Noble v. Chrysler Motors Corp., Jeep Div.

• Decision Date: 22 August 1994
• Docket Number: No. 12,No. 93-3812,D,12,93-3812
• Citation: 32 F.3d 997
• Parties: 147 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2068, 128 Lab.Cas. P 11,156 William NOBLE, Jr.; and Thomas J. PAYNE, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. CHRYSLER MOTORS CORPORATION, JEEP DIVISION; and International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, Localefendants-Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit

Page 997

32 F.3d 997

147 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2068, 128 Lab.Cas. P 11,156

William NOBLE, Jr.; and Thomas J. PAYNE, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. CHRYSLER MOTORS CORPORATION, JEEP DIVISION; and International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, Local No. 12 Defendants-Appellees.

No. 93-3812.

United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit.

Argued June 21, 1994.

Decided Aug. 22, 1994.

Terry J. Lodge (argued and briefed), Toledo, OH, for plaintiffs-appellants.

Thomas A. Dixon (argued and briefed), Kimberly S. Stepleton, Eastman & Smith, Toledo, OH, for Chrysler Motors Corp.

Joan Torzewski (briefed), John D. Franklin (argued and briefed), Lackey, Nusbaum, Harris, Reny & Torzewski, Toledo, OH, for Intern. Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers, Local 12.

Before: JONES and RYAN, Circuit Judges; and KRUPANSKY, Senior Circuit Judge.

KRUPANSKY, Senior Circuit Judge.

Plaintiffs-Appellants, William Noble Jr., and Thomas J. Payne, have appealed the magistrate judge's summary judgment ¹ in favor of defendants-appellees, Chrysler Motors Corporation ("Chrysler") and the International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, Local No. 12 (UAW) on plaintiffs' hybrid Sec. 301 claim alleging breach of the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) and breach of the duty of fair representation in violation of the Labor-Management Relations Act, 29 U.S.C. Sec. 185. On June 15, 1992, plaintiffs filed a complaint alleging that Chrysler breached the CBA by improperly fixing the effective date of their seniority rights and that the UAW breached its duty of fair representation by failing to represent plaintiffs in their seniority dispute. The magistrate judge entered summary judgment in favor of the defendants, concluding that plaintiffs' claims were barred by the applicable statute of limitations. This timely appeal followed.

In August 1983, Noble commenced working at Chrysler on the engine assembly line. A short time later, he was transferred to the mechanical repair department and then, in early 1984, he was temporarily laid off due to a work shortage. He returned to work on May 4, 1984, as a temporary upgrader/industrial truck mechanic in Department 275. Payne had been working at Chrysler since 1979, first as a sheet metal specialist and then as a non-skilled mechanic. In April 1984, he was laid off from Chrysler but, like plaintiff Noble, he returned to Chrysler as a temporary upgrader/industrial truck mechanic in Dept. 275.

Upgraders are mechanics assigned to the Skilled Trades Department to assist journeyman mechanics. Upgraders accrue seniority within that upgrader classification from the date of entry into that job assignment but they do not acquire any seniority in the skilled trades department as journeyman mechanics. Upgraders with eight years of practical experience at the trade, however, are eligible to fill a vacant journeyman position if they can provide satisfactory proof of that experience.

Noble and Payne continued to work as temporary upgraders in Dept. 275 until July 16, 1984, when they provided the required documentation of experience and were subsequently hired as journeymen by Chrysler. They received a pay increase and their entry date into the journeyman classification for seniority purposes was set at July 16, 1984. This date underlies the dispute in the instant appeal. Plaintiffs have contended that their entry date for purposes of seniority should have been the date they were hired into the skilled trades department as temporary upgraders. They testified that they believed that they would automatically become journeymen once they had documented their eight years of experience as auto mechanics. They further testified that it was their understanding that once the verification process was completed and they were accorded journeyman status, their seniority date would be retroactively dated to their original date of hire as upgraders.

The dispute arose after two other employees, Robert Anderson and Joseph Sancrant, were placed ahead of plaintiffs on the journeyman seniority list even though they had been hired as temporary upgraders after plaintiffs had commenced employment as upgraders. The two individuals were given earlier seniority dates than plaintiffs because they had submitted their documentation satisfying the experience requirements prior to plaintiffs. Plaintiffs charged that a union official had intentionally impeded plaintiffs' documentation submission to aid Anderson and Sancrant.

At some time between July and November 1984, which is not reflected in the record, the seniority controversy was brought to the attention of the union steward, Michael Dandar, as required by the CBA. In any event, during November 1984, Noble met with Dandar and James Sancrant, the chief union steward to discuss the seniority dispute. Sancrant informed Noble that official union policy fixed an individual's journeyman seniority on the date on which experience documentation was presented and received by the company.

A second meeting between plaintiffs and Dandar occurred during November 1984 to discuss the controversy. On this occasion, another employee, Eugene Molnar, complained that his journeyman's seniority date should have preceded that of plaintiffs because his experience documentation predated plaintiffs' date of filing. To resolve this dispute, plaintiffs along with several other employees signed a company memorandum which acknowledged their seniority date as July 16, 1984. Attached to this memorandum was a complete seniority list which disclosed that Anderson and Joseph Sancrant's journeyman seniority preceded plaintiffs' seniority status by approximately one month. In deposition, Noble testified that he signed the above memorandum under duress and only in the context of the Molnar dispute. He argued that he did not intend it to affect his seniority grievance with Anderson and Sancrant.

From 1984 to 1988, plaintiffs continued to press the seniority issue with other union officials without success. Finally, in 1988, plaintiffs approached Randy Mussehl, a newly-elected union steward, who reviewed the departmental files and advised the plaintiffs that he would not pursue their claims because they were no longer timely. Following Mussehl's refusal to process the grievance, plaintiffs filed a written grievance with the union on October 3, 1990, which was presented to its Seniority Committee. On December 19, 1991, the committee issued a written decision affirming plaintiffs' seniority date of July 16, 1984. Plaintiffs appealed this decision to the union's Appeals Committee which conducted a hearing on May 29, 1992. The Appeals Committee affirmed the decision of the Seniority Committee and concluded that plaintiffs' journeyman status was properly dated as July 16, 1984, and not their date of entry into the skilled trade department as temporary upgraders in May 1984. Plaintiffs then filed this action which forms the basis for this appeal.

In the instant appeal, the magistrate judge entered summary judgment in favor of Chrysler and UAW after determining that plaintiffs' claims were barred by the statute of limitations. Appeals from grants of summary judgment are reviewed under a de novo standard. EEOC v. University of Detroit, 904 F.2d 331, 334 (6th Cir.1990). The court must determine whether "the evidence presents a sufficient disagreement to require submission to a jury or whether it is so one-sided that one party must prevail as a matter of law." Massey v. Exxon Corp., 942 F.2d 340, 342 (6th Cir.1991). The evidence must be viewed in a light most favorable to the nonmoving party, but the "mere existence of a scintilla of evidence in support of the plaintiff's position will be insufficient; there must be evidence on which the jury could reasonably find for the plaintiff." Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, 477 U.S. 242, 252, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 2512, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). There must be a genuine issue of material fact. Middleton v. Reynolds Metals, 963 F.2d 881, 882 (6th Cir.1992). A fact is material if it will "affect the outcome of the suit under the governing law.... Factual disputes that are irrelevant or unnecessary will not be counted." Liberty Lobby, 477 U.S. at 248, 106 S.Ct. at 2510. Hence, "a party may move for summary judgment asserting that the opposing party will not be able to produce sufficient evidence at trial to withstand a directed verdict motion. If, after a sufficient time for discovery, the opposing party is unable to demonstrate that he or she can do so under the Liberty Lobby criteria, summary judgment is appropriate." Street v. J.C. Bradford & Co., 886 F.2d 1472, 1478 (6th Cir.1989) (adopting the "New Era" of summary judgment as defined by Liberty Lobby, 477 U.S. at 252, 106 S.Ct. at 2512; Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986); and Matsushita Electric Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986)).

In DelCostello v. International Brotherhood of Teamsters, 462 U.S. 151, 103 S.Ct. 2281, 76 L.Ed.2d 476 (1983), the Supreme Court fixed a six-month statute of limitations period for filing claims under Sec. 301 of the Labor-Management Relations Act, 29 U.S.C. Sec. 185. A claim under Sec. 301 accrues " 'when the claimant discovers, or in the exercise of reasonable diligence should have discovered, the acts constituting the alleged violation.' " Robinson v. Central Brass Mfg. Co., 987 F.2d 1235, 1239 (6th Cir.) (quoting Adkins v. International Union of Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers, 769 F.2d 330, 335 (6th Cir.1985)), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 114 S.Ct. 92, 126 L.Ed.2d 60 (1993). The determination of the accrual date is an objective one: "the asserted actual knowledge of the plaintiffs is not determinative if they did not act as reasonable persons and, in effect, closed their eyes to evident and objective...