Morris v. Hoffa
| Decision Date | 16 March 2004 |
| Docket Number | No. 02-1401.,No. 02-2214.,02-1401.,02-2214. |
| Citation | 361 F.3d 177 |
| Parties | Jean MORRIS, Personal Representative of the Estate of John Morris, Deceased;<SMALL><SUP>1</SUP></SMALL> Kenneth J. Woodring; Elmore Mack; Harold Fischer v. James P. HOFFA, General President, (individually and his official capacity); International Brotherhood of Teamsters James P. Morris, Harold Fischer and Elmore Mack Appellants Jean Morris, Personal Representative of the Estate of John Morris, Deceased;<SMALL><SUP>2</SUP></SMALL> Kenneth J. Woodring; Elmore Mack; Harold Fischer v. James P. Hoffa, General President, (individually and in his official capacity); International Brotherhood of Teamsters James P. Hoffa and International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Appellants. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Third Circuit |
John F. Innelli, (Argued), Innelli and Molder, Philadelphia, for John P. Morris, Elmore Mack and Harold Fisher.
Thomas H. Kohn, Markowitz & Richman, Philadelphia, Robert M. Baptiste, (Argued), James F. Wallington, Susan Boyle, Baptiste & Wilder, P.C., Washington for James P. Hoffa and The International Brotherhood of Teamsters.
Before SLOVITER and McKEE, Circuit Judges, and ROSENN, Senior Circuit Judge.
These consolidated appeals arise from the imposition of an emergency trusteeship over Local 115 of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters ("IBT") by James P. Hoffa, General President of the IBT. The trusteeship was imposed pursuant to Title III of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act ("LMRDA"), and it resulted in the subsequent removal of John P. Morris, Elmore Mack and Harold Fischer as elected officers of Local 115. Hoffa imposed the emergency trusteeship on November 15, 1999.
Morris, Mack and Fischer (collectively referred to as the "Morris Plaintiffs") filed suit three days after the trusteeship was imposed alleging that it violated various provisions of the LMRDA. The essence of their complaint was that Hoffa imposed the emergency trusteeship in retaliation for their opposition to Hoffa's bid for the presidency of the IBT in the 1996 and 1998 elections. Count One alleged that Hoffa imposed the emergency trusteeship for an invalid purpose in violation of Title III of the LMRDA, 29 U.S.C. §§ 462, 464, and the IBT's Constitution. Count Two alleged that Hoffa violated their rights to free speech guaranteed by Title I of the LMRDA, specifically 29 U.S.C. § 411(a)(2), and disciplined them for the exercise of their free speech rights in violation of 29 U.S.C. § 529. Count Three alleged that Hoffa breached the IBT's Constitution by imposing the emergency trusteeship over Local 115 in the absence of any colorable emergency, in violation of the LMRDA, 29 U.S.C. § 185.
A few days after the complaint was filed, the temporary trustee appointed by Hoffa scheduled hearings as required by the IBT's Constitution. At the conclusion of the hearings, an internal union hearing panel issued a Report and Recommendation finding that there was sufficient reason for the imposition and continuation of the trusteeship. Hoffa adopted the panel's Report and Recommendation and continued the trusteeship on May 31, 2000. On June 13, 2001, Hoffa dissolved the trusteeship when newly-elected officers of the Local were installed.
In the meantime, Hoffa filed a motion for summary judgment, which the district court granted in substantial part. In its summary judgment opinion, the district court indicated that its disposition of Hoffa's summary judgment motion might warrant the entry of final judgment under Fed.R.Civ.P. 54(b). Accordingly, both sides filed Rule 54(b) motions. Hoffa also filed a motion for interlocutory appeal of a number of issues under 28 U.S.C. § 1292(b). Thereafter, the district court entered Rule 54(b) final judgment on Count Two (the free speech claim) in favor of Hoffa and against the Morris plaintiffs; entered Rule 54(b) final judgment on Count One with respect to the maintenance of the post-hearing trusteeship in favor of Hoffa and against the Morris plaintiffs, and entered Rule 54(b) final judgment on Count One with respect to the pre-hearing emergency trusteeship in favor of Hoffa but against Morris only. The district court also certified the following question of law for interlocutory appeal pursuant to § 1292(b): "Whether Plaintiffs have standing to recover for any damages on behalf of the Local Union 115 for the time period between the November 15, 1999 emergency imposition and the General President's May 31, 2001 decision issued after the hearing."
For the reasons that follow, we will affirm the district court's grant of summary judgment on Count Two in favor of Hoffa and against the Morris Plaintiffs. However, we will vacate the district court's entry of judgment under Rule 54(b) on Count One and direct the district court to enter summary judgment in favor of Hoffa and against the Morris Plaintiffs on their challenge to the prehearing emergency trusteeship. As we will explain, based upon this holding, we need not reach the issue of standing that the district court certified for interlocutory appeal.
The IBT is an unincorporated association that is a labor organization within the meaning of § 2(5) of the National Labor Relations Act ("NLRA"), 29 U.S.C. § 152(b). Local 115 is a Pennsylvania unincorporated association and a labor organization under the NLRA. It is also a subordinate body of the IBT within the meaning of § 304 of the LMRDA, 29 U.S.C. § 464.
John P. Morris was the elected Secretary-Treasurer and principal officer of Local 115. Elmore Mack and Harold Fisher were elected trustees of the local. All three were members of the Executive Board of Local 115 and constituted the majority of that Board under the Local's bylaws.
The IBT Constitution governs the relationship between the IBT and subordinate Local unions such as Local 115. James P. Hoffa was installed as General President of the IBT in mid-March, 1999, following a history of turmoil that culminated in a contentious 1998 election that was conducted under government supervision. Morris alleges that Hoffa initiated a campaign to oust Morris, as well as those in Local 115 who had been loyal to Morris, as soon as Hoffa took over.
On February 28, 1999, Brian Kada, a member of Local 115, had a conversation with Michael T. Breslin, Frank McGuire and Billy Anderson during which Kada told them that Hoffa had informed James E. Smith, Jr., a Morris foe, that Local 115 would be put under trusteeship. It is alleged that Kada also said that Morris would be out of office and that Hoffa wanted Morris's seats on the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority, the Joint Council 53 and the Pennsylvania Conference of Teamsters. Morris claimed that Smith would run Local 115 in return for Smith's assistance in ousting Morris.
According to Morris, Gerald McNamara had been communicating with Hoffa as early as March 15, 1999. McNamara was dissatisfied with Morris and was waiting to hear if Hoffa was going to place Local 115 in trusteeship. Over the ensuing months, Smith and McNamara allegedly met with IBT representatives and agitated for a trusteeship, with Smith complaining to McNamara that the IBT was not moving fast enough. Morris claimed that Smith had been given target dates of April 1999 and then July 1999, for creating a trusteeship.
Hoffa and the IBT had received numerous complaints about the abuses that apparently characterized Local 115's leadership, and these allegations prompted an investigation of the local. According to Hoffa, information developed during that investigation revealed a "pretty frightening portrayal" of Local 115:
We had these stories about beatings. Smith said he was beaten up in a stairwell, that Johnny Morris carries a gun, the local was buying guns. They had stun guns, they had pepper spray, unusual purchases for a local union, and things that are improper as far as I know, as far as I believe and we got that information and we acted on it.
The investigation lead Hoffa to the conclusion that it was necessary to impose an emergency trusteeship over Local 115. Accordingly, on November 14, 1999, Hoffa appointed Edward F. Keyser, Jr., Temporary Trustee over the affairs of Local 115, effective November 15, 1999. That same day (November 14), Hoffa issued a Notice to the Officers and Members of Local 115, informing them of the reasons for the trusteeship.
The Notice specified sixteen reasons that included both general and specific instances of violence and intimidation under Morris's leadership dating back to 1955 and increasing in recent years. The intimidation included charges that Morris and his business agents threatened and assaulted disloyal members of Local 115, and that Morris had purchased materials such as stun guns to wage war against disloyal union members. Financial abuses were also noted, including a charge that Morris directed union members to perform "extensive renovations and repairs on [his] house" while still on the time clock for their employers; that Morris required stewards to collect cash gifts for himself in the form of annual "Christmas gifts," and that he retaliated against members whose Christmas spirit did not embrace extortionate gift giving. The fiscal abuses also included charges that Morris had altered Local 115's Health and Welfare Plan to suit his personal needs, and that he used union funds to benefit family members.
The November 14th notice and accompanying letters of appointment resulted in Keyser being given authority over all of the affairs of Local 115. It also resulted in the ouster of Morris, Mack and Fisher from their elected positions with the local. On November 22, 1999, Trustee Keyser issued a Notice of Trusteeship Hearing pursuant to the IBT Constitution, scheduling formal hearings on the need for a trusteeship for Thursday, December 9, 1999, and Saturday, December 11, 1999.3
According to Hoffa, a large conference...
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