Hotel & Restaurant Employees Local 400 v. Svacek, 25380.
| Decision Date | 18 September 1970 |
| Docket Number | No. 25380.,25380. |
| Parties | HOTEL & RESTAURANT EMPLOYEES LOCAL 400, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Ruby SVACEK, Defendant-Appellee. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit |
Lawrence Schwerin (argued), and Hugh Hafer, of Bassett, Donaldson & Hafer, Seattle, Wash., for appellant.
James A. Fish, Spokane, Wash., Eugene R. Nielson, Seattle, Wash., Douglas D. Lambarth, of Spokane Legal Service, Spokane, Wash., for appellee.
Before HAMLEY and WRIGHT, Circuit Judges, and GOODWIN,* District Judge.
The appellant local union brought suit in District Court against one of its members for a money judgment of $300, alleging violation of the union constitution and by-laws. Jurisdiction was based on § 301 of the Labor Management Relations Act, 29 U.S.C. § 185.1 The District Court dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.
We affirm.
Upon oral argument, it was indicated that the basis of the claim was a fine sought to be imposed upon Svacek for crossing a union picket line during a strike. In effect, the court was asked to enter an intra-union dispute.
The union urges that § 301 has been broadly interpreted, citing Retail Clerks, etc. v. Lion Dry Goods, Inc., 369 U.S. 17, 82 S.Ct. 541, 7 L.Ed.2d 503 (1962). It was there held that § 301 applied to a suit alleging violation of a strike settlement agreement reached under the auspices of a mediator.
In Humphrey v. Moore, 375 U.S. 335, 84 S.Ct. 363, 11 L.Ed.2d 370 (1964) an award by a joint employer-employee grievance settlement committee was held to be a "contract" for purposes of jurisdiction under § 301.
But we cannot agree with the appellants' contention that the union constitution is a "contract" authorizing the District Court to entertain a dispute between a local union and a member. Parks v. International Broth. of Elec. Workers, 314 F.2d 886 (4th Cir. 1963) and Painters, etc. v. Brotherhood of Painters, etc., Local Union 127, 264 F.Supp. 301 (N.D. Cal.1966), do not support appellants' contention. Those suits involve actions between local and international unions and were "contracts" within the section and were suits "between any such labor organizations."
We have been cited to no authority that would permit the union constitution to be used as a contract for jurisdiction under § 301 in an intra-union problem unrelated to a collective bargaining agreement. Nor do we believe that it was the intent of Congress for the courts to use the Labor Management Relations Act to police...
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Kolinske v. Lubbers
...not contracts under § 301. See Smith v. United Mineworkers of America, 493 F.2d 1241 (10th Cir. 1974); Hotel & Restaurant Employees Local 400 v. Svacek, 431 F.2d 705 (9th Cir. 1970). Contra, Local 1219 v. United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners, 493 F.2d 93 (1st Cir. 1974); Parks v. Br......
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Stelling v. International Broth. of Elec. Workers Local Union No. 1547
...cases on the effect of the controversy on external labor relations is consistent with our holding in Hotel and Restaurant Employees Local 400 v. Svacek, 431 F.2d 705 (9th Cir. 1970). There, in affirming the district court's dismissal of an action by a local union against a member to collect......
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Baker v. Newspaper and Graphic Communications Union, Local 6
...that those disputes involving "an intra-union problem unrelated to a collective bargaining agreement," Hotel & Restaurant Employees Local 400 v. Svacek, 431 F.2d 705, 706 (9th Cir. 1970), do not come within the scope of section 301. E. g., DiGrazia v. United Bhd. of Carpenters & Joiners, 45......
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