U.S. v. International Broth. of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of America, AFL-CIO, AFL-CIO
| Decision Date | 19 May 1992 |
| Docket Number | AFL-CIO,D,No. 301,301 |
| Citation | 964 F.2d 180 |
| Parties | 140 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2456, 122 Lab.Cas. P 10,256, 15 Employee Benefits Cas. 2041 UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS, CHAUFFEURS, WAREHOUSEMEN AND HELPERS OF AMERICA,, et al., Defendants. In re COMMITTEE TO ELECT RON CAREY, Complainant-Appellee, Western Conference of Teamsters Pension Trust Fund and Joseph W. Ballew, Respondents-Appellants, Michael H. Holland, Election Officer, IBT, Intervenor. ocket 91-6140. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit |
Robert A. Gordon, San Francisco, Cal. (C. Douglas Floyd, Pillsbury, Madison & Sutro, San Francisco, Cal., Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, Stephen E. Tallent, Richard L. Dashefsky, William F. Highberger, New York City, on the brief), for respondents-appellants.
Steven C. Bennett, Asst. U.S. Atty., New York City (Otto G. Obermaier, U.S. Atty., Edward T. Ferguson, III, Asst. U.S. Atty., on the brief), for plaintiff-appellee.
Susan Davis, New York City (Earl R. Pfeffer, Cohen, Weiss and Simon, on the brief), for complainant-appellee.
Barbara J. Hillman, John J. Sullivan, Washington, D.C., submitted a brief for intervenor.
Before OAKES, Chief Judge, VAN GRAAFEILAND and NEWMAN, Circuit Judges.
This appeal raises the related issues of the extent to which a non-party is bound by a judgment and the extent to which a non-party may be subjected to court orders pursuant to the All Writs Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1651 (1988). The issues arise on an appeal by the Western Conference of Teamsters Pension Trust Fund ("the Trust") and Joseph W. Ballew, the co-chairman and secretary of the Trust, from the May 13, 1991, order of the District Court for the Southern District of New York (David N. Edelstein, Judge). 764 F.Supp. 817. That order affirmed an order of the Independent Administrator supervising certain aspects of the implementation of a consent decree ("the Consent Decree") entered in litigation brought by the United States against the International Brotherhood of Teamsters ("IBT"). See United States v. International Brotherhood of Teamsters, 931 F.2d 177 (2d Cir.1991) ("Election Rules Decision"). The order of the Independent Administrator purported to remedy violations of Elections Rules issued by the Elections Officer appointed pursuant to the Consent Decree. The Trust and Ballew were alleged to have violated the Election Rules by reason of a letter Ballew wrote concerning pension benefits available under the Western Conference of Teamsters Pension Plan ("WCT Plan") and a plan ("the Local 804 Plan") proposed by Ron Carey, the President of IBT Local 804 and a candidate for president of the IBT. The parties disputed whether Ballew's letter was prohibited political campaigning or permissible distribution of pension benefit information.
We conclude that the appeal is moot to the extent that it concerns equitable remedies, and that the portion of the order requiring Ballew to reimburse the Fund is a damage remedy that could not properly be entered either by virtue of the Consent Decree or the All Writs Act. We therefore dismiss in part and vacate in part.
The circumstances giving rise to the Consent Decree and the mechanisms resulting from the decree to monitor the 1991 IBT election have been recounted before and need not be repeated. See United States v. International Brotherhood of Teamsters, 948 F.2d 98, 100-101 (2d Cir.1991) ("Yellow Freight"); Election Rules Decision, 931 F.2d at 180-81; United States v. International Brotherhood of Teamsters, 905 F.2d 610, 613 (2d Cir.1990) ("Friedman and Hughes"). Suffice it to note that the Consent Decree authorizes the appointment of an Elections Officer, with authority to supervise the 1991 IBT election for international officers, and an Independent Administrator, with authority to adjudicate disputes concerning election rulings of the Elections Officer. Rulings of the Independent Administrator may be appealed to the District Court.
During his campaign for president of the IBT, Carey had occasion to discuss the virtues of the Local 804 Plan. In January 1990 Ballew sent the Trust's administrators a copy of the Local 804 Plan and requested an analysis of it "[s]ince this plan will be one that our Western Conference plan will be compared to." Ballew received the requested analysis in March 1990. In November 1990, Jack R. Bookter, an officer of IBT Local 278 in San Francisco and a candidate on the slate opposing Carey, sent Ballew a videotape of a campaign presentation in which Carey favorably compared the Local 804 Plan to other plans including the WCT Plan. Carey suggested that IBT members make inquiries concerning the benefits available under their own plans.
Ballew's response to Bookter in a letter dated November 28, 1990 ("the Ballew letter"), gave rise to the pending controversy. The Ballew letter analyzes various features of the Local 804 Plan and the WCT Plan, pointing out some adverse aspects of the former and some beneficial aspects of the latter. An introductory sentence stated, "Mr. Carey is an effective speaker, but with respect to pension matters, I think he takes great liberties with the facts and implies that the Local 804/UPS Pension Plan is the model of design and a reality for other pension plans to obtain." The source for the comparisons made in the Ballew letter was the March 1990 analysis that Ballew had requested from the Trust administrators.
Ballew sent copies of his letter to the union-selected trustees of the Trust. One recipient, Chuck Mack, an officer of IBT Local 70 in Oakland, sent copies of the Ballew letter to all Local 70 officers. Bookter sent copies to the officers and members of Local 278.
The Committee to Elect Ron Carey filed a protest with the Elections Officer, alleging that the Trust and the local unions had made prohibited campaign contributions by preparing and distributing partisan materials. The Elections Officer upheld the protest. He cited provisions of the elections rules (a) prohibiting the use of union funds or resources for campaign purposes unless the union is compensated and all candidates are given equal access to such resources, Elections Rules, Article X, § 1(b)(3); (b) prohibiting any employer from contributing anything to a campaign, id § 1(b)(1); and (c) extending, in the view of the Elections Officer, the prohibition against employer contributions to trusts, id. § 1(a). The Elections Officer ruled that Ballew's request to the trust administrators for a comparison of the pension plans was politically motivated and that the distribution of the Ballew letter was a contribution that violated the Elections Rules.
As relief, he ordered the Trust and Ballew to cease and desist from any further contribution "where the purpose, object or foreseeable effect of that contribution is to influence the election of a candidate for delegate, alternate delegate or International Officer of the IBT," and ordered Ballew to reimburse the Trust for "all costs and expenses associated with the preparation and dissemination of the comparison between the Trust and the Local Union 804 pension plan" and to distribute at his own expense a prescribed form of notice to trustees of the Trust and any IBT member to whom he sent, or caused to be sent, the Ballew letter. The notice is required to state that the Trust "disclaims" the Ballew letter and "affirmatively states that neither the letter nor its contents are endorsed by" the Trust. Other relief, not at issue on this appeal, was ordered against Bookter, Mack, and the Western Conference of Teamsters.
The order of the Elections Officer was affirmed by the Independent Administrator, with a modification not pertinent to this appeal, and the latter's order of affirmance was in turn affirmed by the District Court. After oral argument, we were informed that the election has been held and Carey was elected president of the IBT.
Initially we note that much of the controversy has become moot by reason of the occurrence of the IBT election. Carey's election victory ends the controversy with respect to Ballew's obligation to send a notice on behalf of the Trust disclaiming the Ballew letter. Though in some circumstances a cease and desist order concerning an election rule violation might remain viable after an election, see, e.g., NLRB v. Raytheon Co., 398 U.S. 25, 28, 90 S.Ct. 1547, 1549, 26 L.Ed.2d 21 (1970), the order in this case has become moot because of the expiration of the court officers' authority. By the terms of the Consent Decree, the authority of the Elections Officer and the Independent Administrator terminates upon certification of the 1991 IBT election results, except for prompt investigation of certain post-election claims of election irregularity. Consent Decree § B. Thus a live dispute remains only with respect to Ballew's monetary obligation to reimburse the Trust.
In determining whether the Elections Officer had authority to impose a monetary obligation upon Ballew, we consider first whether Ballew is bound by the Consent Decree and, if not, whether he may nonetheless be ordered to reimburse the Trust pursuant to the All Writs Act. If the Consent Decree of its own force binds Ballew, then, like any party bound by a judgment, he may be ordered to comply with its terms and may be held accountable for violating its terms. Even if the Decree of its own force is not binding upon him, he may still be subject to the District Court's authority to issue orders pursuant to the All Writs Act, in which event the issue becomes whether the monetary reimbursement order is the type of order permitted under the Act.
The Independent Administrator found that, with respect to the matters pertinent to this appeal, Ballew acted "simply as a trustee of the Trust," and the District Court ruled that "Ballew sent...
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