Keenan v. Int'l Ass'n of Machinists & Aerospace Workers

Decision Date28 March 2013
Docket NumberCase No. 2:10–cv–377–GZS.
Citation937 F.Supp.2d 93
PartiesMichael A. KEENAN, Plaintiff, v. INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS AND AEROSPACE WORKERS, et al., Defendants.
CourtU.S. District Court — District of Maine

OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE

Richard Padykula, Law Offices of Leon M. Rosenblatt, West Hartford, CT, Guy D. Loranger, Leon M. Rosenblatt, Law Office of Guy D. Loranger, Old Orchard Beach, ME, for Plaintiff.

David G. Webbert, Johnson & Webbert, LLP, Augusta, ME, Raphael N. Rajendra, Warren Gary Kohlman, Jeffrey R. Freund, John M. West, Bredhoff & Kaiser, P.L.L.C., Washington, DC, for Defendants.

ORDER ON MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

GEORGE Z. SINGAL, District Judge.

Before the Court is Defendant International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, Defendant R. Thomas Buffenbarger and Defendant Lynn D. Tucker, Jr.'s (collectively Defendants) Motion For Summary Judgment (ECF No. 69). For the reasons explained herein, the Court GRANTS Defendants' Motion For Summary Judgment (ECF No. 69).1

I. LEGAL STANDARD

Generally, a party is entitled to summary judgment if, on the record before the Court, it appears “that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and that the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(a). [T]he mere existence of some alleged factual dispute between the parties will not defeat an otherwise properly supported motion for summary judgment; the requirement is that there be no genuine issue of material fact.” Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 247–48, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). An issue is “genuine” if “the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party.” Id. at 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505. A “material fact” is one that has “the potential to affect the outcome of the suit under the applicable law.” Nereida–Gonzalez v. Tirado–Delgado, 990 F.2d 701, 703 (1st Cir.1993) (citing Anderson, 477 U.S. at 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505) (additional citation omitted).

The party moving for summary judgment must demonstrate an absence of evidence to support the nonmoving party's case. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 325, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). In determining whether this burden is met, the Court must view the record in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party and give that party the benefit of all reasonable inferences in its favor. Santoni v. Potter, 369 F.3d 594, 598 (1st Cir.2004).

Once the moving party has made this preliminary showing, the nonmoving party must “produce specific facts, in suitable evidentiary form, to establish the presence of a trialworthy issue.” Triangle Trading Co. v. Robroy Indus., Inc., 200 F.3d 1, 2 (1st Cir.1999) (citation and internal punctuation omitted); see alsoFed.R.Civ.P. 56(e). “Mere allegations, or conjecture unsupported in the record, are insufficient.” Barros–Villahermosa v. United States, 642 F.3d 56, 58 (1st Cir.2011) (quoting Rivera–Marcano v. Normeat Royal Dane Quality, 998 F.2d 34, 37 (1st Cir.1993)); see also Wilson v. Moulison N. Corp., 639 F.3d 1, 6 (1st Cir.2011) (“A properly supported summary judgment motion cannot be defeated by conclusory allegations, improbable inferences, periphrastic circumlocutions, or rank speculation.”) (citations omitted). “As to any essential factual element of its claim on which the nonmovant would bear the burden of proof at trial, its failure to come forward with sufficient evidence to generate a trialworthy issue warrants summary judgment to the moving party.” In re Spigel, 260 F.3d 27, 31 (1st Cir.2001) (quoting In re Ralar Distribs., Inc., 4 F.3d 62, 67 (1st Cir.1993)).

II. BACKGROUNDA. The Union, the Local Lodge And Plaintiff Keenan

Defendant the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (“IAM” or the “Union”), also known as the Grand Lodge, is an international labor organization that represents approximately 730,000 workers in the United States and Canada. The International President of the IAM is Defendant R. Thomas Buffenbarger. The Grand Lodge is organized into geographic territories, and the IAM General Vice President for the Eastern Territory is Defendant Lynn D. Tucker. The IAM workers are represented through local unions called Local Lodges, which are in turn organized into District Lodges. Local Lodge S/6 (“LL S6” or the “Local”) is an IAM Local Lodge in Bath, Maine that represents approximately 3,400 workers at Bath Iron Works.

Plaintiff Michael A. Keenan was a member of LL S6 and was elected president of LL S6 in 2001. He was reelected in 2004, 2007 and on February 12, 2008. Keenan's last full day as an officer of LL S6 was March 16, 2008, the day before trusteeship was imposed on the Local.

B. The Imposition Of Trusteeship

While on assignment to investigate complaints received from members of LL S6 about the conduct of the Local's October 2007 election of officers, Grand Lodge Representative Paul Shemanski learned about multiple problems in the administration of the Local. Following further investigation, Buffenbarger exercised his authority under the IAM Constitution to place LL S6 in trusteeship. Buffenbarger appointed Grand Lodge Representative William Rudis as LL S6's temporary trustee on March 17, 2008.

In April 2008, a three-member committee conducted a three-day, eight witness, 150–exhibit hearing to determine whether to continue the trusteeship, during which Rudis presented the case in favor of continuation of the trusteeship and Keenan the case against it. On July 28, 2008, the panel concluded that the trusteeship should be continued, and Buffenbarger accepted that decision on August 12, 2008. Upon imposition of the trusteeship, Defendants maintain that the IAM Constitution required Rudis, as temporary trustee, to either appoint Keenan as his deputy to assist in operating the Local during the trusteeship or to serve him with charges under the Constitution's disciplinary provisions. 2 ( See IAM Constitution, dated Jan. 1, 2005 (ECF No. 62–26) (“IAM Const.”) at Page ID # 3527–28.) According to Keenan, Rudis deputized the Secretary–Treasurer of the Local, John Portela, and concurrently charged Portela with wrongdoing under Article L. (Aff. of Michael A. Keenan (ECF No. 79–1) ¶¶ 29–32.) However, Rudis declined to appoint Keenan as his deputy because he concluded that Keenan's managerial failures were a substantial cause for the dysfunction that led to the trusteeship.

C. Prior Lawsuits

On May 12, 2008, Keenan brought suit in this Court challenging the imposition of the trusteeship on the ground that it had been imposed for an unlawful purpose. See Keenan v. Int'l Assoc. of Machinists, No. 2:08–cv–00147, Complaint (ECF No. 1) (“ Keenan I ”). This Court granted summary judgment in favor of Defendants on the Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act claims and declined to exercise jurisdiction over the state law claims. See Keenan v. Int'l Assoc. of Machinists, 632 F.Supp.2d 63 (D.Me.2009). In March of 2009, Keenan filed suit in Maine state court asserting claims for libel per se, defamation and false light invasion of privacy related to the dissemination of three letters by Defendants to the members of the Local and the public at large in April and May of 2008. See Keenan v. Int'l Assoc. of Machinists, No. BCD–CV–10–42, 2012 WL 1521477 (Super.Ct.Me. Feb. 23, 2012) (“ Keenan II ”). In that case, the state court granted summary judgment for Defendants on the grounds that plaintiffs “failed to make a prima facie showing either that the alleged defamatory statements were ‘of and concerning’ the individual Plaintiffs, or that Defendants acted with actual malice.” Id.

As part of discovery in Keenan I, Keenan's attorney deposed Tucker on January 26, 2009, Buffenbarger on January 27, 2009, Paul Shemanski on February 2, 2009, Tony Provost on February 3, 2009, Glen Burroughs and David Sullivan on February 4, 2009, and Rudis on February 5, 2009. On or before February 4, 2009, Keenan also received over 7,500 pages of documents from Defendants in Keenan I.

D. Article L of the IAM Constitution

The IAM's 2005 Constitution, Article L, sets forth the Union's penal code for disciplinary actions against officers and members.3 Section 2 states that union officer can be charged with [i]ncompetence, negligence, or insubordination in the performance of official duties; or failure or refusal to perform duties validly assigned.” (IAM Const. at Page ID # 3640.) With regard to disciplinary hearings, under Article 4, the International President can determine that in fairness to the accused and in the best interests of the Union, charges will be tried before a special trial committee. If a special trial committee is not appointed and if the charges are not heard before the Grand Lodge Convention, the charges against a local president are tried before the president's local lodge, the District Lodge or the conference of which the accused is an officer. Following the appointment of the special trial committee, the IAM Constitution indicates that a preliminary investigation should be conducted to determine whether or not there is “sufficient substance to warrant a formal trial being held.” ( Id. at Page ID # 3642–43.) If the trial is warranted, the accused is to be notified of the specific charges that will be tried.

E. The Filing Of Charges Against Keenan

On September 19, 2008, Rudis filed fifteen charges against Keenan under Article L of the IAM Constitution related to Keenan's mismanagement of the Local. (Sept. 19, 2008 Ltr. from Buffenbarger to Keenan (ECF No. 62–19) at Page ID # 3465–66.) In that charging document, there are no dates or times specific to Keenan's misconduct. Keenan asserts that each of the charges against him was associated with duties assigned to other officers of the Local, and none of those fifteen charges was part of Keenan's official duties as local president under the IAM Constitution.4 Rudis also brought charges against eight other LL S6 members, including many of the Local's...

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