Doby v. Safeway Stores, Inc.

Decision Date01 October 1981
Docket NumberCiv. A. No. 81-0205-R.
PartiesAlbert C. DOBY, et al. v. SAFEWAY STORES, INC., et al.
CourtU.S. District Court — Eastern District of Virginia

James A. Eichner, Richmond, Va., Alan Banov, Washington, D. C., for plaintiffs.

James Patrick McElligott, Jr., Richmond, Va., Richard C. Hotvedt, William W. Osborne, Jr., Washington, D. C., Norman Olitsky, Portsmouth, Va., Samuel Green, Arlington, Va., Robert M. Baptiste, Washington, D. C., for defendants.

MEMORANDUM

WARRINER, District Judge.

This case comes before the Court on Motions to dismiss and on Cross-Motions for summary judgment. The plaintiffs are present and former employees of Safeway Stores' Landover, Maryland, Distribution Center. Their bargaining representative is Local 639 of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. Seeking equitable and monetary relief, the plaintiffs bring suit against Safeway, Incorporated, (Safeway) for breach of the collective-bargaining agreement between Safeway and Local 639; Local 639 for breach of its duty of fair representation; the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (International) for breach of its constitution and for breach of its duty of fair representation; Local 592, the bargaining representative for the Richmond, Virginia, Distribution Center, for violation of the International constitution and for tortious interference with Local 639's contract with Safeway. The International, Local 639, and Local 592 have each moved to dismiss. Both Safeway and the plaintiffs have moved for summary judgment.

The plaintiffs claim jurisdiction under Section 9(a) of the National Labor Relations Act, as amended (NLRA), 29 U.S.C. § 159(a), and Section 301 of the Labor Management Relations Act (LMRA), 29 U.S.C. § 185. Section 159(a) grants a union the exclusive right and obligation to represent employees for which it has been certified as bargaining agent.1 The duty of fair representation of the employee by his union is implicit in the union's capacity as "exclusive representative." See, Humphrey v. Moore, 375 U.S. 335, 342, 84 S.Ct. 363, 367, 11 L.Ed.2d 370 (1965); Steele v. Louisville & N.R.R., 323 U.S. 192, 199, 65 S.Ct. 226, 230, 89 L.Ed. 173 (1944). Under Section 185(a)2 suits for violation of contracts between an employer and labor organization or for violations of contracts between labor organizations may be brought in a federal district court. An action by an employee for breach of a bargaining representative's duty of fair representation may also be brought under Section 185(a). See Humphrey v. Moore, 375 U.S. 335, 343-44, 84 S.Ct. 363, 368-369, 11 L.Ed.2d 370 (1965). To maintain an action under Section 185(a), a contract must exist between the parties to the action. This case involves two contracts: (1) the collective-bargaining agreement between Safeway and Local 639 and, (2) the International constitution, to which the International, Local 639, and Local 592 are parties.

FACTS OF THE CASE

The case centers on a dispute between Local 639 and Local 592 as to which union would service three Safeway stores in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Fredericksburg is within the geographical jurisdiction of Local 592, the exclusive bargaining agent of the Richmond Safeway distribution center. Despite this, Local 639 had obtained a collective bargaining contract with Safeway under which its local members would service the three Fredericksburg Stores out of the Landover, Maryland, distribution center.3

Both Local 592 and Local 639 are local unions in the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. The International constitution provides a procedure for determining jurisdictional disputes and states that a decision rendered under that procedure is binding and takes precedence over any arbitration award or decision of a joint grievance committee. Article XII, Section 12.

In 1978 Local 592 filed a petition with the International requesting a resolution of the jurisdictional dispute over seven Safeway stores in Virginia, including the three in Fredericksburg. Under the constitutional procedure, the General President of the International appointed a three-member panel to consider the petition. The panel held a hearing at which both Locals 639 and 592 appeared to present evidence supporting their respective positions.

After considering the arguments and evidence, the panel submitted a report to the General Executive Board recommending that jurisdiction over the three Fredericksburg stores be awarded to Local 592 and that the remaining four stores, not being within Local 592's geographic area, continue to be serviced by Local 639.4 The General Executive Board adopted the panel's recommendation.

Upon being notified of the decision, Safeway agreed to comply, and the change was implemented. Several employees of the Landover Center presented grievances with respect to the change to Safeway, and Local 639 initially processed the grievances on the ground that some ambiguity existed in the scope of the decision. Local 639 ultimately accepted the decision and has not pursued the grievances further. Local 639 did seek a stay from the International so that the transfer would not go into effect until the expiration of its contract with Safeway. The General Executive Board held a second hearing at which it denied the stay and reaffirmed its original decision. Safeway and Local 639 consider the dispute resolved and decline to pursue any grievances objecting to the work transfer.

On these facts, plaintiffs filed suit against the International alleging that it had authority under its constitution to determine only the geographical jurisdiction of the local unions, not the contractual jurisdiction of the stores. Thus, it is charged, in rendering the challenged decision the International breached its constitution by exceeding its authority. Additionally, the plaintiffs allege, if the International did have the power to determine the issue, in the exercise of this power it breached its duty of fair representation to the members of Local 639 by ruling in an arbitrary manner.

The plaintiffs also allege that Local 639 breached its duty of fair representation by accepting the decision of the International, by perfunctorily and unaggressively processing plaintiffs' grievances, and by failing to require Safeway to arbitrate these grievances.

The plaintiffs allege that Safeway breached its collective-bargaining agreement by transferring the work to Local 592 and by failing to process grievances of the employees.

Finally, they allege that Local 592 breached the International constitution by "misusing" the jurisdictional dispute procedure. They assert an additional claim for tortious interference with a contract, a State law claim, under the doctrine of pendent jurisdiction.

MOTIONS TO DISMISS

The International moves for dismissal on the ground that it was not a party to the contract between Safeway and Local 639 and hence could not be guilty of a breach thereof. While acknowledging this fact, the plaintiffs contend that the International constitution is a contract between the parties within the scope of Section 185(a) and that the International breached that contract.

In United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipefitting

Industry v. Local 334, ___ U.S. ___, 101 S.Ct. 2546, 69 L.Ed.2d 280 (1981), the Supreme Court held that a local union may sue its parent international under Section 185(a) for an alleged breach by the international of the international's constitution, regardless of whether such breach would have a significant impact on labor-management relations or industrial peace. The facts in Plumbers and Pipefitters are similar to those presented here. The International, pursuant to an apparent grant of authority in its constitution, consolidated plumbers into one local union and pipefitters into another. Previously each local had been composed of both plumbers and pipefitters. The plaintiffs argued that the constitution allowed the international to consolidate local unions, not to consolidate work classifications. The Supreme Court reversed the dismissal of the action.

Unlike the facts here, however, the action in Plumbers and Pipefitters was between a local union and its parent. The Court expressly declined to decide whether individual union members have standing under § 185(a) or otherwise to sue to enforce rights under an international's constitution. Id. at ___ n.16, 101 S.Ct. at 2553 n.16. In a prior case, the Supreme Court recognized the right of an individual employee to sue his employer under § 185 for an alleged violation by the employer of a collective bargaining agreement. Smith v. Evening News Association, 371 U.S. 195, 83 S.Ct. 267, 9 L.Ed.2d 246 (1962). The employer in Smith argued that "between" in § 185 refers to "suits" rather than to "contracts," thus authorizing only suits between an employer and a labor organization or between labor organizations. The Supreme Court, rejecting this interpretation of the statute, stated:

According to this view suits by employees for breach of a collective bargaining contract would not arise under § 301 § 185 and would be governed by state law ... whereas a suit by a union for the same breach of the same contract would be a § 301 suit ruled by federal law. Neither the language and structure of § 301 nor its legislative history requires or persuasively supports this restrictive interpretation, which would frustrate rather than serve the congressional policy expressed in that section. "The possibility that individual contract terms might have different meanings under state and federal law would inevitably exert a disruptive influence upon both the negotiation and administration of collective agreements." Teamsters, C. W. & H. v. Lucas Flour Co., 369 U.S. 95, 103, 82 S.Ct. 571, 576, 7 L.Ed.2d 593 (1962). Id. at 200-201, 83 S.Ct. at 270.

Cases prior to Plumbers disagreed on whether an individual member could sue for breach of a union con...

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