Boston & Maine Corp. v. Lenfest

799 F.2d 795, 123 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2558
CourtCourt of Appeals for the First Circuit
DecidedSeptember 2, 1986
DocketNo. 86-1039
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 799 F.2d 795 (Boston & Maine Corp. v. Lenfest) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the First Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Boston & Maine Corp. v. Lenfest, 799 F.2d 795, 123 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2558 (1st Cir. 1986).

Opinion

BOWNES, Circuit Judge.

Respondents-appellants, the General Committee of Adjustment of the United Transportation Union (the General Committee) and its individual officers and local chairmen, appeal an order of the district court preliminarily enjoining them from “engaging in a general strike or refusing to work” over alleged hazardous conditions on the railroad of petitioner-appellee Boston and Maine Corporation (B & M). Appellants claim that a work stoppage on November 4, 1985, which halted freight operations and left 25,000 commuters without service to Boston, was a valid refusal to work under hazardous conditions pursuant to § 10(b) of the Federal Railroad Safety Act (FRSA), 45 U.S.C. § 441(b) (1982). Appellants assert that a work stoppage by all United Transportation Union (UTU) conductors and trainmen was called because the conductors and trainmen were faced with a system-wide, life-threatening danger due to the B & M’s failure to provide consistent flagging protection at construction sites along the railroad tracks.

The district court held that the work stoppage was not a protected FRSA § 10 refusal to work, but was a strike over a “minor dispute” under the Railway Labor Act (RLA), 45 U.S.C. § 153 (1982), and was properly enjoinable upon B & M’s showing of irreparable harm. Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen v. Chicago River & Indiana Railroad Co., 353 U.S. 30, 42, 77 S.Ct. 635, 641, 1 L.Ed.2d 622 (1957). The court held alternatively that even if the safety dispute was covered by § 10 of the FRSA, appellants had failed to comply with its notice provision and therefore the strike was not protected by it. Boston and Maine Corp. v. Lenfest, 622 F.Supp. 942, 948 (D.Mass.1985). Appellants argue: (1) that the district court order should be overturned because the work stoppage was a § 10 refusal to work; (2) that the question of compliance with the statute should not have been decided by the district court, but by the National Railroad Adjustment Board pursuant to § 10(c) of the FRSA, 45 U.S.C. § 441(c)(1), which makes any “dispute, grievance or claim” subject to resolution under the procedures set forth in 45 U.S.C. § 153; and (3) that § 4 of the Norris-La-Guardia Act, 29 U.S.C. § 104 (1982), deprives the court of jurisdiction to enjoin a § 10 work stoppage. As far as we can tell, this is a case of first impression. Background

The heart of this case is a dispute over the adequacy of flagging signals along the railroad tracks of the B & M. The B & M has freight operations in six Northeastern states, and passenger operations in three. At any given time private contractors are engaged in repair and maintenance work at several places along the line, and the locations shift day to day, even hour by hour. Flagging crews are assigned by the B & M to the construction sites so as to warn approaching trains and avert accidents between trains and construction machinery along the tracks. The B & M’s policy is that no construction should proceed unless flagging is provided.

According to appellants, the safety issue arose when the General Committee Chairman, R.M. Lenfest, Jr. (Lenfest), began receiving “numerous” complaints in the months prior to November 1985 that train [797]*797crews were passing construction sites where there was no flagging protection. The lack of flagmen followed no particular pattern, and sometimes a particular site would have flagmen one day and none the next. Lenfest claims to have repeatedly expressed his concern over the danger involved to Roger Audette, B & M’s official in charge of assigning flagging crews. On November 3, 1985, Lenfest met with the local General Committee chairmen, and discussed the flagging situation. He testified that “it became obvious that any further discussion was an exercise in futility,” and he was concerned that “to do nothing would be to invite disaster.” He stated that he decided to act to protect the Union members. Lenfest called a work stoppage over the hazardous conditions, and beginning at 4:00 A.M. on November 4, the Union conductors and trainmen set up picket lines. Freight and commuter operations were disrupted by the work stoppage, and B & M sought a temporary restraining order in federal district court. After a hearing on November 4, the afternoon of the work stoppage, a temporary restraining order was entered by Judge Murray against the Union. B & M then filed a civil complaint seeking damages and a motion for a preliminary injunction. After a further hearing on November 14, Chief Judge Caffrey granted B & M’s motion for a preliminary injunction in a memorandum and order issued on November 27, 622 F.Supp. 942.

Application of § 10 of the FRSA to This Dispute

Section 10 of the FRSA states in pertinent part as follows:

Protection and rights of employees
(a) Filing of complaints; institution of proceedings; testimony
A common carrier by railroad engaged in interstate or foreign commerce may not discharge or in any manner discriminate against any employee because such employee, whether acting in his own behalf or in a representative capacity, has—
(1) filed any complaint or instituted or caused to be instituted any proceeding under or related to the enforcement of the Federal railroad safety laws; or
(2) testified or is about to testify in any such proceeding.
(b) Refusal to work under hazardous conditions
(1) A common carrier by railroad engaged in interstate or foreign commerce may not discharge or in any manner discriminate against any employee for refusing to work when confronted by a hazardous condition related to the performance of the employee’s duties, if—
(A) the refusal is made in good faith and no reasonable alternative to such refusal is available to the employee;
(B) the hazardous condition is of such a nature that a reasonable person, under the circumstances then confronting the employee, would conclude that—
(1) the condition presents an imminent danger of death or serious injury; and
(ii) there is insufficient time, due to the urgency of the situation, to eliminate the danger through resort to regular statutory channels; and
(C) the employee, where possible, has notified his employer of his apprehension of such hazardous condition and of his intention not to perform further work unless such condition is corrected immediately.
(2) The provision of this subsection shall not apply to security personnel employed by a railroad to protect persons and property transported by such railroad.
(c) Resolution of disputes

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799 F.2d 795, 123 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2558, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/boston-maine-corp-v-lenfest-ca1-1986.