Kent v. Fugere, Civ. A. No. H-77-267.
Decision Date | 19 October 1977 |
Docket Number | Civ. A. No. H-77-267. |
Citation | 438 F. Supp. 560 |
Parties | Margaret M. KENT v. Joseph M. FUGERE and Pilgrim Aviation and Airlines, Inc. |
Court | U.S. District Court — District of Connecticut |
John C. Wirzbicki, (Conn. Legal Services) New London, Conn., for plaintiff.
Michael A. Rakosky, New London, Conn., Michael H. Campbell, Fisher & Phillips, Atlanta, Ga., for defendants.
RULING ON MOTION TO DISMISS
Margaret M. Kent, a former employee of Pilgrim Airlines, brought this action alleging that she had been wrongfully discharged because of her (unsuccessful) efforts to encourage her fellow employees to seek collective bargaining representation by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. The plaintiff seeks reinstatement, backpay, and other relief claiming that her discharge was in violation of her rights under the Railway Labor Act and her employment contract. The defendants contend that the Court lacks subject matter jurisdiction over this case because the plaintiff has failed to exhaust the mandatory labor dispute resolution procedures under the Railway Labor Act. The Court finds that the plaintiff has no available administrative remedies and that the assertion of subject matter jurisdiction in this case is proper. Therefore, the motion to dismiss is denied.
The history of the Act will help to clarify the respective positions of the parties. The Supreme Court teaches that:
"Congress has long concerned itself with minimizing interruptions in the Nation's transportation services by strikes and labor disputes and has made successive attempts to establish effective machinery to resolve disputes . . .." International Association of Machinists v. Central Airlines, Inc., 372 U.S. 682, 687, 83 S.Ct. 956, 959, 10 L.Ed.2d 67 (1963).
In 1920, Congress provided for the voluntary formation of boards of adjustment to deal with the minor disputes arising out of the interpretation and application of existing contracts. If the disputes remained unresolved after resort to these boards, they were to be referred to the Railway Labor Board. The fact that the decisions of the Labor Board were not legally enforceable led to highly unsatisfactory results, and in 1926 Congress decided to give binding effect to the decisions of the boards of adjustment. Despite this legislative change these boards of adjustment still proved ineffective in many instances. They were composed of an equal number of employee and employer representatives, and since the Act did not provide for any means of breaking the frequent deadlocks, minor disputes often went unresolved. As a result, in 1934 the Act was amended to create the National Railroad Adjustment Board with the power to make final awards, with the help of neutral referees appointed by the National Mediation Board, when that procedure was found necessary. 45 U.S.C. § 153.
In 1936, Congress extended the Railway Labor Act to cover the air transportation industry. 45 U.S.C. §§ 181-188. The purpose of this action "was to extend to air carriers and their employees the same benefits and obligations available and applicable in the railroad industry." Machinists, supra, 372 U.S. at 685, 83 S.Ct. at 958. Significantly, however, all of the provisions of the Railway Labor Act were made applicable to the airlines, except 45 U.S.C. § 153, which dealt with the National Railroad Adjustment Board. In the place of § 153, Congress enacted 45 U.S.C. §§ 184-185, to provide for the resolution of minor disputes in the airline industry.
Thus, 45 U.S.C. § 184 states that until a national board for the airline industry is established:
"It shall be the duty of every carrier and of its employees, acting through their representatives, selected in accordance with the provisions of 181 to 188 of this title, to establish a board of adjustment of jurisdiction not exceeding the jurisdiction which may be lawfully exercised by system, group, or regional boards of adjustment, under the authority of section 153 of this title.
However, the adjustment boards provided for in § 184 do not represent the exclusive means of resolving disputes in the airline industry. The National Mediation Board also plays a substantial role. However, these distinct boards have differing authority and jurisdiction. The National Mediation Board has jurisdiction over major labor disputes. Its function is to use the processes of mediation and negotiation to prevent strikes. Unlike the adjustment boards, the NMB cannot make awards resolving individual grievances, after finding one party at fault. As the Supreme Court has noted:
"Throughout the hearings on the bill which became the 1926 Act there are repeated expressions of concern that the National Mediation Board should retain no adjudicatory function, so that it might maintain the confidence of both parties." Chicago & N. W. R. Co. v. Transportation Union, 402 U.S. 570, 580, 91 S.Ct. 1731, 1737, 29 L.Ed.2d 187 (1971). (footnote omitted).
Donald Richberg, counsel for the organized railway employees supporting the bill, stated during Hearings on Railroad Labor Disputes (H.R. 7180) before the House Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, 69th Cong., 1st Sess., 18 (1926):
The defendants contend that plaintiff has failed to exhaust the mandatory dispute resolution procedures of the Railway Labor Act. It is clear, however, that the NMB is not the appropriate forum to hear the plaintiff's claims. Certainly, a request for reinstatement and backpay, such as that of the plaintiff in the instant case, is not the type of major dispute which the Act leaves "for settlement entirely to the processes of noncompulsory adjustment." Elgin, J. & E. R. Co. v. Burley, 325 U.S. 711, 65 S.Ct. 1282, 89 L.Ed. 1886 (1945). This fact was confirmed by the NMB itself in response to a complaint filed with that board by the plaintiff. Thus, Rowland Quinn, Executive Secretary of the NMB, wrote to the plaintiff's counsel prior to the filing of this action, saying:
The defendants argue that the plaintiff has failed to exhaust the remedies provided by the boards of adjustment. However, under the circumstances of this case there is no available board to deal with this dispute. This case involves a grievance arising in the airline industry; therefore, the plaintiff cannot bring her claim to the National Railroad Adjustment Board. Nor can she resort to the National Air Transport Board which has yet to be created. Furthermore, the employer and employees have not established any local boards of adjustment to which the plaintiff can now turn.
In Associated Pilots of Alaska v. Alaska International Air, Inc., No. A76-122 (D.Alaska, Sept. 9, 1976), the court dealt with this precise issue in determining that the assertion of jurisdiction over the subject matter of the case was proper. Judge Fitzgerald there stated:
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