Turner v. American Federation of Teachers Local 1565

• Decision Date: 07 April 1998
• Docket Number: No. 97-8322,97-8322
• Citation: 138 F.3d 878
• Parties: 157 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 3000, 11 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. C 1178 Verdallia TURNER, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TEACHERS LOCAL 1565, Anita Brooks; Glynis Terrell, Individually, Jointly, and in their official capacity, Defendants-Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit

Page 878

138 F.3d 878

157 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 3000, 11 Fla. L. Weekly

Fed. C 1178

Verdallia TURNER, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TEACHERS LOCAL 1565, Anita Brooks Glynis Terrell, Individually, Jointly, and in their official capacity, Defendants-Appellees.

No. 97-8322.

United States Court of Appeals Eleventh Circuit.

April 7, 1998.

Antonio Lavere Thomas, Atlanta, GA, for Plaintiff-Appellant.

Norman J. Slawsky, David James Worley, Jacobs & Slawsky, Atlanta, GA, for Defendants-Appellees.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.

Before BLACK, Circuit Judge, and KRAVITCH and HENDERSON, Senior Circuit Judges.

KRAVITCH, Senior Circuit Judge:

Verdallia Turner ("Turner") appeals the district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of defendants-appellees on her claims of wrongful discharge and tortious interference with employment. We conclude that the district court properly granted summary judgment on both claims, although we affirm the grant of summary judgment on the tortious interference claim for reasons different than those relied upon by the district court. ¹ Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the district court.

I.

Turner was employed as a field representative by the American Federation of Teachers Local 1565 ("AFT"). Her employment contract was governed by a collective bargaining agreement between AFT and the Atlanta Staff Union ("ASU"). The grievance procedures outlined in the agreement ² allow an employee who believes she has been the victim of an adverse action to file a grievance with the AFT President within ten days of the action. If the grievance is not settled within the contractual time limit or if the employee wishes to appeal, then the employee may bring the grievance to AFT's Executive Council. If the grievance is not settled in a timely manner by the Executive Council or if the employee is dissatisfied with the Council's decision, then the employee may request arbitration. At all stages of the grievance process, the employee is entitled to designate a representative to present the grievance.

On February 17, 1995, Anita Brooks ("Brooks"), the President of AFT, fired Turner on the grounds of insubordination and involvement in internal political activity. Turner, represented by Michael Axon ("Axon") of ASU, filed a grievance on the same date. ³ Brooks denied the grievance on February 22, and the Executive Council denied the appeal on March 20. Turner then sought to arbitrate the dispute. In accordance with the collective bargaining agreement, Turner and AFT each selected one arbitrator. The parties then selected a third arbitrator, but that individual withdrew on May 15 because the parties could not agree on a date to begin arbitration. Thereafter, Axon sent Brooks at least two memoranda requesting that a meeting be set up in order to select another arbitrator. On June 5, Brooks informed Axon that she did not want to select another arbitrator and instead wanted the case to go to mediation. Axon then wrote to the NLRB requesting the NLRB's intervention on the grounds that appellees were not complying with the contractual grievance procedures.

Despite AFT's apparent repudiation of the arbitration process on June 5, discussions about arbitration continued thereafter. Glynis Terrell ("Terrell") replaced Brooks as AFT President in June. ⁴ On July 26, Terrell sent Turner a letter that included two settlement offers ⁵ and that stated that AFT was prepared to proceed with arbitration if Turner refused the offers. On July 28, Turner sent a letter in response indicating that she wanted to be "made whole" by being reinstated with back-pay and benefits.

On August 7, Terrell denied a request by Axon to hold a meeting to discuss Turner's grievance, and Terrell indicated that AFT wanted to proceed to arbitration. On August 21, Axon sent a memorandum to Terrell again requesting that AFT select a third arbitrator and that a meeting be held to discuss the arbitration procedure.

At Turner's request, Axon prepared a list of three options to resolve Turner's grievance. On September 15, Turner and three members of the Executive Council signed a handwritten agreement in principle, to be finalized on September 25, stating that Turner would terminate her grievance and unfair labor practices charge in exchange for approximately $27,000. Turner then told Axon that she no longer needed his services. On September 29, Turner prepared a memorandum and agreement that appeared to be an attempt to memorialize the September 15 discussion but that contained different terms than those agreed upon in that meeting. The agreement prepared by Turner was never signed by any of the parties. At some point thereafter, Turner inquired about the settlement agreement, and Terrell told her that AFT was seeking a team of attorneys. ⁶

Turner then filed suit in Georgia Superior Court against AFT, Brooks, and Terrell alleging: (1) violation of the terms and conditions of her employment contract; (2) tortious interference with employment; and (3) defamation. ⁷ Appellees removed the case to federal district court on the grounds that the case involved a federal question, specifically that the breach of contract claim was governed by section 301(a) of the Labor Management Relations Act ("LMRA"), 29 U.S.C. § 185(a) ("section 301(a)"). After appellees moved for summary judgment, the district court ruled that Turner failed to exhaust available remedies prior to bringing suit, as required by federal law. The district court thus granted summary judgment to appellees on the breach of contract claim. Because Turner did not demonstrate "interference by one who is a stranger to [the employment] relationship," ⁸ the district court also granted summary judgment to appellees on Turner's claim for tortious interference with employment. The district court further ruled that one of Turner's four defamation allegations was preempted by section 301(a). Declining to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over Turner's three remaining defamation allegations, see 28 U.S.C. § 1367(c)(3), the district court remanded the case to state court. ⁹ Turner appeals the district court's resolution on summary judgment of the wrongful discharge and tortious interference with employment claims. ¹⁰

II.

We review a grant of summary judgment de novo, applying the same legal standard as the district court. See Gordan v. Cochran, 116 F.3d 1438, 1439 (11th Cir.1997). Summary judgment is appropriate if, after examining the entire record, the court concludes that there is no genuine issue of material fact. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c).

A.

Turner contends that the district court erred in granting summary judgment in favor of appellees on the wrongful discharge claim. Turner does not contest that an employee must attempt to exhaust contractual remedies prior to bringing suit under section 301(a). See Vaca v. Sipes, 386 U.S. 171, 184-85, 87 S.Ct. 903, 914, 17 L.Ed.2d 842 (1967). Instead, Turner relies upon an exception to the general exhaustion rule: an employee may bring suit even absent exhaustion if the employer repudiates the contractual remedies. As the Court explained in Vaca,

An obvious situation in which the employee should not be limited to the exclusive remedial procedures established by the contract occurs when the conduct of the employer amounts to the repudiation of those contractual procedures. Cf. Drake Bakeries, Inc. v. Local 50, Am. Bakery, etc. Workers, 370 U.S. 254, 260-63, 82 S.Ct. 1346, 1350-52, 8 L.Ed.2d 474. See generally 6A Corbin, Contracts § 1443 (1962). In such a situation ... the employer is estopped by his own conduct to rely on the unexhausted grievance and arbitration procedures as a defense to the employee's cause of action.

Id. at 185-86; 87 S.Ct. at 914; see also Pyles v. United Air Lines, Inc., 79 F.3d 1046, 1052-53 (11th Cir.1996) (stating that employees can avail themselves of remedies in federal court without exhausting administrative remedies if their employer repudiates the grievance machinery or the union wrongfully refuses to process a grievance).

The district court ruled that Turner did not exhaust her contractual remedies because she did not proceed to arbitration, as required by the collective bargaining agreement. The district court found that AFT, through Brooks, repudiated its contractual remedies on June 5 by informing Axon--Turner's representative--that AFT intended to forego arbitration and instead wished to pursue mediation. Despite finding a repudiation, the district court ruled that AFT timely retracted its repudiation by informing Axon on August 7 that AFT wished to proceed to arbitration. Because Turner neither acted in reliance on the June 5 repudiation nor indicated to AFT that she considered the repudiation to be final, the district court ruled that AFT's subsequent retraction of its repudiation was valid.

On appeal, Turner makes three arguments. First, she claims that an employer cannot retract its repudiation of contractual remedies. We find little merit in this argument. It is beyond dispute that the substantive law to be applied in suits under section 301(a) "is federal law, which courts must fashion from the policy of our national labor laws." Textile Workers Union v. Lincoln Mills of Ala., 353 U.S. 448, 456, 77 S.Ct. 912, 918, 1 L.Ed.2d 972 (1957). In carrying out this mandate, federal courts have looked to general contract principles in fashioning a federal common law to govern disputes arising under section 301(a). Just as the Court relied upon contract principles in describing the consequences of repudiation in Vaca, see 386 U.S. at 184-85, 87 S.Ct. at 914 (citing 6A Corbin, Contracts § 1443 (1962)), so we look to such principles here in determining that an employer may retract its repudiation of contractual remedies, see Restatement (Second) of Contracts § 256 (1979) ("[R]epudiation is nullified by retraction if notice of the retraction comes to the...