Belue v. International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace, & Agricultural Implement Workers

699 F. Supp. 1398, 130 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2126, 1988 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13181, 1988 WL 124156
District Court, E.D. Missouri·Decided November 21, 1988·No. Nos. 87-0690C(6), 87-1437C(6)·Published

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

GUNN, District Judge.

This matter is presently before the court on plaintiffs’ motion for partial summary judgment. Plaintiffs seek summary judgment on the issue of liability only, leaving for factual determination the issues of damages.

Various members of Local Union 25 (“Local 25”) of the United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers, AFL-CIO (“UAW”) filed this suit in the spring of 1987 under Title III of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (“LMRDA”), 29 U.S.C. §§ 461, et seq., seeking declaratory, injunctive, and monetary relief based on the UAW’s allegedly wrongful imposition of a trusteeship over the affairs of Local 25. In addition to the UAW, plaintiffs also named as defendants Ken Worley, director of UAW Region 5, and Cecil Lawson, former president of Local 25.

I. Statement of Undisputed Material Facts

The undisputed material facts are comprised of the following. Local 25, an amalgamated local located in St. Louis, Missouri, includes approximately 6,000 members, consisting of over 3,000 retirees, 2,200 employees at General Motors’ Truck and Bus Plant, and 550 employees at a [1399] General Motors Parts Depot. Under the UAW constitution, Local 25 was to conduct elections for its Executive Board and Bargaining Chairman and Shop Committeeman in May of 1987.

On February 10, 1987, Cecil Lawson — at that time, Local 25’s president — sent a written request to Ken Worley seeking to have Local 25 placed under a trusteeship. The reasons advanced for the trusteeship were twofold: first, because the truck and bus plant was scheduled to close in June 1987, some members of the Local’s board feared that another election would be necessary almost immediately after the one scheduled in May. Second, the board was concerned that assistance from the UAW might be required in negotiating and obtaining a plant closing agreement and that imposition of a trusteeship would be necessary to secure such assistance.

The full board met on March 9, 1987 and voted 7-3 in favor of the trusteeship. Thereafter, on March 12, the local held a meeting at which the membership voted 334 to 96 against the imposition of a trusteeship. Nevertheless, Lawson sent another request for the imposition of a trusteeship to Worley on March 17 in which Lawson only made note of the Local Executive Board vote in favor of the trusteeship. Worley apparently hand-carried the letter to Detroit and orally requested that the matter be placed on the agenda of the International Executive Board meeting scheduled during the week of March 23. The UAW granted the request, and on March 23rd, the UAW sent mailgrams to the top four Local officers informing them that a show cause hearing on whether to impose the trusteeship would be held at 10:00 a.m. March 25 in Detroit. The local officers received the mailgrams early March 24. The general membership was not sent notice.

The show cause hearing was held on March 25 as scheduled. Seven of the Local Executive Board members attended. The International Executive Board voted unanimously to place the local in trusteeship.

Upon receiving notice of Local 25’s having been placed in trusteeship, the membership evinced an overwhelmingly negative response. On April 2,1987 plaintiffs Belue and Case filed an appeal of the International Executive Board’s decision with the Union Public Review Board (“PRB”). A PRB officer held a fact-finding proceeding on April 24, 1987 in St. Louis, and on May 4, 1987, the PRB held a hearing on the appeal. Plaintiffs also filed suit with this Court on April 16, 1987, and a hearing was held on April 22, 1987 regarding plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction. At the April 22nd hearing, testimony and exhibits were adduced. The parties provided the PRB with a transcript of that hearing as well as all the exhibits presented.

On May 11, 1987, the PRB issued an order dissolving the trusteeship. In its June 11, 1987 Decision in support of the order, the PRB found that the UAW had not imposed the trusteeship for a permissible purpose under the UAW constitution. The PRB held that the possibility of the truck and bus plant’s closing shortly after the Local elections in June did not provide a legitimate reason for imposition of a trusteeship. On the one hand, the plant’s closing date would not necessarily correlate with the actual date upon which all employees at the plant would be transferred to another region. The PRB also noted that the plant closing and resultant transfer of employees actually created more need for the guidance of those officials elected by the transferring employees.

On the other hand, the PRB noted that the UAW could assist in plant closing negotiations, and imposition of a trusteeship over Local 25 was not warranted.

On April 1, 1987, plaintiffs filed an administrative complaint with the Department of Labor challenging the validity of the trusteeship. On May 12, 1987, the Department informed the UAW that litigation was likely unless the trusteeship was dissolved. By this time the PRB order dissolving the trusteeship had already been issued. The Department of Labor subsequently filed a “Statement of Reasons” for its May 12 decision. In that statement, the Department found in accordance with the PRB as to the impermissibility of the [1400] UAW’s purported reasons for the trusteeship under § 302 of the LMRDA, 29 U.S.C. § 462. The Department held further that the trusteeship was imposed without a fair hearing, as required both by the LMRDA and the UAW constitution. See 29 U.S.C. § 464(c). Therefore, the Department found that the trusteeship was improperly imposed.

II. Plaintiffs’ Motion for Summary Judgment

Plaintiffs seek summary judgment on the issue of liability for improper imposition of a trusteeship over Local 25. In support of their motion, plaintiffs allege three bases: the trusteeship was imposed for impermissible purposes under the LMRDA and the UAW constitution; the trusteeship was imposed without a fair hearing, in violation of 29 U.S.C. § 464(c); and, finally, this Court should give preclu-sive effect to the holdings of the PRB and the Department of Labor regarding the first two bases. Because the Court finds that preclusion is appropriate in this case, summary judgment on the issue of liability will be granted.

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Belue v. International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace, & Agricultural Implement Workers, 699 F. Supp. 1398, 130 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2126, 1988 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13181, 1988 WL 124156 (E.D. Mo. 1988).

699 F. Supp. 1398 (Belue v. International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace, & Agricultural Implement Workers) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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