Fingar v. Seaboard Air Line Railroad Company

• Decision Date: 26 April 1960
• Docket Number: No. 17905.,17905.
• Parties: R. E. FINGAR, Individually, and as Representative of Yard Firemen and Enginemen on all Florida Divisions of Seaboard Air Line Railroad Company, Appellant, v. SEABOARD AIR LINE RAILROAD COMPANY et al., Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit

277 F.2d 698 (1960)

R. E. FINGAR, Individually, and as Representative of Yard Firemen and Enginemen on all Florida Divisions of Seaboard Air Line Railroad Company, Appellant, v. SEABOARD AIR LINE RAILROAD COMPANY et al., Appellees.

No. 17905.

United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit.

April 26, 1960.

J. Donald Bruce, Jacksonville, Fla., for appellant.

Chester Bedell, Charles R. Scott, John S. Cox, Jacksonville, Fla., Scott & Cox, Jacksonville, Fla., Harold C. Heiss, Russell B. Day, Cleveland, Ohio, Bedell, Bedell & Dittmar, Jacksonville, Fla., of counsel, for appellee, Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen, and related appellees.

Before TUTTLE, JONES and BROWN, Circuit Judges.

TUTTLE, Circuit Judge.

This is an appeal from a summary judgment in favor of the defendant railroad and the individuals as officers of locals of, and the locals of, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen.

This action was brought under the authority of 28 U.S.C.A. § 1337 which gives United States District Courts "original jurisdiction of any civil action on proceeding arising under any Act of Congress regulating commerce * * *". The Supreme Court has held that a suit against a railway brotherhood as bargaining representative under the terms of the Railway Labor Act, 45 U.S.C.A. § 151 et seq. is comprehended within these terms. See Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 44, 78 S.Ct. 99, 2 L.Ed.2d 80.

The complaint alleged that the plaintiff and the class he represented were yard firemen or enginemen employed by the defendant Seaboard Air Line Railroad, that they were members of the locals of the Brotherhood, as were also road enginemen and firemen; the function of the two classes of employees was indicated by their title; yard firemen worked in the freight and passenger yards and road firemen worked on the railroad runs or trips; it alleged that the contract between the Brotherhood and the railroad provided that separate seniority would be established for yard men and road men and that "seniority in yard service shall rule in working assignments to yard runs"; that contrary to this provision the railroad, with the agreement of the defendant locals and Brotherhood, assigned road firemen and supervisors to yard runs, so that the yard men were denied "assignments" that they were entitled to "protect".

The complaint alleged that the yard men were a minority of the membership in the Defendant subordinate lodges; that under the provisions of the Railway Labor Act grievances against the railroad were processed through the local grievance committee; that "the defendant subordinate lodges with the knowledge, sanction and direction of the defendant Brotherhood, its officers and agents, and the Subordinate Lodges' officers named defendants herein have arbitrarily ruled that the Local Grievance Committees cannot consider this grievance of the plaintiff's hereinabove alleged unless a majority of the members of the subordinate lodges * * * vote to allow the Local Grievance Committees to represent plaintiff in presenting their grievances * * *"; that this plaintiff had presented his grievances to the local lodges but they had refused to act "because of the negative votes of the road firemen and road enginemen who are receiving the benefits of job assignments of the defendant Railroad Company in yard work."

The railroad defendant and the brotherhood defendants all moved to dismiss the complaint for failure to state facts on which relief could be granted and moved for summary judgment. The Court granted the motion for summary judgment, declining to pass on the motion to dismiss.

The pleadings, motions and supporting affidavits make clear, without any issue, several facts: Appellant bases his claim on an existing contract with the railroad; this contract is fair on its face and is in fact relied upon by appellant; vindication of his rights requires interpretation of the terms of the contract relating to "yards" and "yard runs"; no written claim or grievance had been presented to this railroad touching on the alleged breach of contract as required under the bargaining agreement between the railroad and the brotherhood. Thus, whatever claims Fingar had against his own local, its officers or the Brotherhood because of their failure to perform their duty under the act and under the union's constitution, it is clear that the Trial Court properly granted summary judgment in favor of the railroad defendant.

The Supreme Court has held, beginning with Slocum v. D., L. & W. Railroad Co., 339 U.S. 239, 70 S.Ct. 577, 94 L.Ed. 795, that, in an action by a railroad employee against his employer seeking an interpretation or ascertainment of rights under the contract of employment, when the vindication of such claimed right requires the interpretation or construction of the terms of the contract, the Adjustment...