Martin v. Lake County Sewer Co.

• Decision Date: 12 September 2001
• Docket Number: D,No. 00-3716,No. 1164,1164,00-3716
• Citation: 269 F.3d 673
• Parties: (6th Cir. 2001) Donald Martin, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Lake County Sewer Co., Inc.; Brewery Workers, Beer Bottlers and Soft Drink Workers' Local Unionefendants-Appellees. Argued:
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit

Page 673

269 F.3d 673 (6th Cir. 2001)

Donald Martin, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Lake County Sewer Co., Inc.; Brewery Workers, Beer Bottlers and Soft Drink Workers' Local Union No. 1164, Defendants-Appellees.

No. 00-3716

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT

Argued: September 12, 2001

Decided and Filed: October 17, 2001

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio at Cleveland. No. 00-00228, Paul R. Matia, Chief District Judge. [Copyrighted Material Omitted] Cynthia D. Lowenkamp, CYNTHIA D. LOWENKAMP CO. L.P.A., Richmond Heights, Ohio, Neil Myers, NEIL MYERS COMPANY, Eastlake, Ohio, for Appellant.

John P. O'Donnell, LYONS & O'DONNELL, Painesville, Ohio, George H. Faulkner, Joseph C. Hoffman, Jr., William M. Menzalora Faulkner, Muskovitz & Phillips, Cleveland, OH, for Defendants-Appellees.

Before: DAUGHTREY and GILMAN, Circuit Judges; COHN, District Judge^*.

OPINION

RONALD LEE GILMAN, Circuit Judge.

Donald Martin, an employee of Lake County Sewer Co., Inc. (Lake) and a member of the Teamsters Union, was discharged in May of 1999 after failing to attend an instructional class that was required of all employees. Martin filed suit on January 25, 2000, alleging violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the Labor Management Relations Act (LMRA), and the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). The defendants moved to dismiss Martin's action as untimely, and the district court granted the motion. For the reasons set forth below, weAFFIRM the judgment of the district court.

I.BACKGROUND

A. Factual background

In evaluating an appeal from the granting of a motion to dismiss pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, we must consider all of the plaintiff's factual allegations as true. Buchanan v. Apfel, 249 F.3d 485, 488 (6th Cir. 2001). We have done so in setting forth the facts below.

According to Martin's complaint, he was employed by Lake as a T.V. and Grout Truck Operator from March 28, 1994 until May 1, 1999. Martin's unit was represented by the Brewery Workers, Beer Bottlers and Soft Drink Workers' Local Union No. 1164 of the Teamsters Union (Union), of which Martin was a member.

Beginning in 1997, Lake began engaging in conduct that Martin believed was questionable and potentially in conflict with the collective bargaining agreement (CBA). In March of 1997, for example, Lake began deducting an additional $25 per month from Martin's wages for insurance premiums. Lake's responses to Martin's inquiries about this withholding were inconsistent and unclear, and Lake refused to stop withholding this money even after Martin declared that he did not need additional insurance. Martin also alleges that he was not paid the prevailing wage and never received overtime pay on the frequent occasions when he worked more than 40 hours per week.

In addition, Lake unilaterally reduced Martin's wages and benefits in 1997 after an audit by the Department of Labor. The complaint fails to clarify how these changes came about, but Martin alleges that the Union was not involved in any bargaining for these alterations to the CBA. Martin further claims that when he asked the Union for copies of the resulting "New Labor Agreement," the document was not made available to him. In January of 1998, after a new union steward was appointed, Martin attempted to protest the reductions in benefits and pay, as well as the $25 monthly withholding, through the CBA grievance procedure. The Union, however, declined to pursue the grievances.

Martin also alleges that Lake treated him differently than other similarly-situated employees. All employees, for example, are required to obtain their commercial driver's license, but Martin was the only one who was required to rent his own truck to take the test and was not paid for the day he took the examination.

On Saturday, May 1, 1999, Lake held a mandatory "Confined Space Entry Class" for its employees. Lake informed its employees in writing that late entry would not be allowed and that an employee would not be assigned further work if he or she failed to attend. Despite Martin's early arrival for the class, the instructor was more than an hour late. Martin left instead of waiting for the instructor to arrive. As a result of his nonattendance Martin was removed from the following week's work schedule and discharged on May 5, 1999. Martin alleges that other employees who were late were not punished, and that some employees were excused from attending the class altogether. He also claims that, despite his repeated requests, the Union did not furnish Martin with a complete copy of the CBA until June 22, 1999.

Following his discharge, Martin filed suit against Lake in the Small Claims Court of Willoughby, Ohio, seeking approximately $775 in vacation pay. The small claims court found in favor of Lake on August 20, 1999. As a result, Martin alleges that he has still not been paid all of the wages that Lake owes him.

B. Procedural background

On January 25, 2000, Martin filed a six-count complaint in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. Lake and the Union filed motions to dismiss pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, arguing that Martin's claim was time-barred. The district court dismissed the complaint, reasoning that it lacked jurisdiction over two of Martin's claims and that his other claims were barred by a six-month statute of limitations. Martin now appeals, arguing that his complaint was timely because a longer statute of limitations applies.

II.ANALYSIS

A. Martin's counts constituting a hybrid § 301 complaint are time-barred under the controlling six-month statute of limitations

This court reviews de novo a district court's conclusion that a plaintiff has failed to meet a statute of limitations. Tolbert v. Ohio Dep't of Transp., 172 F.3d 934, 938 (6th Cir. 1999). Martin's complaint alleges that Lake breached its obligations to him under the CBA, and that the Union violated its duty of fair representation owed to Martin, all in violation of § 301 of the LMRA. The Supreme Court has described such a lawsuit as a "hybrid § 301/ fair representation claim," which

comprises two causes of action. The suit against the employer rests on § 301, since the employee is alleging a breach of the collective-bargaining agreement. The suit against the union is one for breach of the union's duty of fair representation, which is implied under the scheme of the National Labor Relations Act. Yet the two claims are inextricably interdependent. To prevail against either the company or the Union, . . . [employee-plaintiffs] must not only show that their discharge was contrary to the contract but must also carry the burden of demonstrating breach of duty by the Union.

DelCostello v. Int'l Bhd. of Teamsters, 462 U.S. 151, 164-65 (1983) (internal citations and quotation marks omitted) (internal brackets in original).

In DelCostello, the Court adopted the six-month statute of limitations found in § 10(b) of the NLRA, 29 U.S.C. §160(b) (imposing a six-month statute of limitations on all unfair labor practice charges filed with the National Labor Relations Board), for all hybrid § 301 cases that implicate concerns similar to those that are at stake in unfair labor practice charges brought under the NLRA. DelCostello, 462 U.S. at 169. Specifically, those concerns include "the rapid resolution of collective bargaining disputes between the employer and employees." Woosley v. AVCO Corp., 944 F.2d 313, 318 (6th Cir. 1991). The DelCostello Court also described these concerns as follows:

In § 10(b) of the NLRA, Congress established a limitations period attuned to what it viewed as the proper balance between the national interests in stable bargaining relationships and finality of private settlements, and an employee's interest in setting aside what he views as an unjust settlement under the collective-bargaining system. That is precisely the balance at issue in this case. The employee's interest in setting aside the final and binding determination of a grievance through the method established by the collective-bargaining agreement unquestionably implicates those consensual processes that federal labor law is chiefly designed to promote--the formation of the . . . agreement and the private settlement of disputes under it. . . . Accordingly, [t]he need for uniformity among procedures followed for similar claims . . . as well as the clear congressional indication of the proper balance between the interests at stake, counsels the adoption of § 10(b) of the NLRA as the appropriate limitations period for lawsuits such as this.

DelCostello, 462 U.S. at 171 (internal citations and quotation marks omitted). Based on these considerations, this court has adopted the general rule that "[a] six-month statute of limitations should apply . . . where the plaintiff [sic] claims are brought under the Agreement and involve the question of entitlement for employment under a collective bargaining agreement." Woosley, 944 F.2d at 318.

Martin's hybrid claims lie at the core of his alleged "entitlement to employment." He argues that he was wrongfully discharged, that Lake discriminated against him, and that the Union violated its duty of fair representation when it failed to pursue a grievance based on Lake's allegedly wrongful conduct. Thus, under Woosley, these causes of action must be brought pursuant to the six-month statute of limitations codified in § 10(b) of the NLRA.

Martin, however, argues that Ohio's personal-injury statute of limitations should apply, pursuant to the Supreme Court's ruling in Reed v. United Transportation Union, 488 U.S. 319 (1989). The Supreme Court decided in Reed that claims brought pursuant to the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA), 29 U.S.C. § 411(a)(2) (a statute prohibiting the interference with a union member's right to free speech), are governed by...