Brink v. DaLesio

82 F.R.D. 664, 28 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 769, 1979 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12266
CourtDistrict Court, D. Maryland
DecidedMay 21, 1979
DocketCiv. No. Y-78-161
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 82 F.R.D. 664 (Brink v. DaLesio) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Maryland primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Brink v. DaLesio, 82 F.R.D. 664, 28 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 769, 1979 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12266 (D. Md. 1979).

Opinion

JOSEPH H. YOUNG, District Judge.

The plaintiff, Donald E. Brink, a member of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 311 and Joint Council 62, has initiated this action against Leo DaLesio and Alfred Bell, an officer of the locals, charging numerous violations of fiduciary obligations allegedly owed to the union and its members. Local 311 and Joint Council are also named as defendants. Plaintiff Brink has brought this action under the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act, 29 U.S.C. § 501(b), and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, 29 U.S.C. § 1132. The complaint was filed on January 30, 1978.

On April 5, 1978, this Court denied defendants’ motions to dismiss. Brink v. DaLesio, 453 F.Supp. 272 (D.Md.1978). The Court held a hearing on February 9, 1979, to resolve the barrage of discovery motions the parties have inflicted upon the Court. This Memorandum and Order will address individually each of the remaining open discovery motions presented during the February hearing.

I. LEO DALESIO’S MOTION TO DISMISS OR LIMIT EVIDENCE (PLEADINGS 155, 162) 1

Defendant Leo DaLesio has moved to dismiss the entire case, or, in the alternative, to limit the introduction of evidence as a result of the U.S. Attorney’s office having made available to plaintiff certain documents subpoenaed by the grand jury. Defendant claims this procedure constitutes a violation of Rule 6(e) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure which requires that grand jury proceedings and matters be disclosed to third parties only when directed to do so by the Court or in connection with a judicial proceeding.

This issue was first raised at the November 20, 1978 Pretrial Conference and at the time provoked considerable concern. Counsel for plaintiff Brink have responded to this motion with both factual and legal arguments, and assuming that plaintiff’s version of the facts is correct, there are no grounds on which the evidence should be limited or the case dismissed.

Plaintiff’s version of the story is as follows. In an effort to obtain business records belonging to Local 311, the Union for which DaLesio was secretary-treasurer, plaintiff’s counsel sought discovery under F.R.Civ.P. 34. The discovery related to minutes of Executive Board and membership meetings, ledgers, phone statements, American Express billings, and other materials. Production was complicated because [667]*667Local 311 had turned over these materials to the grand jury which was investigating DaLesio and his dealings. The Request for Production was sent to Local 311 on May 23, 1978, and as of July 18, 1978, Local 311 had not recovered its documents. According to plaintiff’s Memorandum (pleading 162, at 3), at the July 18 scheduling conference, plaintiff’s counsel raised this problem with Local 311’s counsel who, in turn, informed the Court that they had approached Assistant U.S. Attorney Rohrbaugh to establish a means for inspecting the documents. DaLesio’s counsel, present at that time, raised no objection.

Plaintiff’s counsel were then referred by Local 311’s counsel to Arnold Weiner, special counsel originally retained by DaLesio on behalf of Local 311 in connection with the grand jury proceedings. Mr. Fox, on August 18, 1978, wrote to Mr. Weiner asking his assistance in obtaining the Local 311 documents. Weiner replied on August 31, 1978 indicating that he had “no objection to your examination of any records which are in [Rohrbaugh’s] possession, custody or control.” Rohrbaugh wrote Fox on September 13, 1978 setting forth the limited scope of review which plaintiff would be accorded in connection with the Local 311 documents:

I am in receipt of correspondence from Arnold M. Weiner, Esquire, who represents Teamsters Local 311. Mr. Weiner has indicated that, on behalf of his client, he has no objection to your inspection of the records which had been subpoenaed by the Grand Jury. In order to expedite your request, I suggest that, in lieu of my returning all of the documents to Mr. Weiner so that he can forward them to you, you make arrangements to inspect the documents at my office. After your inspection of these documents, we will make any copies which you desire.
However, in order to maintain the integrity of the Grand Jury investigation, under no circumstances will you be afforded the opportunity to review any additional evidence the Grand Jury has subpoenaed. Further, any summaries or computations which the Government has made concerning the union’s records cannot be supplied to you. The only documents which you will be permitted to review will be the records of the union as they were forwarded to the Grand Jury by Mr. Weiner.

For copies of these letters, see Appendices A, B, and C to Pleading 162. Consequently, given these facts, all of which are born out in the Fox-Weiner-Rohrbaugh correspondence, it would appear that the spectre of a violation of grand jury secrecy raised last November was yet another smokescreen futilely raised by DaLesio.

Interestingly enough, defendant has argued the law well but has failed to provide any facts at variance with plaintiff’s account of the episode. The only possibly troublesome claim raised by DaLesio is that plaintiff reviewed documents of Local 311 as well as documents which were personal to Leo DaLesio; however, as of this date, those documents which are allegedly “personal” have not been identified. One item, DaLesio’s desk calendar, has been mentioned, yet plaintiff claims that the calendar was maintained in the course of DaLesio’s duties as secretary-treasurer of Local 311 and is consequently Union property which can legitimately be produced. Plaintiff also notes that DaLesio does not maintain that he produced the calendar pursuant to any subpoena other than the one served on Local 311.

In making this claim as to the desk calendar, plaintiff relies on Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press v. Vance, 442 F.Supp. 383 (D.D.C.1977), which recognized the principle of copyright law that “work created by an employee within the scope of employment is the property of the employer,” applies in a government sphere. 442 F.Supp. at 386. Here the issue involved the character of Secretary Kissinger’s records, and the court concluded that they belonged to the State Department:

Although personal in some respects, Dr. Kissinger’s secretarial notes were compiled under circumstances unlike those surrounding the creation of either Lieutenant Clark’s journals or Admiral Rick[668]*668over’s speeches. The records in dispute here were produced not only in accordance with Department regulations but also on government time and with the aid of department employees, equipment, materials, and other public resources. Having been prepared and transcribed “in the discharge of his official duties”, the notes are property of the United States.12 The
Court further finds that the records were wrongfully removed and should be returned to the State Department.

442 F.Supp. at 387 (Emphasis added).

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82 F.R.D. 664, 28 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 769, 1979 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12266, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/brink-v-dalesio-mdd-1979.