UNITED STEELWORKERS, ETC. v. University of Ala.

• Decision Date: 30 March 1977
• Docket Number: Civ. A. No. 76-G-0543-S.
• Citation: 430 F. Supp. 996
• Parties: UNITED STEELWORKERS OF AMERICA, AFL-CIO, an Unincorporated Association, et al., Plaintiffs, v. UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA IN BIRMINGHAM et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of Alabama

430 F. Supp. 996

UNITED STEELWORKERS OF AMERICA, AFL-CIO, an Unincorporated Association, et al., Plaintiffs, v. UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA IN BIRMINGHAM et al., Defendants.

Civ. A. No. 76-G-0543-S.

United States District Court, N.D. Alabama, S.D.

March 30, 1977.

George C. Longshore, Jerome A. Cooper, Cooper, Mitch & Crawford, Birmingham, Ala., for plaintiffs.

John J. Coleman, Jr., Bradley, Arant, Rose & White, Birmingham, Ala., for defendants.

OPINION, FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

GUIN, District Judge.

This is a civil action for "injunctive relief, damages, a declaratory judgment, and other appropriate relief", brought under the Civil Rights Act of 1871, 42 U.S.C. Section 1983, and predicated upon alleged violations by the defendants Volker and Skaggs¹ (hereinafter sometimes referred to collectively as the defendants) of the First, Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution. The gravamen of the complaint concerns the discharge by the defendants of the individual plaintiffs (other than Union District Director Howard Strevel)² "without the benefit of notice and a hearing" in alleged violation of their rights of due process, equal protection, free speech and freedom of association.³

All of the individual plaintiffs were terminated from their employment with The University of Alabama in Birmingham (UAB) while on a Union sponsored strike against UAB which began on March 31, 1976, and ended on or about April 7, 1976. There are two categories of terminations: (i) individual plaintiffs who were terminated by UAB as a result of strike misconduct occurring at various stages of the strike; and (ii) individual plaintiffs who were terminated by UAB because of their failure to return to work from the strike for more than five consecutive days.

On April 19, 1976, a hearing was held on plaintiffs' application for preliminary relief; at the conclusion of the evidence, the Court denied that application but retained jurisdiction pending the exhaustion by the individual plaintiffs of the internal grievance procedures provided administratively by UAB for review of non-academic employee disciplinary actions. Subsequently, defendants Volker and Skaggs filed motions for summary judgment with supporting affidavits to which counter-affidavits were filed by plaintiffs. The Court has had the benefit of extensive briefs and oral argument. On Thursday, March 10, 1977, the Court was apprised by the parties that the grievances of all of the individual plaintiffs have been processed through the UAB grievance procedures to final decision, as more fully set forth in the findings of fact. There are no disputes as to facts material to the legal issues presented.

The Court, having fully considered the pleadings, all of the testimony, exhibits and other evidence adduced in the course of this case, and having carefully reviewed the briefs, and having heard the oral arguments of counsel, now makes and finds the following facts and makes the following conclusions of law pursuant to Rule 52(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure:

FINDINGS OF FACT

1. This action, seeking injunctive relief, and damages, is predicated upon alleged violations by the defendants, under color of State law, of rights of the plaintiffs under the First, Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States.

2. Plaintiff Union is an unincorporated labor organization. Plaintiff Strevel is Director of District 36 of the Union. Strevel and each of the other individual plaintiffs are citizens and residents of the State of Alabama and the individual plaintiffs are members of the Union. The individual plaintiffs prior to their termination by UAB, as hereafter set forth, were hourly paid non-supervisory employees of UAB employed in its Maintenance and Building Alterations Departments.

3. Defendant Volker between August, 1975 and June 16th, 1976 was President of UAB.⁴ Defendant Skaggs was then and is now its Director of Personnel Services.

4. UAB is a public institution of higher education established by the State of Alabama as an instrumentality thereof.⁵ UAB performs essential educational, medical and hospital services for the benefit of citizens of Alabama, and others, including but not limited to, the provision of educational opportunities and facilities for approximately 12,000 undergraduate and graduate students, a major hospital known as University Hospital and other hospitals, clinics, medical, medical research, and rehabilitation facilities, within a large complex located in the City of Birmingham.

5. On August 13, 1975, plaintiff Strevel wrote a letter to defendant Volker stating, in substance, that the Union represented a majority of the employees in the maintenance and building alterations departments of UAB and requesting a meeting with UAB officials "to establish an appropriate collective bargaining relationship."

6. On September 22, 1975, the Union and some of the named plaintiffs herein filed a lawsuit in this Court entitled "United Steelworkers of America, AFL-CIO, et al. v. University of Alabama in Birmingham, et al., Civil Action No. 75-H-1788-S", seeking to require UAB, Volker and Skaggs, to bargain and enter into a collective bargaining agreement with the Union on behalf of the individual plaintiffs, and certain other UAB employees employed in the maintenance and building alterations departments. A copy of District Judge Hancock's Order in said lawsuit, issued on October 25, 1975, is attached hereto as Exhibit A. No appeal was taken by plaintiffs from Judge Hancock's Order.

7. Between October 25, 1975, and March 31, 1975, representatives of UAB met upon request with the Union and some of the individual plaintiffs, and received and discussed with them expressions, views and opinions of such employees relating to the terms and conditions of their employment. The record reflects that during this period of time there were four meetings. On February 23, 1976, representatives of UAB made specific oral responses to various suggestions and comments of the employees and the Union which responses were reiterated by letter to the employees dated February 27, 1976, signed by defendant Skaggs.

8. In early March 1976, the individual plaintiffs and certain other UAB employees employed in the maintenance and building and alterations departments met with James King, an official of the Union, and voted to call a strike against UAB for the purpose of obtaining recognition as bargaining agent and a collective bargaining agreement. The strike by the Union and the individual plaintiffs began on March 31, 1976 and ended on April 7, 1976.⁶

9. During the strike approximately 115 employees, employed in the maintenance and building alterations departments of UAB, including all of the individual plaintiffs, abandoned their jobs, went out on strike, and failed and refused to report to work as scheduled and assigned. In furtherance of the strike, pickets were set up at various UAB facilities, including University Hospital.

10. Because of the substantial number of maintenance employees on strike at the inception of the strike, the ability of UAB to maintain adequately equipment and facilities essential to the health, safety, and well-being of hospital patients and others was endangered.

11. All of the striking employees, including the individual plaintiffs, at the time of the strike were full-time permanent employees of UAB as defined in the UAB Non-Academic Personnel Handbook entitled `You and UAB, revised May, 1975" (hereafter "Handbook"). Full-time permanent employees are defined at Section 3.6 of the Handbook as "individuals who have an indefinite appointment and are required to work regularly 40 hours a week. * * *"

12. UAB policies with respect to dismissal of permanent employees are set forth at 3.15 and 3.19 of the Handbook. According to Section 3.15 there are twelve stated grounds for immediate dismissal, including "unexcused absence for three (3) days without notification or reasonable cause"; all of said grounds are preceded, inter alia, by the following statement:

"Just cause for dismissal is not limited to those violations that follow as there may be other offenses committed that warrant this action depending on a number of factors."

In addition, paragraph 3.19 of the Handbook contains, inter alia, the following statement:

"From time to time ... the University, just as any other large organization, has to make decisions without prior consultation with its employees. The University must, therefore, maintain exclusive discretion to exercise the customary functions of management including, but not limited to, the discretion to . . dismiss ... and discipline employees; ... to determine the size of and composition of the work force; to establish, change, and abolish policies, procedures, rules and regulations; and to assign duties to employees in accordance with the needs and requirements determined by the University."

13. On Friday, April 2, 1976, UAB dispatched a written notice in the form of a telegram to the home address of each striking employee. This telegram was sent to remind the striking employees that they were, at the time of the telegram, in the second day of unexcused absences from work.

14. Fourteen individual plaintiffs were terminated by UAB for strike misconduct. Thirteen of them elected to file grievances in protest of the termination actions pursuant to the grievance procedures established by 3.20 of the Handbook. Upon a review, prior to hearing, two of the termination actions were reversed at the second step of the grievance procedure by UAB official Jim Pegues and those individuals were reinstated to their jobs. The remaining cases were heard at the third step by three member panels selected in accordance with the third step procedures established in the Handbook (except as stated in finding of fact 17 hereof); in each instance the grievant involved, at his option, was represented by a...