Adkins v. General Motors Corp.

• Decision Date: 06 January 1983
• Docket Number: No. C-3-82-011.,C-3-82-011.
• Citation: 556 F. Supp. 452
• Parties: John J. ADKINS, et al., Plaintiffs, v. GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATION, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of Ohio

556 F. Supp. 452

John J. ADKINS, et al., Plaintiffs, v. GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATION, et al., Defendants.

No. C-3-82-011.

United States District Court, S.D. Ohio, W.D.

January 6, 1983.

Irving I. Saul and Dwight D. Brannon, Dayton, Ohio, for plaintiffs.

Joseph P. Buchanan, Dayton, Ohio, for defendant General Motors Corp.

Richard F. Rice, Kettering, Ohio, Carole W. Wilson, Washington, D.C., for defendants IUE-AFL-CIO and IUE-AFL-CIO Local Union 801.

J.R. Wheatley, Detroit, Mich., for defendant General Motors Corp.

DECISION AND ENTRY ON PENDING MOTIONS TO DISMISS; SAID MOTIONS TREATED AS ONE MOTION, SUSTAINED IN PART AND OVERRULED IN PART; ENTRY OF CONTINUANCE; NEW TRIAL DATE AND OTHER DATES SET; EXTENSION OF TIME GRANTED FOR FILING OF MOTIONS FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT; ORAL HEARING SET ON MOTIONS FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT; PLAINTIFFS' COUNSEL GIVEN LEAVE OF COURT TO FILE MOTION TO AMEND COMPLAINT TO ADD ADDITIONAL PARTIES PLAINTIFFS; DIRECTIONS TO COUNSEL; CONFERENCE CALL SET

RICE, District Judge.

In this matter, Plaintiffs have filed an original and amended complaint, alleging that Defendants have violated a variety of federal labor statutes and state common law duties. One of the Defendants, General Motors Corp. (GMC), has filed motions to dismiss said complaints (docs. # # 6 & 14). For convenience, said motions will be considered as one motion, to dismiss the amended complaint. Based on the reasoning set out below, said motion is sustained in part and overruled in part.

I. ALLEGATIONS IN THE COMPLAINTS

The original and amended complaints, taken together, amount to almost 100 pages of text. Named as Plaintiffs are 342 employees and former employees of the Delco Air Conditioning Division of GMC (numbered 1 through 342 in the original complaint), and a number of their respective spouses (numbered 343 through 600 in said complaint). Named as Defendants are GMC, the International Union of Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers, AFL-CIO (IUE), and its Local 801.

Plaintiffs allege that the IUE and Local 801 violated their duty of fair representation under § 301 of the Labor Management Relations Act (LMRA), 29 U.S.C. § 185, and under § 101(a)(1) of the Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA), 29 U.S.C. § 411(a)(1), with respect to their negotiation, adoption and implementation of certain collective bargaining agreements. Plaintiffs also allege that GMC breached said collective bargaining agreements in certain stated particulars.

Detailed descriptions of the parties, and of the aforementioned breaches, take up over 20 pages in the original complaint. The primary allegations may be, very briefly, summarized as follows. Some Plaintiffs were members of the so-called "red-circled 5500." Pursuant to a "Bridge Agreement" between Frigidaire and Local 801, dated December 10, 1976, that group had the right to transfer to the Delco division. Plaintiffs herein were part of a group of approximately 2000 who elected to transfer to Delco. That transfer, Plaintiffs contend, was made with the "implied understanding" that they would be treated equally, vis-a-vis other members of the "red-circled 5500," in accordance with their accumulated Frigidaire seniority, which seniority would be preserved in their post-Frigidaire tenure. However, two new collective bargaining agreements, entered into in February and September of 1979, substantially modified the "Bridge" agreement. These agreements provided for the transfer of Frigidaire employees to the newly operational Moraine truck plants, and for the recall of laid-off Frigidaire — but not Delco — employees. Through these acts, Plaintiffs allege, IUE and Local 801 breached their duty of fair representation by irrational, arbitrary and discriminatory conduct. Moreover, they further contend, said acts constituted a breach of the implied obligations in the Bridge Agreement. Finally, they allege, the manner in which the IUE and Local 801 conducted ratification votes on the 1979 agreements was arbitrary, discriminatory, and also violated the LMRDA. Plaintiffs prayed for extensive monetary and equitable relief.

In their amended complaint, Plaintiffs first reiterate all the allegations in the original complaint, and redesignate same as Count One. Invoking this Court's pendent jurisdiction, Plaintiffs set out a number of state law claims under Count Two. After incorporating by reference the allegations in Count One, Plaintiffs allege in pertinent part, that said acts

constitute on the part of IUE, 801 and GM ... the tortious interference with, invasion of and conspiracy against ... (b) pertinent labor agreements that otherwise would have subsisted for the benefit of said plaintiffs numbered 1 through 342;

Amended Complaint, ¶ 72. Plaintiffs also allege that they have suffered, as a result of "violations of their common law rights ... appreciable emotional distress, anxiety and mental anguish." ¶ 74. Moreover, due to the violations just mentioned, these Plaintiffs who are spouses allege that they have "sustained a loss of services, society and companionship with respect to each such spouse's husband or wife." ¶ 75. Appropriate monetary and equitable relief is requested for the common law claims, as well.

II. GMC'S MOTION TO DISMISS IS SUSTAINED IN PART AND OVERRULED IN PART

As noted above, the Court will treat, for convenience, GMC's pending motions to dismiss as one motion to dismiss both counts of the complaint, as amended. In a motion to dismiss, pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6), the Court must accept as true all wellpleaded allegations in the complaint, and only sustain the motion if it appears beyond doubt that Plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of his claim which would entitle him to relief. Westlake v. Lucas, 537 F.2d 857, 858 (6th Cir.1976). With this standard in mind, the Court turns to the allegations set forth in Counts One and Two.

A. COUNT ONE ALLEGATIONS

Defendant GMC advances several reasons why the allegations of federal labor law violations should be dismissed. First, GMC contends that the allegations of arbitrary and discriminatory conduct are made in an inadequate and conclusory manner. Moreover, GMC asserts, Plaintiffs essentially seek to rely on seniority rights from the Bridge Agreement, which rights were simply eliminated when said agreement was extinguished and superseded by the 1979 agreements. Finally, GMC argues that marital status does not create a cause of action under § 301 of the LMRA, and that the Plaintiffs who are spouses should not be entitled to sue thereunder.

GMC's first two arguments are not well taken. As Plaintiffs clearly recognize in their complaint, a union's breach of the duty of fair representation can be predicated on action, or inaction, toward any union member which is arbitrary, discriminatory, or in bad faith, and which amounts to something more than mere negligence. Vaca v. Sipes, 386 U.S. 171, 87 S.Ct. 903, 17 L.Ed.2d 842 (1967); Farmer v. ARA Services, Inc., 660 F.2d 1096, 1103 (6th Cir.1981). It is also true, as Defendant insists, that Plaintiffs must allege more than conclusory statements of arbitrary and discriminating conduct. Whitten v. Anchor Motor Freight, Inc., 521 F.2d 1335, 1341 (6th Cir.1975), cert. denied, 425 U.S. 981, 96 S.Ct. 2188, 48 L.Ed.2d 807 (1976); Balowski v. UAW, 372 F.2d 829, 835 (6th Cir.1967). However, there is no question that Plaintiffs' allegations go beyond mere conclusory statements. In their lengthy and detailed allegations, Plaintiffs present facts which, if true, would arguably demonstrate arbitrary, discriminatory, and bad faith conduct on the part of Defendants.

Similarly, it appears clear that Plaintiffs' liability claim is not "grounded on the theory that their seniority extends beyond the term of the Local Bridge Agreement dated December 10, 1976." GMC's motion to dismiss, doc. # 6, p. 4. Instead, as Plaintiffs explain in their memorandum contra, doc. # 20, pp. 1-2, the § 301 claim against GMC is predicated on GMC having acted, in concert with the unions, to modify their seniority rights in an arbitrary and discriminatory manner. Also, as Plaintiffs assert, GMC begs the question when it states that the Bridge Agreement has ended, since the replacement agreements should be rendered void by Defendants' wrongdoing. Again, these allegations, if true, could support a finding that GMC breached one or more of the various collective bargaining agreements set forth in the allegations. See also, Parker v. Teamsters Local 413, 501 F.Supp. 440, 449-50 (S.D.Ohio 1980), aff'd without opinion, 657 F.2d 269 (6th Cir.1981).

The Court does find, however, that GMC's last argument is well taken. Plaintiffs numbered 343 through 600 are described in Count One as "spouses" of earlier named employee-plaintiffs, Original Complaint, ¶ 10. Their injury is alleged to be the "loss of services, society, and companionship" of the spouse, as a "direct result" of the mental distress suffered by the employee-spouse. ¶ 62. No formal relationship between the spouses and any one of the Defendants is alleged. Without citing authority, GMC argues that "there are absolutely no factual allegations that support the conclusion that said spouses have rights under § 301. Surely marital status does not create a cause of action based on breach of the collective bargaining agreement." GMC's motion to dismiss, doc. # 6, p. 2. Plaintiffs did not reply to this issue in their memorandum contra.

To resolve this question, the Court must decide which parties can bring suit under § 301. The statute is not particularly helpful, since it speaks in the passive voice ("suits ... may be brought"), and does not identify who can bring suit. However, "courts have generally held that § 301 creates federal jurisdiction only over parties to the contract being sued upon." Metropolitan Detroit Bricklayers v. J.E. Hoetger & Co., 672 F.2d 580, 583 (6th Cir.1982). In addition, as this Court recently stated:

it is settled in this Circuit

...