Benson v. General Motors Corp., CV 81-M-0416.

• Decision Date: 23 December 1981
• Docket Number: No. CV 81-M-0416.,CV 81-M-0416.
• Citation: 539 F. Supp. 55
• Parties: Harold E. BENSON, et al., Plaintiffs, v. GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATION, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of Alabama

539 F. Supp. 55

Harold E. BENSON, et al., Plaintiffs, v. GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATION, et al., Defendants.

No. CV 81-M-0416.

United States District Court, N. D. Alabama, W. D.

December 23, 1981.

Jack Drake, Drake & Pierce, Ray, Oliver & Ward, Tuscaloosa, Ala., for plaintiffs.

Robert S. Giolito, Stanford, Fagan & Giolito, Atlanta, Ga., Joseph L. Battle, Huntsville, Ala., Charles A. Powell, III, Lange, Simpson, Somerville & Robinson, Birmingham, Ala., for defendants.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

McFADDEN, District Judge.

This cause came before the court upon the twice amended motion of defendant General Motors Corporation (GM) to dismiss, and upon the motion of plaintiffs to amend their complaint. The motions having been set on a regularly scheduled motion docket, oral argument having been heard, and matters outside the pleadings having been presented to and not excluded by the court, the defendant's motion shall be treated as one for summary judgment.

Plaintiffs, and the class they seek to represent, had been employed by GM at plants in various American cities. Pursuant to a procedure granting eligible seniority employees covered by the GM-UAW National Agreement preferential consideration for hiring at certain new plants, plaintiffs and all putative class members were hired to work in the Tuscaloosa plant. Plaintiffs contend, however, that they were not accorded preferential consideration, that 150 other persons were hired by the Tuscaloosa plant, resulting in a lower seniority status for plaintiffs, and that, as a consequence, all plaintiffs and putative class members were laid off in October 1980. Plaintiffs also contend that they have filed no grievance because GM and the International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW) have taken the position that the procedure for preferential consideration cannot be the subject of a grievance.

On March 19, 1981, plaintiffs filed this action, on behalf of themselves and all others similarly situated, against GM and UAW under § 301 of the Labor Management Relations Act (LMRA), 29 U.S.C. § 185. Plaintiffs alleged that defendant UAW has breached its duty of fair representation and that defendant GM has breached its agreement with UAW to accord plaintiffs preferential consideration. Thus, plaintiffs' action is one that has been characterized as a hybrid § 301-breach of duty action.

Among the grounds for its motion to dismiss, defendant contends that plaintiffs' claims are barred by the six-month limitations period prescribed by § 10(b) of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), 29 U.S.C. § 160(b). Defendant directs the court's attention to the Supreme Court's opinion in United Parcel Service, Inc. v. Mitchell, 451 U.S. 56, 101 S.Ct. 1559, 67 L.Ed.2d 732 (1981), wherein the Court indicates that, if given the opportunity, it would apply the six-month limitations period prescribed by § 10(b) of the NLRA in a hybrid § 301-breach of duty suit, rather than looking to state law for the appropriate limitations period as...