Mungin v. Florida East Coast Railway Company

• Decision Date: 11 August 1970
• Docket Number: No. 67-764-Civ-J.,67-764-Civ-J.
• Citation: 318 F. Supp. 720
• Parties: Nehemiah MUNGIN et al., Plaintiffs, v. FLORIDA EAST COAST RAILWAY COMPANY, Inc., a Florida corporation, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Middle District of Florida

318 F. Supp. 720

Nehemiah MUNGIN et al., Plaintiffs, v. FLORIDA EAST COAST RAILWAY COMPANY, Inc., a Florida corporation, Defendant.

No. 67-764-Civ-J.

United States District Court, M. D. Florida, Jacksonville Division.

August 11, 1970.

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Chris Dixie, Houston, Tex., and Hardee, Ott & Hamilton, P. A., Tampa, Fla., for appellant.

Milledge & Horn, Miami, Fla., and Fisher & Phillips, Atlanta, Ga., for appellee.

Beckham & McAliley, Miami, Fla., amicus curiae.

FINDINGS OF FACT

SCOTT, District Judge.

1.

Plaintiffs are individuals, residents of Florida, who were former employees, or are present employees of Defendant.

2.

Intervenor, International Association of Railway Employees (hereinafter IARE) is a labor organization within the meaning of the Railway Labor Act, 45 U.S.C. Sections 151-188, and is also, within the meaning of that Act, the duly certified representative of the craft or class of locomotive firemen employed by Defendant.

3.

Defendant, Florida East Coast Railway Company, Inc., (hereinafter FEC) is a "carrier" within the meaning of the Railway Labor Act and is a Florida corporation doing business within the Middle District of Florida and having its main office at St. Augustine, Florida.

4.

In November, 1967, Plaintiffs commenced the present action against Defendant alleging violations of the Railway Labor Act and the wholesale abrogation by Defendant of its collective bargaining agreements with IARE. On March 22, 1968, this Court dismissed the complaint for lack of jurisdiction. On September 22, 1969, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit overruled the dismissal of this court, finding that the court had jurisdiction and that the complaint stated a cause of action, and remanded the case for further proceedings in compliance with its opinion. Mungin v. Florida East Coast Ry. Co., 416 F.2d 1169 (5th Cir. 1969). On December 22, 1969, this court denied certain motions of Defendant to dismiss, to strike and to sever, and to stay pending disposition of a writ of certiorari, and ordered Defendant to answer the complaint on or before January 30, 1970. No answer has yet been filed. As of December 30, 1969, an application for additional time to petition for writ of certiorari was pending in the United States Supreme Court.

5.

Between approximately December 17 or 18, 1969, and December 29, 1969, various discussions between counsel for Defendant and counsel for Plaintiffs¹ were held concerning settlement of this case and an agreed settlement was reached on December 29, 1969.

6.

On December 30, 1969, a hearing in this case was held before The Honorable Charles R. Scott, Judge of this Court, concerning certain motions in the case and preliminary approval of the agreed upon settlement.

7.

On December 30, 1969, the Plaintiffs moved this Court for permission to amend their complaint to state a cause of action on behalf of a class composed of all employees or former employees of the Defendant Florida East Coast Railway Company who held seniority in the craft or class of Locomotive Firemen on January 23, 1963, or thereafter to date, and who were available, qualified, entitled and willing to perform work as Locomotive Firemen for the Defendant Railway since January 23, 1963, and would have performed such work but for illegal conduct of the Defendant Railway as alleged in their complaint. Such amendment was allowed by this Court and was filed.

8.

On December 30, 1969, IARE filed a motion seeking to intervene in this action as a party Plaintiff and said motion was granted by this Court and IARE did intervene and did file its complaint in intervention. The complaint of IARE was substantially identical in its allegations with the complaints already filed by Plaintiffs.

9.

On December 30, 1969, Plaintiffs and IARE moved this Court for a determination under Rule 23, Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, that this suit could be maintained as a class action. This Court granted said motion, allowing the suit to be maintained as a class action under Rule 23(b) (1) and (b) (2) on behalf of the class as set forth in the amended complaint of Plaintiffs.

10.

On December 30, 1969, the Plaintiffs, Intervenor, and Defendant applied to the Court for preliminary approval of a compromise of the class action, and following a hearing in which the proposed compromise was fully explained to the court, such preliminary approval was given. An order was entered directing that the Defendant pay over to a trust fund the sum of $800,000, that said trust be maintained pending a hearing on final approval of said proposed settlement, and that notice of such final hearing, in the form prescribed by the Court, be given to all members of the class.

11.

The stipulation of settlement filed in this Court on December 30, 1969, stated that if said settlement were not finally approved by this Court or if this case were not finally dismissed without payment by Defendant of any further sums, then the entire trust fund, together with accumulated interest, should be immediately refunded to Defendant without further order of the Court. The Trust Agreement also provided that the trust was created subject to the express condition and reservation on the part of the Defendant as grantor that the Agreement could be revoked in full if the proposed settlement was not finally approved by this Court or if this case was not finally dismissed without payment by the Defendant of any further sums.

12.

Also on December 30, 1969, and as a part of the overall settlement, Defendant and IARE entered into a Memorandum of Agreement providing for the abolition of the craft or class of Locomotive Firemen and the availability of promotional opportunities for the members of said craft or class into operating positions of the Defendant under the then existing Uniform Working Agreement governing operating employees of Defendant. The Memorandum of Agreement further provided that it should take effect only upon final approval of this Court of the settlement reached in this case and provided that if said settlement was not finally approved, the Memorandum of Agreement would be null and void.

13.

On December 30, 1969, the Defendant did pay into the hands of the Trustees of the trust the sum of $800,000 and said was deposited by the Trustees at interest with the Florida National Bank of Jacksonville, Florida, as shown in the First Report of Trustees filed in this Court on January 8, 1970.

14.

On February 5 and 6, 1970, Notices of the Final Hearing, in the form ordered by this Court, were sent to all members of the class, as were statements from the Trustees showing for each member of the class his entitlement to share in the fund including the amounts payable to each such individual on the three pay-out dates of April 1, 1970, April 1, 1971, and April 1, 1972.

15.

The Notice of Final Hearing stated that an application was pending for approval of a compromise of this action under which the Defendant would pay into the trust fund sums in full settlement of any and all liability; stating that a hearing had been held on the preliminary advisability of the settlement and the Court had preliminarily approved the settlement and the sums had been paid into the trust fund; stating that a hearing on the final advisability of the settlement would be held before The Honorable Charles R. Scott at the United States Court House in Jacksonville, Florida, on the 11th day of March, 1970, at 10:00 a. m. at which time all interested parties may be heard; and further stating that

The original complaint in this action, a motion to amend that complaint, a motion for intervention, a motion to allow maintenance as a class action, orders granting said motions, and a full copy of the Stipulation of Settlement and amendment thereto, including a copy of the Trust Instrument establishing the `F.E.C. Firemen's Trust Fund' and amendment thereto, and a copy of an Agreement between F.E.C. and IARE concerning abolition of the craft of Locomotive Firemen and eligibility for promotion of employees holding seniority as Locomotive Firemen as of the effective date of the Agreement to operating positions with F.E.C. are on file in the office of the Clerk of United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida in Jacksonville, Florida, and may be examined by you there.

16.

Between December 30, 1969, and March 11, 1970, various meetings were held by counsel for Plaintiffs with the various members of the class to explain to them the terms of the settlement. These meetings were held in Miami, Florida, on or about January 10, 1970, in New Smyrna Beach, Florida, on or about January 11, 1970, in Jacksonville, Florida, on or about January 11, 1970, in New Smyrna Beach on or about January 15, 1970, in Miami on or about March 7 or 8, 1970, and in New Smyrna Beach on or about March 10, 1970. In addition, there were phone calls and correspondence between various members of the class and counsel for Plaintiffs.

17.

On March 11, 1970, a hearing was held in this Court concerning the final advisability of the proposed settlement, pursuant to the earlier orders of this Court and the terms of the notices sent to the members of the class. Present at that hearing, according to their affidavits, were the following Plaintiffs (now also Movants) who now seek to set aside the settlement: Henry Allen Crump, Arthur L. Davis, Walter J. Howard, Leandrus Jorden, Harold Marshall, Gordon Rogers, and, according to his statement in open court on June 29, 1970, also present was Moses Meeks. According to the affidavit of Gordon Rogers, there were more than 15 individual Plaintiffs who attended the hearing on March 11, 1970.

18.

At the hearing on March 11, 1970, three Plaintiffs (now also Movants), Walter J. Howard, Henry Allen Crump, and Leandrus Jorden, testified that they were dissatisfied with the amounts of money which the...