INTERNATIONAL BRO. OF BOILERMAKERS, ETC. v. Rafferty

• Decision Date: 02 July 1965
• Docket Number: No. 19475.,19475.
• Citation: 348 F.2d 307
• Parties: INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF BOILERMAKERS, IRON SHIP BUILDERS, BLACKSMITHS, FORGERS & HELPERS, a labor organization, etc., et al., Appellants, v. Patrick F. RAFFERTY and William B. Choate, Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit

348 F.2d 307 (1965)

INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF BOILERMAKERS, IRON SHIP BUILDERS, BLACKSMITHS, FORGERS & HELPERS, a labor organization, etc., et al., Appellants, v. Patrick F. RAFFERTY and William B. Choate, Appellees.

No. 19475.

United States Court of Appeals Ninth Circuit.

July 2, 1965.

Herbert M. Ansell, Richman, Garrett & Ansell, Los Angeles, Cal., for appellants.

Edwin H. Franzen, Hill, Farrer & Burrill, Los Angeles, Cal., for appellees.

Before HAMLIN, JERTBERG and ELY, Circuit Judges.

JERTBERG, Circuit Judge:

Before us is an appeal from a judgment of the District Court awarding to each of the appellees (plaintiffs in the District Court), general and special damages in the sum of $1650.00 against the appellants, International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Ship Builders, Blacksmiths, Forgers and Helpers, a labor organization (hereinafter the "Union"); Lucky Johnson, individually and as representative of the Union; Boilermakers Local Lodge #92, a labor organization (hereinafter the "Local"); and Thomas W. Mathews, individually and as representative of the Local, (defendants in the District Court). The judgment further ordered and decreed that the appellants above named set aside and void the punishment and expulsion previously imposed upon the appellees and restore to them all of their rights, privileges and benefits in the Union and Local, and to reinstate appellees as members in good standing thereof, the same as if they had never been penalized and expelled.

The complaint alleges that while the appellees were members in good standing of the Union and the Local, they were wrongfully expelled therefrom and their memberships therein wrongfully revoked in violation of the Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959, 29 U.S.C.A. §§ 401-531.¹

In their complaint, appellees pray for damages, and restoration of their Union memberships, and in substance state that beginning in June, 1960, the appellants, through appellant Johnson, business manager of the Local, on three separate occasions proposed amendments to the then existing bylaws of the Local and that on each occasion the members of the Local voted to reject said proposed amendments, and that on each occasion appellees opposed the proposed amendments and in particular certain sections thereof, and opposed only a single vote being taken on all of the proposals at one time, which opposition by appellees was well-known to the appellants.

The day after the proposed bylaws had been rejected for the third time by members of the Local, charges were filed against appellees which resulted in their expulsion from the Union. The charges referred to were filed by ten members of the ByLaws Committee of the Local. Charges were filed with appellant, Mathews, the President of the Local, and alleged that appellees had violated the Constitution of the Union and the Constitution of the Local. The charges, in pertinent parts read:

"We, * * * hereby file charges as a group against" the appellants for violation of the Constitution of the Union and Local; and

"We charge them with violation of Article XIII, Section 1 of the Subordinate Lodge Constitution for endeavoring to create dissension among the members and for working against the interest and harmony of the International Brotherhood and of this Subordinate Lodge;"²

"We charge them with violation of Article XIII, Section 13 of the Subordinate Lodge Constitution for circulating rumors or making slanderous charges or remarks about another member."³

Specifically appellees were, in substance, charged with doing the following acts:

1. Circulating a written handbill among the members of Local Lodge 92, members of other unions, employers and supervisors with whom the union engaged in collective bargaining, said handbill containing false and untruthful statements.

2. The handbill that was circulated was alleged to be false in the following particulars:

(a) Plaintiffs had in an effort to oppose changes in the by-laws represented that the present by-laws had been approved by the U. S. Department of Labor;

(b) Plaintiffs had represented that one of the proposed bylaw changes would cause the local union\'s insurance bill to "skyrocket the expense of the union;"

(c) Plaintiffs stated that under another proposed by-law change members could be sued on "trumped up charges and they would be forced to pay, win or lose. * * *";

(d) Plaintiffs had also asserted that the by-law changes would result in salary increases for the business manager and assistant business manager of the union.

Appellees at all times denied that they drafted, printed, circulated or distributed said handbill.

Pursuant to the Union's Constitution, the President of the Local appointed a three-member Committee to hear the charges. Due notice was served upon appellees and a hearing on the charges was held. The hearing was reported by a certified shorthand reporter. The trial committee found appellees guilty of the charges. Thereafter the membership of the Local concurred in the verdict and voted that appellees be expelled from the Union.

On appeal to the International President of the Union, the decision of the trial committee was affirmed.

Appellees then appealed the President's decision to the Executive Council of the International Union. The Executive Council vacated the punishment of expulsion, placed appellees on probation for one year, and in addition ordered that a letter of reprimand be read at a general membership meeting of the Local, at which the appellees shall attend and that failure of the appellees to attend said meeting "shall be grounds for immediate revocation of probation."

Appellees refused to attend a general membership meeting of the Local and to hear read the letter of reprimand. Thereafter and on November 17, 1961, a hearing was held before the Union's International Vice-President to enable appellees to show cause why the Council's order of probation should not be revoked and the order of expulsion reinstated. During a recess of the hearing appellees signed an "offer to stipulate" prepared by their counsel, which states in part:

"2. That therefore, in the interests of harmony within the local, and in deference to our loyalty to the local, the International body, and the cause of trade unionism, appellees do hereby agree to accept the modified decision of the International in our case, and accept the reprimand and the probationary conditions imposed for one year from July 18, 1961 to July 18, 1962."

Appellees were thereafter advised that the Union had adopted the stipulation. Appellees telegraphed the President of the Local that it was their understanding that any reprimand was not to be given in public. The International President wired appellees stating that the reprimand must be read to them by the Local Lodge President in the general membership meeting. When appellees failed to present themselves for a reading of the reprimand at a general membership meeting, appellees were again expelled from the Union.

Following the trial before the District Court, the court made and entered detailed findings of fact, conclusions of law, and the judgment heretofore described.

As conclusions of law the District Court, inter alia, found:

"This Court has jurisdiction of this action under the provisions of the Labor-Management Reporting Act of 1959, 29 U.S.C. § 401, et seq., particularly Sections 412 and 529 thereof.

"Plaintiffs duly sought and exhausted all those internal remedies required to be exhausted by them before seeking redress in this Court."

"By penalizing plaintiffs for their circulating handbills allegedly containing false and untruthful statements, among members of Lodge #92 as well as leaving said circulars for members of the defendant Unions in plants where members were working but others than Union members might pick them up, defendants unlawfully infringed upon plaintiffs\' legal rights and violated the provisions of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959, particularly Title I, Section 101 thereof, 29 U.S.C. #401, et seq., guaranteeing to plaintiffs said rights.

"That certain agreement dated November 17, 1961, and signed by the plaintiffs does not constitute a waiver of any legal rights of plaintiffs involved in this action, nor are plaintiffs estopped to assert their rights in this matter."

Appellants first contend that the appellees' claim does not give rise to a federal question under the Landrum-Griffin Act or any other federal act, and therefore the District Court lacked jurisdiction to hear and decide the controversy.

We believe such assignment to be without merit for the reasons stated in Salzhandler v. Caputo, 316 F.2d 445 (2d Cir. 1963), with which we agree. In that case, Salzhandler, a member and financial secretary of Local 442 of the Brotherhood of Painters, Decorators & Paperhangers of America, distributed to members of the Local Union a leaflet which accused the president of the Local with improper conduct and with improper handling of Union funds. The Union's Trial Board found that Salzhandler had violated the Union's constitution which prohibited conduct unbecoming to a member, acts detrimental to the interests of the Union, libeling and slandering fellow members or officers of the Local Union, and acts and conduct inconsistent with the duties, obligations and fealty of a member. Salzhandler was prohibited by the Union's District Council from participating in the Union's affairs for a period of five years, such ban including the attending of meetings, holding of office and voting privileges. At pp. 448-449 the Court in Salzhandler stated:

"The Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 was designed to protect the rights of union members to discuss freely and criticize the management of their unions and the conduct of their officers. The legislative history and the extensive hearings which preceded the enactment of the statute abundantly evidence the intention of

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