Herman v. Local Union 1011, U.S. Steelworkers
| Decision Date | 21 July 1999 |
| Docket Number | No. 2:97-CV-409-RL.,2:97-CV-409-RL. |
| Parties | Alexis M. HERMAN, Secretary of Labor, United States Department of Labor, Plaintiff, v. LOCAL UNION, 1011, UNITED STEELWORKERS OF AMERICA, AFL-CIO, CLC, Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Northern District of Indiana |
Carol A. Davilo, U.S. Atty's Office, Dyer, IN, Leonard A. Grossman, U.S. Dept. of Labor, Office of Solicitor, Chicago, IL, for Plaintiff.
David L. Gore, Chicago, IL, Jeffrey R. Freund, Leon Dayan, Bredhoff and Kaiser, Washington, DC, for Defendant.
This matter is before the court on (1) the Motion for Summary Judgment filed by Plaintiff, Alexis M. Herman, Secretary of Labor, United States Department of Labor, on December 7, 1998, and (2) the Motion for Summary Judgment filed by Defendant, Local Union 1011, United Steelworkers of America, ALF—CIO, CLC, on January 5, 1999. For the reasons set forth below, the Plaintiff's motion is GRANTED, the Defendant's motion is DENIED, the Court DECLARES VOID the Local 1011 election, and the Court ORDERS a new election under the direction of the Secretary.
Furthermore, it is ORDERED that the parties shall have ten days from the date of this order to report whether further judicial proceedings are necessary in this case. If no party reports that further judicial proceedings are necessary, the Court will enter final judgment consistent with the present ruling.
The parties agree to the following facts:
Local 1011 is a labor organization within the jurisdiction of this Court and subject to the provisions of the LMRDA. Statement of Undisputed Facts ¶¶ 1-2. Local 1011 is chartered by and subordinate to the United Steelworkers of America, AFL-CIO, CLC (hereinafter, the "USWA"). Id. at ¶ 3. On April 17, 1997, Local 1011, pursuant to the USWA Constitution, concluded the process of conducting its regular triennial election of union officers. In the month preceding the election, Local 1011 accepted nominations of candidates for the election and determined which nominees would be eligible to appear on the ballot. Id. at ¶ 4.
Article VII, § 10, of the USWA Constitution provides an attendance requirement for eligibility as follows:
In order to be eligible for election as a Local Union Officer or Grievance Committee Member in any regular election or election to fill a vacancy, a member shall have attended at least one-third (1/3) of the regular meetings held by the member's Local Union during the twenty-four (24) month period immediately preceding the month in which the election is to be held.
Meetings which a member was prevented from attending because of such member's Union activities, working hours, service in the armed forces of the United States or Canada, sickness which confines, death in the immediate family, or jury duty, shall not be counted as meetings held in determining such member's eligibility under this Section 10....
Id. at ¶ 7. Eleven of the Local 1011 positions for which elections were held in April 1997 were officer positions governed by Title IV of the LMRDA, 29 U.S.C. §§ 481-483. Id. at ¶ 8. A total of twenty-three nominations were made by Local 1011 members for these positions, and at least two individuals were nominated for every officer position. Id. at ¶ 9. The attendance rule disqualified none of the officer nominees, thirteen of whom were not incumbent officers. Id.
At the time of the April 1997 election, the local union had approximately 2990 members in good standing. Id. at ¶ 5. Ninety-five members attended the minimum eight or more of the twenty-four monthly meetings in the period preceding the election and thus qualified to be candidates outright; 103 attended at least seven meetings; 112 attended at least six; 130 attended at least five; 156 attended at least four; 193 attended at least three; 247 attended at least two; and 424 attended at least one. Id. at ¶ 10. Once the excuse provision of the attendance requirement is taken into consideration, there were 242 members who were eligible to be candidates, fifty-three of whom did not attend any meetings at all, but were eligible under the excuse provision because they worked on Thursday afternoons when the meetings were regularly held. Id. at ¶ 11.
After the election, John Sako and Anderson Bell, both of whom were eligible under the attendance requirement, but were disqualified for other reasons, filed a timely internal protest with Local 1011 regarding the 1997 elections. Id. at ¶¶ 15-16. The local union denied the protest, and they appealed the denial to the International Union, which also denied the protest. Id. at ¶¶ 16-17. After exhausting their available union remedies, Sako and Bell filed a timely complaint with the Secretary of Labor, alleging several grounds for setting the election aside. Id. at ¶ 18. The Secretary did not find probable cause with regard to any of the grounds except the attendance rule, and filed a timely complaint on that basis. Id.
Local 1011 posted a notice of the upcoming March 13, 1997, nominations on or around March 1, 1997, and notified members of the April 17 elections by a posting on March 24, 1997, and by a mailing on April 1, 1997. These notices did not, however, provide the rules governing eligibility. Id. at ¶¶ 19-21.
Back in 1978, the biennial International Convention of the USWA passed an amendment to its Constitution that substantially modified its attendance requirement. Id. at ¶ 25. The USWA then notified all its members about the changes in its publication Steelabor, which is mailed free of charge to all members. Id. In addition, Local 1011 posted notices of the changes in all plant entrances and union bulletin boards in 1978. Id. The majority of Local 1011's membership of April 1997 had worked in the plant since before 1978, and the attendance rule has not changed since then. Id.
The meeting attendance rule may be found today in the USWA Constitution and a USWA publication entitled "Local Union Elections Manual." Id. at ¶ 22. Copies of these documents are available upon request and free of charge both at Local 1011's headquarters in East Chicago, Indiana, and the USWA District Office in Gary, Indiana. Id. at ¶ 23. Between the 1994 and 1997 elections, Local 1011 never withheld any requested information regarding the attendance rule nor distributed any special notices to the membership concerning the rule. Id. at ¶ 24.
To administer the excuse provision of the attendance requirement, Local 1011 consults employer records to determine whether a nominee who has attended fewer than eight meetings was working during a sufficient number of meetings to qualify for office. Id. at ¶ 26. By this means, one of the nominees was found eligible to run for office despite attending only seven meetings; another qualified despite attending only four meetings. Id. The excuse provision also allowed members to be excused based on sickness without written documentation, so long as the employee reported off from work sick on the day that a union meeting was held. Id. Because Local 1011 cannot verify other permissible excuses independently, it requires a member to submit written documentation to verify an excuse for jury duty, a death in the family, or military service. Id.
The standards that generally govern summary judgment motions are familiar. Pursuant to Rule 56(c) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, summary judgment is proper only if it is demonstrated that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. See Nebraska v. Wyoming, 507 U.S. 584, 590, 113 S.Ct. 1689, 123 L.Ed.2d 317 (1993); Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322-23, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). In other words, the record must reveal that no reasonable jury could find for the nonmovant. Karazanos v. Navistar Int'l Transp. Corp., 948 F.2d 332, 335 (7th Cir.1991); see also Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 250, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). In deciding a motion for summary judgment, a court must view all facts in the light most favorable to the nonmovant. Anderson, 477 U.S. at 255, 106 S.Ct. 2505; NUCOR Corp. v. Aceros Y Maquilas de Occidente, 28 F.3d 572, 583 (7th Cir.1994).
Section 401(e) of the LMRDA, that is, 29 U.S.C. § 481(e), provides in pertinent part:
In any election required by this section which is to be held by secret ballot a reasonable opportunity shall be given for the nomination of candidates and every member in good standing shall be eligible to be a candidate and to hold office (subject to ... reasonable qualifications uniformly imposed) and shall have the right to vote for or otherwise support the candidate or candidates of his choice, without being subject to penalty, discipline, or improper interference or reprisal of any kind by such organization or any member thereof.
In Wirtz v. Hotel, Motel, and Club Employees Union, Local 6, 391 U.S. 492, 88 S.Ct. 1743, 20 L.Ed.2d 763 (1968) (hereinafter "Hotel Employees"), the Supreme Court began to formulate the themes that would recur in cases alleging violations of this statute. In that opinion, the Court addressed a union bylaw which limited candidates for the major elective offices to union members who held or previously had held some elective office. The Court stated that Congress did not intend the authorization of "reasonable qualifications uniformly imposed" to be given a broad reach. 391 U.S. at 499, 88 S.Ct. at 1748. "The check of democratic elections as a preventive measure is seriously impaired by candidacy qualifications which substantially deplete the ranks of those who might run in opposition to incumbents." Id. The Court concluded, "Plainly, given the objective of Title IV, a candidacy limitation which renders 93% of union members ineligible for office can hardly be a `reasonable qualification,'" and remanded the case to the...
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