Policastro v. New Jersey Education Association, 091319 FED3, 19-1477

• Opinion Judge: PER CURIAM.
• Party Name: ANDREW POLICASTRO, Appellant v. NEW JERSEY EDUCATION ASSOCIATION, and their officers individually and in their official capacity; SOMERSET COUNTY EDUCATION ASSOCIATION, and their officers individually and in their official capacity; HUNTERDON COUNTY EDUCATION ASSOCIATION, and their officers individually and in their official capacity; GLOUCESTE...
• Judge Panel: Before: KRAUSE, SCIRICA and NYGAARD, Circuit Judges
• Case Date: September 13, 2019
• Court: United States Courts of Appeals, U.S. Court of Appeals — Third Circuit

ANDREW POLICASTRO, Appellant

v.

NEW JERSEY EDUCATION ASSOCIATION, and their officers individually and in their official capacity; SOMERSET COUNTY EDUCATION ASSOCIATION, and their officers individually and in their official capacity; HUNTERDON COUNTY EDUCATION ASSOCIATION, and their officers individually and in their official capacity; GLOUCESTER COUNTY EDUCATION ASSOCIATION, and their officers individually and in their official capacity; SECRETARY UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

No. 19-1477

United States Court of Appeals, Third Circuit

September 13, 2019

NOT PRECEDENTIAL

Submitted Pursuant to Third Circuit L.A.R. 34.1(a) September 3, 2019

On Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey (D.C. Civil Action No. 3-17-cv-06482) District Judge: Honorable Peter G. Sheridan.

Before: KRAUSE, SCIRICA and NYGAARD, Circuit Judges

OPINION ^[*]

PER CURIAM.

Andrew Policastro appeals pro se from the District Court's grant of summary judgment in favor of the Secretary of the United States Department of Labor ("Secretary"). For the following reasons, we will affirm the judgment of the District Court.

Because we write primarily for the parties, we will only recite the facts necessary for our discussion. Policastro is a public school teacher who launched an unsuccessful bid in 2017 for a leadership position in his union, the New Jersey Education Association (NJEA). After losing the election and filing a dispute with the NJEA, Policastro filed a complaint with the United States Department of Labor ("DOL"). Policastro alleged that the NJEA engaged in election irregularities that violated the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act ("LMRDA"), as amended at 29 U.S.C. §§ 481-83, as well as federal law. After conducting an investigation, the DOL provided Policastro a written statement wherein it declined to pursue his claims. The DOL explained that Title IV of the LMRDA - which gives the DOL authority to monitor certain union elections - does not give it jurisdiction over elections conducted by unions like the NJEA, which are comprised exclusively of employees of government entities or which are wholly composed of public sector organizations.

Policastro thereafter filed a complaint in August 2017, naming as defendants the NJEA and three of its county-level affiliates (Somerset County Education Association, Hunterdon County Education Association, and Gloucester County Education Association), as well as the officers of those affiliations in their individual and official capacities (collectively the "Union Defendants"). Policastro sought to overturn the Secretary's interpretation of Title IV of the LMRDA and to compel the Secretary to intervene in the election. He also asserted that his First Amendment rights had been violated by the Union Defendants.

The Union Defendants responded by filing, inter alia, a motion to dismiss the complaint pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(1) for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. They argued that Policastro failed to name the DOL or its Secretary as a defendant despite purporting to appeal the DOL's decision, and that the LMRDA provides no private right of action for a post-election challenge to a union election. The District Court agreed with the Union Defendants' argument that they were not proper defendants. Accordingly, the District Court dismissed the LMRDA claims against them, while permitting Policastro the opportunity to file an amended complaint naming the Secretary of Labor as a defendant.

Policastro proceeded to file an amended complaint (two, actually) which added the Secretary as a defendant. Because Policastro repleaded his claims against the NJEA and the three county education associations (though he did so without providing a basis to revisit the District Court's order of dismissal), the Union Defendants renewed their motion to dismiss. Once again, the District Court entered an order granting their motion and terminating the Union Defendants. The Secretary, the only remaining defendant, answered the amended complaint...