Hussey v. Quebecor Printing Providence Inc.
| Decision Date | 14 April 1998 |
| Docket Number | No. CIV. A. 96-234L.,CIV. A. 96-234L. |
| Citation | 2 F.Supp.2d 217 |
| Parties | Steven HUSSEY, Plaintiff, v. QUEBECOR PRINTING PROVIDENCE INC., and Providence Newspaper Printing Pressmen's Union No.12 Graphic Communications International Union, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Rhode Island |
Henry V. Boezi, III, Providence, RI, for Plaintiffs.
James M. Green, Robert G. Sullivan, Powers, Kinder & Keeney, Providence, RI, for Defendants.
DECISION AND ORDER
Plaintiff, Steven Hussey, ("plaintiff" or "Hussey"), brought this action in the Rhode Island Superior Court sitting in Providence County against Quebecor Printing Providence, Inc., ("Quebecor") and Providence Newspaper Printing Pressman's Union No. 12 Graphic Communications International Union (the "Union"), (collectively, "defendants"), after Quebecor terminated his employment at its Providence printing plant. The complaint alleges that plaintiff's termination violated the collective bargaining agreement in effect between the Union and Quebecor ("the Agreement"), and that the Union breached its duty of fair representation owed to plaintiff in its handling of his grievance. Defendants removed the case to the District Court. The matter is presently before the Court on each defendant's motion for summary judgment pursuant to Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Quebecor contends that plaintiff was terminated for cause after he was involved in a theft at the plant, and thus, there was no breach of the Agreement. Quebecor also moves for summary judgment on its counter-claim for indemnification against plaintiff for the portion of the settlement it negotiated arising from the coupon thefts which is attributable to plaintiff. The Union's motion is predicated on the contention that it did not breach its duty of fair representation in processing plaintiff's grievance.
Plaintiff, a resident of Cranston, Rhode Island was employed as a "jogger"1 by Quebecor, a commercial printing company, from approximately November 1977 to April 1997. Plaintiff had been a member of the Union since January, 1978.
In the spring of 1995, Quebecor produced a promotional flier for Caldor Corporation ("Caldor"), a department store chain. Caldor was Quebecor's largest client and accounted for 52% of its sales. As a part of this promotion, discount scratch-off coupons for 5% to 50% off were attached to the sale fliers as the fliers were printed. The percentage discount of each coupon could only be revealed by scratching off the ticket, which was to be done by a Caldor checkout person. The face of the coupon contained the statement that "This coupon has no cash value."
The coupons for up to 20% off were fed directly into the presses and automatically distributed in the fliers. The coupons for a higher percentage discount were stored in a vault until they were attached by hand to the flier by one of the joggers given that responsibility. Donna Robinson ("Robinson") was one of the joggers with this responsibility and she worked the same shift as plaintiff. Plaintiff was not given access to the higher percentage coupons.
Robinson previously had given 50% off coupons to a few Quebecor employees without the knowledge or permission of her supervisors. Plaintiff was aware of this and twice asked Robinson to provide him with a high discount coupon, one time specifically requesting a 50% off coupon. He intended to use the coupon to purchase a $189.00 barbeque grill from Caldor. Plaintiff claims Robinson told him "I can't do that, I will get in trouble" when he made his request. After initially refusing his entreaties, Robinson gave plaintiff a discount coupon. Although the discount amount of the coupon was covered by the scratch-off material, plaintiff knew that the coupon was for greater than 20% off because the coupons in Robinsons' possession were the "premium" coupons. Plaintiff claims, however, that when he asked Robinson if the coupon was a 50% coupon, she told him that it was not.
Plaintiff gave the coupon to his wife and told her to buy the barbeque grill. She also purchased a camera and four rolls of film. When she presented the discount coupon to the clerk at Caldor, it was revealed to be a 50% off coupon, enabling her to purchase $416.00 worth of goods for $208.00. According to plaintiff, neither he nor his wife knew the value of the coupon until it was presented at the Caldor store.
In April of 1995, Caldor notified Quebecor of irregularities in the redemption of coupons in the Providence area. Quebecor in turn notified the Union of its intention to investigate potential thefts. Union officials, including President William Piccirillo ("Piccirillo") and Secretary/Treasurer Charles Perry ("Perry"), were present when Quebecor interviewed various employees, including plaintiff. Plaintiff admitted to removing a discount coupon from the plant and immediately was suspended along with six other employees who admitted to having done the same thing.
Since September, 1990, Quebecor has displayed a list of Plant Rules on its premises. The Rule relevant to this case, (Plant Rule No. 9), specifically states that:
No employee shall remove, receive, and/or posses property which he or she knows or has reason to suspect is owned by the company, a customer, or any other employee unless duly authorized to do so in writing.
Less than $50: 1st offense, 5 day D.L.O
2nd offense, Discharge
More than $50: 1st offense — Discharge
On April 12, 1995, plaintiff and the six other employees were terminated from employment at Quebecor for having violated Plant Rule No. 9 in connection with the theft of the Caldor discount coupons. Six of the employees were members of the bargaining unit and five of those Union employees were joggers. The sixth terminated employee was a journeyman pressman and the seventh was a supervisor. Since that time, five joggers have been hired to replace those terminated and no further terminations of joggers have occurred.
Quebecor informed the Union that it viewed the thefts as a serious breach of security. On April 17, 1995, the Union filed a grievance on behalf of the six terminated Union employees including plaintiff, in accordance with the Agreement and requested a Joint Standing Committee meeting with respect to the discharge of the employees. Such a meeting occurred on April 27, 1995, at which time the Union sought a reduction in the penalty. Quebecor refused. Plaintiff claims that this grievance was filed without any investigation on the part of the Union. In May of 1995, Plaintiff was informed by Piccirillo that attempts to have him reinstated had failed and that the Union would file a demand for arbitration with the American Arbitration Association.
On June 20, 1995, a special Executive Board meeting of the Union was held and it was decided to recommend that arbitration be requested on condition that the Board would reevaluate the Union's position when an arbitrator was selected. On June 27, 1995, a general Union meeting was held where the membership voted to adopt the Board's recommendation. A demand for arbitration was filed on June 28, 1995 and the Union requested immediate reinstatement of the discharged employees with back pay. Although such a demand is usually prepared by the Union's attorney, this demand was prepared solely by Secretary/Treasurer Perry. The demand stated that termination of the affected employees was too severe a punishment.
After the demand for arbitration was filed, Piccirillo again met with the Human Resources Director in an effort to convince Quebecor to reduce the punishment of the employees. His request was denied. On July 11, 1995, another Executive Board meeting was held where the President reported that Quebecor had become more "hard nosed" about the dismissed employees. He also stated that he was having little success with his attempt to negotiate a long term suspension for the employees. On July 25 and August 8, 1995, the President again reported that he was having no success in negotiating another solution with Quebecor.
At the meeting on August 8, 1995, Piccirillo reported that Caldor, Quebecor's major client, was pressing a claim for $246,000 against Quebecor for damages arising out of the coupon thefts. Furthermore, the attorney for the Union offered the opinion that the grievance lacked merit and would probably not succeed on the merits in an arbitration. On August 12, 1995, the Executive Board voted to recommend to the general membership that the demand for arbitration be withdrawn. Piccirillo, Union President for over thirty-two years, stated that he does not remember another instance in which the Executive Board submitted a recommendation for withdrawal of an arbitration demand to a vote of the entire Union membership.
On September 17, 1995, at a Union membership meeting, the Executive Board recommended that the petition for arbitration be withdrawn and presented the matter to a vote of all members in good standing, including plaintiff. The Executive Board claims that it considered the likelihood of success in the arbitration, the cost and impact such a proceeding would have on the Caldor contract, and the interests of the majority of the Union members in making its decision. Notice of the referendum vote was posted in each of the work locations where the Union represented employees. Ballots were also send to each of the terminated employees, including plaintiff, at their residences. The final vote was 162 in favor of withdrawing the demand and 40 to proceed. According to plaintiff, this all occurred without the Union addressing or bringing the issue of the value of the coupon to the attention of the general membership.
Quebecor and Caldor subsequently negotiated a settlement of Caldor's claim for damages in the amount of $100,000. Caldor is currently in Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings in the Southern District of New York. Caldor and Quebecor have agreed to effectuate...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Hicks v. Powell
...matter "is not in and of itself an arbitrary or capricious action and, thus, is not automatically a breach of fair representation." Hussey, 2 F.Supp.2d at 224. Overall, the process is designed to allow a union discretion to ensure that "frivolous grievances are ended prior to the most costl......
-
Hicks v. Powell
...2d 146, 151 (D.D.C. 2012) (citing Payne v. Giant Food, Inc., 346 F. Supp. 2d 15, 20 (D.D.C. 2004)); see Hussey v. Quebecor Printing Providence Inc., 2 F. Supp. 2d 217, 224 (D.R.I. 1998). Additionally, a finding of bad faith requires a union member to show that the Union acted in a "fraudule......
-
Newbanks v. Central Gulf Lines, Inc.
...330 (1st Cir. 1992). A decision not to arbitrate a claim is not, in and of itself, an arbitrary act. See Hussey v. Quebecor Printing Providence, Inc., 2 F.Supp.2d 217, 224 (D.R.I. 1998), citing, Williams, 844 F.2d at 19. Before making its decision, and after a thorough investigation of the ......
-
Delucca v. Nat'l Educ. Ass'n of R.I., Roger Williams Univ. Faculty Ass'n, Inc.
...of employee grievances unless they show a reckless disregard for the rights of the individual employee.Hussey v. Quebecor Printing Providence Inc.,2 F.Supp.2d 217, 224 (D.R.I.1998).In her Complaint, Plaintiff indicates that the Union had not been diligent in its efforts to prepare for the a......