Curtis v. United Transp. Union

• Decision Date: 03 March 1980
• Docket Number: No. B-76-C-27.,B-76-C-27.
• Citation: 486 F. Supp. 966
• Parties: William David CURTIS, Plaintiff, v. UNITED TRANSPORTATION UNION, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Arkansas

486 F. Supp. 966

William David CURTIS, Plaintiff, v. UNITED TRANSPORTATION UNION, Defendant.

No. B-76-C-27.

United States District Court, E. D. Arkansas, N. D.

September 6, 1979.

Memorandum Opinion March 3, 1980.

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H. David Blair, Batesville, Ark., Joe C. Boone, Jonesboro, Ark., for plaintiff.

Thomas A. Woodall, Rives, Peterson, Pettus, Conway, Elliott & Small, Birmingham, Ala., for defendant.

J. C. Deacon; Barrett, Wheatly, Smith & Deacon, Jonesboro, Ark., for defendant railroad.

MEMORANDUM

EISELE, Chief Judge.

William David Curtis sued his union for breach of the duty of fair representation in a hearing before Public Law Board No. 717, pursuant to the procedures of the Railway Labor Act, 45 U.S.C. § 153. The award, entered on October 31, 1975, upheld the refusal of the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway Company (Frisco) to reinstate him after he had surgery to correct an arterio-venous intracranial malformation, even though Curtis submitted doctors' statements that he was fit to return to his work as a brakeman.

Originally joined as a defendant was Public Law Board No. 717. However, that action was dismissed for failure to state a claim by Order of the Court entered May 22, 1978. Plaintiff moved, pursuant to Rule 41, that Frisco be dismissed, which motion was granted, also on May 22, 1978.

The trial to the Court began Monday, February 12, 1979. At the conclusion of the trial, findings of fact and conclusions of law were stated from the bench, all of which are re-affirmed here. In sum, the Court found that the union had not been guilty of bad faith and that the UTU's General Chairman, who represented Mr. Curtis before the Public Law Board, did so to the best of his ability. The Court, however, found grave deficiencies in the manner in which the neutral doctor was selected and in the mode of decision employed by the neutral member of the Board, i. e. automatic acceptance of the neutral doctor's opinion in every medical case. Further, the Court found that in view of the complex and technical nature of Mr. Curtis' claim, the defendant was actually incompetent to, and consequently did not, fairly represent him before the Board, even though he had represented Curtis in the same manner as he usually represented other UTU members in the ordinary, typically simple, cases he processed. The Court concluded that such blind adherence to customary procedures in a case where such procedures are clearly inadequate may constitute "perfunctory representation" sufficient to breach the union's duty of fair representation. When, as here, a case is not routine but requires, by its nature, expert representation of the worker in order to adequately present his claim, the union must provide such expert representation if it is not to be held guilty of unfair representation. It is the Court's view that simply going through motions which are meaningless, in the context of the true issues in the case, constitutes "perfunctory" representation. The actions and decisions of the defendant must be meaningful and must be organized by the degree of professional competency dictated by the nature of the case. Perfunctory representation constitutes a breach of the duty of fair representation. Vaca v. Sipes, 386 U.S. 171, 87 S.Ct. 903, 17 L.Ed.2d 842 (1967). Clearly, the facts in this case reveal a technically complex claim that the General Chairman presented, without insight, like the run of the mill cases he was used to handling and which was as a consequence, incompetently and perfunctorily presented, not from any lack of zeal or good will, but rather from a lack of the requisite knowledge and skills.

At the conclusion of the trial the Court directed the parties to brief the issue of damages, and it is that question which is of primary concern now.

Briefly stated, it is the plaintiff's theory that the Public Law Board decision is vested with finality, save for very narrow grounds for review set out in 45 U.S.C. § 153 First (q), none of which the plaintiff believes applies here.¹

The plaintiff argues that the railroad, having breached no duty in connection with the Law Board hearings, was entitled to the benefit of the finality of that decision. Andrews v. Louisville & Nashville Railroad Co., 406 U.S. 320, 92 S.Ct. 1562, 32 L.Ed.2d 95 (1972). That being the case, when the union breached its duty of fair representation and deprived the plaintiff of a meaningful hearing, the union deprived him of his only hearing and, in so doing, has become responsible for all of the damages suffered by plaintiff, even without an adjudication of the merits of the underlying wrongful discharge claim.

The Court cannot accept this reasoning. The Andrews decision did not concern the duty of fair representation and thus did not consider the effect of a breach of that duty upon finality. That question was, however, addressed in Hines v. Anchor Motor Freight, 424 U.S. 554, 96 S.Ct. 1048, 47 L.Ed.2d 231 (1975), in the context of a suit pursuant to section 301 of the Labor Management Relations Act (LMRA). Justice White stated at 567, 96 S.Ct. at 1058:

"The union's breach of duty relieves the employee of an express or implied requirement that disputes be settled through contractual grievance procedures; if it seriously undermines the integrity of the arbitral process the union's breach also removes the bar of the finality provisions of the contract."

He also cited Humphrey v. Moore, 375 U.S. 335, 84 S.Ct. 363, 11 L.Ed.2d 370 (1964), to the effect that a decision of a joint arbitration committee was reviewable and vulnerable if tainted by breach of the union's duty even though the employer had not conspired with the union.

Justice Stewart concurred:

"Proof of breach of the Union's duty of fair representation will remove the bar of finality from the arbitral decision . .."

Hines, supra, 424 U.S. at 572, 96 S.Ct. at 1060. Hines has been followed in many circuits in section 301 suits. The question, however, remains and is vital here: can Hines be applied to cases brought pursuant to the Railway Labor Act (RLA)?

The schemes enacted by Congress for dispute resolution under the RLA are not the same as under the LMRA. The most important difference is that arbitration under RLA is provided by statute, to be undertaken by the National Railroad Adjustment Board and, under section 153 Second, Public Law Boards. Cole v. Erie Lackawanna Ry., 541 F.2d 528 (6th Cir. 1976). The RLA mandates finality to the Law Board's decision, with judicial review limited to questioning whether the Board acted outside its jurisdiction, violated provisions of the Act, or was guilty of fraud or corruption.

The finality in LMRA cases where there has been arbitration while not statutory, is clearly set out in case law. See the Steel Workers Trilogy, 363 U.S. 564, 574, 593, 80 S.Ct. 1343, 1347, 1358, 4 L.Ed.2d 1403, 1409, 1424 (1960). Only a narrow standard of review is available for an arbitrator's decision. That standard is whether the arbitrator exceeded his authority.

So, while the RLA statutorily mandates arbitration and finality, the LMRA parallels its thrust that arbitration is desirable and should be final most of the time. See Cole, supra at 532.

Additionally, courts have indicated a willingness to apply the standards of one scheme to the other. A good example is the duty of fair representation itself, which was first set forth under the RLA in Steele v. Louisville & N. R. Co., 323 U.S. 192, 65 S.Ct. 226, 89 L.Ed. 173 (1944), and imported to industries under National Labor Relations Act in Ford Motor Co. v. Huffman, 345 U.S. 330, 73 S.Ct. 681, 97 L.Ed. 1048 (1953). See also, DeBoles v. Trans World Airlines, 552 F.2d 1005, 1018, 1019 (3d Cir. 1977). Since "We are concerned here with judicially created remedies for a judicially implied cause of action," International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers v. Foust, 442 U.S. 42, 47 n.9, 99 S.Ct. 2121, 2125 n.9, 60 L.Ed.2d 698, 47 L.W. 4600, 4601 n.9 (1979), the Court is not without flexibility to imply that the rule concerning finality is parallel in the LMRA and RLA.

But, even assuming arguendo that there is not enough analogy in the two labor relations frameworks to warrant importation of Hines to the RLA, there is one more consideration which requires the application of Hines in these cases. To say on the one hand that the duty of fair representation in section 301 actions is so strong that where it is breached, a decision is tainted and there is no finality to the arbitrator's decision, and on the other that under the RLA the duty can be breached without affecting finality, is to create two duties having different effects and thus different natures. Such a conclusion flies in the face of the totally parallel development of the duty of fair representation under the two relevant Acts up to the present. The better view is that when a breach of the duty of fair representation is found in a RLA case, the bar of finality is removed from the award of the Public Law Board.

Based on that conclusion, the plaintiff here did not lose his only hearing; the taint has removed any finality in the award. Even though the railroad in no way conspired with the union in this case, the fact that the Board's decision was tainted by the breach would permit remand to the Law Board where this plaintiff could re-litigate his claim with competent representation, and the merits of his claim could be addressed. That remedy, however, is predicated on the presence before the Court of all the parties, including the railroad. Such is not the case here.

How then can the plaintiff be made whole? With Hines before us, to argue that the union should be liable for all the damages is clearly untenable. The union cannot be held accountable for damages, if any, caused by Frisco. Vaca, supra, is clear in its mandate that damages must be apportioned according to the wrongdoing; Justice Stewart...