Almeida v. United Steelworkers of America

• Citation: 50 F.Supp.2d 115
• Decision Date: 02 June 1999
• Docket Number: C.A. No. 98-499L.
• Parties: Richard ALMEIDA, Plaintiff, v. UNITED STEELWORKERS OF AMERICA INTERNATIONAL UNION, AFL-CIO; Leo W. Gerard, International Secretary Treasurer; and George Becker, International President, Defendants.
• Court: United States State Supreme Court of Rhode Island

50 F.Supp.2d 115

Richard ALMEIDA, Plaintiff, v. UNITED STEELWORKERS OF AMERICA INTERNATIONAL UNION, AFL-CIO; Leo W. Gerard, International Secretary Treasurer; and George Becker, International President, Defendants.

C.A. No. 98-499L.

United States District Court, D. Rhode Island.

June 2, 1999.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Charles S. Kirwan, Pawtucket, RI, for plaintiff.

Richard M. Peirce, Adam C. Robitaille, Roberts, Carroll, Feldstein & Peirce, Providence, RI, Bruce A. Miller, Miller & Cohen, P.L.C., Detroit, MI, for defendants.

DECISION AND ORDER

LAGUEUX, Chief Judge.

Plaintiff Richard Almeida ("Almeida"), an employee of defendant United Steelworkers of America International Union, AFL—CIO ("Steelworkers"), ran unsuccessfully for an elective union post. Almeida claims that incumbent Steelworkers officials, smarting from his public criticisms of their administration, retaliated against his elective challenge by harassing him, firing him from his union employment, and dismissing him from union membership. Alleging violations of state and federal law, Almeida seeks monetary and equitable relief for these wrongs. At this stage of the proceedings, defendants urge dismissal of the Complaint while plaintiff requests leave to amend his pleading. For the reasons discussed below, both motions are granted in part and denied in part.

BACKGROUND

For the purposes of analyzing both defendants' Motion to Dismiss and plaintiff's Motion to Amend, the Court construes plaintiff's pleadings in the light most favorable to plaintiff, taking all well-pleaded allegations as true and giving plaintiff the benefit of all reasonable inferences. See Figueroa v. Rivera, 147 F.3d 77, 80 (1st Cir.1998); cf. Glassman v. Computervision Corp., 90 F.3d 617, 623 (1st Cir.1996) (explaining that there is no difference in the standards of review for ruling on motions to dismiss and motions to amend when the amendment is challenged for futility). With that perspective fixed, the Court will now examine the facts alleged by plaintiff.

In 1995, Almeida, a long-time employee of the United Rubber Workers International Union and a Rhode Island resident, became an employee and a member of the Steelworkers when the two unions merged. Almeida worked as a Staff Representative for his new union, a non-managerial position covered by a collective bargaining agreement. In this position, Almeida was also a member of the Staff Representatives' Union, an organization formed for the purpose of representing certain employees of the Steelworkers' union. A collective bargaining agreement between the Staff Representatives' Union and the Steelworkers (the "CBA") entered into on April 28, 1995 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania governs the full range of terms and conditions of Almeida's employment. Most importantly, Article VI of the CBA provides that "[n]o employee shall be suspended or discharged except for just cause." The CBA also provides for grievance and arbitration procedures for resolution of disputes between individual employees and the management of the Steelworkers.

Beginning in 1997 and continuing into 1998, Almeida was based in the Steelworkers' subdistrict office in Auburn, Massachusetts. He serviced local union affiliates throughout New England and New York, except that in 1997 his responsibility for Rhode Island locals ended. On June 11, 1998, the Steelworkers informed Almeida that he was fired. Almeida claims that his union membership was also terminated at that time. When Almeida attempted in September 1998 to lodge a formal complaint against a union official for violations of the Steelworkers' constitution, the union responded by questioning Almeida's "standing" to petition the organization "given your doubtful membership status in the International."

Almeida argues that he was nothing short of an exemplary employee and, therefore, the Steelworkers could not establish that his termination was supported by "just cause." To the contrary, he argues that improper, and actionable, motives underlie the Steelworkers' treatment of him. Prior to his termination, Almeida ran for elective union office against an incumbent official. Almeida's self-portrait depicts a union dissident, vocal in his criticisms of the status quo and steadfast in his campaign to effect change in the organization by publicly exposing its defects.

Steelworkers' officials had other reasons to try to silence Almeida. Almeida contends that he was punished for disclosing and threatening to disclose irregularities in the Steelworkers' administration to federal officials. Almeida filed complaints with the National Labor Relations Board accusing Steelworkers officials of violating federal law. He also informed the union that he planned to report to the Internal Revenue Service certain illegal tax payment practices of the Steelworkers. Almeida does not allege that he followed through with this threat.

Both the Complaint and the Amended Complaint identify specific ways in which the Steelworkers allegedly punished Almeida. According to these pleadings, union officials harassed, threatened, and assaulted Almeida, assigned him to work at sites far from his home to interfere with his family life and make it impossible for him to perform his duties effectively, caused him to be arrested without cause, spread unfounded rumors about him within the union, and filed unjustified counterclaims in this lawsuit. But Almeida claims that exercise of his free speech rights came at even greater costs — loss of both his job and his membership in the Steelworkers' union. Plaintiff avers that the Steelworkers as an organization acted with the intention to harm him and prevent him from exercising his rights to participate in union democracy and to express a viewpoint that challenges the established union hierarchy.

Plaintiff has opted to seek vindication of his rights on two fronts. On June 12, 1998, four days after being terminated from his union employment, Almeida filed a grievance pursuant to the CBA, arguing that the Steelworkers terminated him without just cause. On May 3, 1999, an arbitrator ruled that the Steelworkers were justified in disciplining Almeida, but that termination was too harsh a penalty for his errors. The arbitrator instead imposed a one-month suspension without pay and ordered that the Steelworkers reimburse Almeida for lost wages beyond that period.

This lawsuit represents the second tack taken by Almeida to remedy the injustices he perceives. On October 2, 1998, plaintiff filed the original Complaint in this lawsuit. In it, he asserted four causes of action. Count I alleged that defendants violated the Rhode Island Whistleblowers' Protection Act, R.I.Gen.Laws §§ 28-50-1 to -9 (1995), by retaliating against Almeida for his reports to government agencies. Count II alleged that defendants violated plaintiff's rights under one subsection of the Bill of Rights of Members of Labor Organizations, 29 U.S.C. § 411(a)(2), by depriving Almeida of his full union membership rights for publicly expressing his views about the Steelworkers' administration. Count III alleged that defendants violated 29 U.S.C. § 529 by improperly dismissing Almeida from union membership in the Steelworkers in retaliation for his vocal dissension. Through his two filings, plaintiff has requested a full range of remedies. Some relate to his loss of union employment, including back pay, future pay, and the value of lost fringe benefits. He has also alleged damages not necessarily related to his employment losses, but potentially arising from defendants' other actions. He seeks compensation for physical and emotional distress as well as for damage to his career and reputation. Punitive damages, attorney's fees, and an order prohibiting further retaliatory acts by the Steelworkers are also being pressed. Jurisdiction is premised on diversity of the parties, the federal question doctrine, specific labor law grants of jurisdiction, and pendant jurisdiction. Defendants have filed a counterclaim alleging that plaintiff is liable to them for breach of duty as an employee and for abuse of process.

On December 8, 1998, Almeida filed a Motion to Amend his original Complaint. On the following day, defendants filed a Motion to Dismiss the original Complaint. Both motions were argued before the Court on February 2, 1999. This Court issued an order staying discovery until these two motions are resolved.

The Amended Complaint both adds and subtracts from the original pleading. The amendment drops the cause of action based on the Rhode Island Whistleblowers' Protection Act. Count I of the Amended Complaint outlines a new cause of action alleging that defendants violated the public policy doctrines of the Commonwealths of Massachusetts and Pennsylvania, the two states whose laws are potentially applicable to suits arising from Almeida's termination of employment. Count II of the Amended Complaint also outlines a new cause of action alleging that defendants violated the federal False Claims Act, 31 U.S.C. § 3730(h), by interfering with Almeida's plan to inform the Internal Revenue Service of wrongdoing. Counts III through VI of the Amended Complaint expand on the original Complaint's allegation that defendants violated Almeida's rights under the Bill of Rights of Members of Labor Organizations, 29 U.S.C. § 411. Count III alleges a violation of 29 U.S.C. § 411(a)(1). Count IV alleges a violation of 29 U.S.C. § 411(a)(2). Count V alleges a violation of 29 U.S.C. § 411(a)(4). Count VI alleges a violation of 29 U.S.C. § 411(a)(5). Finally, Count VII of the Amended Complaint repeats the cause of action based on 29 U.S.C. 529 included in the original Complaint.

Defendants object, claiming that the amendments are futile. Because the legal standard for determining the futility of an amendment is the same as that applied to a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim, this Court will consider the causes of action presented by both the...