Ruzicka v. General Motors Corp.

• Decision Date: 21 August 1980
• Docket Number: Nos. 78-1198,s. 78-1198
• Citation: 107 LRRM 2726,649 F.2d 1207
• Parties: 107 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2726, 91 Lab.Cas. P 12,781 William RUZICKA, Plaintiff-Appellee Cross-Appellant, v. GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATION, Defendant-Cross Appellee, Local 166 of the United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, U.A.W., Defendant-Appellant Cross-Appellee. William RUZICKA, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. GENERAL MOTORS, Defendant-Appellant. to 78-1200.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit

Page 1207

649 F.2d 1207

107 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2726, 91 Lab.Cas. P 12,781

William RUZICKA, Plaintiff-Appellee Cross-Appellant, v. GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATION, Defendant-Cross Appellee,

Local 166 of the United Automobile, Aerospace and

Agricultural Implement Workers of America, U.A.W.,

Defendant-Appellant Cross-Appellee.

William RUZICKA, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. GENERAL MOTORS, Defendant-Appellant.

Nos. 78-1198 to 78-1200.

United States Court of Appeals Sixth Circuit.

Aug. 21, 1980.

Decided June 2, 1981.

John A. Fillion, Gen. Counsel, M. Jay Whitman, Bruce A. Miller, Miller, Klimist, Cohen, Martens & Sugerman, Detroit, Mich., for Union.

J. R. Wheatley, Detroit, Mich., for General Motors Corp.

Robert J. Dinges, Glotta, Adleman, Dinges, Davis, Middleton, Riley & Murphy, Detroit, Mich., for Ruzicka.

Before BOYCE F. MARTIN, Jr., Circuit Judge, CELEBREZZE, Senior Circuit Judge, and DUNCAN, District Judge. ^*

CELEBREZZE, Senior Circuit Judge.

This is the second appeal in this case concerning unfair representation and breach of a collective bargaining agreement. Plaintiff-appellee, William Ruzicka, filed this action in federal court on June 31, 1971 alleging that he had been unfairly represented by the defendant-appellant, International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America and its Local Union 166 during his attempt to gain reinstatement to his employment with defendant-appellant, General Motors Corporation through the collective grievance procedure. Ruzicka also alleged that his discharge by General Motors was wrongful because rulings of the collective bargaining agreement's impartial umpire showed that the correct disciplinary action for the type of conduct he allegedly committed would be temporary suspension. Jurisdiction of the actions against both union defendants and General Motors was based upon Section 301 of the Labor Management Relations Act of 1947, 29 U.S.C. Sec. 185.

The facts of the case are accurately set out in our first opinion in this case and will be reiterated here only where necessary to discuss the issues presented by this appeal. On March 31, 1970, Appellee William Ruzicka was discharged for being intoxicated on the job and using threatening and abusive language towards his supervisors at GM's Willow Run Plant in Ypsilanti, Michigan. He had worked there for nearly eleven years and had been actively involved in Union activities for much of that time.

Ruzicka initiated the grievance process under the National Agreement between GM and the United Auto Workers by filing a timely grievance protesting his discharge. He did not dispute the essential facts of intoxication and abusive language, but argued that discharge was an "unduly harsh" penalty which was inconsistent with past decisions of umpires interpreting the National Agreement. The Company completed the second step of the grievance process by filing an answer under Paragraph 77 of the National Agreement. The Union began the third step by filing a "notice of unadjusted grievance." To invoke arbitration, the Union was required by Paragraph 37 to file a "statement of unadjusted grievance" simultaneously with GM. The District Court found that Local 166 never filed such a statement, although it had sought and received two time extensions to do so. After the due date for the statement had passed, GM disclaimed further obligation under the National Agreement.

Ruzicka immediately pursued his intra-Union remedies under Article 31 of the UAW Constitution, arguing that Charles Panter, a Local 166 official, had willfully failed to perform his duty in failing to file the required statement. A trial before a Local 166 Committee resulted in a finding that Panter had been negligent but not guilty of willful inaction. Appeals to higher levels failed.

Ruzicka instituted further intra-Union action against Local 166 for wrongful processing of his grievance, but this action was unsuccessful at the Local level. An appeal to the higher levels was stayed pending resolution of a policy grievance that Panter's successor at Local 166 had filed. The policy grievance, which requested GM's consideration of Ruzicka's grievance despite the procedural problem, was withdrawn by Local 166 on April 24, 1971.

Rather than appeal the adverse decision of Local 166's processing of the grievance to the UAW's International Executive Board, Ruzicka filed a complaint in federal court. He alleged that Panter's personal "hostility" towards him had caused Panter not to file the statement of unadjusted grievance. He asserted that both the Local and International Unions had thus given him unfair representation, and he alleged that GM's discharge was wrongful and that GM had conspired to discharge him because of his Union activities. The Unions filed a cross-claim against GM, seeking that the dispute be ordered to arbitration.

At a hearing limited to the issue of unfair representation, and after the completion of plaintiff's case, all defendants were granted an involuntary dismissal pursuant to Rule 41(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure on the ground that Ruzicka had not met the burden of showing unfair representation by either union. Ruzicka v. General Motors, 86 L.R.R.M. 2030 (E.D.Mich.1973). Specifically, the district court found no bad faith on the part of either union and held that, in the absence of bad faith, a union could not be held liable for a breach of the duty of fair representation.

On appeal and cross-appeal, this court reversed and remanded, rejecting the district court's incorporation of bad faith as an essential element of unfair representation: "We do not find the duty of fair representation so limited. In Vaca v. Sipes, 386 U.S. 171, 190, 87 S.Ct. 903, 916, 17 L.Ed.2d 842 (1967), the Supreme Court held that union actions which are "arbitrary, discriminatory, or in bad faith" could establish a breach of the duty of fair representation We believe that the district court misread Vaca when it held that "bad faith" must be read into the separate and independent standards of "arbitrary" or " discriminatory" treatment. Union action which is arbitrary or discriminatory need not be motivated by bad faith to amount to unfair representation." Ruzicka v. General Motors Corp., 523 F.2d 306, 309-10 (6th Cir. 1975), reh. denied, 528 F.2d 912 (6th Cir. 1975). ¹ (Ruzicka I.). We also granted summary judgment in favor of the unions based upon their cross-claim against General Motors seeking arbitration. The trial court was directed to order arbitration with the GM-UAW umpire while retaining jurisdiction, and if the National Agreement was interpreted to mean that GM was relieved of its contractual duties because of the union's failure to follow grievance procedures, appropriate relief against Local 166 on the unfair representation claim could then be awarded. 523 F.2d at 315.

On remand, the district court ordered the contractual merits of plaintiff's discharge to be submitted to the umpire. The court did not direct that the umpire was first to be presented with the union's claim that Ruzicka's grievance was procedurally alive despite the untimely processing. The court reasoned that GM's procedural defense that the finality provision of the collective bargaining agreement barred the wrongful discharge claim was dependent upon the outcome of plaintiff's unfair representation claim against the union. Since that claim could only be determined by the court, the court would also be the appropriate authority for deciding whether the union's conduct nullified the finality provision. The trial court relied upon the intervening decision of Hines v. Anchor Motor Freight, Inc., 424 U.S. 554, 96 S.Ct. 1048, 47 L.Ed.2d 231 (1976), where the Supreme Court held that finality provisions of grievance-arbitration provisions in collective agreements may be nullified if "the process has fundamentally malfunctioned by reason of the bad faith performance of the union " 424 U.S. at 569, 96 S.Ct. at 1058.

On the merits of Ruzicka's contractual claim, the GM-UAW umpire held that under the collective bargaining agreement the harsh penalty of discharge given William Ruzicka was not justified under the circumstances. Accordingly, the umpire ordered reinstatement and backpay. Having procured a favorable recommendation from the umpire, Ruzicka then moved for summary judgment against General Motors and the UAW. The district court denied this motion and ordered a second trial. At that trial, the district court heard the local union's rebuttal of Ruzicka's unfair representation case. At the close of the union's case, the trial court found as a matter of fact that Panter had negligently failed to timely file a statement of plaintiff's grievance and that as a matter of law such malfeasance amounted to unfair representation. The courts then rendered a judgment against General Motors on the contractual cause of action based solely upon the umpire's opinion, which appeared as an appendix to the district court's opinion. Ruzicka v. General Motors, 96 L.L.R.M. 2822, 2843 (E.D.Mich.1977). In assessing damages against Local 166 and General Motors, the court ordered each to bear one-half of both the backpay award of $25,274.91 and attorney's fees award of $8,424.57; Ruzicka's reinstatement to employment with full seniority was also ordered. The trial court then granted GM's motion for a stay, after reviewing evidence that plaintiff had, since September, 1971, procured comparable employment at another automobile manufacturer.

All three parties have appealed. GM and the UAW argue that the facts found by the district court cannot constitute a breach of the union's duty of fair representation. Second, General Motors argues that the facts supporting the conclusion of unfair representation cannot, under the rule of Hines v. Anchor Motor Freight, seriously undermine the grievance-arbitration procedure so as to remove the bar of the finality of the contract. GM also argues...