U.S. v. International Broth. of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of America, AFL-CIO
| Decision Date | 14 February 1992 |
| Docket Number | D,No. 1839,AFL-CIO,1839 |
| Citation | 948 F.2d 98 |
| Parties | 138 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2944, 139 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2613, 120 Lab.Cas. P 10,996, 123 Lab.Cas. P 10,337 UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS, CHAUFFEURS, WAREHOUSEMEN AND HELPERS OF AMERICA,, the Commission of La Cosa Nostra, Anthony Salerno, also known as Fat Tony, Matthew Ianniello, also known as Matty the Horse, Nunzio Provenzano, also known as Nunzi Pro, Anthony Corallo, also known as Tony Ducks, Salvatore Santoro, also known as Tom Mix, Christopher Furnari, Sr., also known as Christie Tick, Frank Manzo, Carmine Persico, also known as Junior, also known as The Snake, Gennaro Langella, also known as Gerry Lang, Philip Rastelli, also known as Rusty, Nicholas Marangello, also known as Nicky Glasses, Joseph Massino, also known as Joey Messina, Anthony Ficarotta, also known as Figgy, Eugene Boffa, Sr., Francis Sheeran, Milton Rockman, also known as Maishe, John Tronolone, also known as Peanuts, Joseph John Aiuppa, also known as Joey O'Brien, also known as Joe Doves, also known as Joey Aiuppa, John Phillip Cerone, also known as Jackie the Lackie, also known as Jackie Cerone, Joseph Lombardo, also known as Joey the Clown, Angelo LaPietra, also known as The Nutcracker, Frank Balistrieri, also known as Mr. B, Carl Angelo DeLuna, also known as Toughy, Carl Civella, also known as Corky, Anthony Thomas Civella, also known as Tony Ripe, General Executive Board, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of America, Jackie Presser, General President, Weldon Mathis, General Secretary-Treasurer, Joseph Trerotola, also known as Joe T, First Vice President, Robert Holmes, Sr., Second Vice President, William J. McCarthy, Third Vice President, Joseph W. Morgan, Fourth Vice President, Edward M. Lawson, Fifth Vice President, Arnold Weinmeister, Sixth Vice President, John H. Cleveland, Seventh Vice President, Maurice R. Schurr, Eighth Vice President, Donald Peters, Ninth Vice President, Walter J. Shea, Tenth V |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit |
Jay G. Swardenski, Chicago, Ill. (Larry G. Hall, Kirk D. Messmer, Patrick W. Kocian, Matkov, Salzman, Madoff & Gunn, Chicago, Ill., of counsel), for appellant.
James L. Cott, Asst. U.S. Atty., S.D.N.Y., New York City (Otto G. Obermaier, U.S. Atty., S.D.N.Y., Edward T. Ferguson, III, Asst. U.S. Atty., S.D.N.Y., New York City, of counsel), for plaintiff-appellee.
Paul Alan Levy, Alan B. Morrison, Public Citizen Litigation Group, Washington, D.C., for protestors Patrick N. Clement and Robert McGinnis.
Barbara J. Hillman, Gilbert A. Cornfield, Cornfield and Feldman, Chicago, Ill., for Election Officer Michael H. Holland.
Before WINTER, ALTIMARI, and MAHONEY, Circuit Judges.
Appellant Yellow Freight Systems, Inc. ("Yellow Freight") appeals from an order of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, David N. Edelstein, Judge, entered April 3, 1991. That order affirmed a determination of officers appointed pursuant to a certain consent decree (the "Consent Decree") relating to the affairs of defendant International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of America, AFL-CIO (the "IBT") that granted nonemployee members of the IBT access to premises of Yellow Freight to campaign for union office, and denied Yellow Freight's application for declaratory and injunctive relief from that determination. Yellow Freight seeks to enforce a "no solicitation" rule by barring nonemployee union members from campaigning for union office on its property. The district court upheld the appointed officers' determination denying effect to Yellow Freight's rule.
We conclude that the district court was entitled to exercise jurisdiction over Yellow Freight pursuant to the All Writs Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1651 (1988), and was not preempted from that jurisdiction by the authority of the National Labor Relations Board (the "NLRB") to determine issues concerning unfair labor practices under the National Labor Relations Act (the "NLRA"), 29 U.S.C. §§ 151-169 (1988). We also conclude, however, that the district court and its appointed officers did not adequately consider the availability of alternate means by which the barred IBT campaigners might communicate with employees of Yellow Freight who are members of the IBT.
We accordingly vacate and remand.
This appeal arises from an ongoing effort of the United States government to rid the IBT of organized crime influence. To that end, the United States commenced this litigation in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York on June 28, 1988 pursuant to the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act of 1970 ("RICO"), 18 U.S.C.A. §§ 1961-1968 (1984 & Supp.1991), and the Consent Decree was entered on March 14, 1989.
The Consent Decree has generated considerable litigation in the Southern District and in this court. As we summarized its provisions in one of those prior cases:
Under the Consent Decree, three court officers are appointed to oversee certain aspects of the affairs of the IBT: an Election Officer, an Investigations Officer and an [Independent] Administrator. The Election Officer is to supervise the 1991 election of IBT officers. The Investigations Officer is granted authority to investigate corruption and prosecute disciplinary charges against any officer, member or employee of the IBT or any of its affiliates. The [Independent] Administrator oversees the implementation of the remedial provisions of the Consent Decree. For example, the [Independent] Administrator sits as an impartial decisionmaker in disciplinary cases brought by the Investigations Officer, conducts the disciplinary hearings and decides them. The [Independent] Administrator may also apply to the district court to facilitate implementation of the Consent Decree, and the other parties to the Decree may make such applications as well. Furthermore, the district court is vested with "exclusive jurisdiction" to decide any issues relating to the actions or authority of the [Independent] Administrator. And the IBT Constitution is amended to incorporate and conform with all of the terms of the Consent Decree.
United States v. IBT, 905 F.2d 610, 613 (2d Cir.1990).
The fair and open conduct of the 1991 IBT election is a central purpose of the Consent Decree. The election encompasses three phases: (1) the rank-and-file secret ballot election of delegates to the 1991 IBT convention; (2) the election of trustees and nomination of national and regional officers at that convention; and (3) the subsequent rank-and-file secret ballot election of national and regional officers. The dispute at issue in this case arises from campaign activities occurring in the initial (delegate selection) phase of the 1991 election, but has significant implications for the third (election of national and regional officers) phase which is now in process.
Yellow Freight, many of whose employees are IBT members, has the following company policy:
There shall be no distribution of literature or solicitation by non-employees in working or non-working areas during working or non-working times. In other words, non-employees are not allowed on company property for the purpose of distributing literature or soliciting.
This appeal involves two incidents at Yellow Freight facilities challenging that policy. The first occurred in Chicago Ridge, Illinois. The second occurred in Detroit, Michigan. In October 1990, two IBT members who are not Yellow Freight employees, Patrick N. Clement and Robert McGinnis, entered an unfenced parking lot at the Chicago Ridge facility. They were candidates for delegate from IBT Local 710 to the 1991 IBT convention. Yellow Freight officials asked them to leave and summoned the police, who also asked the men to leave, which they eventually did. They moved to a public sidewalk nearby and continued campaigning. In December 1990, two IBT members who also are not Yellow Freight employees, Michael Hewer and James McTaggart, campaigned for union office at the employee walk-through gate at the Detroit facility. They were required to leave Yellow Freight's premises by Yellow Freight security personnel.
McGinnis, Clement, and Hewer filed protests with the Election Officer, alleging that their exclusion by Yellow Freight violated IBT election rules promulgated pursuant to the Consent Decree (the "Election Rules"). See United States v. IBT, 931 F.2d 177, 184-90 (2d Cir.1991) (approving Election Rules with modification). Following separate investigations in Chicago Ridge and Detroit, the Election Officer issued two opinions. The first, dealing with the Clement/McGinnis protest, determined that Yellow Freight's policy violated the Election Rules by completely barring Clement and McGinnis from the Chicago Ridge facility, because campaigning on the nearest public sidewalk would provide no meaningful access to the IBT drivers employed by Yellow Freight. The Election Officer therefore required limited access for Clement and McGinnis to Yellow Freight's property either at a parking lot across the street from Yellow Freight's terminal facilities or at an open area outside the terminal building, at Yellow Freight's option. The Election Officer upheld Yellow Freight's exclusion of Hewer from the Detroit facility, however, finding that Hewer could campaign effectively from a public sidewalk and grassy area...
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