Meza v. General Battery Corp.

• Decision Date: 20 August 1990
• Docket Number: No. 89-1358,89-1358
• Citation: 908 F.2d 1262
• Parties: 116 Lab.Cas. P 10,274 Robert J. MEZA, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. GENERAL BATTERY CORPORATION and Provident Life and Accident Insurance Company, Defendants-Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit

Page 1262

908 F.2d 1262

116 Lab.Cas. P 10,274

Robert J. MEZA, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. GENERAL BATTERY CORPORATION and Provident Life and Accident Insurance Company, Defendants-Appellees.

No. 89-1358.

United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit.

Aug. 20, 1990.

Richard H. Brown, Brown & Brown, Dallas, Tex., for plaintiff-appellant.

W. Ralph Canada, Jr., Hopkins & Sutter, Dallas, Tex., Dennis J. Morikawa, Philadelphia, Pa., for General Battery Corp.

Keith A. Glover, Dallas, Tex., for Provident Life & Accident Co.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas.

Before GOLDBERG, GARWOOD and DAVIS, Circuit Judges.

GOLDBERG, Circuit Judge:

Robert J. Meza ("Meza"), is former member of Local 1049 of the United Autoworkers Union ("Union" or "UAW") and a former employee of General Battery Corp. ("GBC"). Meza brought suit against GBC and Provident Life & Accident Insurance Co. ("Provident") to recover occupational disability and pension benefits set out in a

collective bargaining agreement made between GBC and the Union. In an earlier lawsuit, the Union brought a similar action against GBC and Provident (collectively referred to as "Appellees") for occupational disability benefits on behalf of three named plaintiffs not including Meza. The district court granted summary judgment against the Union for failure to exhaust grievance and arbitration procedures. In the case at bar, the district court ruled that the previous lawsuit was res judicata to Meza's claim for occupational disability benefits and granted summary judgment in Appellees' favor. The district court also granted summary judgment for Appellees on Meza's pension benefit claim for failure to exhaust administrative remedies. This claim was dismissed without prejudice. AFFIRMED IN PART, REVERSED IN PART, AND REMANDED.

FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS BELOW

Meza was employed by GBC from 1970 to 1983, and was a member of Local 1049 of the UAW throughout this period. As a result of work-related exposure to lead and other industrial toxins, Meza suffered brain damage and, beginning in December, 1982, was no longer able to work. Meza was officially terminated as a GBC employee in May, 1983. His Union membership also terminated at that time. In January, 1985, Meza filed a Workman's Compensation lawsuit in Texas state court. The jury found that Meza had sustained an occupational disease during his employment at GBC that rendered him totally and permanently disabled.

On April 8, 1985, the Union filed a lawsuit against Appellees in Texas state court, claiming, inter alia, that Appellees singled out and discriminated against three named plaintiffs (not including Meza) by denying them occupational disability benefits set out in the 1981-1984 collective bargaining agreement between the Union and GBC. The complaint also alleged that the three named plaintiffs were members of a representative class of potential beneficiaries under the agreement, and sought class certification. The case was removed to federal district court for the Northern District of Texas. The district court denied class certification because the Union had failed to timely file a petition for certification, but allowed the suit to proceed as to non-class matters. Appellees moved for summary judgment on the ground that the Union and the three named plaintiffs had failed to exhaust contractual grievance and arbitration procedures. Neither the Union nor the individual plaintiffs responded to the motion and summary judgment was granted in Appellees' favor on May 18, 1987.

In December, 1986, and without any knowledge of the pending Union lawsuit, Meza commenced his own action against Appellees. Meza's suit sought three types of benefits allegedly due him under the 1981-1984 collective bargaining agreement between the Union and GBC: (1) Workman's Compensation Supplemental benefits (a benefit that provides the difference between an employee's regular wage and any Workman's Compensation payments for up to eight weeks) set out in Article XVI of collective bargaining agreement; (2) Group Occupational Disability benefits (a fixed weekly payment for occupationally disabled workers with no apparent time limit) set out in Exhibit "C," Article I of the agreement; and (3) a lump-sum payment of his vested Pension Plan benefits referred to in Exhibit "C," Article II of the agreement. Meza had not filed any grievance or pursued any contractual remedies related to these benefits prior to bringing suit.

Appellees filed a series of motions for summary judgment on all claims. Meza also filed motions for summary judgment. In the words of the district court judge, different orders were issued over time to dismiss "piecemeal, various parts of this action as to both Defendants." For instance, on June 24, 1988, the court denied motions for summary judgment filed by Meza and Provident, but granted GBC's summary judgment motion as to Meza's pension benefit claim because Meza had not exhausted administrative remedies provided for in the Pension Plan. On September 26, 1988, the court granted Provident's summary judgment motion as to the pension In September, 1988, GBC filed a new motion for summary judgment on the occupational disability claim. The motion, which reiterated a res judicata argument raised in GBC's original motion for summary judgment, was submitted with an affidavit from a Union representative stating that the Union fully intended to represent Meza's interests in its prior lawsuit against Appellees. Based on this new evidence, the court ruled that Meza's occupational disability claim was barred by res judicata, and granted summary judgment in GBC's favor on this issue.

benefit claim for the same reasons, and dismissed the claim without prejudice.

Then, in January, 1989, having found that Meza never received a copy of GBC's September summary judgment motion, the district court reconsidered the earlier motions for summary judgment on the occupational disability claim. The court specifically found that the prior suit by the Union was res judicata with respect to occupational disability benefits. Accordingly, the court granted summary judgment in favor of both Appellees on this issue and dismissed Meza's complaint with prejudice.

Finally, in March, 1989, the court granted Appellees' motions for summary judgment on the Workman's Compensation Supplement claim on the ground that Meza had failed to exhaust grievance and arbitration procedures. Like the pension benefit claim, the court dismissed this final claim without prejudice.

Meza concedes the applicability of grievance and arbitration procedures to the Workman's Compensation Supplement claim and does not contest the district court's ruling on this issue. However, Meza appeals the adverse grant of summary judgment on his other two claims. First, Meza contends that the district court erred in barring his occupational disability claim on the basis of res judicata. Meza maintains that he was not a party to the prior lawsuit between the Union and Appellees and that his interests were not adequately represented there. We agree, and reverse the district court's grant of summary judgment to Appellees on the question of occupational disability benefits.

Additionally, Meza claims that he should not be required to exhaust administrative remedies with respect to his pension benefits because Appellees never provided him with a copy of the Pension Plan or Plan Summary as required by statute. Although Meza acknowledges the general exhaustion requirement, he contends that Appellees' failure to provide him with a copy of the Pension Plan's administrative procedures should excuse him from having to exhaust those procedures. We reject this argument and affirm the district court's dismissal without prejudice of Meza's pension benefit claim.

DISCUSSION

I. Res Judicata

A. Background and Choice of Law

Appellees contend that the district court properly applied res judicata in dismissing with prejudice Meza's claim for occupational disability benefits. Conversely, Meza argues that he was not a party to the UAW's prior suit, that he was without notice of the suit, that the UAW did not represent his individual interests, and that the proposed class that might have represented his interests in the prior suit was never certified. Accordingly, Meza reasons that he was not bound by the prior judgment, and that the district court improperly dismissed his claim for occupational disability benefits on the basis of res judicata. We agree.

Federal law determines the res judicata effect of a prior federal court judgment. Robinson v. National Cash Register Co., 808 F.2d 1119, 1124 (5th Cir.1987); Sidag Aktiengesellschaft v. Smoked Foods Prods. Co., 776 F.2d 1270, 1273 (5th Cir.1985). Four requirements must be met in order to apply res judicata: (1) the parties must be identical in both suits; (2) the prior judgment must have been rendered by a court of competent jurisdiction; (3) there must be a final judgment on the merits; and (4) the same cause of action must be involved in both cases. Howell Hydrocarbons, Inc. v. Adams, 897 F.2d However, Meza argues that the other two requirements have not been met. He contends that there is insufficient identity between him and the UAW to bind him to the judgment in the prior suit. Meza also argues that a claim for benefits due him under the Collective Bargaining Agreement as a result of his disability is not the same as the claim previously asserted by the UAW. Because there is insufficient identity between the parties and the claims presented, Meza argues that he is not bound by the judgment in the prior lawsuit.

183, 188 (5th Cir.1990); Nilsen v. City of Moss Point, Miss., 701 F.2d 556, 559 (5th Cir.1983) (en banc); see also Parklane Hosiery Co. v. Shore, 439 U.S. 322, 327 n. 5, 99 S.Ct. 645, 649 n. 5, 58 L.Ed.2d 552 (1979) (judgment on the merits in prior suit bars second suit involving same parties or their privies...