdiction under 29 U.S.C. §§ 185, 412, 529 (1976). Discovery followed. The defendants' motion for summary judgment was granted. The International Union of Operating Engineers was exonerated because it "had absolutely nothing to do with this controversy," and the dispute involves only the plaintiff, the local union, and the union officer. The claim against the local union and the officer was dismissed because his remarks were, as a matter of law, not defamatory. After an appeal was taken, we raised sua sponte, as we are required to do, 1 the question of jurisdiction, and requested briefs on the subject. Having studied those briefs, we conclude that we are required to dismiss the appeal for want of original jurisdiction in the district court and to remand the case to the district court for remand in turn to the state court. Not mere love's labor, but many hours of counsel's time and the court's time have been dissipated because counsel failed to perform their first duty in invoking the aid of a court of limited jurisdiction, as all federal courts are: to determine that the court has jurisdiction.

Absent a federal question, we lack jurisdiction over this suit, for there is patently no diversity of citizenship. The defendants argue that the alleged slander "arises out of" a union controversy and that, therefore, there must be federal jurisdiction under one of the statutes cited simply by number in the petition for removal. Federal courts do indeed have jurisdiction over actions in which the matter in controversy is one "arising under" the Constitution or laws of the United States. 28 U.S.C.A. § 1331 (West Supp. 1981). Whether such a case exists depends on the nature of the claim, not the possible defenses to that claim. For original federal jurisdiction to obtain, the complaint must raise "a substantial claim founded 'directly' upon federal law." Mishkin, The Federal "Question" in the District Courts, 53 Colum.L.Rev. 157, 165 (1953). It does not suffice that the answer raises a federal question. Louisville & N. R. R. v. Mottley, 211 U.S. 149, 29 S.Ct. 42, 53 L.Ed. 126 (1908); Maxwell v. First Nat'l Bank, 638 F.2d 32, 35 (5th Cir. 1981); C. Wright, Handbook of the Law of Federal Courts § 18 (3d ed. 1976). Neither is it enough that the dispute is in some way connected with a federal matter. The nature of the...

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19 cases
  • Lowe v. Ingalls Shipbuilding, a Div. of Litton Systems, Inc.
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit
    • January 30, 1984
    ...however, is not satisfied merely because "the dispute is in some way connected with a federal matter." Cox v. International Union of Operating Engineers, 672 F.2d 421, 422 (5th Cir.1982). Section 1331 requires that the suit be one "arising under" the Constitution or laws of the United State......
  • U.S. Bank Nat'l Ass'n v. Jefferson
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Southern District of Texas
    • May 21, 2018
    ...is the ‘nature of the claim’ asserted, and ‘not the possible defenses to that claim.’ " Id. (quoting Cox v. International Union of Operating Engineers, 672 F.2d 421, 422 (5th Cir. 1982) (federal question jurisdiction is not satisfied merely because "the dispute is in some way connected with......
  • Box Tree South, Ltd. v. Bitterman
    • United States
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    • January 17, 1995
    ...as the defenses, apart from the requirements imposed by Linn and by other constitutional defenses. See also, Cox v. Int'l Union of Operating Eng'rs, 672 F.2d 421, 423 (5th Cir.1982) ("This is a simple defamation suit. It is neither a suit for violation of a contract between an employer and ......
  • Golden Hill Paugussett Tribe v. Weicker, 2:92CV00738 (PCD).
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    • U.S. District Court — District of Connecticut
    • July 21, 1993
    ...Petroleum Co. v. Texaco, Inc., 415 U.S. 125, 127-28, 94 S.Ct. 1002, 1003-04, 39 L.Ed.2d 209 (1974); Cox v. Int'l Union of Operating Eng'rs, AFL-CIO, 672 F.2d 421, 422 (5th Cir.1982). The limits upon federal jurisdiction "must be neither disregarded nor evaded," Owen Equip. & Erection Co. v.......
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