Bliznik v. International Harvester Co.

87 F.R.D. 490, 31 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 151, 1980 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15225
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Illinois
DecidedAugust 28, 1980
DocketNo. 78 C 2353
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 87 F.R.D. 490 (Bliznik v. International Harvester Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bliznik v. International Harvester Co., 87 F.R.D. 490, 31 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 151, 1980 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15225 (N.D. Ill. 1980).

Opinion

ORDER

BUA, District Judge.

Presently before the court is Bert Lus-kin’s motion to quash his deposition subpoena. Rule 26(c), Fed.R.Civ.P. The movant is the arbitrator who presided at the arbitration hearing following plaintiff’s discharge from the defendant company for conspiring to steal company property. Movant claims that an arbitrator may not be deposed in order to ascertain the basis of the award or to impeach such award. The subpoena served on movant also requires the production of (1) all correspondence regarding plaintiff’s discharge between the arbitrator and the defendant company, (2) all correspondence regarding plaintiff’s discharge between the arbitrator and the defendant union, (3) all briefs and memoranda submitted by the defendants to movant relating to Bliznik’s grievance, (4) all exhibits offered by the defendants at the arbitration hearing, (5) all notes taken by the arbitrator at the hearing, (6) all materials utilized by the arbitrator in reaching his decision, and (7) copies of all arbitration decisions issued by movant from January 1, 1967 to the present in disputes between the defendants involving the discharge of employees with 15 years of service.

The movant’s argument that the subpoena should be quashed as an attempt to inquire into the basis of the arbitrator’s award is not persuasive. Plaintiff’s counsel has submitted a sworn affidavit stating that the scope of the deposition will be limited to ascertaining what the union’s counsel did and did not do in representing the plaintiff at the arbitration hearing. Since Luskin was the only trained non-party witness at the hearing who took and retained notes, the plaintiff considers his testimony crucial to his case against the union.

The defendant has cited cases holding that an arbitrator may not be deposed in order to inquire into the reasoning that led to his award. While this court agrees that a deposition for such a purpose would be improper, see Gramling v. Food Machinery and Chemical Corp., 151 F.Supp. 853 (W.D.S.C.1957), the plaintiff does not seek to inquire into the reasons for the arbitrator’s award and this court will not allow such inquiry. Moreover, we do not agree with the statement of the court in Fukaya Trading Company, S. A. v. Eastern Marine Corp., 322 F.Supp. 278 (E.D.La.1971) that no equitable or legal authority exists that would permit the deposition of an arbitrator. This court believes that given the broad scope of discovery available under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, and the centuries old principle that “the public is [492]*492entitled to every [person’s] evidence,” Branzburg v. Hayes, 408 U.S. 665, 688, 92 S.Ct. 2646, 2660, 33 L.Ed.2d 626 (1972), that it is the burden of the subpoenaed person to show compelling reasons why he should not be required to give testimony. In this case the arbitrator is in possession of directly relevant and probative evidence concerning the conduct of the union’s representative at the arbitration hearing. The quality of that representation is directly at issue in this case. Factual testimony from the arbitrator may be crucial to plaintiff’s claim that the union’s handling of his grievance was so “perfunctory” as to justify an award of damages against the union.

The court is of the opinion that such testimony elicited from the arbitrator does not impeach the correctness of his decision. It is elementary that an arbitrator’s decision must be based on the facts presented to him. The issues raised by this motion do not focus on the correctness of the arbitrator’s decision given the facts presented at the hearing. Rather, the focus of plaintiff’s case against the union is on the quality of the union’s representation of plaintiff at the hearing and whether the finality provisions of a collective bargaining contract’s dispute resolution procedure should be enforced in light of wholly inadequate union representation that strikes at the integrity of the process itself.

This case is not analogous to those holding that a juror may not testify as to his thought processes during deliberations, see Rule 606(b), Fed.R.Evid., rather the issue is analogous to calling a former juror to testify in an attorney malpractice case. The movant has not cited nor has this court found any authority holding that the former juror may not be compelled to testify to what he witnessed during a trial on which the malpractice actions is based. Thus, defendant’s citation of Gramling v. Food Machinery and Chemical Corp., 151 F.Supp. 853 (W.D.S.C.1957) does not support the proposition that an arbitrator may not be compelled to testify as to what occurred at a hearing. That case dealt with an attempt to require the members of an arbitration panel to testify regarding “the method of arriving at their award,” 151 F.Supp. at 860. Here the plaintiff seeks to vacate the award and avoid the finality provisions of the collective bargaining agreement because of the union’s alleged breach of its duty to fairly and adequately represent him at the arbitration hearing. Hines v. Anchor Motor Freight, Inc., 424 U.S. 554 at 571, 96 S.Ct. 1048 at 1059, 47 L.Ed.2d 231 (1976).

Luskin’s citations of United Steelworkers of America v. Enterprise Wheel & Car Corp., 363 U.S. 593, 80 S.Ct. 1358, 4 L.Ed.2d 1424 (1966); Bernhardt v. Polygraphic Company of America, 350 U.S. 198, 204, 76 S.Ct. 273, 276, 100 L.Ed. 199 (1956); and NF&M Corp. v. United Steelworkers of America, 524 F.2d 756 (3d Cir. 1975), do not support the granting of his motion. These cases state propositions dealing with review of the merits of an arbitrator’s decision. The propositions that a reviewing court will not overturn an arbitrator’s award for errors in assessing witness credibility, in the weight accorded testimony, in the determination of factual issues or for failure to issue a written opinion are not presented by this case and do not bear on the propriety of deposing Luskin.

This is not a case which presents a threat to the independence of an arbitrator. The arbitrator is not a party defendant, and a sworn affidavit of plaintiff’s counsel has been filed which indicates that the scope of the deposition will be limited to eliciting testimony concerning the union’s conduct at the hearing. Neither does this deposition foreshadow an end to effective arbitration of employment disputes. An arbitrator who is paid for his services does not need to be accorded any more protection from the burden of giving testimony than an ordinary citizen. Moreover, in many cases alleging a breach of a union’s duty of fair representation, the availability of a recorded transcript will make the deposition of an arbitrator unnecessary.

This court agrees with the statement of the Court of Appeals in N. L. R. B. v. Joseph Macaluso, Inc., 618 F.2d 51 (9th Cir. [493]

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Bluebook (online)
87 F.R.D. 490, 31 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 151, 1980 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15225, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bliznik-v-international-harvester-co-ilnd-1980.