Hildreth v. Union News Company
| Decision Date | 12 April 1963 |
| Docket Number | No. 15098.,15098. |
| Parties | Gladys HILDRETH, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. UNION NEWS COMPANY, a New York Corporation, Defendant-Appellee. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit |
Dee Edwards, Detroit, Mich., for appellant.
Lester S. Moll, Detroit, Mich. (Moll, Desenberg, Purdy, Glover & Bayer, Detroit, Mich., on brief), for appellee.
Before CECIL, Chief Judge, and MILLER and O'SULLIVAN, Circuit Judges.
The facts in this case are fully stated in Union News Company v. Hildreth, 295 F.2d 658, C.A.6th. For our present purposes the following summary is considered sufficient.
The plaintiff was one of a crew of eleven or twelve persons employed by the defendant in its operation of a soda fountain and lunch counter at the Michigan Central Railroad terminal at Detroit. She was a member of the Hotel and Restaurant Employees and Bartenders International Union, AFL, Detroit Local Joint Executive Board, hereinafter referred to as the Union, which was the designated bargaining representative of defendant's employees. During the period of time here involved there was a collective bargaining agreement between the defendant and the Union, which contained the provision, "No regular employe covered by this Agreement shall be discharged except for just cause."
Defendant became concerned about its cost experience and poor operating results at the counter where plaintiff worked, which apparently resulted from mishandling of merchandise and money by unidentified employees. It discussed its problem with the Union and opened its books to the business agents of the Union, who made their own examination and analysis of defendant's continuing problem, and concluded that some action had to be taken to remedy the situation. After discussion between the defendant and the Union, a course of action was agreed to between them which was put into effect and ultimately lead to the permanent replacement of the plaintiff as an employee with the approval of the Union.
Plaintiff met with Union officers at the various levels of authority and with the Union's grievance committee in an effort to get the Union to take action against the defendant in her behalf. She was told that the Union was convinced that her discharge was for just cause. No grievance was ever presented by the Union on plaintiff's behalf.
Plaintiff thereafter filed her individual complaint in this action alleging that she was discharged by the defendant without just cause in violation of the terms and conditions of the bargaining agreement between the defendant and the Union and seeking $30,000.00 in damages plus lost wages to the date of trial. A first trial of the case resulted in a verdict and judgment of no cause of action. A new trial was ordered, which resulted in a verdict and judgment in plaintiff's favor for $5,000.00. On appeal to this Court the judgment was reversed and a new trial ordered. Union News Company v. Hildreth, supra, 295 F.2d 658, C.A.6th.
In reaching that conclusion we were of the opinion that under Section 159(a), Title 29, United States Code, the Union was the exclusive representative of all of the employees in the unit involved for the purposes of collective bargaining, and that such statutory power, in combination with the terms of the bargaining contract, authorized the Union and the defendant to mutually conclude, as a part of the bargaining process, that the circumstances shown by the evidence provided just cause for the layoff and discharge of the plaintiff and other of defendant's employees, and that plaintiff's discharge was not a breach of contract by the defendant. We also pointed out that there was no evidence from which a jury could find that in agreeing to lay off and then discharge plaintiff and her co-workers in an effort to solve defendant's problems, there was any fraud, bad faith or collusion on the part of, or...
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