Friends Social Club v. Secretary of Labor

• Decision Date: 13 May 1991
• Docket Number: Civ. A. No. 89-CV-72559-DT.
• Parties: The FRIENDS SOCIAL CLUB, et al., Plaintiffs, v. SECRETARY OF LABOR, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Western District of Michigan

763 F. Supp. 1386

The FRIENDS SOCIAL CLUB, et al., Plaintiffs, v. SECRETARY OF LABOR, Defendant.

Civ. A. No. 89-CV-72559-DT.

United States District Court, E.D. Michigan, S.D.

May 13, 1991.

William M. Mazey, Southfield, Mich., for plaintiffs.

Peter Caplan, U.S. Atty., James R. Streicker, Chicago, Ill., for defendant.

OPINION AND ORDER ACCEPTING MAGISTRATE'S REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION AND ORDERING PLAINTIFFS TO COMPLY WITH DEPARTMENT OF LABOR SUBPOENAS

ROSEN, District Judge.

Presently before the Court is the May 31, 1990 Report and Recommendation of Magistrate Judge Virginia M. Morgan wherein she recommends that the Court dismiss the Plaintiffs' claim for declaratory and injunctive relief and grant the Defendant Secretary's counterclaim to enforce the administrative subpoenas issued by the Secretary. The Court held a hearing on May 3, 1991, at which time the Court heard the arguments of counsel respecting the Plaintiffs' objections to the Report and Recommendation. After considering these arguments and the record in this case, the Court is persuaded that the Magistrate Judge's Report and Recommendation should be adopted and the subpoenas ordered enforced.

FACTS AND BACKGROUND:

The events pertinent to the instant case unfold against a background of internal conflict within the International Union of the United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Workers of America (International UAW). The conflict is between members of the union who are affiliated with the Administration Caucus, on the one hand, and those who are affiliated with the New Directions Caucus, on the other hand. These two factions are equivalent to political parties within the UAW. Brock v. International Union, U.A.W., 682 F.Supp. 1415, 1418 n. 2 (E.D.Mich.1988), aff'd, 889 F.2d 685 (6th Cir.1989), reh. den., en banc. The Administration Caucus has been in existence since at least 1958. (Affidavit of Carl Tillery, Par. 6, p. 2). In contrast, the New Directions Caucus was formed in 1985 by some UAW members who were "dissatisfied with their union's leadership." Tucker v. Bieber, 900 F.2d 973, 975 (6th Cir.1990), cert. den., ___ U.S. ___, 111 S.Ct. 135, 112 L.Ed.2d 102 (1990).

Jerry Brock is a member of the New Directions Caucus and, in May, 1986, announced his candidacy for the office of Regional Director of the union's Region 5, which election was scheduled to take place in June, 1986. Jerry Brock lost the election to the then incumbent Regional Director of Region 5, Ken Worley. Brock then filed various complaints with the U.S. Department of Labor, alleging, among other things, that Worley's use of office stationery, typewriters and facilities to further his individual campaign violated Section 401(g) of the Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959, 29 U.S.C. § 481(g).

As a result of Brock's complaint, the Secretary of Labor filed a civil action in this Court to compel the Union to rerun the election with Department of Labor supervision. Upon the parties' cross motions for summary judgment, this Court's predecessor, the Honorable Richard F. Suhrheinrich, granted the Secretary's motion for summary judgment and ordered the election to be rerun.

Judge Suhrheinrich's opinion provides further insight into the relationship between the two competing caucuses, their individual candidates for Regional Director, and union leadership:

On June 4, 1986, local UAW ... delegates elected from the ranks of the locals met to elect the UAW Region 5 Regional Director. Pursuant to the UAW Constitution, Region 5 is composed of Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Colorado, and New Mexico.... This election is of great significance in the UAW since the Region 5 Regional Director not only runs Region 5, but also is part of the UAW's International Executive Board (hereinafter IEB). The IEB is the governing body of the UAW, and is currently composed of the UAW president, the secretary-treasurer, 5 vice presidents, and 16 regional directors elected from the UAW's 10 regions....

Two candidates were running for the office of Region 5 Regional Director in the 1986 election. These individuals were Ken Worley, the incumbent Regional Director, and Jerry Tucker, a former Worley assistant who had been a UAW International Representative for 16 years. Tucker was the Assistant Regional Director for Region 5, having been appointed to this position by Ken Worley. Tucker held his job, the highest appointed position in Region 5, until a month before the election when he was fired. Notably, while Worley was supported by the Administration Caucus, Tucker was supported by the New Directions Caucus. All of the incumbent UAW directors and elected officers were members of the Administration Caucus.

Tucker declared his candidacy for the regional director position on May 8, 1986. By so declaring his candidacy, Tucker acted in contravention to a policy ... requiring appointed UAW staff members who oppose an elected incumbent to declare their candidacy at least 90 days before the election and to take an unpaid leave of absence from their staff position for that length of time. Although Tucker asked for a leave of absence after he declared, the leave was denied him. He was instead discharged from his staff position at UAW President Owen Bieber's behest on May 12, 1986. The stated reason for Tucker's termination was his violation of the 90-day rule.

Due to his discharge, Tucker was denied access to the floor of the convention. Thus, he was unable to campaign for office at the convention. Additionally, the fact of his discharge was common knowledge among the delegates. However, Tucker was not prohibited from running for union office.

The Region 5 Regional Director election took place at the 1986 UAW convention in Anaheim, California. Many of the Region 5 delegates were dressed in grey jackets which had a map of the region and the words "Ken Worley, Director" emblazoned on the back. Jerry Tucker's supporters wore blue jackets to distinguish themselves from the other Region 5 delegates. Since these jackets are at issue in one of the present cases, a historical note is appropriate. The wearing of jackets has become common at UAW conventions during the past 20 years. These jackets are generally in different colors for the different UAW regions and are used to supply regional identity to the delegates. The regional director's name apparently does not appear on some.¹

The vote for Region 5 Regional Director was taken in roll call fashion, with the delegates from each local being polled separately. After the votes were tallied, UAW officials declared Ken Worley the winner by a total of 324.577 votes to Tucker's 324.416 votes. On the basis of this count, Worley won by 0.161 of one vote.

Brock, 682 F.Supp., at 1417-1418 (emphasis added).

The election for Regional Director of Region 5 was rerun on September 2, 1988. This time, Tucker defeated Worley by a substantial margin, and he was certified as regional director. However, his term as Regional Director expired in 1989. On June 21, 1989, the next regular election was held, and Tucker lost the election to Roy Wyse, a member of the Administration Caucus. Brock, 889 F.2d, at 689. Roy Wyse has held the office since that time, and the next election will be held in 1992.

Subsequently, on November 3, 1989, the Court of Appeals dismissed as moot the appeals relating to the District Court's order requiring the election to be rerun, as well as the Secretary's challenge to the union's determination that certain retired UAW members would be ineligible to vote in the rerun elections. Id. (The appeal was moot because the 1989 regular election intervened before the issues relating to the 1986 and 1988 elections could be decided by the Court of Appeals.) In a separate opinion, the Court of Appeals affirmed Judge Suhrheinrich's dismissal of Tucker's civil action, in which he had claimed that his dismissal from his appointed position as Assistant Regional Director (for the stated reason that he violated the 90-day rule in announcing his candidacy only one month before the election) constituted breach of contract. See Tucker v. Bieber, 900 F.2d 973 (6th Cir.1990).

On July 10, 1989, Tucker filed a complaint with the Office of Labor-Management Standards Enforcement, U.S. Department of Labor, alleging various violations of Section 401 of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act, 29 U.S.C. § 481, in relation to the June, 1989 election in which he was defeated by Roy Wyse. (Exhibit 1 to Secretary of Labor's Brief in Response to Objections to Magistrate's Report and Recommendation.) Tucker challenged the results of the June, 1989 election and requested a Department of Labor-supervised rerun election.

In the complaint, Tucker alleged that the local union elections to select the delegates to attend the June, 1989 convention/election were all tainted by the use of union members' coerced contributions to the Friends Social Club Fund (one of the Plaintiffs in this case) to fund the Administration Caucus' campaign in the Region 5 election, including expenses for campaign literature, living and travel expenses for Roy Wyse, the Administration Caucus' candidate for Region 5 Regional Director (who took an unpaid leave of absence six months prior to the election), living and travel expenses for others who campaigned on behalf of the Administration Caucus, and various campaign-related social functions for retired UAW members. He explicitly alleged that the coercive solicitations for contributions to the Friends Social Club Fund were made to union members outside of Region 5. (Exhibit 1 to Secretary's Brief, pp. 9-10).

Tucker further alleged that, at the June, 1989 convention, campaign literature supporting the Administration Caucus' candidates was distributed to delegates by union employees during union time, and also as part of their registration materials. (Exhibit 1, p. 13). He alleged these campaign materials were prepared by union...