Baker v. General Motors Corp.

745 F. Supp. 1275, 134 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 3226, 1990 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14330, 1990 WL 139597
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Ohio
DecidedJuly 18, 1990
DocketNo. 3:89CV7383
StatusPublished

This text of 745 F. Supp. 1275 (Baker v. General Motors Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Ohio primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Baker v. General Motors Corp., 745 F. Supp. 1275, 134 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 3226, 1990 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14330, 1990 WL 139597 (N.D. Ohio 1990).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

JOHN W. POTTER, District Judge:

This matter is before the Court on the motion for summary judgment of defendants International United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (International) and United Automobile, Aerospace, and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, Local 14 (Local 14); plaintiffs’ opposition, defendants’ reply, and plaintiffs’ supplemental authority in opposition.

Defendants have moved for summary judgment on plaintiffs’ duty of fair repre[1276]*1276sentation claim on the grounds that (1) no duty of fair representation toward plaintiffs was breached, (2) plaintiffs’ claims are barred by the applicable statute of limitations, (3) plaintiffs failed to exhaust their internal union remedies, and (4) plaintiffs' employer did not breach the collective bargaining agreement. With respect to the Landrum-Griffin claim, 29 U.S.C. § 414, based on defendants’ alleged failure to provide copies of the collective bargaining agreement to plaintiffs, defendants have moved for summary judgment on the ground that the claim is barred by the applicable statute of limitations. Defendants further argue that plaintiffs’ pendent state claims are preempted by federal labor law.

Under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, summary judgment is proper only where there is no genuine issue of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). The Supreme Court has recently stated that the inquiry is “whether the evidence presents a sufficient disagreement to require submission to a jury or whether it is so one-sided that one party must prevail as a matter of law.” Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc. [477 U.S. 242], 106 S.Ct. 2505, 2512 [91 L.Ed.2d 202] (1986)_ In reviewing a motion for summary judgment, however, all inferences “ ‘must be viewed in the light most favorable to the party opposing the motion.’ ” See Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp. [475 U.S. 574], 106 S.Ct. 1348, 1356-57 [89 L.Ed.2d 538] (1986) (quoting United States v. Diebold, Inc., 369 U.S. 654, 655 [82 S.Ct. 993, 994, 8 L.Ed.2d 176] (1962)).

Ralph Shrader, Inc. v. Diamond International Corp., 833 F.2d 1210, 1213 (6th Cir.1987).

The party moving for summary judgment “always bears the initial responsibility of informing the district court of the basis for its motion, and identifying those portions of ‘the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits if any’ which [he] believes demonstrate the absence of a genuine issue of material fact.” Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 2552, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). The substantive law of the case identifies which facts are material. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 2510, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). Therefore, only disputes of facts affecting the outcome of the suit under the applicable substantive law will preclude the entry of summary judgment. Id. A moving party may discharge its burden “by ‘showing’ — that is, pointing out to the district court — that there is an absence of evidence to support the nonmoving party’s case.” Celotex, 477 U.S. at 324-325, 106 S.Ct. at 2553. Where the moving party has met its initial burden, the adverse party “must set forth specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial.” Anderson, 477 U.S. at 250, 106 S.Ct. at 2511. “[P]laintiff, to survive the defendant’s motion, need only present evidence from which a jury might return a verdict in his favor.” Id. at 257, 106 S.Ct. at 2514.

Considering first plaintiffs’ claim that defendants breached their duty of fair representation of plaintiffs, the Court finds the motion well taken for two reasons. First, the Court finds that defendants breached no duty in negotiating either the 1984 or 1987 collective bargaining agreements in such a manner as to provide job security and seniority for long term employees of General Motors Corporation by enabling those employees with seniority dates prior to January 7, 1985 who were permanently laid off from closing plants to relocate to other plants with a “deemed seniority date” of January 7, 1985 at their new plants. The net result was that the relocated workers leaped ahead of those hired in at the new plant subsequent to the “deemed seniority date”. Relocated workers who had been hired in at the old plant subsequent to January 7, 1985 kept the same seniority date they had at the old plant. In short the relocated workers were trading what may have been years of seniority at their old plants for seniority at the new plant which was slightly better than it would have been had they been new [1277]*1277employees of General Motors at the time they relocated.

The Supreme Court has examined the scope and duty of a unions bargaining authority and found it to be quite broad. Ford Motor Co. v. Huffman, 345 U.S. 330, 73 S.Ct. 681, 97 L.Ed. 1048 (1953). The Huffman court observed that the statutory duty of a union is to “represent all members of an appropriate unit” and “to make an honest effort to serve the interests of all of those members, without hostility to any.” Id. at 337, 73 S.Ct. at 686. Nonetheless, the Huffman court also recognized that:

[ijnevitably differences arise in the manner and degree to which the terms of any negotiated agreement affect individual employees and classes of employees. The mere existence of such differences does not make them invalid, the complete satisfaction of all who are represented is hardly to be expected. A wide range of reasonableness must be allowed a statutory bargaining representative in serving the unit it represents, subject always to complete good faith and honesty of purpose in the exercise of its discretion.

Id. at 338, 73 S.Ct. at 686.

Moreover, the Huffman court specifically approved of variations in seniority rules based on the work unit within which seniority is computed. Id. The Sixth Circuit has itself considered and approved a two-tiered seniority system and cautioned that courts “are careful not to substitute their judgments for those of the authorized labor organization” with regard to seniority plans. Ratkosky v. United Transportation Union, 843 F.2d 869 (6th Cir.1988). The Ratkosky court further stated that “the fact that a seniority system in a collective bargaining agreement favors one group more than another does not in itself constitute a breach of the union’s duty.” Id. at 876. The Court finds the Ratkosky decision quite persuasive with respect to this case. Clearly,

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745 F. Supp. 1275, 134 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 3226, 1990 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14330, 1990 WL 139597, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/baker-v-general-motors-corp-ohnd-1990.