Chambless v. Masters, Mates & Pilots Pension Plan

• Decision Date: 14 September 1983
• Docket Number: No. 80 Civ. 4258 (RLC).,80 Civ. 4258 (RLC).
• Citation: 571 F. Supp. 1430
• Parties: Arthur CHAMBLESS and Mildred H. Chambless, Plaintiffs, v. MASTERS, MATES & PILOTS PENSION PLAN, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of New York

571 F. Supp. 1430

Arthur CHAMBLESS and Mildred H. Chambless, Plaintiffs, v. MASTERS, MATES & PILOTS PENSION PLAN, et al., Defendants.

No. 80 Civ. 4258 (RLC).

United States District Court, S.D. New York.

September 14, 1983.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Wisehart & Koch, New York City, for plaintiffs; Arthur M. Wisehart, New York City, of counsel.

Proskauer, Rose, Goetz & Mendelsohn, New York City, for M.M. & P. Pension Plan, Maher, M.M. & P. Pension Plan Trustees and Maritime Service Committee; Bettina B. Plevan, Eileen Reinhardt, New York City, of counsel.

Burton M. Epstein, New York City, for Intern. Organization of Masters, Mates and Pilots.

Seham, Klein & Zelman, New York City, for American Maritime Ass'n and Wabash Transport, Inc.

Lambos, Flynn, Nyland & Giardino, New York City, for Central Gulf Lines, Inc.; Richard P. Lerner and Peter C. Lambos, New York City, of counsel.

Hill, Betts & Nash, New York City, for Amerada Hess Corp.

Townley & Updike, New York City, for Amoco Shipping Co.

White & Case, New York City, for Waterman Steamship Corp.; Rayner M. Hamilton and Margery A. Colloff, New York City, of counsel.

OPINION

I

ROBERT L. CARTER, District Judge.

In this action, Arthur M. Chambless ("plaintiff"), a veteran seaman, and his wife, Mildred H. Chambless, allege, inter alia, that his pension benefits have been improperly forfeited, that the trustees of his pension plan violated their fiduciary duties, and that his former union and former employers violated the antitrust laws by conspiring to deter him from working on vessels owned by competing shipping companies and represented by a rival union. Chambless and his wife seek restitution of the allegedly forfeited pension benefits, treble antitrust damages, and a clarification of their pension rights.

Chambless, a licensed deck officer, began sailing as a member of the International Organization of Masters, Mates & Pilots ("MM & P") on October 27, 1944. Chambless Aff. ¶ 2; Maher Aff. ¶ 4. Often serving as chief mate, Chambless continued working on vessels represented by the MM & P until December, 1976, when he submitted his first application to the MM & P Pension Plan ("the pension plan" or "the plan"). Complaint ¶ 2; Chambless Aff. ¶¶ 16-17; Maher Aff. ¶ 5.

The plan is a multi-employer pension plan that was established by an Agreement and Declaration of Trust dated August 1, 1955, in order to provide pension benefits to licensed deck officers working for companies that have collective bargaining agreements with the MM & P. Maher Aff. ¶¶ 2-3. The plan is funded solely by employer contributions and is administered by an equal number of employer and union designated trustees. Id. ¶ 2.

Chambless withdrew this pension application, however, because his "love for the sea" continued to beckon. Complaint ¶ 18; Exh. 4 to Maher Aff. He maintains that he submitted his initial pension application only after what he terms illicit union pressures compelled him to consider retiring. Complaint ¶ 17.

First, Chambless alleges that the MM & P maintains a policy of strongly encouraging — Chambless would say strong-arming — its older, more experienced members to retire so that the union can replace them with "new young blood" and thereby obtain more union dues. Id. ¶ 15; Chambless Aff. ¶¶ 6-7. He maintains that the union wrongfully assigned senior positions to officers more junior than he, failed to pursue his grievances on these matters, and, beginning in 1976, offered him less prestigious, lower paying work as a first, second, or even third mate. Chambless Aff. ¶¶ 4-6, 10-11. Chambless asserts that being assigned to work as a third mate was of "great humiliation for a licensed deck officer of my years of experience" and says that such assignments caused him to consider retiring. Id. ¶ 11.

Second, Chambless maintains that the union sought to usher him into retirement because he "knew too much" about, inter alia, favoritism and discrimination in work assignments and grievance processing, self-dealing by union officials with local funds, improper recordkeeping, and efforts to harass and intimidate certain employees into retiring. Complaint ¶ 14. Both the union and the plan deny Chambless' allegations about favoritism, discrimination, intimidation, and pressures placed on older members. Answer of MM & P ¶¶ 14-16; Answer of Pension Plan ¶¶ 15-16.

In early 1977, disgruntled with the low-level, low-paying assignments that the MM & P hiring hall had given him, Chambless took a two-week assignment as master on an oil-drilling rig that did not have a contract with the MM & P. Chambless Aff. ¶ 12. He said that he did this only after he had asked a union agent at the hiring hall whether it would be all right for him to take such a job and only after the union agent told him that the union would have no objection. Id.; Complaint ¶ 21. When Chambless returned to shore after his fortnight on the rig, he was informed that because he had worked on a non-MM & P rig, he was no longer in good standing with the union. This was so, Chambless maintains, even though many other union members who worked on non-MM & P vessels were not so tarred. Chambless Aff. ¶ 13.

Disgruntled, Chambless then, to use his words, "retired from employment under the MM&P contract and filed his second application for pension benefits." Id. ¶ 14. At about the same time, Chambless accepted employment as a master on the Mount Explorer, an ocean-going vessel that was operated by a company that had a collective bargaining agreement with a rival union, the Marine Engineers Beneficial Association ("MEBA"). Id. ¶ 15. The two unions representing licensed deck officers — MM & P and MEBA — have been in intense competition for at least two decades, see MM & P v. NLRB (Westchester Marine Shipping Co.), 539 F.2d 554, 556-57 (5th Cir.1976), cert. denied, 434 U.S. 828, 98 S.Ct. 106, 54 L.Ed.2d 87 (1977), and the Mount Explorer on which Chambless sailed has been the focus of a picketing dispute and unfair labor practice lawsuit between the two labor organizations. See MM & P v. NLRB (Cove Tankers Corp.), 575 F.2d 896 (D.C.Cir.1978).

Chambless submitted his second pension application on or about April 2, 1977. Chambless Aff. ¶ 14; Maher Aff. ¶ 6; Exh. 5 to Maher Aff. Six days later, Stephen P. Maher, the administrator of the plan, wrote Chambless, as he had done after Chambless had submitted his first application, to acknowledge receipt of Chambless' application and to advise him of the plan's definition of retirement.¹ Maher Aff. ¶¶ 5-6; Exh. 6 to Maher Aff. On June 30, 1977, a plan employee wrote Chambless to inform him that the trustees would consider his application, and that his monthly benefits would be approximately $920 on a percentage basis and $570 on a flat basis.² Exh. 8 to Complaint.

On July 19, 1977, Maher wrote Chambless to inquire whether Chambless had, as was rumored, taken a job on a non-MM & P vessel. Exh. 9 to Maher Aff. In November, 1977, the plan received a letter from Chambless acknowledging that he had taken such employment beginning April 4, 1977. Exh. 8 to Maher Aff.

At their November 30, 1977 meeting, the pension trustees considered Chambless' application, Maher Aff. ¶ 13, and on January 26, 1978, Maher wrote to Chambless to inform him that the plan's trustees had concluded that because he had not retired under the plan's definition of retirement, he was not eligible for a pension at the time. Exh. C to Complaint. Furthermore, Maher informed Chambless that the plan would not pay him any pension until he reached the age of 65, which the plan defines as "normal retirement age."³Id.; Article I, Section 13 of the plan regulations. Chambless will not turn 65 until December 7, 1986. Complaint ¶ 10. In a January 28, 1980 letter, Maher advised Chambless that the monthly pension benefits he is to receive upon turning 65 will likely be $470. Exh. C to Complaint.

In deciding that Chambless would not receive pension benefits until he turns 65, the trustees acted pursuant to Article II-A, Section 15(a)⁴ and Amendments 46 and 47 to the plan regulations. The amendments were passed on August 26, 1976, and were encoded in Article II-A, Section 15(b) and Article II-A, Section 20.⁵ Article II-A, Section 15(b) states in pertinent part:

If a Pensioner works in covered employment forbidden by this Section,

1. He shall not be entitled to pension benefits for any month of such employment and for six additional months, provided that the additional six month period shall not extend beyond his Normal Retirement Age, as defined in Article I, Section 13; provided further, however, that if such employment is in the capacity of a Licensed Deck Officer on a U.S. flag ocean-going vessel employed by a company which is not a participant in the M.M. & P. Pension Plan or the MM & P/PMA Pension Plan ..., then the Pensioner shall not be entitled to pension benefits for any month of such employment nor for any months prior to such Pensioner reaching his Normal Retirement Age, as defined in Article I, Section 13.⁶

Echoing the above quoted provision, Article II-A Section 20 states in pertinent part:

In the event a Participant subsequent to his accrual of credit for 10 years of vesting service and prior to his retirement, is employed in the capacity of a Licensed Deck Officer on a U.S. flag ocean-going vessel employed by a company which is not a Participant in the M.M. & P. Pension Plan or the MM & P/PMA Pension Plan ..., such Participant shall not be entitled to any pension benefits prior to his reaching his Normal Retirement Age, as defined in Article I, Section 13.

Chambless appealed the trustees' rejection of his application and appeared with counsel at the December 5, 1979 trustees' meeting. Maher. Aff. ¶ 10. On March 5, 1980, the trustees again voted to deny Chambless' pension benefits until he turns 65. Id.

On June 24, 1980, Chambless brought this suit against the pension plan, Stephen Maher, the plan administrator,...