Ellis v. CIVIL SERVICE EMPLOYEES ASS'N

• Decision Date: 02 February 1996
• Docket Number: No. 95-CV-1358.,95-CV-1358.
• Citation: 913 F. Supp. 684
• Parties: Patrick P. ELLIS, Plaintiff, v. The CIVIL SERVICE EMPLOYEES ASSOCIATION, INC., LOCAL 1000, AFSCME, AFL-CIO, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of New York

913 F. Supp. 684

Patrick P. ELLIS, Plaintiff, v. The CIVIL SERVICE EMPLOYEES ASSOCIATION, INC., LOCAL 1000, AFSCME, AFL-CIO, Defendant.

No. 95-CV-1358.

United States District Court, N.D. New York.

February 2, 1996.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Office of Joseph P. Carey, Fishkill, New York, For Plaintiff; Joseph P. Carey, of counsel.

Civil Service Employees Ass'n, Inc., Albany, New York, For Defendant; Nancy B. Hoffman, of counsel.

McAVOY, Chief Judge.

MEMORANDUM, DECISION, & ORDER

Plaintiff Patrick P. Ellis, a self-described "dissident" member of defendant Civil Service Employees Association ("CSEA"), brought suit against the union for alleged violations of the Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act, 29 U.S.C. § 411 ("LMRDA"), seeking declaratory and injunctive relief. Defendant filed a motion to dismiss the amended complaint for failure to state a claim and an amended motion to dismiss for lack of standing. Plaintiff cross-moved for a preliminary injunction and a consolidated hearing.

I. Background

The American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO ("AFSCME") organization contains three levels: an international union, councils, and local unions. (Weinberg Aff. ¶ 5 & Ex. 2.) In 1993, AFSCME consisted of fifty-nine chartered councils, five unchartered councils, 3,465 chartered local unions, 72 unaffiliated local unions, and a retiree chapter. (Am. Compl. ¶ 7; Weinberg Ex. 2.)

A. Affiliation Agreement

Pursuant to a 1978 trial affiliation agreement (the "Agreement"), AFSCME chartered defendant as a local union. (Weinberg Aff. ¶ 9 & Exs. 3, 5.) A 1980 addendum to the Agreement (the "Addendum") rendered defendant's affiliation with AFSCME permanent. (Id. at ¶ 11 & Ex. 4.) Despite its local charter and its "Local 1000" label, defendant appears to function as a council. (Id. at ¶ 9; Am Compl. ¶ 9.)

Plaintiff claims that the Agreement and Addendum violate Article IX, section 2 of the AFSCME Constitution because they create a de facto council status for defendant, even though defendant does not govern any autonomous AFSCME chartered local unions. (Am.Compl. ¶ 18.) Defendant counters that as defendant and AFSCME entered the Agreement eighteen years ago and adopted the Addendum sixteen years ago, plaintiff's attempt to challenge their validity is time-barred. (D's Reply to P's Opp. to D's Mtn., at 9-10.) Plaintiff also alleges that defendant's de facto council status violates its members' equal rights, as guaranteed by 29 U.S.C. § 411(a)(1).

B. Dues

Pursuant to the LMRDA, local labor organizations may only increase members' dues by a majority vote of their members in good standing. 29 U.S.C. § 411(a)(3)(A). Labor organizations other than local labor organizations, however, may increase members' dues by a majority vote of delegates at a convention. 29 U.S.C. § 411(a)(3)(B). Plaintiff alleges that on October 25, 1995, at its Annual Delegate Convention, defendant proposed an amendment to its by-laws increasing members' dues and the per capita tax owed to AFSCME. A majority of the delegates voted in favor of the by-law amendment. (Am. Compl. ¶ 15.) Plaintiff claims that this vote violated § 411(a)(3) of the LMRDA because defendant is a "local" labor organization. Defendant counters that the procedure it utilized to raise its members' dues comported with the LMRDA because defendant is an "intermediate body" rather than a local labor organization. In its amended motion to dismiss, defendant also argues that plaintiff lacks standing to sue defendant over the way in which it increased its members' dues.

Plaintiff seeks a judgment declaring that the Agreement between defendant and AFSCME and its Addendum violate AFSCME's constitution, that defendant must operate as a local union unless and until it obtains legitimate council status by following the course prescribed in the AFSCME Constitution for doing so, and that its de facto council status violates its members' statutorily-guaranteed equal rights. He also seeks an order enjoining defendant from enforcing the Agreement, from effectuating the by-law amendment approved at the October 25 Delegate Convention, and from increasing or attempting to increase members' dues in any manner other than that specified in § 411(a)(3)(A) of the LMRDA.

II. Discussion

The Court will address defendant's motion to dismiss before considering plaintiff's motion for a preliminary injunction.

A. Motion to Dismiss

1. Legal Standard

Defendant moves pursuant to Fed. R.Civ.Pro. 12(b)(6) to dismiss plaintiff's complaint for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. For purposes of the 12(b)(6) motion, the Court construes the complaint in the light most favorable to the plaintiff. Scheuer v. Rhodes, 416 U.S. 232, 236, 94 S.Ct. 1683, 1686, 40 L.Ed.2d 90 (1974). The Court will only grant the motion if "it appears beyond doubt that the plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of his claim which would entitle him to relief." Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 45-46, 78 S.Ct. 99, 101-102, 2 L.Ed.2d 80 (1957).

2. Agreement and Addendum

To the extent that plaintiff's complaint challenges the propriety of the Agreement AFSCME and defendant entered in 1978 and the 1980 Addendum to that Agreement, plaintiff's claim is time-barred. Federal courts apply to LMRDA claims the statute of limitations that a state court within the federal court's district would apply to the most closely analogous state-law claims. Rodonich v. House Wreckers Union Local 95, 817 F.2d 967, 977 (2d Cir.1987). The Rodonich court went on to hold that union democracy claims brought under the LMRDA should be subject to the relevant state's statute of limitations for personal injury actions. Id. at 977; see also Gilmore v. Local 295, 798 F.Supp. 1030, 1040 (S.D.N.Y.1992) (stating that union violations of rights guaranteed by LMRDA are governed by applicable state statute of limitations for personal injury actions). New York's statute of limitations for personal injury actions is three years. N.Y.Civ.Prac.L. & R. § 214(5) (McKinney 1990). This statute of limitations renders plaintiff's claims concerning the legality of the Agreement and Addendum time-barred. The Court would reach the same result even if it applied New York's six-year residuary statute of limitations. Id. § 213(1). Applying either New York statute of limitations, plaintiff has failed to state a LMRDA claim with respect to the validity of the Agreement and Addendum.

Plaintiff also argues that by virtue of the fact that pursuant to the Agreement and Addendum, defendant operates as a council rather than as a local union, defendant violates its members' equal rights under 29 U.S.C. § 411(a)(1). Detached from an allegation of specific conduct, plaintiff's assertion that defendant's mere status violates § 411(a) rights is too ambiguous to state a claim on which the Court can grant relief.

3. By-Law Amendment

With respect to the issue of whether defendant increased its members' dues legally, the Court must first determine whether plaintiff has standing to bring his claim.

a. Standing

Pursuant to 29 U.S.C. § 412, LMRDA's enforcement provision, "Any person whose rights are secured by the provisions of this title have been infringed by any violation of this title may bring a civil action...." Defendant argues that plaintiff lacks standing to challenge the method defendant utilized to increase its members' dues because a union member may only sue a union to vindicate his own rights and because the dues increase had no effect on plaintiff's dues.

Defendant's point that union members lack standing to enforce the rights of other union members is well-taken. See Mamula v. United Steelworkers, 304 F.2d 108, 113 (3d Cir.1962), cert. denied, 371 U.S. 823, 83 S.Ct. 42, 9 L.Ed.2d 63 (1962); Johnson v. Stevenson, 170 F.2d 108 (5th Cir.1948), cert. denied, 336 U.S. 904, 69 S.Ct. 491, 93 L.Ed. 1069 (1949); see also McGowan v. Maryland, 366 U.S. 420, 81 S.Ct. 1101, 6 L.Ed.2d 393 (1961) (holding that individual lacks standing to litigate rights of another). To the extent that plaintiff has asserted claims against defendant on behalf of his fellow union members, he has failed to state claims on which the Court can grant relief.

In its second standing argument, defendant contends that plaintiff is unaffected by the by-law amendment because he earns roughly $22,000 a year, whereas the by-law amendment only increases the dues of members who earn over $28,000 a year. (Stack Aff. ¶ 22.) If that were true, plaintiff would lack standing to bring a § 411(a)(3) challenge against the delegates' vote on the by-law amendment. Section 411(a)(3) guarantees the rights of local union members not to have their local union dues increased without a majority vote by the membership.

The preliminary statement of plaintiff's amended complaint contains his response. There, plaintiff states that defendant's amended by-law increases his dues, along with all of its other members' dues. For purposes of deciding defendant's 12(b)(6) dismissal motion, the Court must accept this statement as true. Thus, plaintiff has alleged that defendant's dues increase caused him a remediable injury in fact, which gives him standing to assert a claim against defendant for violating 29 U.S.C. § 411(a)(3). Plaintiff also claims that defendant's procedure for amending its dues by-law violated his statutorily-guaranteed equal rights. For this cause of action, based upon 29 U.S.C. § 411(a)(1) rather than § 411(a)(3)(A), plaintiff has again alleged an injury in fact sufficient to give him standing.

b. 29 U.S.C. § 411(a)(1)

Section 411(a)(1) of the LMRDA, entitled "Equal Rights," reads as follows:

Every member of a labor organization shall have equal rights and privileges within such organization to nominate candidates, to vote in elections or referendums of the labor organization, to attend membership meetings, and to participate in the deliberations and voting upon the

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