Doro v. Sheet Metal Workers' Intern. Ass'n

Decision Date17 August 2007
Docket NumberDocket No. 06-0504-cv(XAP).,Docket No. 06-0355-cv(L).
Citation498 F.3d 152
PartiesLouis DORO, Plaintiff-Appellant-Cross-Appellee, v. SHEET METAL WORKERS' INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION, Defendant-Appellee-Cross-Appellant, Local Union 38, Sheet Metal Workers' International Association and Gino Columbo, President of Local Union No. 38, in his Official and Individual Capacities, Defendants.
CourtU.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit

Christopher Watkins, Chester, N.Y. (Stephen Bergstein, Bergstein & Ullrich, Chester, NY, of counsel), for Appellant.

Jeffrey S. Dubin, Huntington, NY, for Appellee.

Before: MESKILL, NEWMAN and SACK, Circuit Judges.

MESKILL, Circuit Judge:

This case asks us to decide whether the Sheet Metal Workers' International Association (the International) may be held liable under the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA), 29 U.S.C. § 411, because in its quasi-appellate role, the International ratified a decision of the local union that allegedly violated member Louis Doro's (Doro) due process rights. We hold that the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, Brieant, J., properly granted summary judgment for the International and dismissed the claim.

Affirmed; cross-appeal dismissed.

BACKGROUND

Doro is a sheet metal worker who since 1989 has been a member in good standing of the International and its affiliate, Local Union 38 (Local 38). Doro occasionally worked overtime for a Local 38 contractor, P & P Sheet Metal, performing pipe sketching and estimating jobs related to piping and electrical work. On October 22, 1998, fellow Local 38 member Nicholas Columbo, Sr. (Nicholas Columbo), filed charges against Doro with the local union. The charging document alleged the following misconduct:

—Member working for P & P Sheet Metal (a [Local] 38 contractor) accepting substandard wages and benefits for work performed after 40 hours with full knowledge that benefits were not being paid into [Local] 38 and the International Pension.

—Member failing to obtain an overtime permit.

—Member receiving two benefits (vacation and dues check-off in their [sic] pay[)].

On the same day, Nicholas Columbo filed charges against another Local 38 member, Anthony Pelella (Pelella). The documents charging Pelella and Doro are identical, except for the name and address of the charged party.

Doro, in his April 8, 2005 deposition, testified that he was one of about 13 members whom Local 38 charged for work performed for P & P Sheet Metal, allegedly in violation of the union constitution, and that he understood the substance of the charges against him. According to Doro, Roy Seacor, P & P Sheet Metal's owner, called a meeting of all the charged members and said not to worry about the charges, and that the issue of any fines imposed would be dealt with after the union trial.

On November 4, 1998, less than two weeks after mailing the charges, Local 38's Executive Board Trial Committee tried both Doro and Pelella separately. The record before us contains no transcript of the proceedings against Doro and Pelella. Nicholas Columbo's brother Gino Columbo served as Chairman of the Trial Committee. Doro did not object to the composition of the Trial Committee. Nicholas Columbo read the charges, and Doro responded that he was "sorry if [he] did anything wrong." Doro was not represented by counsel at the hearing or, apparently, at any other time during the union proceedings against him. The record provides no details of Pelella's trial, or any indication whether Pelella admitted the factual basis for the charges against him.

The Trial Committee concluded that Doro and Pelella each violated three sections of the union constitution and fined Doro $11,096 and Pelella $4,418. On November 18, 1998, Gino Columbo read the "trial minutes" of both trials to Local 38's membership. The membership ratified the findings of guilt and the fines.1

Doro appealed to Arthur Moore, the General President of the International, who affirmed Local 38's decision on January 22, 1999. Doro further appealed to the International's Executive Council, which on July 7, 1999, upheld the decision below, although it modified the penalty to remove any possibility of expulsion. Doro appealed that decision to the International's Grievances and Appeals Committee on September 2, 1999.

Doro's appeal was pending before the Grievances and Appeals Committee for almost five years, during which time Local 38 filed suit in federal court under the LMRDA against Pelella to collect Pelella's unpaid fine. See Local Union No. 38 v. Pelella, 350 F.3d 73, 78 (2d Cir. 2003). Pelella asserted a counterclaim for violation of his due process rights and breach of contract. Id. On November 27, 2001, after a two-day trial, a jury found Local 38 liable for violating Pelella's due process rights. Id. at 79. In affirming the order of the district court granting Pelella fees and costs, we noted that Local 38 conceded "that the charges and procedures to which Local 38 subjected Pelella reflect, at the very least, negligent compliance with the due process rights guaranteed by the LMRDA." Id. at 91.

Doro finally appeared before the Grievances and Appeals Committee on August 20, 2004. In a statement that Doro claims he read before the Convention's Grievance and Appeals Committee (the Committee), he argued that the written charges prepared by Nicholas Columbo "did not allege when or where the infractions were committed, the number of hours in question, nor even the work that was covered by the Union contract."2 Doro cited the Pelella decision as "case law" that compelled the Committee to reverse Local 38's decision against him.

The Committee recommended that the General Executive's decision be upheld. In recounting the prior proceedings, the Committee stated that Local 38 had observed Doro's due process rights, "including serving him with charges stating with sufficient details the conduct of which he was accused and giving him a full opportunity to defend against those charges." In giving its reasons for recommending that the Convention uphold the decision of the Executive Council, the Committee stated that "Doro, both in his statements to the Committee and in his prior statements during the appeal process, had acknowledged violating the SMWIA Constitution" and had "also acknowledged in his statements before the Committee that he understood the nature of the charges against him." The Committee's recommendation made no reference to the Pelella decision. In a letter dated August 27, 2004, the General Secretary-Treasurer of the International informed Doro that the General Convention had approved the Committee's recommendation and voted to reject his appeal.

On October 18, 2004, Doro filed suit in federal court against Local 38, the International, and Gino Columbo for "willfully" violating his due process rights under the LMRDA. On July 6, 2005, Doro settled with Local 38 and Gino Columbo. The remaining defendant, the International, moved for summary judgment on the ground that Doro, because he sits on the Board of Directors of and owns a 24 percent stake in CAQS, Inc., which employs Local 38 members, is an "interested employer" who is barred from bringing this suit pursuant to 29 U.S.C. § 411(a)(4). Doro moved for partial summary judgment on the issue of liability, asserting that as a matter of law the International knowingly had ratified a facially illegal decision by Local 38. The district court denied both motions, but entered summary judgment sua sponte for the International on the ground that Doro made no showing that the International acted in bad faith in performing its appellate functions. This appeal followed.

DISCUSSION
Standard of Review

We review de novo a district court's grant of summary judgment, construing the evidence in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party and drawing all inferences and resolving all ambiguities in favor of the nonmoving party. See Aon Fin. Prods. v. Société Générale, 476 F.3d 90, 95 (2d Cir. 2007). Summary judgment is appropriate "if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law." Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c).

The Merits

Doro contends that the district court erred in denying his motion for summary judgment on the issue of liability and in granting summary judgment for the International sua sponte. Doro's LMRDA claim relies on a number of facts that, even if not formally disputed in the parties' Local Civil Rule 56.1 statements, are nonetheless unsettled, particularly the specific factual background of Doro's and Pelella's union trials. However, Doro has not identified for either the district court or this Court any genuine issue of material fact that would raise a jury question on the issue we deem dispositive. See Fed. R.Civ.P. 56(c).

Doro contends that the International knowingly ratified Local 38's alleged violation of the due process rights afforded him by the...

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