Di Bucci v. Uhrich, 178
| Decision Date | 13 May 1959 |
| Docket Number | No. 178,178 |
| Citation | 21 Misc.2d 1069,189 N.Y.S.2d 717 |
| Parties | Joseph DI BUCCI, Plaintiff, v. Richard UHRICH, as trustee of the Hotel, Restaurant and Beverage Dispensers Industrial Union Local, affiliated with the Hotel & Restaurant Employees and Bartenders International Union, affiliated with the Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, consisting of seven or more persons and Frank Esposito as Acting Secretary-Treasurer of said Local 178, Defendants. |
| Court | New York Supreme Court |
Katz, Feit & Perlman, New York City, for plaintiff.
Pinto & Stein, New York City, for defendants.
In this action, plaintiff demands judgment against Richard Uhrich, as trustee of the Hotel, Restaurant and Beverage Dispensers Industrial Union Local No. 178 and Frank Esposito, Acting Secretary-Treasurer of said Local, enjoining and restraining defendants from eliminating and omitting the name of plaintiff from appearing on a ballot as nominee for the office of President of the local union; and enjoining them from interfering with his rights as a member in good standing of said local union.
An injunction pendente lite was granted herein by order dated March 14, 1958. When the action was reached for trial, and in lieu of a trial, the parties stipulated the following facts which the court deems essential to its decision herein:
The plaintiff has been a member of the Local union since 1942, and was a member in good standing therein for two years prior to February 3, 1958, which, as will hereinafter appear, was the date of his nomination as a candidate for the office of President of the Local union. The Local union is a subordinate local of and affiliated with the Hotel & Restaurant Employees and Bartenders' International Union (hereinafter called the International). Plaintiff was elected a member of the Executive Board of Local 178 in the year 1943, and in the ensuing years up to September 15, 1954, served as President or Business Agent of the Local. Following an investigation by the New York State Moreland Act Commission into the operation of the Welfare Fund of the Local, in or about September 15, 1954, charges were filed against plaintiff by the International. After a hearing on four specified charges, plaintiff was suspended from office, but not membership, for a period of 30 days, with consequential loss of salary and expense allowance. Upon the expiration of the suspension period, plaintiff resumed his duties as President of the Local. Subsequently, in November, 1955, plaintiff was renominated for the office of President of the Local, without objection by the International. He was, however, defeated at the election held on November, 1955.
On July 18, 1956, pursuant to Article VI, Sec. 1 of the Constitution of the International, the defendant, Richard Uhrich, was appointed trustee of the Local. Mr. Uhrich is presently administering the affairs of the Local as trustee under said appointment. The powers of the trustee are set forth in Article VI, Sec. 5 of said Constitution. Parenthetically, it is provided therein '* * * The Trustee shall carry out all orders issued to him by the General President.'
In or about December, 1957, the trustee recommended to the General President of the International that the Trusteeship of the Local be terminated. In January, 1958, the trustee was ordered to arrange for a termination of the Trusteeship, to convene a meeting for the purpose of receiving nominations for offices, and to arrange for the conduct of the election. At a meeting held on February 3, 1958, nominations were made and received, and the plaintiff, Joseph Di Bucci, was accepted as one of four nominees for the office of President of the Local. On February 7, 1958, the trustee was advised by the General President of the International that the plaintiff was ineligible to contend for the office of President of the Local for the reason that his conduct did not meet the standards set forth in the Code of Ethical Practices adopted as part of the AFL-CIO Constitution in May, 1957. The trustee advised plaintiff, in writing, of the instruction and order of the General President of the International. Prior to the removal of plaintiff's name from the ballot, no charges were filed or preferred against him, nor was he accorded a hearing. Plaintiff's name was not removed from the ballot by any independent act on the part of the trustee, but was done by virtue of the order and direction of the General President of the International. Under item '35' of the stipulated facts, it appears that the trustee has no power to rescind the order of the General President of the International directing the removal of plaintiff's name from the ballot as a candidate for the office of President of the Local; nor has the trustee power to issue an order declaring plaintiff eligible as a candidate, or to vary in any respect the order issued to him by the General President.
Under item '37' of the stipulated facts, the narrow issue posed for determination is whether plaintiff is entitled to a judgment against the defendant-trustee enjoining him from removing plaintiff from the ballot as a nominee for the office of President of the Local union in Trustee-ship; or, whether the...
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