Carrion v. Enterprise Ass'n

• Decision Date: 01 August 1999
• Docket Number: Docket No. 99-7433
• Citation: 227 F.3d 29
• Parties: (2nd Cir. 2000) RANDOLPH CARRION, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. ENTERPRISE ASSOCIATION, METAL TRADES BRANCH LOCAL UNION 638, ONESOURCE FACILITY SERVICES, INC., formerly known as International Service System, Inc., Defendants-Appellees, METROPOLITAN LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY, ANTHONY HALL, PETER WINSTON, and STUYVESANT TOWN, Defendants
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit

Page 29

227 F.3d 29 (2nd Cir. 2000)

RANDOLPH CARRION, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. ENTERPRISE ASSOCIATION, METAL TRADES BRANCH LOCAL UNION 638, ONESOURCE FACILITY SERVICES, INC., formerly known as International Service System, Inc., Defendants-Appellees, METROPOLITAN LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY, ANTHONY HALL, PETER WINSTON, and STUYVESANT TOWN, Defendants.

Docket No. 99-7433

August Term, 1999

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SECOND CIRCUIT

Argued: November 19, 1999)

Decided: Sept. 25, 2000)

Appeal from a judgment of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York (I. Leo Glasser, Judge), upon a March 5, 1999 Memorandum & Order granting summary judgment to Defendants-Appellees because the Plaintiff-Appellant's claims were time barred.

AFFIRMED.

[Copyrighted Material Omitted] Charmaine M. Stewart, Charmaine M. Stewart & Associates, Rosedale, NY (Marcia W. Brathwaite, on the brief), for Appellant.

Richard S. Brook, Mineola, NY (Patricia E. Palmeri, on the brief), for Appellee Enterprise Association, Metal Trades Branch Local Union 638.

Felice B. Ekelman, Jackson Lewis Schnitzler & Krupman, New York, NY (Mitchell Boyarsky, on the brief), for Appellee OneSource Facility Services, Inc.

Before: KEARSE, PARKER, and POOLER, Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM:

Plaintiff-Appellant Randolph Carrion appeals from a judgment of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York (I. Leo Glasser, Judge), upon a March 5, 1999 Memorandum & Order granting summary judgment to Defendants-Appellees Enterprise Association, Metal Trades Branch Local Union 638 (the "Union") and International Service System, Inc. ("ISS"),¹ because Carrion's claims were barred by the statute of limitations.² See Carrion v. Enterprise Ass'n., No. 96-CV-5959, 1999 WL 294721, at *1, *3 (E.D.N.Y. Mar. 5, 1999). We affirm the judgment of the district court and hold that Carrion's suit was barred by the six-month statute of limitations that applies to hybrid § 301/fair representation claims.

I. BACKGROUND

ISS provides cleaning and maintenance services to commercial building owners and managers. On November 17, 1992, Carrion began employment with ISS at Stuyvesant Town/Peter Cooper Village ("Peter Cooper Village") as a plumber and stove repairman. Metropolitan Life Insurance Company ("MetLife") manages Peter Cooper Village, and the Union is the exclusive bargaining agent for some of ISS's employees, including Carrion, who work at Peter Cooper Village. SeeCarrion, 1999 WL 294721, at *1.

On August 22, 1995, Carrion fought with a parking lot attendant at Peter Cooper Village, and he was arrested the following day for his role in the altercation. See id. On August 24, 1995, ISS suspended Carrion from employment pending further investigation of the incident. See id. Soon thereafter, the Union contacted ISS and requested that ISS reinstate Carrion. See id. ISS contacted MetLife, which told ISS that Carrion would not be permitted to enter Peter Cooper Village because of the altercation. See id. ISS informed the Union that it was unable to reinstate Carrion because of MetLife's opposition, and ISS subsequently fired Carrion. See id.

The Union proceeded to arbitration pursuant to the grievance and arbitration procedure set forth in the collective bargaining agreement (the "CBA") between ISS and the Union. See id. On December 7, 1995, the arbitrator issued an award ordering ISS to reinstate Carrion to his former position without back pay. The Union contacted ISS and requested that it reinstate Carrion pursuant to the award. ISS did not reinstate Carrion at Peter Cooper Village, because MetLife's position had not changed. When the Union contacted MetLife on Carrion's behalf, MetLife would not discuss the matter. Therefore, in December 1995, the Union told Carrion that there was nothing further that it could do to help him be reinstated at Peter Cooper Village. By letter of December 20, 1995, ISS offered Carrion a job at another location for less pay. Carrion accepted on December 26, 1995, and began work the following week. See Carrion, 1999 WL 294721, at *1.

Carrion filed a Complaint in the district court on December 6, 1996, and an Amended Complaint on May 12, 1997, alleging that the Union and ISS violated the CBA "[b]y failing to abide by and/or enforce the terms of the arbitration awards," and thus violated § 8 of the National Labor Relations Act ("NLRA"), 29 U.S.C. § 158, and § 301(a) of the Labor Management Relations Act, 1947 ("LMRA"), 29 U.S.C. § 185(a). See id. at *2.

The Union and ISS moved separately for summary judgment after discovery was completed. The district court granted the defendants' summary judgment motions, concluding that Carrion had brought a hybrid § 301/fair representation claim that was barred by the six-month statute of limitations set forth in DelCostello v. International Bhd. of Teamsters, 462 U.S. 151, 169-70, 172 (1983). See Carrion, 1999 WL 294721, at *2 (citing DelCostello, 462 U.S. at 151; White v. White Rose Food, 128 F.3d 110, 114 (2d Cir. 1997)).

II. DISCUSSION

On appeal, Carrion argues that the six-month statute of limitations that applies to hybrid § 301/fair representation claims does not apply in this case. Even if his is a hybrid claim, Carrion argues, the six-month statute of limitations "has not been indelibly established as the limitations period for an employee's suit to enforce an arbitration award." Carrion contends that the appropriate statute of limitations is instead the one-year statute of limitations applied to enforcement and confirmation of arbitration awards under New York Civil Practice Law & Rules ("CPLR") §§ 215(5) and 7510, respectively. We disagree and affirm the judgment of the district court.

We hold that Carrion's claims against ISS and the Union for breach of the CBA "[b]y failing to abide by and/or enforce the terms of the arbitration awards" allege a hybrid §301/fair representation claim subject to the six-month statute of limitations established by the Supreme Court in DelCostello. SeeDelCostello, 462 U.S. at 165. Because Carrion did not bring his claims within six months of the time he knew of the allegations that form the basis of his complaint, the district court correctly concluded that Carrion's suit was time barred. See Carrion, 1999 WL 294721, at *2-3.

We review the district court's grant of summary judgment de novo. See Sutera v. Schering Corp., 73 F.3d 13, 15 (2d Cir. 1995). Summary judgment is appropriate if there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c); Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 247 (1986). The district court must draw all reasonable inferences in favor of the nonmoving party and grant summary judgment only if no reasonable trier of fact could find in favor of the nonmoving party. See Taggart v. Time Inc., 924 F.2d 43, 46 (2d Cir. 1991).

Carrion's suit against ISS and the Union is governed by two statutes. Section 301 of the LMRA, 29 U.S.C. § 185, governs his claim that ISS breached the CBA. See DelCostello, 462 U.S. at 164; Vaca v. Sipes, 386 U.S. 171, 183-84 (1967) (§ 301 confers federal jurisdiction over suits to enforce collective bargaining agreements); White, 128 F.3d at 113 (§ 301 governs employer's duty to honor the CBA). The Union's duty of fair representation to Carrion is implied under the scheme of the NLRA, 29 U.S.C. § 151 et seq. See DelCostello, 462 U.S. at 164 & n.14; White, 128 F.3d at 113-14. As the Supreme Court stated in DelCostello:

The duty of fair representation exists because it is the policy of the National Labor Relations Act to allow a single labor organization to represent collectively the interests of all employees within a unit, thereby depriving individuals in the unit of the ability to bargain individually or to select a minority union as their representative. In such a system, if individual employees are not to be deprived of all effective means of protecting their own interests, it must be the duty of the representative organization "to serve the interests of all members without hostility or discrimination toward any, to exercise its discretion with complete good faith and honesty, and to avoid arbitrary conduct."

462 U.S. at 164 n.14 (quoting Vaca, 386 U.S. at 177).

In order to provide individual employees with recourse when a union breaches its duty of fair representation in a grievance or arbitration proceeding, the Supreme Court has held that an employee may bring suit against both the union and the employer. Seeid.at 164. Such suit, which alleges that the employer breached the CBA and that the union breached its duty of fair representation, is known as a hybrid § 301/fair representation claim. See id. at 164-65; White, 128 F.3d at 113-14. The employee may sue the employer, the union, or both in a hybrid § 301/fair representation claim; to prevail the employee "must not only show that [his] discharge was contrary to the contract, but must also carry the burden of demonstrating breach of duty by the Union." DelCostello, 462 U.S. at 165 (quoting United Parcel Serv., Inc. v. Mitchell, 451 U.S. 56, 66-67 (1981)(Stewart, J., concurring)).

In DelCostello, the Supreme Court determined that a six-month statute of limitations applies to hybrid § 301/fair representation claims. See id. at 155. Because there is no federal statute of limitations that expressly applies to such claims, the Court borrowed from the most suitable statute. See id. at 158. The Court thus held that § 10(b) of the NLRA, 29 U.S.C. § 160(b), "which establishes a 6 month period for making charges of unfair labor practices to the NLRB," was also appropriate for hybrid § 301/fair representation claims. See id.at 169-72; see also White, 128 F.3d at 114; McKee v. Transco Prods., Inc., 874 F.2d 83, 86 (2d Cir. 1989).

The district court correctly applied the six-month statute of limitations to Carrion's claim, because it was a...