U.S. v. Navajo Freight Lines, Inc.

• Decision Date: 05 November 1975
• Docket Number: No. 73--2764,73--2764
• Citation: 525 F.2d 1318
• Parties: 11 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. 787, 10 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 10,503 UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. NAVAJO FREIGHT LINES, INC., et al., Defendants, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of America, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit

Page 1318

525 F.2d 1318

11 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. 787,

10 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 10,503

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. NAVAJO FREIGHT LINES, INC., et al., Defendants International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs Warehousemen and Helpers of America, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 73--2764.

United States Court of Appeals Ninth Circuit.

Nov. 5, 1975.

Julius Reich (argued), of Brundage, Neyhart, Miller, Reich & Pappy, Los Angeles, Cal., for defendant-appellant.

Francis A. Cronin (argued), U.S. Dept. of Justice, Washington, D.C., for plaintiff-appellee.

OPINION

Before WRIGHT and SNEED, Circuit Judges, and POWELL, ^* District Judge.

SNEED, Circuit Judge:

This is another Title VII case pertaining to the trucking industry ¹ in this instance initiated by the Attorney General. It was commenced on January 18, 1972 against Navajo Freight Lines, Inc., International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of America (Teamsters), and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (Machinists) to enforce Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq., and Executive Order 11246. The complaint alleged that 'Navajo has pursued and continues to pursue policies and practices that discriminate against blacks and persons of Mexican origin . . . which deprive or tend to deprive them of employment opportunities or adversely affect their status as employees because of their race, color or national origin.' (Par. 11) Such 'policies and practices', it was alleged in the complaint, were present in those pertaining to recruiting, hiring, promoting, assigning, and transferring.

On February 7, 1972 a consent decree was entered into by the Government, Navajo and the Machinists which later was supplemented by a consent decree between the Government, Navajo and the Teamsters entered on January 15, 1973. The effect of these two decrees was to settle all differences between the Government and the Machinists and to leave unresolved only the issues whether Navajo's system of 'classification seniority' was unlawful under Title VII and, if so, what modifications were necessary to achieve compliance with Title VII. Prior to entering the January 15, 1973 consent decree, the Teamsters moved for summary judgment on the ground that it, as the International, was not a proper party to the suit and that the Local Unions were indispensable parties under Rule 19, Fed.R.Civ.P. The motion was denied by the trial court on July 6, 1972.

The unresolved issues were tried primarily on stipulated facts and the trial court filed its findings of fact, conclusions of law, and order on June 6, 1973. These supported the position of the Government. Only the Teamsters filed a timely notice of appeal. Fundamentally, only two issues are raised by the Teamsters' appeal, viz., was their motion for summary judgment improperly denied and was the trial court's modification of the seniority structure applicable to employees of Navajo proper. We hold that the trial court was correct in denying the Teamsters' motion for summary judgment and its modification of the seniority structure was erroneous only in that it failed to properly consider the seniority rights of non-minority road drivers who lost terminal seniority when they transferred to an over-the-road driving job.

I.

Teamsters' Motion For Summary Judgment.

To understand the position of the Teamsters with respect to its motion for summary judgment it is necessary to describe briefly certain features of the constitutional structure of the Teamsters and the manner in which collective bargaining is conducted under that structure.

The Teamsters is, in the language of the Preamble to its Constitution and By-laws, 'one great labor organization.' It consists of 'an unlimited number of Local Unions' (Art. 1, Sec. 1, Constitution and By-laws) and is open to membership to 'any person' (Art. 11, Sec. 2(a)) subject to certain exceptions. The Constitution and By-laws authorize the existence of Area Conferences (Art. XVI, Sec. 1) and 'subordinate bodies' (e.g., Art. VI, Sec. 1(f); Art. X, Sec. 4 and 10(a)). Local Unions, area conferences, and subordinate bodies are entitled to many rights and immunities and subject to many duties and liabilities by reason of particular provisions of the Constitution and By-laws. ² The powers of the General President are extensive and in various respects touch on matters relating to Local Unions. E.g., Art. VI, Sec. 5, pertaining to power to subject Local Unions to trusteeships. Such powers not delegated to the General President or General Secretary-Treasurer belong to the General Executive Board. Art. IX, Sec. 1. The picture that emerges from an examination of the Teamsters Constitution is one of a strongly centralized union that has secured itself against the weaknesses that attend confederations.

The bargaining process and the structure of collective agreements within the trucking industry also reflect these characteristics. Thus, the National Master Freight Agreement (NMFA) is negotiated with much of the trucking industry by a union negotiating committee which is appointed by the General President of the Teamsters. The president is also the chairman of this committee and at least seven of the committee's fourteen members are officers or employees of the Teamsters. Concurrently with the negotiation of the NMFA there is negotiated area of regional Supplemental Agreements in which the seniority methods and procedures, as are involved in this case, are set forth. While a majority of Local Unions must vote for such national and regional negotiation (Constitution and By-laws, Art. XVI, Sec. 4(a)), NMFA and the Supplemental Agreements are approved by 'a majority of the votes cast by local union members voting . . .' (Ibid.). Following approval in this manner the Local Unions sign NMFA and the Supplemental Agreements while Teamsters does not. Such signing appears to be largely ministerial because under the Constitution the agreements are binding following approval. (Constitution and By-laws, Art. XVI, Sec. 4(a)). This process and structure has been thoroughly described in Rodriguez v. East Texas Motor Freight, 505 F.2d 40 (5th Cir. 1974) and Sagers v. Yellow Freight System, Inc., 58 F.R.D. 54 (N.D.Ga.1972).

Teamsters, in its motion for summary judgment, contended that because it neither discriminated nor signed the pertinent agreements it was not a proper party and that the locals were indispensable parties under Rule 19, Fed.R.Civ.P. The trial court's finding that Teamsters played a 'vital role' in negotiations of NMFA and the Supplemental Agreements is unquestionably correct. Any other finding would fly in the face of the constitutional structure and practices of the Teamsters and its local unions.

The alleged indispensability of the Local Unions admittedly poses a more difficult issue. Certainly the locals have a substantial interest in any modification of the seniority rights of its members. In the final analysis, it is the rights of these members, who also are members of Teamsters, that will be affected by the trial court's decree. Thus, the question becomes whether the failure to join the Local Unions either (1) prevents complete relief from being accorded among those already parties, or (2) impairs or impedes the ability of the locals or members to protect their rights, or (3) subjects those already parties, the Teamsters, to a substantial risk of multiple liability or otherwise inconsistent obligations. Rule 19, Fed.R.Civ.P. In view of the constitutional relationship between the Teamsters and its local unions and the pattern and structure of negotiations, it cannot be said that the non-joinder of such locals will have any such consequences. Under the circumstances of this case the ability of the locals and members to protect their rights is not impaired by a failure to be joined. Not only has Teamsters aggressively defended the seniority rights of its members in this and other litigation, ³ but it is also true that Teamsters under its Constitution and By-laws has directed that no local union shall 'cause or attempt to cause any employee to discriminate' on the basis of race, color, religion, etc. Thus, Teamsters is concerned with seniority and discrimination, its resources are ample, and its conduct in this and other litigation plainly suggests that neither the locals nor their members can complain that their ability to protect themselves has been impaired by their non-joinder. To hold otherwise is to read Rule 19 in a dryly formal manner entirely divorced from the realities of this case.

We do not wish to be understood as holding that in any case involving Title VII or other matters that the local unions need not be joined with the international. In some instances, as where, for example, the interests of the locals conflict sharply with those of the international, the locals may be parties required to be joined by Rule 19. Each case must be evaluated on its own facts. We only hold that in this case such a joinder is not required. Other courts have reached a similar conclusion. See United States v. Pilot Freight Carriers, Inc., 54 F.R.D. 519 (M.D.N.C.1972); Sagers v. Yellow Freight System, Inc., 58 F.R.D. 54. As we have said in construing Rule 19 in another context, a failure to join is not improper when it appears unlikely that the absentees would be adversely affected in a practical sense. Continental Insurance Co. v. Cotten, 427 F.2d 48 (9th Cir. 1970). Such is the case here. Our conclusion is certainly not shaken by the fact that the Local Unions failed to join when given the opportunity to do so by the trial court.

II. The Seniority Remedy

A. The Scope of the Trial Court's Remedy.

The trial court in the pertinent part of its conclusions of law, which are set forth in the margin, ⁴ held (1) that the United States had established a prima facie case of racial discrimination which was unrebutted; (2) that...