Del Casal v. Eastern Airlines, Inc.

• Citation: 634 F.2d 295
• Decision Date: 16 January 1981
• Docket Number: 79-2953,Nos. 79-1880,s. 79-1880
• Parties: 106 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2276, 90 Lab.Cas. P 12,567 J. E. Pelaez DEL CASAL, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. EASTERN AIRLINES, INC. et al., Defendants, Eastern Airlines, Inc., Defendant-Appellee. J. E. Pelaez DEL CASAL, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. EASTERN AIRLINES, INC. et al., Defendants, Airline Pilots Association International, a labor organization, Defendant- Appellant. . Unit B
• Court: United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (5th Circuit)

Page 295

634 F.2d 295

106 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2276, 90 Lab.Cas. P 12,567

J. E. Pelaez DEL CASAL, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. EASTERN AIRLINES, INC. et al., Defendants, Eastern Airlines, Inc., Defendant-Appellee.

J. E. Pelaez DEL CASAL, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. EASTERN AIRLINES, INC. et al., Defendants,

Airline Pilots Association International, a labor

organization, Defendant- Appellant.

Nos. 79-1880, 79-2953.

United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit.

Unit B

Jan. 16, 1981.

Gary D. Fox, Larry S. Stewart, Floyd Pearson, Stewart, Richman & Greer, Miami, Fla., for Del Casal.

William G. Bell, Jr., Miami, Fla., for defendant-appellee in No. 79-1880.

Gary Green, James W. Tello, Washington, D. C., for defendant-appellant in No. 79-2953.

Appeals from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Before KRAVITCH and FRANK M. JOHNSON, Jr., Circuit Judges, and ALLGOOD ^*, District Judge.

ALLGOOD, District Judge:

This is a consolidated appeal from the district court's orders in two separate actions resulting from the same facts. In the first case (79-1880) J. E. Pelaez Del Casal appeals from an adverse summary judgment in favor of defendant, Eastern Airlines, relative to the alleged wrongful discharge of appellant as an airline pilot for Eastern. The second case (79-2953) is before the court upon the appeal by the Airline Pilots Association, International (ALPA) from the district court's order granting Del Casal's motion for summary judgment as to liability for the breach of the duty of fair representation and from the district court's orders entering judgment against ALPA in the amount of $35,000 damages and denying a motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict, or for a new trial, or for remittitur.

I. Facts

Appellant Del Casal was a pilot employed by Eastern Airlines. While employed by Eastern, Del Casal twice unsuccessfully attempted to become a member of ALPA, the exclusive bargaining agent for Eastern's pilots. Both times he was rejected on the basis of his incompetency as a pilot.

On May 29, 1975, Del Casal was discharged from Eastern on the ground that he was an incompetent and unsafe pilot. He immediately filed a grievance pursuant to the collective bargaining agreement between ALPA and Eastern. During the initial stages of the grievance procedure, Del Casal was assisted by John Loomos, an ALPA staff attorney. When the grievance was rejected at the initial stages, Del Casal requested a hearing before the Eastern Airlines Pilots System Board of Adjustment (System Board). The System Board, composed of two members from Eastern and two members from ALPA, is an arbitration tribunal established pursuant to the Railway Labor Act, 45 U.S.C. § 184 and the collective bargaining agreement between Eastern and ALPA. ¹

Before the System Board hearing was held, Loomos, the ALPA staff attorney, advised Del Casal that he would not be allowed to represent him at the hearings. ALPA had instructed Loomos to cease handling the case because Del Casal was not a member of the union. In his letter to the appellant informing him that he would no longer be representing him because he was not a union member, Loomos advised Del Casal to retain the services of another attorney. Del Casal took this advice and retained an attorney, David Block, to represent him in the matter.

A four member System Board was convened to consider Del Casal's grievance and his attorney presented a motion based on procedural defects of the discharge. ² The four member board deadlocked on this issue and, pursuant to the collective bargaining agreement, a fifth neutral member, selected from a list of experienced arbitrators, was added to the board in order to break the deadlock. The five member board met in closed executive session and the deadlock was broken in Del Casal's favor. The board ruled that Eastern could not use evidence which did not comply with the collective bargaining agreement to support Del Casal's discharge.

Thereafter, the four member board reconvened on September 15, 1976, and on January 11-13, 1977, to determine whether Eastern was justified in terminating Del Casal. Del Casal was represented by retained counsel Block throughout the proceedings. On February 7, 1977, the System Board issued a ruling finding that Eastern was justified in terminating Del Casal.

Subsequently, Del Casal instituted an action seeking to set aside the decision of the System Board and to be granted a de novo review of his claim of wrongful discharge. The thrust of his complaint was that his hearing before the System Board was a sham and a mockery of justice because all of the board members were biased against him. A claim was also presented against ALPA for monetary damages resulting from ALPA's alleged breach of its duty of fair representation. The district court granted appellant's motion for summary judgment against ALPA as to liability for the breach of the duty to fairly represent Del Casal and agreed that ALPA had breached that duty by not providing him with an attorney. The court explained that Del Casal was entitled to recover attorney's fees actually paid to his privately retained attorney as well as any other expenses incurred as a direct and proximate result of having to retain private counsel. Del Casal v. Eastern Airlines, Inc., 465 F.Supp. 1254 (S.D. Fla. 1979). The cause was set for trial as to these damages. The district court granted Eastern's motion for summary judgment against Del Casal on his claim for wrongful discharge and found that, although ALPA had breached its duty of fair representation to Del Casal, the court did not have jurisdiction over Eastern because the breach of duty did not "substantially undermine" the integrity of the System Board. Thus the district court held that the System Board decision was final and binding on Del Casal and Eastern was dismissed as a party defendant. Id. Del Casal's appeal of that part of the court's order which dismissed Eastern as a defendant is the subject of the first case (No. 79-1880) of this consolidated appeal. Subsequently, a trial was held to determine damages due Del Casal and the jury returned a verdict of $35,000 against ALPA. The district court entered judgment in that amount with interest thereon and costs and also denied ALPA's motion for judgment N.O.V., or for a new trial, or for remittitur. ALPA's appeal of that part of the district court's order granting Del Casal's motion for summary judgment as to ALPA's liability and from the court's orders entering the $35,000 judgment and denying the above motions is the subject of the second case (No. 79-2953) of this consolidated appeal.

II. Del Casal's Appeal (No. 79-1880)

On appeal, Del Casal contends that the decision of the System Board should be set aside on two grounds: (1) he was denied fundamental due process in that he was not accorded a hearing before an impartial tribunal, and (2) the entire arbitral proceedings were seriously undermined by ALPA's breach of its duty of fair representation. He cites Hines v. Anchor Motor Freight, Inc., 424 U.S. 554, 96 S.Ct. 1048, 47 L.Ed.2d 231 (1976), and Wells v. Southern Airways, Inc., 517 F.2d 132 (5th Cir. 1975), cert. denied, 425 U.S. 914, 96 S.Ct. 1512, 47 L.Ed.2d 765 (1976), and cert. denied Air Line Pilots Asso., International v. Wells, 425 U.S. 1000, 96 S.Ct. 2217, 48 L.Ed.2d 824 (1976), and later app. Wells v. Southern Airways, Inc., 616 F.2d 107 (5th Cir. 1980), in support of these contentions. Neither contention is sufficient, on the facts of these cases, to require setting aside the decision of the System Board.

It is well settled that the Railway Labor Act, under which the Eastern Airlines Pilots System Board of Adjustment was created, allows only limited judicial review of arbitration decisions. In fact, its range is among the narrowest known to the law. Eastern Airlines, Inc. v. Transport Workers Union, 580 F.2d 169, 172 (5th Cir. 1978); Diamond v. Terminal Ry. Alabama State Docks, 421 F.2d 228, 233 (5th Cir. 1970). See also Andrews v. Louisville & Nashville R.R. Co., 406 U.S. 320, 325, 92 S.Ct. 1562, 1565, 32 L.Ed.2d 95 (1972). A court may set aside an order of the System Board only on one of three specific grounds: (1) failure of the System Board to comply with the Act, (2) fraud or corruption, or (3) failure of the order to conform or confine itself to matters within the System Board's jurisdiction. 45 U.S.C. § 153(q). ³ Eastern Airlines, 580 F.2d at 172; Diamond, 421 F.2d at 233.

Although in his original complaint Del Casal made allegations covering these three grounds, in his briefs filed on appeal he specifically states that he does not contend that he fits within these statutory exceptions. Instead, appellant argues a judicially created ground for review and contends that the System Board's order should be set aside because all the members of the arbitral body were biased against him; and he was thus denied fundamental due process. He argues that he could not have a fair hearing before a System Board composed of two company-appointed members and two union-appointed members. However, he has made no showing of partiality or bias on the part of individual members of the System Board.

This court has previously rejected the contention that a System Board's holding must be set aside because there was no one on the board "partisan" to the employee's interests. In Wells v. Southern Airways, Inc., 517 F.2d 132 (5th Cir. 1975), plaintiff Wells, also a pilot, made such an argument and prevailed in the district court. This court reversed, noting that all members of the System Board "are charged with the responsibility of impartially deciding the case before the board. The trial court did not find any bias on the part of individual members of the board. No denial of fundamental due process occurred, making the Board's decision final." Id. at 134-35, footnote omitted.

Here, as in Wells, the members of the System Board were obligated to determine...