DelCostello v. INTERN. BRO. OF TEAMSTERS

• Decision Date: 17 March 1981
• Docket Number: Civ. A. No. J-78-436.
• Parties: Philip DelCOSTELLO, Plaintiff, v. INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS, CHAUFFEURS, WAREHOUSEMEN AND HELPERS OF AMERICA et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Maryland

510 F. Supp. 716

Philip DelCOSTELLO, Plaintiff, v. INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS, CHAUFFEURS, WAREHOUSEMEN AND HELPERS OF AMERICA et al., Defendants.

Civ. A. No. J-78-436.

United States District Court, D. Maryland.

March 17, 1981.

William H. Zinman, Baltimore, Md., for plaintiff.

Bernard W. Rubenstein, Carl S. Yaller, Baltimore, Md., for Local 557.

Gerald P. Martin, Baltimore, Md., Bernard Goldfarb, Cleveland, Ohio, Arnold M. Weiner, Baltimore, Md., for Anchor.

Roland P. Wilder, Jr., Washington, D. C., for International.

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

SHIRLEY B. JONES, District Judge.

Plaintiff instituted this action under the Labor Management Relations Act, 29 U.S.C. § 185, against his employer, Anchor Motor Freight, Inc., for his allegedly wrongful discharge on June 27, 1977, and against Local 557, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of America (hereafter referred to as the Local) and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (hereafter referred to as the International) for breach of the duty of fair representation in connection with the grievance arbitration proceeding. The action arose out of an incident that occurred on June 27, 1977. Plaintiff reported for work and was assigned a tractor-trailer to use in transporting a load of new automobiles from Baltimore to Montreal, Canada and a return trip with another load to Washington, D.C. Plaintiff inspected the truck and reported several conditions he thought needed repair to the maintenance shop foreman. Some repairs were made, and the plaintiff was later told that the truck was ready. Plaintiff contended that all the items he had noted as needing repair were not performed, that driving the truck in its condition then would be dangerous, and refused to drive the truck. The company contended that all necessary repairs had been made and the truck was safe to drive. Plaintiff's continued refusal to drive the truck resulted in his termination.¹

Plaintiff contacted Arthur C. Morningstar, business agent for the Local. Unresolved at the local level, the matter was heard on July 10, 1977 by the Eastern Conference Automobile Transporters Joint Committee in a formal grievance proceeding. The Eastern Conference panel ruled in favor of the employer. Plaintiff alleges that he was inadequately represented by the Union at that proceeding. Suit was filed in this Court on March 26, 1978.

All three defendants filed motions for summary judgment. The International's motion was never answered by plaintiff. Plaintiff responded to the motions of the Local and Anchor Motor Freight, and oral argument before this Court was held March 6, 1981. The International's motion for summary judgment was granted in an oral ruling at the hearing, and its request for attorneys' fees and costs was denied. Ruling on the motions of the employer and the Local was deferred at the hearing, and this opinion now addresses those motions.

Some of the same grounds for summary judgment are asserted by the Local and the Employer, and the common grounds are treated together.

1. Failure to exhaust intraunion remedies.

The Teamsters constitution, Art. XIX, § 12(a) requires that "every member ... against whom adverse rulings or decisions have been rendered or who claims to be aggrieved, shall be obliged to exhaust all remedies provided for in this Constitution and by the International Union before resorting to any Court..." Article XIX, § 1, sets up procedures by which members may prefer charges against another member or any officer, with trial by the Local's Executive Board. If disciplinary action is taken against the member, he may appeal to the Joint council. Plaintiff admittedly exhausted the contractual grievance remedy for his discharge but did not initiate any of the proceedings provided for in the Teamsters constitution for charges or grievances brought against union members and officers.

The Fourth Circuit has applied the exhaustion of intraunion remedies doctrine in cases involving claims under Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA), but no published opinions have applied it in suits such as this, under the Labor Management Relations Act (LMRA). Courts of appeals in other circuits have, however, applied the exhaustion doctrine to actions brought under § 301 of the LMRA. Fristoe v. Reynolds Metals Co., 615 F.2d 1209, 1214 (9th Cir. 1980); Winter v. Local Union No. 639, 569 F.2d 146 (D.C.Cir.1977); Newgent v. Modine Mfg. Co., 495 F.2d 919 (7th Cir. 1974); Imel v. Zohn Mfg. Co., 481 F.2d 181 (10th Cir. 1973); Brady v. Transworld Airlines, Inc., 401 F.2d 87 (3d Cir. 1968), cert. denied, 393 U.S. 1048, 89 S.Ct. 680, 21 L.Ed.2d 691 (1969); Bsharah v. Eltra Corp., 394 F.2d 502, 503 (6th Cir. 1968) (per curiam) (alternate holding). At least two judges of this district have also done so. Fabian v. Freight Drivers & Helpers Local No. 557, 448 F.Supp. 835, 839 (D.Md.1978) (Young, J.); Murray v. Branch Motor Express Co., Civ. No. HM78-1717 (D.Md., July 31, 1979), aff'd, 622 F.2d 585 (4th Cir. 1980). But see Fox v. Mitchell Transport, Inc., Civ. 506 F.Supp. 1346 (D.Md., 1981).

Exhaustion of internal remedies may be excused in a number of instances. The Fourth Circuit recently summarized the exceptions recognized in LMRDA actions. Exhaustion is excused when a disciplinary action taken against a member was illegal or "void" or where, for any reason, the remedy would be inadequate, illusory or futile. Keeffe Bros. v. Teamsters Local Union No. 592, 562 F.2d 298 (4th Cir. 1977). The latter exception is relevant to suits under the LMRA, e. g., Winter v. Local Union No. 639, 569 F.2d 146 (D.C.Cir.1977), and it has been said to apply where the internal procedures afforded clearly provide no way to obtain the relief requested, see id. at 149, or where union hostility is shown, id. The hostility involved would be that of the union officials who hear the complaint.

The many cases in this area, only a few of which have been cited here, are conflicting, and factual distinctions alone cannot account for the different results. It appears that the Supreme Court will resolve the issue this term, certiorari having been granted in ITT Gilfillan v. Clayton, ___ U.S. ___, 101 S.Ct. 352, 66 L.Ed.2d 213 (1980). That, of course, does not relieve this Court of its responsibility to decide the matter now.

The appropriate approach, however, is to examine each case in light of the purpose of the exhaustion requirement, which is to afford the union an opportunity to correct its own wrongs or problems before suit. E. g., Wiglesworth v. Teamsters Local No. 592, 552 F.2d 1027 (4th Cir. 1976). Given that purpose, the first inquiry is whether the wrong complained of is one that relates to internal union affairs. Cases arising under the LMRDA are, by definition, such matters, and some cases brought under the LMRA may also be of such a nature. The second major inquiry is whether the internal procedures are sufficient to enable the union member to secure relief. This approach was taken by the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in two recent cases involving the remedies at issue here under the Teamsters constitution. Chambers v. Local Union No. 639, 578 F.2d 375 (D.C.Cir.1978); Winter v. Local Union No. 639, 569 F.2d 146 (D.C.Cir.1977). In the Winter case the plaintiff asserted a breach of the duty of fair representation by the Union's failure to process a grievance; in the Chambers case, the breach alleged related to the union's conduct following arbitration of a seniority grievance, including its representation at a second grievance hearing. The District of Columbia Court of Appeals affirmed a dismissal for failure to exhaust in the Winter case. It noted, as to the Union, that although money damages would not have been available, the disciplinary sanctions could have provided the equivalent of injunctive relief sought. 569 F.2d at 149. In Chambers, the facts of which admittedly involved a more serious breach than is alleged here, the Court pointed to the facts that the case related to the employment relation, not a merely internal matter, and that the union proceedings could not produce the remedies of assignment of work by the employer and damages. 578 F.2d at 387. A significant factor in Chambers was the union's bias and conflict of interest, id. at 388. The Seventh Circuit has, however, reached a similar conclusion in Miller v. Gateway Transp. Co., 616 F.2d 272 (7th Cir. 1980). The Court of Appeals reversed summary judgment in favor of the employer on the exhaustion ground. Assuming that the defense was available to an employer,² it noted that the union remedies available to its members did not include setting aside a grievance award or other relief from the employer. Id. at 275. This Court finds persuasive the reasoning of those courts that have held the remedies available through the Teamsters constitution to be inadequate to afford relief where the plaintiff asserts a claim against his employer for breach of the collective bargaining agreement and against the union for breach of its duty of fair representation by representation at a prior grievance proceeding. Miller v. Gateway Transp. Co., 616 F.2d 272 (7th Cir. 1980); Chambers v. Local Union No. 639, 578 F.2d 375 (D.C.Cir.1978); see Winter v. Local Union No. 639, 569 F.2d 146, 150-51 n. 26 (D.C.Cir.1977). This decision does not conflict with cases in which the Fourth Circuit has apparently sanctioned the Teamsters procedures for prosecution of claims involving internal affairs.

2. Limitations

The Local and the Employer assert that plaintiff's action is barred by limitations. The decision of the Joint Council was an arbitration proceeding; therefore, the appropriate time for filing suit was within the Maryland period for vacation of an arbitration award, 30 days, Md.R.P. E4; Md.Cts. & Jud.Proc.Code Ann. § 3-224, or 90 days.

As the Local has pointed out, this Court recently decided that the appropriate ...