Louisville & N.R. Co. v. Miller

• Decision Date: 29 December 1941
• Docket Number: 27573.
• Court: Indiana Supreme Court
• Parties: LOUISVILLE & N. R. CO. et al. v. MILLER et al.

38 N.E.2d 239

219 Ind. 389

LOUISVILLE & N. R. CO. et al. v. MILLER et al.

No. 27573.

Supreme Court of Indiana

December 29, 1941

Craig & Craig, of Evansville (W. A. Endle, of Cleveland, Ohio of counsel), for appellant.

Elmer Q. Lockyear, Charles J. Eichel, and Theodore Lockyear, all of Evansville, for appellee.

FANSLER Judge.

This is a controversy between members of the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen. The railroad companies have no interest in the result. The appellees began the action on behalf of themselves and all other switchmen and yardmen employed by the Louisville and Nashville Railroad Company in Vanderburgh County, Indiana. The purpose of the suit is to prevent the employment of certain members of the brotherhood in the switching yards operated by the Louisville and Nashville Railroad Company in Vanderburgh County. There was a permanent injunction in favor of the plaintiffs.

The only error assigned upon appeal is the overruling of a motion for a new trial upon the grounds that the decision of the court is not sustained by sufficient evidence, that the decision of the court is contrary to law, and that certain evidence was improperly admitted.

If there was error in the admission of evidence it cannot be seen that it prejudiced the rights of the appellants.

The controlling facts are not in dispute. Both railroad companies have contracts with the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen providing for seniority rights for employees. By the terms of this agreement, members of the brotherhood employed by the Louisville and Nashville Railroad Company were entitled to seniority rights in the Louisville and Nashville Railroad Company yards, and members of the brotherhood employed by the Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railway Company were entitled to seniority rights in the yards of that company. Both railroad companies operate trains into the City of Evansville. Prior to 1935 both railroad companies maintained depots. Some of the Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railway Company trains ended their run at Evansville and returned north, while others were through trains which continued south from Evansville on the Louisville and Nashville Railroad. Prior to 1935, the Chicago and Eastern Illinois switching of these trains was conducted in its own yards. In 1935 the Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railway Company depot was closed and all the trains were run into the Louisville and Nashville Railroad Company depot, and all train switching was thereafter done in the Louisville and Nashville Railroad Company switching yards.

The Louisville and Nashville yardmen claimed the privilege of doing all of the switching in the Louisville and Nashville yards by reason of their claim of exclusive seniority privileges under the brotherhood contract with the railroad company. The Chicago and Eastern Illinois yardmen claimed the right to do a certain part of the switching upon the theory that there had been a 'merger' within the meaning of article 'G' of the Declaration of Policy of the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen, and that their seniority rights were protected, and that they were entitled to participate in the switching of the merged operation. This controversy was submitted to the general chairman of the brotherhood for each railroad system, who were unable to agree, and the matter was, under the rules of the brotherhood, referred to the president of the brotherhood who sustained the contention of the Chicago and Eastern Illinois yardmen. Thereupon the Louisville and Nashville yardmen appealed from the decision of the president to the board of appeals of the brotherhood. The board of appeals reversed the decision of the president, sustaining the contention of the Louisville and Nashville yardmen. At the next meeting of the grand lodge, the supreme power in the brotherhood, the decision of the board of appeals was reversed, and a decision made in favor of the Chicago and Eastern Illinois yardmen.

The case as presented to the court below and to this court depends for its solution entirely upon an interpretation and construction of the constitution and laws of the union respecting the jurisdiction of various union agencies to decide the questions presented by the controversy and the...