Humility of Mary Health Partners v. Local 377

• Decision Date: 07 August 2003
• Docket Number: No. 4:02 CV 02041.,4:02 CV 02041.
• Citation: 296 F.Supp.2d 840
• Parties: HUMILITY OF MARY HEALTH PARTNERS Plaintiff v. LOCAL 377 CHAUFFEURS, TEAMSTERS, WAREHOUSEMEN, AND HELPERS OF AMERICA
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of Ohio

296 F.Supp.2d 840

HUMILITY OF MARY HEALTH PARTNERS Plaintiff v. LOCAL 377 CHAUFFEURS, TEAMSTERS, WAREHOUSEMEN, AND HELPERS OF AMERICA

No. 4:02 CV 02041.

United States District Court, N.D. Ohio.

August 7, 2003.

Colleen C. Curran, John N. Childs, Brennan, Manna & Diamond, Akron, OH, Devin J. Oddo, Janik & Dorman, Cleveland, OH, for Plaintiff/Counter-Defendant.

Robert S. Moore, Canfield, OH, for Defendant/Counter-Claimant.

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

ECONOMUS, District Judge.

This matter is before the Court upon the parties' cross-motions for summary judgment. (Dkt. # 12; Dkt. # 14.)

I. FACTUAL HISTORY

The Plaintiff, Humility of Mary Health Partners ("HM"), operates a health care center located in Youngstown, Ohio. (Dkt. # 1 ¶ 1.) The Defendant, Local No. 377, Chauffeurs, Teamsters, Warehousemen and Helpers of America ("the Union"), is the collective bargaining representative for certain hourly employees of HM. (Dkt. # 4 ¶ 1.) HM and the Union are parties to a collective bargaining agreement ("CBA") setting forth the terms and conditions of employment at HM.¹ (Dkt. # 1 ¶ 4; Dkt. # 4 ¶¶ 1, 4; Dkt. # 13 at 2; Dkt. # 14 at 3.)

The grievance and arbitration procedures

Article XI of the CBA establishes a three-step grievance procedure for resolving "any disagreement between HM and the Union concerning the interpretation and/or application of, or compliance with, the provisions of the CBA." (Dkt. # 1 ¶ 5 & Ex. A at Art. IX. § 1; Dkt. # 4 ¶ 1; Dkt. # 14 at 3.)² The first step requires an aggrieved employee to discuss the matter with his/her immediate supervisor. (CBA, Art. IX § 2.) Should the employee and the supervisor fail to resolve the matter, they must indicate this result in writing. (CBA, Art. IX § 2.) In the event of such a failure, the employee may proceed to Step II of the grievance procedure by detailing in writing the circumstances giving rise to the grievance. (CBA, Art. IX § 2.) Step II requires a meeting between the employee and the next highest supervisor.³ (CBA, Art. IX § 2.) Should the parties fail to resolve the matter at the Step II stage, the aggrieved party may appeal in writing to HM's Vice President of Human Resources. (CBA, Art. IX § 2.) At the Step III stage, the Vice President of Human Resources must meet with the employee and, or the Union and promptly issue a decision. (CBA, Art. IX § 2.)

Following the issuance of a Step III decision, the aggrieved party may request an arbitral hearing. (Dkt. # 1 ¶ 6; Dkt. # 4 ¶ 1; Dkt. # 13 at 2; CBA, Art. IX § 3a.) Upon the issuance of a request for arbitration, the parties proceed to jointly select one arbitrator from a standing nine-member panel of arbitrators. (CBA, Art. IX §§ 3b & 4.) The arbitrator must hold a hearing and issue a written decision presenting findings of fact, as well as a determination regarding the existence/nonexistence of a breach of the CBA. (CBA, Art. IX § 4.)

The Union's request to arbitrate

Following a long-standing dispute regarding HM's purported failure to deduct union dues from employee's wages, the Union initiated the grievance procedure specifically alleging that HM failed to properly deduct union dues, initiation fees and/or service fees (collectively hereinafter "dues") from the paychecks of employees as required by Article II of CBA.⁴ (Dkt. # 1 ¶ 7; Dkt. # 4 ¶ 1; Dkt. # 13 at 2; Dkt. # 14 at 3.) The parties proceeded through the three-step arbitration procedure — to no avail. (Dkt. # 14 at 4.) Consequently, the Union requested arbitration. (Dkt. # 1 ¶ 7; Dkt. # 4 ¶ 1; Dkt. # 14 at 4.)

The hearings and Award

The arbitrator held hearings on February 21, 2002 and July 11, 2002. See (Dkt. #14, Ex. A (hereinafter the "Award") at 1 n. 2.) In an Opinion and Award dated September 10, 2002 ("the Award"), the arbitrator partially sustained the Union's grievance and ordered HM to pay directly to the Union the amount, if any, by which it underpaid the Union for dues during the months of June 2001 through August 2002.⁵ (Dkt. # 13 at 3-8; Dkt. # 14 at 4; Award at 4, 17-22.) However, the arbitrator did not award an exact monetary sum to the Union. Rather, the Award established a procedure for determining the amount of outstanding dues.⁶ This procedure specifically required: (1) the Union to verify the amounts outstanding and to submit all billings to HM; (2) HM to review the billings, acknowledge in writing those that it deemed correct, as well as specifically challenge in writing those billings that it deemed to be erroneous (i.e. as a result of miscalculation, the employee no longer employed, etc.); and (3) the parties to invoke the continuing jurisdiction of the arbitrator should they fail to resolve any challenged billing. (Dkt. # 13 at 8; Award at 21-23.)

HM thereafter filed with this Court an application to vacate the Award. (Dkt.# 1.) The instant motions ensued.

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW

Summary judgment is proper where there lacks any genuine issue of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. FED. R. CIV. P. 56(c). "Rule 56(c) mandates the entry of summary judgment, after adequate time for discovery and upon motion, against a party who fails to make a showing sufficient to establish the existence of an element essential to that party's case, and on which that party will bear the burden of proof at trial." Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). In considering such a motion, the court must review all of the evidence in the record. See Reeves v. Sanderson Plumbing Prods., Inc., 530 U.S. 133, 150, 120 S.Ct. 2097, 147 L.Ed.2d 105 (2000) (citing Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 587-88, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986)). "Credibility determinations, the weighing of the evidence, and the drawing of legitimate inferences from the facts are jury functions, not those of a judge .... The evidence of the non-movant is to be believed, and all justifiable inferences are to be drawn in his favor." Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 255, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986); accord Graham-Humphreys v. Memphis Brooks Museum of Art. Inc., 209 F.3d 552, 556-57 n. 7 (6th Cir.2000). The central issue is "whether the evidence presents a sufficient disagreement to require submission to a jury or whether it is so one-sided that one party must prevail as a matter of law." Anderson, 477 U.S. at 251-52, 106 S.Ct. 2505.

"A party seeking summary judgment always bears the initial responsibility of informing the court of the basis for its motion, and identifying those portions of `the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any,' which it believes demonstrate the absence of a genuine issue of material fact." Celotex, 477 U.S. at 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548 (quoting FED. R. CIV. P. 56(c)). The movant meets this burden "by `showing'—that is, pointing out to the district court—that there is an absence of evidence to support the nonmoving party's case." Clayton v. Meijer, Inc., 281 F.3d 605, 609 (6th Cir.2002) (quoting Celotex, 477 U.S. at 324-25, 106 S.Ct. 2548). The non-movant then "must set forth specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial." Anderson, 477 U.S. at 250, 106 S.Ct. 2505.

"The respondent cannot rely on the hope that the trier of fact will disbelieve the movant's denial of a disputed fact, but must `present affirmative evidence in order to defeat a properly supported motion for summary judgment.'" Street v. J.C. Bradford & Co., 886 F.2d 1472, 1479 (6th Cir.1989) (quoting Anderson, 477 U.S. at 250, 106 S.Ct. 2505). "A mere scintilla of evidence is insufficient; there must be evidence on which the jury could reasonably find for the [non-movant]." Anderson, 477 U.S. at 250, 106 S.Ct. 2505.

When addressing a motion for summary judgment in the context of a request to vacate an arbitral award, the Court must acknowledge that federal labor policy strongly favors arbitration. See United Steelworkers v. American Mfg. Co., 363 U.S. 564, 80 S.Ct. 1343, 4 L.Ed.2d 1403 (1960); Steelworkers v. Warrior & Gulf Navigation Co., 363 U.S. 574, 80 S.Ct. 1347, 4 L.Ed.2d 1409 (1960); Steelworkers v. Enterprise Wheel & Car Corp., 363 U.S. 593, 80 S.Ct. 1358, 4 L.Ed.2d 1424 (1960).⁷ Therefore, the Court's review of an arbitration award is "one of the narrowest standards of review in all of American jurisprudence." Tennessee Valley Auth. v. Tennessee Valley Trades & Labor Council, 184 F.3d 510, 514 (6th Cir.1999) (quoting Lattimer-Stevens Co. v. United Steelworkers of Am., Dist. 27, Sub-Dist. 5, 913 F.2d 1166, 1169 (6th Cir.1990)).

Indeed, the Court may not overturn an arbitrator's decision "as long as the arbitrator's award draws its essence from the collective bargaining agreement, and is not merely his own brand of industrial justice." United Paperworkers Int'l Union v. Misco, Inc., 484 U.S. 29, 36, 108 S.Ct. 364, 98 L.Ed.2d 286 (1987) (internal quotations omitted). An arbitrator's award fails to "draw its essence" from the collective bargaining agreement when the award: (1) conflicts with express terms of the agreement; (2) imposes additional requirements not expressly provided for it the agreement; (3) is not rationally supported by or derived from the agreement; or (4) is based on general considerations of fairness and equity instead of the exact terms of the agreement. See Eisenmann Corp. v. Sheet Metal Workers Int'l Assoc. Local No. 24, 323 F.3d 375, 380 (6th Cir. 2003) (citations and quotations omitted). In addition, courts may upset an arbitration award if it is rendered in "manifest disregard of the law," see Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc. v. Jaros, 70 F.3d 418, 421 (6th Cir.1995), or if it is contrary to a well-defined and dominant public policy, see Eastern Associated Coal Corp. v. United Mine Workers of Amer., Dist. 17, 531 U.S. 57, 62, 121 S.Ct. 462, 148 L.Ed.2d 354 (2000). However, "[i]f an arbitrator is even...