Ulrich v. Drink
| Decision Date | 15 March 2019 |
| Docket Number | No. 17-CV-4730 (KMK),No. 17-CV-5547 (KMK),17-CV-4730 (KMK),17-CV-5547 (KMK) |
| Parties | JOHN ULRICH, Plaintiff, v. SOFT DRINK, BREWERY WORKERS AND DELIVERY EMPLOYEES, INDUSTRIAL EMPLOYEES, WAREHOUSEMEN, HELPERS AND MISCELLANEOUS WORKERS, GREATER NEW YORK AND VICINITY, LOCAL UNION NO. 812, et al., Defendants. LAWRENCE DEBELLIS, Plaintiff, v. SOFT DRINK, BREWERY WORKERS AND DELIVERY EMPLOYEES, INDUSTRIAL EMPLOYEES, WAREHOUSEMEN, HELPERS AND MISCELLANEOUS WORKERS, GREATER NEW YORK AND VICINITY, LOCAL UNION NO. 812, et al., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Southern District of New York |
Appearances:
Avram S. Turkel, Esq.
Ranadeb R. Mukherjee, Esq.
Borstein & Sheinbaum
New York, NY
Joseph J. Ranni, Esq.
Ranni Law Firm
Florida, NY
Larry Cary, Esq.
Tara L. Jensen, Esq.
Cary Kane LLP
Counsel for Defendants Soft Drink & Brewery Workers Local 812 Pension Fund; Soft Drink & Brewery Workers and Delivery Employees, Industrial Employees, Warehousemen, Helpers and Miscellaneous Workers Greater New York and Vicinity Local Union No. 812; Soft Drink & Brewery Workers Local 812 Health Fund; Edward Weber, individually and in his official capacity as President of Soft Drink & Brewery Workers Teamsters Local 812, Trustee of Soft Drink & Brewery Workers Local 812 Pension Fund, and Chairman Trustee of Soft Drink & Brewery Workers Local 812 Health Fund; Joseph Vitta, individually and in his official capacity, as Secretary Treasurer of Soft Drink & Brewery Workers Local 812, Trustee of Soft Drink & Brewery Workers Local 812 Pension Fund, and Trustee of Soft Drink & Brewery Workers Local 812 Health Fund; James Surdi individually and in his official capacity as Recording Secretary of Soft Drink & Brewery Workers Local 812 and as Trustee of Soft Drink & Brewery Workers Local 812 Health Fund; Mario Alvarez, individually and in his official capacity as Trustee of Soft Drink & Brewery Workers Teamsters Local 812; Angel Martinez, individually and in his official capacity as Trustee of Soft Drink & Brewery Workers Local 812 Health Fund; John Visconti, individually and in his official capacity as Vice President of Soft Drink & Brewery Workers Local 812, Trustee of Soft Drink & Brewery Workers Local 812 Pension Fund, and Trustee of Soft Drink & Brewery Workers Local 812 Health Fund; Jeffrey Knatz, individually and in his official capacity as Trustee of Soft Drink & Brewery Workers Local 812 Health Fund; Thomas Starapoli, individually and in his official capacity as Trustee of Soft Drink & Brewery Workers Local 812 Health Fund; Artie Bowman, individually and in his official capacity as Trustee of Soft Drink & Brewery Workers Teamsters Local 812
Mark E. Brossman, Esq.
Scott A. Gold, Esq.
New York, NY
Counsel for Defendants Soft Drink & Brewery Workers Local 812 Pension Fund; Rod Brayman, individually and in his official capacity as Trustee of Soft Drink & Brewery Local 812 Pension Fund; Gerry Cottrell, individually and in his official capacity as Trustee of Soft Drink & Brewery Local 812 Pension Fund; and Michael Lorenca, individually and in his official capacity as Trustee of Soft Drink & Brewery Local 812 Pension Fund
Russell L. Hirschhorn, Esq.
Proskauer Rose LLP
Counsel for Defendants Soft Drink & Brewery Workers Local 812 Pension Fund; Rod Brayman, individually and in his official capacity as Trustee of Soft Drink & Brewery Local 812 Pension Fund; Gerry Cottrell, individually and in his official capacity as Trustee of Soft Drink &Brewery Local 812 Pension Fund; and Michael Lorenca, individually and in his official capacity as Trustee of Soft Drink & Brewery Local 812 Pension Fund
Richard M. Seltzer, Esq.
Bruce S. Levine, Esq.
Kate M. Swearengen, Esq.
Cohen, Weiss and Simon LLP
Counsel for Defendants International Brotherhood of Teamsters; Joint Council 16; and Brad Raymond, individually and in his official capacity and Counsel for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters
John Ulrich ("Ulrich") and Lawrence DeBellis ("DeBellis") (collectively, "Plaintiffs"), bring these Actions (respectively, Case Nos. 17-CV-4730 and 17-CV-5547), against Soft Drink & Brewery Workers and Delivery Employees, Industrial Employees, Warehousemen, Helpers and Miscellaneous Workers Greater New York and Vicinity Local Union No. 812 ("Local 812" or "Union"), Soft Drink & Brewery Workers Local 812 Health Fund, ("Health Fund"), Soft Drink & Brewery Workers Local 812 Pension Fund ("Pension Fund"), Edward Weber ("Weber"), individually and in his official capacity as President of Local 812, Trustee of the Pension Fund, and Chairman Trustee of the Health Fund, Joseph Vitta ("Vitta"), individually and in his official capacity, as Secretary Treasurer of Local 812, Trustee of the Pension Fund and of the Health Fund, John Visconti ("Visconti"), individually and in his official capacity as Vice President of Local 812, Trustee of the Pension Fund and of the Health Fund, Mario Alvarez ("Alvarez"), and Artie Bowman ("Bowman"), each individually and in his official capacity as Trustee of Local 812, and James Surdi ("Surdi"), individually and in his official capacity as Recording Secretary of Local 812 and as Trustee of the Health Fund, Angel Martinez ("Martinez"), Jeffrey Knatz ("Knatz"), and Thomas Starapoli ("Starapoli"), each individually and in their official capacity as Trustees of the Health Fund (collectively, "Local 812Defendants"); Rod Brayman ("Brayman"), Gerry Cottrell ("Cottrell"), and Michael Lorenca ("Lorenca"), each individually and in their official capacity as Trustees of the Pension Fund (collectively, "Pension Fund Defendants"); and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters ("IBT"), Joint Council 16 ("JC 16"), and Brad Raymond ("Raymond"), individually and in his official capacity as Counsel for IBT (collectively, "IBT Defendants").1 (Case No. 17-CV-4730, Dkt. No. 30) and Decl. of Ran Mukherjee, Esq. re Ulrich ("Mukherjee Aff. re Ulrich"), Ex. 1 (Case No. 17-CV-4730, Dkt. No. 54-1); (Case No. 17-CV-5547, Dkt. No. 18) and Decl. of Ran Mukherjee, Esq. re DeBellis ("Mukherjee Decl. re DeBellis"), Ex. 1 (Case No. 17-CV-5547, Dkt. No. 46-1).)2 3
Plaintiffs allege deprivation of due process in violation of Section 101(a) of the Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 ("LMRDA"), 29 U.S.C. § 411(a)(5),deprivation of due process and a breach of contract in violation of Section 301(a) of the Labor Management Relations (Taft-Hartley) Act ("LMRA"), 29 U.S.C. § 185(a), violations of their free speech and freedom of assembly rights under Title I of the LMRDA, 29 U.S.C. § 411(a)(2), retaliation in violation of Section 510 of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act ("ERISA"), 29 U.S.C. § 1140, breach of fiduciary duty in violation of Section 404 of ERISA, 29 U.S.C. §§ 1104, 1106, retaliation in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq. ("Title VII") and the New York State Human Rights Law ("NYSHRL"), N.Y. Exec. Law § 296, and state law defamation, in connection with Plaintiffs' termination from their Union jobs and their roles as Trustees with the Health and Pension Funds. (See generally Ulrich PSAC; DeBellis PSAC.) Before the Court are Plaintiffs' Motions for Leave to Amend their Second Amended Complaints. (See Case No. 17-CV-4730, Ulrich Not. of Mot. (Dkt. No. 53); Case No. 17-CV-5547, DeBellis Not. of Mot. (Dkt. No. 45).)4 For the following reasons, Plaintiffs' Motions are denied.
The following facts are taken from Plaintiffs' PSACs and are assumed to be true for purposes of resolving the instant Motions.5
Ulrich was employed as an elected Vice President of Local 812, as well as a Trustee of both the Pension and Health Funds. (Ulrich PSAC ¶ 24.) DeBellis was employed as an elected Business Agent of Local 812, as well as a Trustee of the Health Fund. DeBellis was recommended to be a Business Agent by Ulrich, with whom he was known to associate. (DeBellis PSAC ¶ 24.)
Ulrich has a long history with the Union. In 1989, he was hired by H.P. Hood Company as a driver and became a Teamster member. (Ulrich PSAC ¶ 28.) He became a member of Local 812 in 1994 while employed by Coca Cola as a Route Salesman, and thereafter became an elected shop steward and Local 812 representative in 1995. (Id. ¶ 29.) In 2000, Ulrich was hired as a Distribution Supervisor at his facility at Coca Cola in New Windsor, New York. (Id. ¶ 30.) On September 1, 2004, he became employed by Local 812 as Director of Organizing and Education for Defendant Local 812 and joined the Local 812 Executive Board ("Executive Board" or "Board") as a nonvoting member. (Id. ¶ 31.) In 2005, Ulrich became a Local 812 Business Agent and the lead negotiator for Defendant Local 812. (Id. ¶ 32.) In 2006, he was appointed as a Health Fund Trustee. (Id. ¶ 33.) On April 19, 2011, he was appointed a full Trustee for the Union following the paid suspension in February of the former President JosephWojciechowski ("Wojciechowski") and the removal of the Secretary/Treasurer Thomas Rosano ("Rosano"), who were investigated for embezzlement, extortion, and fraud. (Id. ¶ 34.) That same day, on April 19, 2011, in an Executive Board meeting, Thomas Thompson ("Thompson"), the attorney who had represented the ousted President and Secretary/Treasurer, was removed as Union, Health Fund, and Pension Fund Counsel. (Id.)
The Teamsters Independent Review Board ("IRB") is a three-member panel established to investigate and take appropriate action with respect to any allegations of corruption, domination or control, or influence of any part of the Union by organized crime, as well as any failure to cooperate...
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