Bell v. Western Ry. of Alabama
| Decision Date | 18 January 1934 |
| Docket Number | 3 Div. 69. |
| Citation | 153 So. 434,228 Ala. 328 |
| Parties | BELL v. WESTERN RY. OF ALABAMA. |
| Court | Alabama Supreme Court |
Rehearing Denied March 22, 1934.
Appeal from Circuit Court, Montgomery County; Leon McCord, Judge.
Action for breach of contract by James T. Bell against the Western Railway of Alabama. From a judgment of nonsuit, plaintiff appeals.
Affirmed.
Walter S. Smith, of Birmingham, for appellant.
Steiner Crum & Weil, of Montgomery, for appellee.
Action for damages by appellant, James T. Bell, against the appellee.
On the trial of the cause, owing to the adverse ruling of the court in overruling plaintiff's demurrer to defendant's pleas in abatement, the plaintiff took a nonsuit, and prosecutes this appeal upon the record. Code,§ 6431.
The complaint, as originally filed, contained seven counts; the first four being common counts, and the last three claiming damages for breach of a contract.
On the trial the plaintiff withdrew the common counts, and stood upon the three counts, which predicated his right of recovery upon a contract, which he alleged he had with the defendant, and which he alleges the defendant breached.
In each of counts 5, 6, and 7 the plaintiff alleged that on and prior to June 5, 1931, he was a member of the Association of Car Workers, a craft of railway employees, and is still a member of said association in good standing, and has been continuously since October 6, 1922; that on and prior to June 5, 1931, he was an employee of the defendant, and was an employee of defendant as a member of said association in the capacity of "triple test rack operator in the Montgomery yard of the defendant," which was "a job or position under the classification or roster 2 freight car repairers, and passenger car repairers," and that he had held said position continuously from July 13, 1922, to June 5, 1931; that the contract price fixed for plaintiff's services was 85 cents per hour; that defendant contracted with plaintiff in writing on October 6, 1922, as a member of the Association of Car Workers and as an employee of defendant, in reference to seniority rights as follows:
In the fifth count of the complaint, the plaintiff alleged the defendant breached its contract in the following particulars:
In count 6 the breach assigned is: "That although said contract was in force and effect the defendant discharged plaintiff from his said job or position as triple test rack operator in the Montgomery yard of defendant railway company and gave said position to another employee of defendant railway company who held no seniority rights under said contract, although plaintiff had fully performed his part of said written contract, and is still ready, able and willing to perform the same."
In count 7 plaintiff makes the following assignment of the breach: "Plaintiff further avers that although said contract was in force and effect that the defendant discharged plaintiff from his said job or position as triple test rack operator in the Montgomery yard of defendant railway company without cause, and wrongfully gave said position to another employee of defendant railway company who had no seniority rights under said contract and plaintiff avers that said seniority rights so acquired by him with defendant railway company through long years of service were valuable to plaintiff, and he avers that he was dependent upon his said seniority rights and upon his said job or position with defendant railway company for a livelihood for himself and his family, and plaintiff avers that as a proximate consequence of the wrongful conduct of defendant as aforesaid that he lost his seniority rights with said railway company and lost his salary upon which he and his family were dependent for a livelihood, to plaintiff's damage as aforesaid; hence this suit."
To each count of the complaint the defendant filed pleas, termed by it pleas in abatement. In plea 2 the defendant set up the matters relied upon to abate the action more in detail, and with greater particularity of averment than was done in plea 1. However, no question is here raised as to the form of either plea, but only as to their legal sufficiency to abate the action.
It is averred in plea 2 that the plaintiff and defendant were "during the time complained of" engaged in interstate commerce, and that each was amenable to the provisions of the Federal Railway Labor Act (45 USCA §§ 151-163); that under the terms of said act, it was provided that disputes between employees and employer carriers, such as are involved in this suit, should be settled and determined as provided in said act, and defendant averred that, in pursuance of the terms of said act, a board of adjustment was created under and by virtue of a written agreement entered into on September 3, 1926, by and between the defendant and the Western Railway Association of Car Workers, of which plaintiff was a member, and that, in and by the terms of said agreement creating said board of adjustment, it was provided that all disputes growing out of grievances, or the interpretation or application of agreement between the carrier and its employees, such as are involved in this suit, should be handled by said board of adjustment, and in the manner provided by said Railway Labor Act: "And defendant avers that in pursuance of the terms of said Railway Labor Act and the said written agreement creating said Board of Adjustment, plaintiff should settle or undertake to settle his alleged dispute in accordance with the provisions thereof, and not in the manner and form as alleged in his complaint, and in this suit," etc.
To the defendant's pleas the plaintiff filed a number of grounds of demurrer.
Appellant takes the position that seniority rights which he held in defendant's service were vested rights, enforceable by the courts; that under section 13 of the Bill of Rights of the Constitution of Alabama the courts are and must remain open to him, and that for any injury done to him in his lands, goods, person, or reputation he shall have a remedy by due process of law; that the Railway Labor Act of Congress of 1926 did not confer jurisdiction upon the board of adjustment to hear and determine an action for breach of contracts between the employer railroad company and one of its employees, as is presented by the case at bar; that the plea fails to aver that the defendant made any request that the matters involved in the suit be referred to the board of adjustment for settlement; that the Federal Railway Labor Act of 1926 did not take away the right of an individual employee to resort to the courts; that said pleas seek to oust the jurisdiction of the state court of a justiciable cause of action litigable in the courts of the state; that to hold that the controversy must be decided or determined by the board of adjustment would in effect make one of the parties to the suit a final judge of its own cause; and, finally, to allow the board of adjustment to make its decision final in justiciable questions would be to clothe it with functions of sovereign power, which alone create tribunals, and authorize it to forfeit or confiscate property, a right forbidden to both Congress and the Legislature of this state.
We are free to admit there would be force in some of appellant's contentions with reference to the sufficiency of the pleas were it not for matters now to be stated.
Appellant in brief makes this broad statement: "The question is squarely presented by this appeal as to whether the courts of this State or a Board of Adjustment, authorized and created by the Railway Labor Act, approved May 20, 1926, has jurisdiction over an action for breach of contract such as we have here." We think appellant, in the above excerpt, has too broadly stated the question to be determined in this case.
We may now, and here, state that it is everywhere recognized that parties sui juris may make a valid and binding contract touching a lawful subject-matter, so long as they do not violate any law of the land, or run counter to the public policy of the state or nation.
In the case before us, the appellant, as a member of the Western Railway Association of Car Workers, by and through said association, which was acting for appellant and his coemployees, entered into a written contract with the defendant railroad company, by the terms of which agreement a board of adjustment was created to hear and determine all...
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