Careflite v. Office & Professional Employees International Union

612 F.3d 314, 188 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 3089, 2010 U.S. App. LEXIS 14334, 2010 WL 2745813
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
DecidedJuly 13, 2010
Docket08-10807
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 612 F.3d 314 (Careflite v. Office & Professional Employees International Union) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Careflite v. Office & Professional Employees International Union, 612 F.3d 314, 188 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 3089, 2010 U.S. App. LEXIS 14334, 2010 WL 2745813 (5th Cir. 2010).

Opinions

DENNIS, Circuit Judge:

This case involves the scope of a grievance procedure set forth in a collective bargaining agreement between an airline and its pilots’ union under the Railway Labor Act (“RLA”), 45 U.S.C. § 151 et seq. “The RLA, which was extended in 1936 to cover the airline industry, see Act of Apr. 10, 1936, ch. 166, 49 Stat. 1189; 45 U.S.C. §§ 181-188, sets up a mandatory arbitral [316]*316mechanism to handle disputes ‘growing out of grievances or out of the interpretation or application of agreements concerning rates of pay, rules, or working conditions.’ ” Hawaiian Airlines, Inc. v. Norris, 512 U.S. 246, 114 S.Ct. 2239, 129 L.Ed.2d 203 (1994) (quoting 45 U.S.C. § 151(a)).

The first question in this case is whether an airline pilot and his bargaining representative, the Professional Employees International Union, AFL-CIO (“the Union”), who claim that he was wrongfully discharged because he did not timely obtain an Airline Transport Pilot Certificate (“ATP”) from the Federal Aviation Administration (“FAA”), may seek redress through the RLA’s arbitral mechanism, or whether they must pursue other remedies for wrongful discharge, because the collective bargaining agreement explicitly provides that “termination of employment resulting from a pilot’s failure to obtain an ATP within the time requirements of this section is non-grievable and non-arbitrable.” We conclude that the grievance concerning his discharge is not a dispute growing out of the interpretation or application of the collective bargaining agreement and, therefore, is not a grievance or dispute subject to the RLA’s arbitral mechanism.

The second question is whether the airline pilot and the Union, in claiming that his employer, CareFlite, during his employment, wrongfully denied him an extension and adequate time to prepare for the ATP test, thus treating him in a less favorable manner than required by the CBA in retaliation for his having prevailed in a prior arbitration proceeding, may seek redress through the RLA’s arbitral mechanism. Because the CBA does not expressly or implicitly exclude this dispute from the grievance and arbitration mechanism, and this question calls for an interpretation and application of the CBA, we conclude that the pilot and the Union may seek redress through the RLA’s arbitral mechanism to resolve this dispute.

I. BACKGROUND

CareFlite is a non-profit medical air transportation company operating the largest emergency medical helicopter service in North Texas, with six medical transport helicopters operating from five bases in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. As of the time of the events giving rise to this lawsuit, CareFlite employed 18 helicopter pilots; CareFlite’s pilots have been represented by the Union since 2001. CareFlite and the Union are parties to a collective bargaining agreement (“the CBA”) that is effective from April 6, 2006 until April 6, 2011. The CBA requires that all of the pilots in the bargaining unit acquire an ATP, the FAA’s highest pilot certification. At the time the CBA was negotiated, only a few CareFlite pilots already possessed ATPs. The CBA required CareFlite to provide an ATP training class for its pilots and specified that pilots employed by CareFlite at the time the agreement was adopted would have one year from the date of this training class to obtain their ATPs. Finally, the CBA included the following clause: “termination of employment resulting from a pilot’s failure to obtain an ATP within the time requirements of this section is non-grievable and non-arbitrable.” CBA Art. 12(1). The CBA also included a clause stating that “[a] termination of employment [for failure to complete required training or certification, which includes a termination for failure to obtain or have an ATP] is non-grievable and non-arbitrable.” CBA Art. 13(4).

Craig Lee Hilton began working as a pilot for CareFlite on December 10, 1998. Beginning in November 2005, Hilton served as the CareFlite Committee Chair[317]*317man for OPEIU Local 108, the highest union position in the CareFlite bargaining unit. On January 12, 2006, Hilton, in his capacity as a union representative, informed Raymond Dauphinais, CareFlite’s Vice President and Director of Operations, that the pilots were concerned, for reasons the record does not disclose, about CareFlite’s choice of employee for the position of Aviation Training Manager. On June 6, 2006, CareFlite discharged Hilton, purportedly due to incidents involving interpersonal conflict and lack of judgment. The Union filed a grievance relating to that discharge, alleging that CareFlite was retaliating against Hilton for his union activity, and the arbitrator ordered Hilton reinstated on the grounds that CareFlite did not have cause to terminate him.

The arbitrator gave CareFlite two weeks to reinstate Hilton. CareFlite offered Hilton reinstatement at the end of the two-week period, on Friday, April 20, 2007. Hilton accepted. On Friday, May 4, 2007, CareFlite told Hilton to report for training on Monday, May 7, 2007, his first day of work following reinstatement. Upon returning to work Hilton and the Union, on his behalf, asked various members of CareFlite’s management whether Hilton would be given an additional ten months (the time he was out of work) to complete his ATP requirement, given that, due to the improper discharge, he had not been employed by CareFlite for most of the year the other pilots had had to obtain their ATPs. CareFlite management indicated it would not grant any such extension, because Hilton could have obtained his ATP during the time he was discharged or after the arbitrator ordered his reinstatement, or could still obtain it by the deadline. The Union filed a grievance on May 15, 2007, based on CareFlite’s unwillingness to extend the ATP deadline for Hilton (“time extension grievance”), accusing CareFlite of retaliating against Hilton for prevailing in the arbitration. CareFlite denied the grievance and maintains that it is not arbitrable under the CBA.

On May 26, 2007, the deadline for acquiring an ATP by “current” pilots under the CBA, CareFlite discharged Hilton for not possessing the certification. On June 1, 2007, the Union filed a grievance challenging Hilton’s discharge and seeking reinstatement and an extension of the ATP deadline (“discharge grievance”). CareFlite denied the grievance and maintains that it is not arbitrable under the CBA. On June 4, 2007, CareFlite filed a motion in federal district court seeking a declaratory judgment that both the May 15, 2007, time extension grievance and the June 1, 2007, discharge grievance are not arbitrable and cannot be submitted to arbitration because the CBA provides that “termination of employment resulting from a pilot’s failure to obtain an ATP within the time requirements of this section is nongrievable and non-arbitrable.” CBA Art. 12(1). The Union and Hilton filed a counterclaim seeking a declaratory judgment that the grievances are arbitrable, or alternatively, seeking judicial relief on independent state and federal law claims for CareFlite’s alleged breach of contract and violation of the RLA. The parties filed cross-motions for summary judgment.

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612 F.3d 314, 188 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 3089, 2010 U.S. App. LEXIS 14334, 2010 WL 2745813, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/careflite-v-office-professional-employees-international-union-ca5-2010.