Alier v. Tuscan Dairy Farms, Inc.
| Decision Date | 19 November 1992 |
| Docket Number | D,355,Nos. 354,s. 354 |
| Citation | 979 F.2d 946 |
| Parties | 141 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2857, 123 Lab.Cas. P 10,474 Jose ALIER, Joseph Arena, Bruce Barnwell, Edward Baronowski, Michael J. LoBascio, George J. Bauer, Domenico Berardesca, Robert Bertone, Jonathan Blum, William Boehmer, Vito DiBono, Edward Bottjer, Robert Brice, Charles Brown, Edward Buchalski, Charles Campo, Anthony Carbone, Arnold Carlin, Edward P. Casale, Richard Charnow, John Clifford, Frank Colletti, Frank Cooke, Joseph G. Costa, Philip Cuiffo, J. DiDonato, Lawrence Donley, Richard Dreste, Robert Dreste, Frank Dushanowitz, Robert W. Eger, Ely Fallas, Dennis R. Gaglia, Nicholas C. Gaglia, Hiraza M. Gialampoukis, Arthur Goldstein, Robert Gorski, Lawrence Harney, Jerry K. Hennig, William Hoare, Basil Hurgus, Lionel Inselberg, Dave Johnston, Arthur Jones, William Jones, Dennis Jordan, Joseph Koenig, Robert Ledee, Heinz Leonhardt, Ernest Lewis, William Lindstat, Joseph Manfre, Luis Manzano, Anthony DeMarco, John F. DiMarco, Richard Maskelony, Robert Meoli, Robert Moller, Raymond Monahan, Salvatore Montalbano, John B. Mueller, Thomas Murphy, Ralph Nazarro, Anthony Nazzaro, Charles Nettles, Patrick Nolan, Richard Pluschau, Ralph Polverino, John Porter, Jr., John R. Pulaski, Domenick Rafanelli, James C. Rennick, Kenneth Rodden, Lawrence H. Ross, John Saladino, Kenneth Sawicki, Leonard Schulman, Filippo Simone, Robert E. Spahn, Jeff DeStefano, Steve DeStefano, John Stoehrer, Victor Tello, Theodore Freudenberg, James Treanor, William Treanor, Voldemar Vaher, Sidney Waldman, John Wittman, Jr., Fredderick Pluschau, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. TUSCAN DAIRY FARMS, INC., and Willie Whelan as President of Local 584, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Defendants, Tuscan Dairy Farms, Inc., and Local 584, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Defendants-Appellants. ockets 92-7546, 92-7548. Second Circuit |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit |
Louie Nikolaidis, New York City (Daniel E. Clifton, Thomas M. Kennedy, Arthur Z. Schwartz, Lauren Esposito, Lewis, Greenwald, Kennedy, Lewis, Clifton & Schwartz, P.C., on the brief), for plaintiffs-appellees.
John T. Driscoll, New York City (Driscoll & Delaney, on the brief), for defendant-appellant Local 584, Intern. Broth. of Teamsters.
Richard M. Naness, Melville, N.Y. (Clifford P. Chalet, Carmelo Grimaldi, Kaufman, Naness, Schneider & Rosensweig, P.C., Melville, N.Y., on the brief), for defendant-appellant Tuscan Dairy Farms, Inc.
Before LUMBARD, FEINBERG, and KEARSE, Circuit Judges.
Defendants Tuscan Dairy Farms, Inc. ("Tuscan"), and Local 584, International Brotherhood of Teamsters ("Local 584" or the "Union") appeal from a final judgment of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, after a bench trial before Michael B. Mukasey, Judge, ordering them, jointly and severally, principally to pay plaintiff Union members Jose Alier, et al., a total of some $5.3 million in backpay, pension benefits, severance pay, and fringe benefits in satisfaction of plaintiffs' claims that Tuscan breached a collective bargaining agreement with Local 584 and that Local 584 breached its duty of fair representation to plaintiffs. Defendants make a number of arguments on appeal. Without reaching their present contentions, we vacate the judgment and remand for further consideration in light of recent Supreme Court authority.
The present action arises out of the purchase by Tuscan of Liberty Farms, Inc. ("Liberty"), a milk processor and distributor with a plant in Ozone Park, New York. Tuscan operated milk processing plants in Lindenhurst and Woodside, New York, and was party to a multi-employer collective bargaining agreement with Local 584; Tuscan purchased Liberty after entering into an agreement with Local 584's president that the Union would not press for a merger of the Ozone Park seniority list into Tuscan's Lindenhurst and Woodside seniority lists. As a result of this agreement, which was not submitted to the union membership for ratification, plaintiffs, who were workers at Ozone Park, were advised to seek other employment. The Union rejected their requests that it demand that Tuscan arbitrate the issue of merger of the seniority lists.
In an opinion dated November 26, 1990, and published at 752 F.Supp. 116, the district court ruled, following a bench trial as to liability, (1) that by entering...
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Lewis v. Tuscan Dairy Farms, Inc.
... ... On the appeal by Tuscan and the Union from the judgment in Lewis I, we remanded the case for reconsideration in light of the Supreme Court's opinion in Air Line Pilots Association v. O'Neill, 499 U.S. 65, 111 S.Ct. 1127, 113 L.Ed.2d 51 (1991). Alier v. Tuscan Dairy Farms, 979 F.2d 946 (2d Cir.1992) (per curiam). On remand, the district court confirmed its 1990 decision in an opinion and order dated August 30, 1993. Lewis v. Tuscan Dairy Farms, 829 F.Supp. 665 (Lewis II ). Tuscan and Whelan again appeal. For reasons set forth below, on the ... ...
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Lewis v. Tuscan Dairy Farms, Inc.
...and Woodside plants, and that both defendants were liable to plaintiffs as a result. On appeal sub nom. Alier v. Tuscan Dairy Farms, Inc., 979 F.2d 946 (2d Cir. 1992), the Court of Appeals remanded the case for further consideration in light of Air Line Pilots Association, International v. ......
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Lewis v. Whelan
...Court's opinion in Air Line Pilots Ass'n v. O'Neill, 499 U.S. 65, 111 S.Ct. 1127, 113 L.Ed.2d 51 (1991). Alier v. Tuscan Dairy Farms, Inc., 979 F.2d 946, 948 (2d Cir.1992) (per curiam). The district court confirmed its decision on remand. Lewis v. Tuscan Dairy Farms, Inc., 829 F.Supp. 665 (......