Buffalow v. Bull
| Decision Date | 28 July 1981 |
| Docket Number | No. WD,WD |
| Parties | 110 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2499, 93 Lab.Cas. P 13,294 Wilbur S. BUFFALOW, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Frederick N. BULL, William Sidell, Dean Sooter and United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, Defendants-Respondents. 31436. |
| Court | Missouri Court of Appeals |
Jack L. Campbell, Dennis D. Palmer, Kansas City, for plaintiff-appellant; Shughart, Thomson & Kilroy, Kansas City, of counsel.
C. David Whipple, Whipple, Eisler & Kraft, P. C., Kansas City, William McGowan, Washington, D. C., for defendants-respondents.
Carin A. Clauss, Sol. of Labor, Beate Bloch, Associate Sol., William Taylor, Atty., Washington, D.C., for Secretary of Labor, U.S. Dept. of Labor, as amicus curiae; Robert E. Kopp, U.S. Dept. of Justice, Tedrick House, Regional Sol., John B. Renick, Deputy Regional Sol., U.S. Dept. of Labor, Washington, D.C., of counsel.
Before KENNEDY, P. J., and SHANGLER and SOMERVILLE, JJ.
Wilbur S. Buffalow (Buffalow), on the heels of being removed from office as business representative of the Kansas City, Missouri District Council (District Council) of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America (Brotherhood), filed a multi-count petition in the Circuit Court of Jackson County, Missouri, seeking damages and reinstatement to office.
A prefatory statement is in order to clarify the genesis of this litigation and the identity of the parties. The Brotherhood, prior to Buffalow's removal, had assumed complete supervision over the District Council. Parenthetically, the term "supervision" is synonymous with the term "trusteeship" as used in 29 U.S.C. §§ 461-466. The grounds relied upon for placing the District Council under supervision or trusteeship may be fairly paraphrased as follows: failure on the part of the District Council to maintain proper administrative and financial records; lack of cooperation on the part of some business representatives in carrying out the functions of the District Council; and improper "policing" of work jurisdiction resulting in substantial loss of work for the membership of the District Council. Buffalow does not take issue with the grounds relied upon or the procedures followed for placing the District Council under supervision or trusteeship. After the General Executive Board of the Brotherhood assumed supervision over the District Council, William Sidell (Sidell), general president of the Brotherhood, appointed Frederick Bull (Bull) to supervise the affairs of the District Council and Dean Sooter (Sooter) as his assistant. After their appointments, Bull and Sooter removed Buffalow as business representative of the District Council without notice or a hearing and refused to reinstate him. Buffalow had been elected to serve as business representative of the District Council for a term of three years. Approximately a year and a half of his three year term remained at the time of his removal. The record discloses that Buffalow's removal by Bull and Sooter as business representative was occasioned by his attitude of belligerence and scepticism regarding any wrongdoing on the part of the District Council sufficient to justify imposition of the trusteeship and an unsympathetic attitude towards implementation of the corrective programs to be initiated under the trusteeship. Buffalow does not dispute or question the verity of the grounds relied upon by Bull and Sooter for removing him as business representative of the District Council. The Brotherhood, Sidell, Bull, and Sooter were named as defendants in the multi-count petition filed by Buffalow.
The various counts of Buffalow's petition may be generally described as seeking damages for breach of contract, damages for tortious interference with contractual rights, and injunctive relief for reinstatement to office.
Defendants filed a timely petition for removal in the United States District Court, Western District of Missouri, on the theory that Buffalow's exclusive remedy was under 29 U.S.C. § 482 and that said federal statute preempted any state court cause of action by Buffalow. On motion of Buffalow, the United States District Court remanded the case to the Circuit Court of Jackson County, Missouri, on the ground that Buffalow's multicount petition, on its face, failed to contain any allegations which would give the federal court original jurisdiction, and any federal question arising by way of a contemplated "defense" was insufficient to give it original jurisdiction.
After Buffalow's multi-count petition was remanded to the Circuit Court of Jackson County, Missouri, defendants filed a motion for summary judgment and Buffalow responded with a motion for summary judgment as to all issues except damages. Two common issues were drawn by the respective motions for summary judgment which may be tersely formed by placing them in question form. Does 29 U.S.C. § 482(a) provide an exclusive remedy for Buffalow and preempt his state court cause of action? In the event Buffalow's state court action is not preempted by 29 U.S.C. § 482(a), did his removal as business representative of the District Council violate certain provisions of the Constitution and Laws of the Brotherhood? Buffalow contended below, and continues to contend on appeal, that the first question should be answered in the negative and the second question should be answered in the affirmative. Conversely, defendants contended below, and continue to contend on appeal, that the first question should be answered in the affirmative and the second question should be answered in the negative.
The trial court entered summary judgment in favor of defendants and against Buffalow and, albeit anomalously, dually held that 29 U.S.C. § 482(a) preempted Buffalow's state court action and that Buffalow's removal from office as business representative of the District Council did not violate any provisions of the Constitution and Laws of the Brotherhood. The matter is now before this court on Buffalow's appeal from the adverse summary judgment entered by the trial court.
The respective motions for summary judgment rested upon sundry exhibits mutually agreed to, certain admissions, uncontroverted portions of various pleadings, and excerpts from various depositions. Suffice it to say, the parties admit that no genuine issue as to any material fact exists and that the sole question on appeal is whether defendants were entitled to summary judgment as a matter of law. Kaufman v. Bormaster, 599 S.W.2d 35, 37 (Mo.App.1980).
It quickly becomes apparent that it may or may not be necessary to answer both questions, supra, in order to dispose of this appeal. If the first question is answered in the affirmative, the issue posed by the second question is never reached. On the other hand, if the first question is answered in the negative, the answer to the second question becomes dispositive of the appeal.
Attention first focuses on the primal question of whether 29 U.S.C. § 482(a) constituted an exclusive remedy for Buffalow and preempted his purported state court cause of action. As noted in New York Tel. Co. v. New York St. Dept. of Labor, 440 U.S. 519, 99 S.Ct. 1328, 1334, 59 L.Ed.2d 553 (1979),
The federal statute, supra, which defendants lean so heavily upon, is part of Title IV of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act. Title IV is captioned "Elections" and is codified in 29 U.S.C. §§ 481-483. In order to discern the meaning and import of 29 U.S.C. § 482(a), it must be read in context with certain other provisions of Title IV of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act. In pursuit of this course, 29 U.S.C. § 481 is captioned "Terms of office and election procedures", and subsections (h) and (i), which are the only subsections touching upon the removal of officers, read as follows:
At this juncture, it is important to note that Buffalow does not contend that the procedures for removal of elected officers contained in the Constitution and Laws of the Brotherhood were inadequate.
29 U.S.C. § 482 is captioned "Enforcement ". Subsection (a) thereof, the meaning and applicability of which is one of the core issues on appeal, reads as follows:
"Filing of complaint; presumption of validity of challenged election
(a) A member of a labor organization
(1) who has exhausted the remedies available under the constitution and bylaws of such organization and of any parent body, or
(2) who has invoked such available remedies without obtaining a final decision within three calendar months after their invocation may file a complaint with the Secretary within one calendar month thereafter alleging the violation of any provision of section 481...
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