Georgopoulos v. International Broth. of Teamsters

• Citation: 942 F.Supp. 883
• Decision Date: 07 October 1996
• Docket Number: No. 95 Civ. 5145 (DNE).,95 Civ. 5145 (DNE).
• Parties: John GEORGOPOULOS and Paul Auriemma, Plaintiffs, v. INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS, AFL-CIO, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of New York

942 F.Supp. 883

John GEORGOPOULOS and Paul Auriemma, Plaintiffs, v. INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS, AFL-CIO, Defendant.

No. 95 Civ. 5145 (DNE).

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

October 7, 1996.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Lewis, Greenwald, Clifton & Lewis, P.C., New York City (Daniel E. Clifton, of counsel), for plaintiffs.

Cohen, Weiss and Simon, New York City (Richard M. Seltzer and Nathaniel K. Charney, of counsel), for defendant.

OPINION & ORDER

EDELSTEIN, District Judge:

Currently pending before the Court are cross motions for summary judgment, pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure ("Rule") 56. These motions are brought respectively by plaintiffs John Georgopoulos ("Georgopoulos") and Paul Auriemma ("Auriemma") ("plaintiffs"), and defendant the International Brotherhood of Teamsters ("IBT"). For the reasons discussed below, plaintiffs' motion is denied, defendant's motion is granted, and plaintiffs' Amended Complaint is dismissed in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

This opinion emanates from the voluntary settlement of an action commenced by the Government against the IBT and the IBT's General Executive Board. This settlement was embodied in the voluntary consent order entered March 14, 1989 ("the Consent Decree"). The goal of the Consent Decree is to rid the IBT of the hideous influence of organized crime through a two-phased implementation of the Consent Decree's various remedial provisions. In the first phase of the Consent Decree, these provisions provided for three court-appointed officers: the Independent Administrator to oversee the Consent Decree's provisions, the Investigations Officer to bring charges against corrupt IBT members, and the Election Officer to supervise the electoral process that led up to and included the 1991 election for International Union Office. In the second phase of the Consent Decree, the Independent Administrator was replaced by a three-member Independent Review Board ("the IRB").

During its more than seven-year history, the Consent Decree has spawned a tremendous amount of litigation that has required this Court to issue numerous opinions. In one of those opinions, pursuant to this Court's authority under the All Writs Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1651(a), this Court enjoined "all local unions, joint councils, area conferences, and other entities subordinate to or affiliated with the IBT, and any members, officers, representatives, agents and employees of the IBT or any such IBT affiliated entity, from filing or taking any legal action that challenges, impedes, seeks review of or relief from, or seeks to prevent or delay any act of any of the court officers appointed by this Court pursuant to the Consent Order in this action, in any court or forum in any jurisdiction except this Court[.]" December 15, 1989, Order at 3; see also United States v. International Bhd. of Teamsters, 728 F.Supp. 1032 (S.D.N.Y.), modification denied, 735 F.Supp. 502 (S.D.N.Y.), aff'd, 907 F.2d 277 (2d. Cir.1990).

The instant case involves the disposition of internal union disciplinary charges against plaintiffs. Plaintiff Georgopoulos was a member and President of Local Union 138 of the IBT ("Local 138" or "the Local"), located in Long Island City, New York. (First Amended Complaint, Georgopoulos v. International Bhd. of Teamsters, 95 Civ. 5145 ("Amended Complaint"), at 2-3 (Aug. 1, 1995).) Plaintiff Auriemma also was a member of Local 138, as well as its Secretary-Treasurer. Id. at 2-3. Defendant IBT is a labor organization with which Local 138 is affiliated. Id. Plaintiffs claim that they were subjected to discipline by the IBT without the due process required under Section 101(a)(5) of the Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act ("LMRDA"), 29 U.S.C. § 411(a)(5), and seek to void the discipline imposed upon them by the IBT. Id. at 1.

On July 16, 1993, the IRB submitted "Proposed Charges Against Local 138 Officers John Georgopoulos and Paul Auriemma" to the General Executive Board of the IBT ("GEB"). (Independent Review Board, Proposed Charges Against Local 138 Officers John Georgopoulos and Paul Auriemma ("IRB Report"), at 1 (July 16, 1993).) In this report, the IRB detailed the results of an investigation regarding wrongdoing by Georgopoulos and Auriemma, and recommended that charges be brought against each. The IRB recommended that Auriemma be charged as follows:

While the Secretary Treasurer of Local 138, you brought reproach upon the IBT violated your fiduciary duties and engaged in an embezzlement scheme to defraud the IBT of out-of-work benefits in violation of Article II, Section 2(a) and Article XIX, Section 7(b)(1), (2) and (3) [of the IBT Constitution] to wit:

During the White Rose strike, you submitted forged members' signatures on the IBT's out-of-work benefit forms to the International and caused to be distributed out-of-work benefits in violation of specific provisions of the IBT Constitution and the IBT Secretary Treasurers Manual. By forwarding the out-of-work benefit forms containing forged signatures to the IBT, you represented to the IBT that these members were eligible to receive benefits when, pursuant to the IBT Constitution and the IBT Secretary Treasurers Manual, they were not entitled to benefits. Furthermore, not all members whom you represented to the International had received benefits actually received their out-of-work benefits. By this conduct, you engaged in an embezzlement scheme which defrauded the International of out-of-work benefits.

While Secretary Treasurer of IBT Local 138 you brought reproach upon the IBT, violated your fiduciary duties and your oath of office, failed to follow a bookkeeping system as prescribed by the IBT General Secretary Treasurer, and failed to require out-of-work members during the White Rose strike to personally sign the IBT's out-of-work benefit form in violation of Article II, Section 2(a), Article XII, Section 16(c), Article XXIII, Section 4 and Article XIX, Section 7(b)(1) and (2) of the IBT Constitution and Section 8.73(5) of the Manual for Local Union Secretary-Treasurers to wit:

During the White Rose strike, you knowingly permitted the forgery of members' signatures on the IBT's weekly out-of-work benefit forms, which were then submitted to the International. You also permitted members to collect out-of-work benefits without personally signing the out-of-work benefits form as required by the IBT Constitution and the IBT Secretary Treasurers Manual.

Id. at 24-26. The IRB recommended that Georgopoulos be charged as follows:

While the President of Local 138, you brought reproach upon the IBT, violated your fiduciary duties and engaged in an embezzlement scheme to defraud the IBT of out-of-work benefits in violation of Article II, Section 2(a) and Article XIX, Section 7(b)(1), (2) and (3) [of the IBT Constitution] to wit:

During the White Rose strike, you schemed with others to have forged members' signatures on the IBT's out-of-work benefit forms submitted to the International and caused out-of-work benefits to be distributed in violation of specific provisions of the IBT Constitution and the Secretary Treasurers Manual. By forwarding the out-of-work benefit forms containing forged signatures to the International, you and your co-schemers represented to the International that these members were eligible to receive benefits when, pursuant to the IBT Constitution and the IBT Secretary Treasurers Manual, they were not entitled to benefits. Furthermore, not all members whom you and your co-schemers represented to the International had received benefits actually received their out-of-work benefits. By this conduct, you engaged in an embezzlement scheme which defrauded the International of out-of-work benefits.

While the President and principal officer of IBT Local 138 you brought reproach upon the IBT, violated your fiduciary duties and your oath of office, failed to require out-of-work members during the White Rose strike to personally sign the IBT's out-of-work benefit form in violation of Article II, Section 2(a), Article XII, Section 16(c), and Article XIX, Section 7(b)(1) and (2) of the IBT Constitution and Section 8.73(5) of the Manual for Local Union Secretary-Treasurers to wit:

During the White Rose strike, you conspired with others to submit forged members' signatures on the IBT's weekly out-of-work benefit forms to the International and to distribute out-of-work benefits in violation of the International's requirement that all recipients personally sign the out-of-work benefits form.

Id. at 26-27.

The IRB advised the GEB that it "had sixty days within which to hold a hearing and to forward a final written report to the IRB." (Letter from John J. Cronin, Jr., Administrator of the IRB, to the Members of the General Executive Board of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (July 16, 1993).) The IBT then referred the charges against Georgopoulos and Auriemma to the Ethical Practices Committee of the IBT ("EPC") for further action.

The EPC was established and operates pursuant to the authority granted to the IBT General President by Article XIX, Section 11 of the IBT Constitution. IBT Const. art. XIX, § 11; International Brotherhood of Teamsters Ethical Practices Committee Rules and Procedures ("EPC Rules"), ¶ 1(a). It consists of an Administrator and fifteen members who comprise five three-person regional hearing panels. EPC Rules, ¶ 1(b). The EPC exists "[f]or the purpose of ensuring the high moral and ethical standards in the administrative and operative practices of the International Union and its subordinate bodies, and to further strengthen the democratic processes and appeal procedures within the Union as they affect the rights and privileges of individual members or subordinate bodies..." IBT Const. art. XIX, § 14(a). Pursuant to the EPC Rules, in cases where the EPC Administrator finds a basis for exercising jurisdiction over disciplinary charges and referring them to an...