Shelley v. Brock

• Decision Date: 27 June 1986
• Docket Number: No. 85-5719,85-5719
• Citation: 793 F.2d 1368
• Parties: 122 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 3005, 253 U.S.App.D.C. 382, 55 USLW 2108, 104 Lab.Cas. P 11,911 Charles E. SHELLEY, et al., Appellants, v. William E. BROCK, Secretary of Labor, et al.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — District of Columbia Circuit

Page 1368

793 F.2d 1368

122 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 3005, 253 U.S.App.D.C.

382, 55 USLW 2108,

104 Lab.Cas. P 11,911

Charles E. SHELLEY, et al., Appellants, v. William E. BROCK, Secretary of Labor, et al.

No. 85-5719.

United States Court of Appeals District of Columbia Circuit.

Argued March 25, 1986.

Decided June 27, 1986.

John J. Witmeyer, III, New York City, for appellants.

Michael J. Ryan, Asst. U.S. Atty., with whom Joseph E. diGenova, U.S. Atty., Royce C. Lamberth and R. Craig Lawrence, Asst. U.S. Attys., Washington, D.C., were on brief, for appellees, William E. Brock, Secretary of Labor, et al.

Joseph A. Yablonski, with whom Daniel B. Edelman and Joseph Guerrieri, Jr. Washington, D.C., were on brief, for appellees, Broth. of Railway, Airline and Steamship Clerks, Freight Handlers, Express and Station Employees, AFL-CIO.

Before WALD, MIKVA and EDWARDS, Circuit Judges.

Opinion for the Court filed by Circuit Judge MIKVA.

MIKVA, Circuit Judge:

This case concerns the Labor-Management Reporting & Disclosure Act of 1959, 29 U.S.C. Sec. 401 et seq. (Act, LMRDA or Landrum-Griffin Act). The Act, among other things, was designed to assure democracy in union affairs. It prescribes certain substantive and procedural rules with which union elections must comply. The Act vests the Secretary of Labor with exclusive authority to bring suit to set aside invalid union elections. Here, after a contested union election, members of the Brotherhood of Railway, Airline, & Steamship Clerks, Freight Handlers, Express & Station Employees (BRAC) filed a complaint with the Secretary. The Secretary declined to bring suit to set aside the election. See Secretary of Labor, Statement of Reasons for Denying the Complaints of Charles E. Shelley, Robert J. Devlin and J.J. Witmeyer Regarding the Election Conducted by [BRAC] ("First Statement"); Secretary of Labor, Statement of Reasons for Dismissing the Complaints of Charles E. Shelley, Robert J. Devlin and J.J. Witmeyer Concerning the Election Conducted by [BRAC] ("Second Statement"). BRAC members then sought a writ of mandamus in the district court to compel the Secretary to sue. The district court found the Secretary's decision not to sue was neither arbitrary nor capricious and refused to issue the writ. See Shelley v. Donovan, No. 84-2454, mem. op. (D.D.C. May 13, 1985) (appellee Brock has been substituted for former Secretary Donovan). Because we find that the Secretary did not adequately explain his decision not to bring suit, we reverse the district court with instructions to remand the matter to the Secretary for further consideration.

I.

The LMRDA was designed to put an end to "shocking abuses" in the process by which labor unions govern themselves, S.Rep. No. 86-187, 86th Cong., 1st Sess. 5 (1959), U.S.Code Cong & Admin.News 1959, p. 2318; Donovan v. Local 6, Washington Teachers' Union, 747 F.2d 711, 713 (D.C.Cir.1984), and ensure "internal union democracy." S.Rep. No. 86-187 at 6, U.S.Code Cong & Admin.News 1959, at p. 2322.

Subsequent to an election, any union member who has exhausted internal remedies may file a complaint with the Secretary of Labor. [29 U.S.C.] Sec. 482(a). Following a mandatory investigation, the Secretary, if he finds probable cause to believe that a violation has occurred and that it has not been remedied, comes under a statutory obligation to bring a civil action against the union in federal court to set aside the election. If, after trial, the court finds ... that the election did not comply with the LMRDA and that any violation "may have affected the outcome of the election," the court "shall" declare the election void and direct the Secretary to conduct a new election under his supervision. Id. Sec. 482(c).

Donovan v. Local 6, 747 F.2d at 714.

BRAC held an election in 1983. Just before the election took place, a split developed in the union's leadership and an insurgent slate emerged. Nevertheless, the incumbent president and his slate won. Plaintiffs, members of BRAC, believe that improprieties occurred during the election. Plaintiffs have three principal complaints about the conduct of BRAC's election. See Complaint, Shelley v. Donovan, No. 84-2454, mem. op. (D.D.C. May 13, 1985).

First, plaintiffs believe that the treatment of retired union members during the election was improper. BRAC's elections are run in a way similar to political conventions. Locals and other union units select delegates to attend the union's convention. These delegates, in turn, participate in the election of union officers at the convention. Retired members, although they retain their local affiliation, were not allowed to participate in the selection of their local's convention delegate. Despite this, the union calculated the voting weight to be assigned each local at the convention based on the local's roster of both active members and retirees. Plaintiffs claim that these two practices were improper and violated the Act.

Second, to enable union locals with only a small number of members to vote at the convention, BRAC "assigned" members to those locals. These shifts gave smaller locals the 150 members that BRAC rules require for convention representation. See First Statement at 2-3. Plaintiffs believe that this practice was improper. Third, plaintiffs alleged that the incumbent slate improperly used union funds and facilities in aid of its election campaign.

Based on these allegations, plaintiffs unsuccessfully protested the result of the election to the Union's Executive Council. Subsequently, pursuant to section 402 of the LMRDA, 29 U.S.C. Sec. 482, plaintiffs filed a complaint with the Secretary of Labor. The Secretary of Labor investigated the plaintiffs' allegations, but declined to bring a civil action to set aside the election. See First Statement; Second Statement. After the Secretary's decision not to sue the union, plaintiffs sought a writ of mandamus in the district court to compel the Secretary to sue. The district court determined, however, that the Secretary's decision not to sue was proper and granted summary judgment to Secretary Brock. See Shelley v. Donovan, supra. This appeal followed.

II.

The standard by which the courts are to review the Secretary of Labor's decisions under the LMRDA is quite deferential. In Dunlop v. Bachowski, 421 U.S. 560, 95 S.Ct. 1851, 44 L.Ed.2d 377 (1975), the Court explained that in enacting section 482,

Congress "decided to utilize the special knowledge and discretion of the Secretary of Labor in order best to serve the public interest ... [and] decided not to permit individuals to block or delay union elections by filing federal-court suits...." ... "Congress made suit by the Secretary the exclusive post-election remedy for two principal reasons: (1) to protect unions from frivolous litigation and unnecessary judicial interference with their elections, and (2) to centralize in a single proceeding such litigation as might be warranted...."

Id. at 568-69, 95 S.Ct. at 1858-59 (citations omitted).

The Court noted that "the statute relies upon the special knowledge and discretion of the Secretary for the determination of both the probable violation and the probable effect." Id. at 571, 95 S.Ct. at 1860. The Court held that "to enable the reviewing court intelligently to review the Secretary's determination, the Secretary must provide the court and the complaining witness with copies of a statement of reasons supporting his determination." Id. at 571, 95 S.Ct. at 1860. Only when the statement of reasons offered by the Secretary, "without more, evinces that [his] decision is so irrational as to constitute the decision arbitrary and capricious" is it appropriate to consider overriding the Secretary's decision. Id. at 573, 95 S.Ct. at 1860 (emphasis added). Thus, "[e]xcept in what must be the rare case," the reviewing court may consider only the statement of reasons itself. Id. at 572, 95 S.Ct. at 1860. " 'If the Court concludes ... there is a rational and defensible basis [stated in the reasons statement] for [the Secretary's] determination, then that should be an end of this matter, for it is not the function of the Court to determine whether or not the case should be brought or what its outcome would be.' " Id. at 573, 95 S.Ct. at 1860 (quoting DeVito v. Shultz, 72 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2682, 2683 (D.D.C.1969)).

The Court also made clear that although Sec. 482 by its terms only leaves the Secretary discretion to determine if a violation has taken place, the Secretary is also impliedly given discretion to decline to bring suit if he does not believe the violation " 'probably infected the challenged election.' " Id. at 570, 95 S.Ct. at 1859 (quoting Wirtz v. Local 153, Glass Bottle Blowers Ass'n, 389 U.S. 463, 472, 88 S.Ct. 643, 648, 19 L.Ed.2d 705 (1968)). However, despite the narrowness of review under Sec. 482, the Court made clear that some review is appropriate and that "there is no merit in the Secretary's contention that his decision is an unreviewable exercise of prosecutorial discretion." Id. at 567 n. 7, 95 S.Ct. at 1858 n. 7.

Although the district court here cited Dunlop, it also stated that "the Secretary has broad prosecutorial discretion, subject to only limited judicial review, in deciding whether to act on a union members' complaint." This was error. The Secretary's discretion is broad, but it cannot be equated with the prosecutorial discretion of a United States Attorney; the Secretary must justify the exercise of his discretion by specific reference to the terms of the authority vested in him by the Act. While we disagree with the district court's conclusion that the Secretary's action was adequately justified, the tenor of its review was in fact correct. We wish only to clarify that the appropriate standard, and, as far as we can tell, the standard applied here, is less deferential than that of prosecutorial discretion.

It should also be noted that no tension exists here with the Supreme Court's...