Herrera v. INTERN. UNION UNITED AUTO. AERO. WORKERS, Civ. A. No. 92-2132-GTV.

Citation858 F. Supp. 1529
Decision Date29 July 1994
Docket NumberCiv. A. No. 92-2132-GTV.
PartiesJohn P. HERRERA, III, and Deborah Herrera, Plaintiffs, v. INTERNATIONAL UNION, UNITED AUTOMOBILE, AEROSPACE AND AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENT WORKERS OF AMERICA, et al., Defendants.
CourtUnited States District Courts. 10th Circuit. United States District Courts. 10th Circuit. District of Kansas

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

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William S. Robbins, Jr., Dan C. Sanders, Fairchild, Stang, Beal, Barber & Sanders, Kansas City, MO, for John P. Herrera, III, and Deborah Herrera.

C. David Whipple, David W. Whipple, Whipple Law Firm, P.C., Kansas City, MO, Jordan Rossen, Dan Sherrick, Intl. Union, United Auto, Aerospace & Agr. Implement Workers of America, Jay Whitman, Detroit, MI, William W. Hutton, Kansas City, KS, Michael J. Grady, Paul Scott Kelly, Jr., Gage & Tucker, Overland Park, KS, John J. Yates, R. Kent Sellers, Charles J. Williams, Gage & Tucker, Kansas City, MO, for Intern. Union, United Auto, Aerospace and Agr. Implement Workers of America, Local Union 31, United Auto., Aerospace and Agr. Implement Workers of America, UAW, General Motors Corp., L.D. Edwards, Charlie Knott, E.D. Lyman, Joe Powell, Clint Simmons, Joe Liggins, Rene Garcia, Bud Carroll and John L. Melton.

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

Van BEBBER, District Judge.

Under consideration by the court are the following motions of the parties:

(Doc. 67)The Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(b) motion of defendant General Motors Corporation for summary judgment (Doc. 71)The Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(b) motion of defendant International Union, UAW, defendant Local Union 31, UAW, and the individual defendants for summary judgment; and
(Doc. 31)The Fed.R.Civ.P. 23 motion of plaintiffs John P. Herrera, III, and Deborah Herrera for class certification.

The motions are fully briefed and are ready for disposition. Defendants' motions for summary judgment are granted and plaintiffs' motion for class certification is denied.

This is primarily a labor dispute. On April 9, 1992, plaintiffs, in their own behalf and on behalf of a proposed class, filed a seven-count complaint alleging that defendants engaged in a number of unlawful activities. Seeking to redress defendants' alleged misconduct, plaintiffs assert causes of action under § 301 of the Labor Management Relations Act of 1947 (LMRA), 29 U.S.C. § 185, the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 (LMRDA), 29 U.S.C. § 411 et seq., the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), 29 U.S.C. § 159(a), the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), 29 U.S.C. § 1101 et seq., and Title IX of the Organized Crime Control Act of 1970 (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO)), 18 U.S.C. § 1961 et seq. Plaintiffs seek, on their own behalf and on behalf of the proposed class, declaratory relief, injunctive relief, compensatory damages, treble damages, prejudgment interest, and the costs of this action, including their reasonable attorneys' fees.

Plaintiffs' claims arise from the operation of a program commonly referred to as the "JOBS Bank." The JOBS Bank was a job security program created as a result of the 1984 National Agreement negotiated between General Motors Corporation and the International Union UAW, and was implemented locally in 1987 in connection with the transfer of operations between the old Fairfax plant and a new Fairfax plant. Pursuant to the National Agreement, a JOBS Bank is to be established at any GM plant where the number of employees is being reduced by one of several types of events described in the agreement — primarily the introduction of new technology or productivity improvements. Employees who are laid off from their regular jobs are placed in the JOBS Bank and receive their regular pay rate for performing activities such as volunteer work or community service.

The initial size of a JOBS Bank is based upon the number of laid off employees with one or more years seniority, and the size of the Bank may be increased or decreased by certain events enumerated in the National Agreement. For example, the JOBS Bank will be reduced by one slot for each employee who "breaks seniority" and leaves employment with GM. Employees who accept incentives for voluntary termination of employment VTEP or early retirement offers are deemed to break seniority, and the JOBS Bank is reduced by one slot for each employee who accepts such an incentive. In the case at hand, plaintiffs allege that GM offered VTEPs to persons of low seniority who did not fall within the protection of the JOBS Bank. Further, plaintiffs allege that for each such "improper" VTEP accepted by a non-protected person, the JOBS Bank was reduced by one slot. Based upon these reductions, plaintiffs contend that there were not enough JOBS Bank slots available for all persons — including themselves — who should have been entitled to slots under the 1984 National Agreement.

In their motions for summary judgment, the defendants contend that the uncontroverted facts in the case disclose that they are entitled to judgment as a matter of law on plaintiffs' claims. In their motion for class certification, plaintiffs contend that the circumstances of the case are such that it should be maintained as a class action. Because they are dispositive of the case, the court will address defendants' motions first. The discussion of the issues addressed by the parties in their motions for summary judgment is organized here by counts in the complaint, rather than by individual motion.

I. THE MOTIONS FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT
A. SUMMARY JUDGMENT STANDARDS

A moving party is entitled to summary judgment "if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law." Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). The moving party bears the initial burden of demonstrating the absence of a genuine issue of material fact. This burden may be discharged by "showing," that is, pointing out to the district court, that there is an absence of evidence to support the nonmoving party's case. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 325, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 2553, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). Once the moving party has properly supported its motion for summary judgment, "a party opposing ... may not rest on mere allegations or denials of his pleading, but must set forth specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial." Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 2510, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). The mere existence of some alleged factual dispute between the parties will not defeat an otherwise properly supported motion for summary judgment. Id.

B. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

In their respective motions for summary judgment, the defendants have included statements of uncontroverted facts in accordance with D.Kan.Rule 206(c). In their response, plaintiffs set out their own statement of facts, but did not refer to any of the numbered facts listed as uncontroverted by defendants. Because there are few substantive discrepancies between the versions of facts set out by defendants and the plaintiffs, and because plaintiffs have not specifically controverted any of the defendants' facts, it appears to the court that the facts of this case are generally uncontroverted. In the few instances where facts appear controverted, the court has considered those facts in the light most favorable to the plaintiffs.

The Parties

Defendant General Motors Corporation GM is a Delaware corporation which owns and operates an automobile assembly facility known as the Fairfax Plant located in Kansas City, Kansas.

Plaintiff John P. Herrera, III, is a member of the International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, and was employed at the Fairfax Plant from approximately 1983 to 1991. In August, 1992, he accepted employment at a GM facility in Baltimore, Maryland. While employed at the Fairfax Plant, John Herrera was elected as and served as a district committeeman between May of 1988 and March of 1991. He also held an appointed position on the transition committee of Local 31.

Plaintiff Deborah Herrera is a member of the International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, and was employed at the Fairfax Plant from approximately 1984 to 1988. In August, 1992, she accepted employment at a GM facility in Baltimore, Maryland.

The International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America UAW is a labor union representing certain hourly employees at GM plants nationwide. Local Union 31, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America Local 31 is the collective bargaining representative for hourly employees at GM's Fairfax Plant.

The Relevant Agreements

On or about September 21, 1984, GM and the UAW entered into a national collective bargaining agreement with an effective date of October 15, 1984. Relevant to the case at hand is Appendix K to the 1984 National Agreement and its attachments. Appendix K and its attachments describe the programs on which plaintiffs' claims are based, as well as prescribe how those programs are to be administered. Appendix K to the 1984 National Agreement is titled "Memorandum of Understanding Job Opportunity Bank — Security (JOBS) Program." It establishes a "JOBS Program" to prevent layoffs of employees with one or more years of seniority as a result of the introduction of technology, outsourcing or negotiated productivity improvements, under the terms and conditions defined in Appendix K. By its terms, Appendix K does not apply to "an employee impacted by changes in ... customer preference, volume related reasons attributable to market conditions, other reasons beyond the control of the Corporation," or certain other reasons specified therein.1 In addition, the Appendix K JOBS Program does not apply "to employees laid off for a period...

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