Wilson v. International Broth. of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of America, AFL-CIO

Decision Date16 July 1996
Docket NumberNos. 94-3837,94-3856,94-3861 and 94-3863,AFL-CIO,s. 94-3837
Citation152 LRRM 2165,83 F.3d 747
Parties152 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2165 James WILSON; Timothy R. Wadding; Joseph M. Schmitt; Ronald Claybourne; George F. Lyons; and Donald O. Kerr, Plaintiffs-Appellants (94-3837), Cross-Appellees, v. The INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS, CHAUFFEURS, WAREHOUSEMEN AND HELPERS OF AMERICA,; Teamsters Local 507, Defendants, Teamsters Local 92 (94-3863); Matlack, Inc. (94-3856); and Casol Leasing, Inc. (94-3861), Defendants-Appellees, Cross-Appellants.
CourtU.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit

On Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio; David D. Dowd, Jr., Judge.

Edward L. Gilbert (argued and briefed), Edward L. Gilbert Company, L.P.A., Akron, OH, for Plaintiffs-Appellants, Cross-Appellees.

Thomas A. McCormack, McCormack, Wolgamuth & Watling, Cleveland, OH, for Local 507 International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers.

John R. Doll (argued), Julie C. Ford (briefed), Logothetis & Pence, Dayton, OH, for Local 92 International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers in Nos. 94-3837, 94-3863.

Keith L. Pryatel (briefed), Millisor & Nobil, Cleveland, OH, Judith Batson Sadler, Charles E. Sykes (argued and briefed), Douglas H. Maddux, Jr. (briefed), Bruckner & Sykes, Houston, TX, for Matlack, Inc. in No. 94-3837.

Michael J. Ranallo, Millisor & Nobil, Cleveland, OH, for Casol Leasing in No. 94-3837.

Judith Batson Sadler, Charles E. Sykes (argued and briefed), Douglas H. Maddux, Jr. (briefed), Bruckner & Sykes, Houston, TX, for Matlack, Inc. in No. 94-3856.

Keith L. Pryatel (briefed), Millisor & Nobil, Cleveland, OH, for Casol Leasing in No. 94-3861.

Before: KEITH, MARTIN, and NELSON, Circuit Judges.

BOYCE F. MARTIN, Jr., Circuit Judge.

Plaintiffs, all of whom are former employees of defendant Matlack, Inc., filed suit on November 18, 1991, against the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of America; Local 507 of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters; Local 92 of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters; Matlack, Inc.; and Casol Leasing, Inc., alleging that Matlack breached its collective bargaining agreement with Local 92 and that Local 92 breached its duty of fair representation to the plaintiffs. Prior to trial, the district court dismissed plaintiffs Wadding, Schmitt, Claybourne, Lyons, and Kerr, leaving only James Wilson as the remaining party. Among other things, plaintiffs appeal this dismissal. The district court also dismissed Local 507 and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of America, leaving Matlack, Casol Leasing, and Local 92 as the remaining defendant parties. This dismissal has not been appealed.

Wilson's claim, commonly called a "hybrid" action alleging an employer's breach of a collective bargaining agreement and a union's breach of its duty of fair representation under Section 301 of the Labor Management Relations Act, 29 U.S.C. § 185, was heard in a seven-day jury trial commencing on February 14, 1994. On April 8, 1994, the jury returned a verdict in favor of Wilson, and awarded $456,000.00 in lost pension benefits as damages. The parties filed various post-trial motions seeking judgment as a matter of law, a new trial, and/or an altered judgment. On July 1, the district court ordered a new trial contingent upon Wilson's acceptance or rejection of its remitted damages award in the amount of $133,296.83, the discounted present value of Wilson's lost pension benefits. On July 8, Wilson accepted the remittitur, and the district court entered a final judgment on July 13.

Wilson, along with the other five previously dismissed plaintiffs, filed a timely appeal to this Court, asserting several errors, chief among them the district court's dismissal of Wadding, Schmitt, Claybourne, Lyons, and Kerr on the ground that these individuals had failed to invoke or exhaust available grievance and arbitration remedies prior to filing suit in federal court. Each of the defendants cross-appealed, claiming that the district court committed numerous errors. After an extensive review of the record, we AFFIRM the judgment entered on the jury's verdict on the issue of liability, REVERSE the district court's judgment as to the award of attorneys' fees, and REMAND for further proceedings.

I.

Matlack is a nationwide trucking company engaged in hauling both dry and liquid bulk products. Matlack has been party for several years to a multi-employer collective bargaining agreement with the Central Conference of Teamsters, covering some thirteen midwestern states, including Ohio. Defendant Local 92 served as the collective bargaining representative for Matlack's Canton, Ohio terminal employees. Wilson and the five dismissed plaintiffs were Matlack employee truck drivers based out of the Canton terminal. On May 20, 1988, Matlack closed its Canton terminal and laid off its Canton drivers, claiming poor business as the reason for closure.

Pursuant to the collective bargaining agreement between Local 92 and Matlack, Matlack is required to make available to laid off employees any positions that open up within three years of the closing of a facility. Section 5.5(c) of the agreement states that:

When a branch, terminal, division, or operation is closed and the work of the branch, terminal, division or operation is eliminated, employees who are laid-off thereby shall be given first opportunity for available regular employment at any other branch, terminal, division, or operation of the Employer within the Area of the Supplemental Agreement under which employed. The obligation to offer such employment shall continue for a period of three (3) years from the date of closing. However, the Employer shall not be required to make more than one offer during this period. Any employee accepting such offer shall pay his own moving expenses. If hired, he shall go to the bottom of the seniority board but shall have company seniority for fringe benefits only.

After closing the Canton terminal, Matlack offered Wilson a position at Matlack's Cincinnati terminal. Wilson did not accept the offer.

In June of 1989, Matlack opened a new "intermodal" truck terminal in Akron, Ohio, in conjunction with defendant Casol Leasing. Casol Leasing's corporate responsibility was to hire the drivers working out of the new Akron terminal. Although Casol's sole function is to provide employees to Matlack, Casol Leasing and Matlack are separate corporate entities. Matlack did not offer Wilson a position at the new Akron facility and Wilson claims that he was completely unaware of the existence of a Matlack trucking terminal at Akron until he received an anonymous phone call informing him of that fact on May 18, 1991. After driving to Akron to determine whether Matlack in fact was operating out of Akron, Wilson filed grievances with Local 92 on May 20. Wilson's grievances ultimately were dismissed as untimely in 1991 by the Joint State Committee in Ohio, the arbitration committee in charge of handling disputes under the collective bargaining agreement.

Finally, on November 18, 1991, Wilson, along with the other five former Matlack employees, filed this complaint in district court pursuant to Section 301(a) of the Labor Management Relations Act, 29 U.S.C. § 185(a), alleging that Local 92 breached its duty of fair representation in its handling of Wilson's grievances, and that Matlack breached the collective bargaining agreement governing the relations between the parties. Also named in the complaint was Casol Leasing. The plaintiffs claimed that Casol Leasing was Matlack's "alter ego" and therefore liable under the collective bargaining agreement. On June 14, 1993, the district court granted summary judgment in favor of defendants Local 507 and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, dismissing them from the case. As noted above, the parties have not appealed this ruling.

II.
A.

The plaintiffs appeal several issues, three of which merit discussion. Plaintiffs first argue that the district court erred by awarding summary judgment in favor of the defendants and dismissing Wadding, Schmitt, Claybourne, Lyons, and Kerr as improper parties to the lawsuit. The district court dismissed these plaintiffs on the ground that each had failed to exhaust his administrative remedies before seeking relief in federal court.

We review the district court's award of summary judgment de novo. Sims v. Memphis Processors, Inc., 926 F.2d 524, 526 (6th Cir.1991). Summary judgment is appropriate where "there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and ... the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law." Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). In determining whether summary judgment is proper, we view the facts and any reasonable inferences drawn from those facts in a light most favorable to the nonmoving party. Adickes v. S.H. Kress & Co., 398 U.S. 144, 157, 90 S.Ct. 1598, 1608, 26 L.Ed.2d 142 (1970). However, the mere existence of a colorable actual dispute does not preclude an award of summary judgment. There must be a genuine dispute between the parties on an issue of material fact in order to preclude summary judgment. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc. 477 U.S. 242, 247-48, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 2509-10, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986) (citations omitted).

Plaintiffs do not dispute that a party must exhaust contractual grievance remedies before seeking relief in federal court. See Clayton v. International Union, 451 U.S. 679, 681, 101 S.Ct. 2088, 2091, 68 L.Ed.2d 538 (1981); Durham v. Mason and Dixon Lines, 404 F.2d 864, 865 (6th Cir.1968), cert. denied, 394 U.S. 998, 89 S.Ct. 1594, 22 L.Ed.2d 776 (1969). Instead, they claim that: 1) plaintiff Wilson's grievance was a group grievance, filed on behalf of all six plaintiffs,...

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