Jones v. Union Pacific R. Co.

• Decision Date: 01 July 1992
• Docket Number: No. 91-35075,91-35075
• Citation: 968 F.2d 937
• Parties: 140 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2709, 122 Lab.Cas. P 10,265, 7 IER Cases 1175 William Michael JONES, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD COMPANY, United Transportation Union, Defendants-Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit

Page 937

968 F.2d 937

140 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2709, 122 Lab.Cas. P 10,265,

7 IER Cases 1175

William Michael JONES, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD COMPANY, United Transportation Union Defendants-Appellees.

No. 91-35075.

United States Court of Appeals Ninth Circuit.

Argued and Submitted May 5, 1992.

Decided July 1, 1992.

Michael L. Rosenbaum and E.J. Simmons, Portland, Or., for plaintiff-appellant.

Kathleen J. Ford, Omaha, Neb., Clinton J. Miller, III, and Kevin C. Broder, Asst. General Counsel, United Transp. Union, Cleveland, Ohio, for defendants-appellees.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Oregon.

Before: WALLACE, Chief Circuit Judge, GOODWIN, Circuit Judge, and CROCKER ^*, District Judge.

GOODWIN, Circuit Judge:

William Michael Jones appeals a summary judgment in favor of United Transportation Union (the "Union") and the Union Pacific Railroad Company (the "Company"). The district court rejected Jones' claims of breach of the duty of fair representation against the Union, breach of contract against the Company, and equitable estoppel against both. We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand.

Jones began working for the Company in 1973, first as a trainman and later as a conductor. Jones is a member of the Union. A collective bargaining agreement (the "CBA"), negotiated by the Union, exists between the Company and its employees.

In 1987, the parties to the CBA added a provision allowing Company employees to take a two-year leave of absence from the Company to work for AmTrak. Employees could return any time within the two years. However, for employees whose leaves of absence extended beyond two years, the provision set out certain conditions for returning to the Company. On April 29, 1987, Jones took a leave of absence from the Company to work for AmTrak.

Jones' leave of absence extended beyond two years. Before the expiration of two years, however, Jones had understood through conversations with officials of the Company that extending his leave of absence would not cause problems.

On June 12, 1989, the Company's dispatching director, C.W. Dent, sent a letter to Company employees who had overstayed their leaves of absence and were still at AmTrak. The Company had been experiencing a manpower shortage and through the letter Dent asked the employees to return and declared that the Company would not enforce the conditions for late return set forth in the CBA. This offer would expire on July 12, 1989. The Union never objected to Dent's letter or indicated that it would challenge the return of Company employees.

Through Company officials, Jones understood that the Company was not going to enforce the July 12 deadline of Dent's letter. Indeed, when, on July 26, Jones indicated his desire to return to the Company, the Company informed him that he could return if he took a rules test and a physical examination, resigned from AmTrak, and notified the Union that he was returning. On the same day, Jones left a message on the answering machine of Lavonne Nelson, the General Chairman of the Union. In the message, Jones indicated that he was returning to the Company. Jones subsequently took the required tests and on July 31, having heard nothing from the Union, Jones resigned from AmTrak and returned to the Company. The record reveals no Company employees, other than Jones, who returned to the Company after a greater than two-year leave of absence with AmTrak.

Jones worked for the Company until August 9. On that day, Jones reported to work and learned that the Company had prevented him from "marking up" for work. Jones subsequently learned that the Company had taken its action at the request of the Union. On August 10, Jones called General Chairman Nelson. In that conversation, Nelson called Jones a "puke" and informed him that the Union would not represent him. Nelson refused to help Jones obtain a copy of the CBA and advised him to try to return to AmTrak.

At this point, Jones was unable to return to AmTrak or to continue with the Company because the Company had released him. In fact, Jones was even unable to collect the job security benefits he had accumulated over the years with the Company because he was deemed to have "resigned" from the Company.

Jones chose not to invoke the Union's appeal procedures for challenging Nelson's decision that the Union would not help him. Instead, Jones brought this action in federal district court against the Union and the Company. In his suit against the union, Jones charged breach of duty of fair representation. Jones also sought recovery under a theory of equitable estoppel. Against the Company, Jones claimed breach of contract and equitable estoppel. The district court granted summary judgment to both defendants on all of Jones' claims. Jones timely appealed.

Because this is an appeal from a summary judgment, this court will review de novo the decision of the district court. International Ass'n of Machinists v. Aloha Airlines, Inc., 790 F.2d 727, 730 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 479 U.S. 931, 107 S.Ct. 400, 93 L.Ed.2d 354 (1986). In considering the summary judgment motion, this court reviews the record in the light most favorable to Jones to determine whether there exist genuine issues of material fact regarding his claims. Los Angeles Airways, Inc. v. Davis, 687 F.2d 321, 324 (9th Cir.1982).

I. Claims Against the Union

A. Unfair Representation

1. The Merits

The Union does not dispute that Jones is a member or that it owed Jones a duty of fair representation. Instead, the Union argues that, as a matter of law, it did not breach its duty toward Jones.

The usual breach of the duty of fair representation case arises from actions taken by a company against an employee who is a union member. The member then brings his grievance to the attention of his union and requests that the union pursue the grievance against the company. This is the situation envisaged by the Railway Labor Act, 45 U.S.C. § 181--the act which deals with the relationship between carriers and their employees and out of which Jones' claim arises. See Bautista v. Pan American World Airlines, Inc., 828 F.2d 546, 549 (9th Cir.1987). Indeed, the vast majority of the more than twenty cases cited by the Union involve this situation. The present case is different.

Here, the Union, and not the Company, initiated the actions which harmed the interests of a Union member. Indeed, the Company had appeared to act in the interests of the Union member and the Union compelled the Company to reverse its actions and leave the member stranded between two jobs. None of the fair representation cases which the Union cites is apposite to this case.

A union breaches the duty of fair representation when its conduct toward a member is "arbitrary, discriminatory, or in bad faith." Vaca v. Sipes, 386 U.S. 171, 190, 87 S.Ct. 903, 916, 17 L.Ed.2d 842 (1967). This duty is narrowly construed by the courts, however, so that unions may act freely in what they perceive are the best interests of their members generally. Banks v. Bethlehem Steel Corp., 870 F.2d 1438, 1441 (9th Cir.1989).

In attempting to justify its actions against one of its own members, the Union points only to the seniority interest of its membership which was threatened by Jones' return. The Union does not and can not assert that, in returning, Jones displaced any other Union members from employment with the Company. Indeed, the reason the Company invited Jones back from AmTrak was that the Company was suffering from a manpower shortage. The Union's contention that Jones' return harmed the seniority interests of the other Union members does not serve as a valid justification for its actions.

When one Union member enjoys greater seniority than another member, the interests of the second member conflict with those of the first. That sort of conflict may be a fit subject for the Union's grievance machinery, but it is no excuse for the Union to refuse to represent each of its members fairly according to the terms of the CBA. The Union could have handled any seniority problems posed by Jones' return without first seeking to prevent Jones from working or refusing to represent him.

The Union's contention that its actions are justifiable as enforcement of the CBA is, not necessarily compelling at the summary judgment stage. The Dent letter's offer to excuse late returns was made on June 12. The Union did not object to the late return of employees until early August when it objected to Jones' return. At no time in the intervening two months did the Union indicate that it opposed the Company's plan to bring back late-returning employees. While Jones may have been the only former employee attempting a late return to the Company, that fact does not relieve the Union of its duty of fair representation.

A trier of fact might expect that a Union which intended to force the removal of late returning members would inform those members of its intention before the members resigned from their current positions. A trier of fact might find it not plausible that a Union, which owed a duty of fair representation to its members, but which was concerned about late returning employees infringing the seniority interests of other members, would remain silent for almost two months during which the Company was attempting to bring back late returning employees.

In granting the Union summary judgment, the district court accepted the Union's explanation for its actions. In discussing how it reached this conclusion, the court assumed, in its analysis, that Dent's letter was part of the CBA. Indeed, with this...