Compass Construction v. Indiana/Kentucky/Ohio Regional Council of Carpenters of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters & Joiners of America

890 F. Supp. 2d 836, 2012 WL 3585440, 194 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2269, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 117075
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Ohio
DecidedAugust 20, 2012
DocketCivil Action No. 2:12-cv-186
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 890 F. Supp. 2d 836 (Compass Construction v. Indiana/Kentucky/Ohio Regional Council of Carpenters of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters & Joiners of America) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Ohio primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Compass Construction v. Indiana/Kentucky/Ohio Regional Council of Carpenters of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters & Joiners of America, 890 F. Supp. 2d 836, 2012 WL 3585440, 194 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2269, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 117075 (S.D. Ohio 2012).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

NORAH McCANN KING, United States Magistrate Judge.

This is an action for damages under Section 303 of the Labor Management Relations Act, 29 U.S.C. § 187, brought by plaintiffs Compass Construction (“Compass”), The Daimler Group, Inc. (“Daimler”), and TERiX Computer Services, Inc., (“Terix, Inc.”) against defendants Indiana/Kentucky/Ohio Regional Council of Carpenters of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America (“Regional Council”), the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, Local 200 (“Local 200”), Mark Moen, Doug Reffit, Wesley Osterhout, and Does 1-50. The Amended Complaint alleges unlawful secondary boycott activities on defendants’ part in violation of 29 U.S.C. § 158(b)(4)(ii)(A), (B) and the illegal threatening and coercing an employer to assign particular work to employees of a particular labor organization in violation of 29 U.S.C. § 158(b)(4)(ii)(D). Plaintiffs also assert state law claims of defamation, false light invasion of privacy, and civil conspiracy-

This matter is before the Court with consent of the parties, 28 U.S.C. § 636(c), for consideration of Defendants’ Fed. R.Civ.P., Rule 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(6), Motion to Dismiss Plaintiffs’ Amended Complaint (“Defendants’Motion to Dismiss"), Doc. No. 25, and Defendants’ Fed.R.Civ.P., Rule 26(c)(1), Motion to Stay Discovery (“Defendants’ Motion to Stay Discovery”), Doc. No. 26. For the reasons that follow, Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss is GRANTED and Defendants’ Motion to Stay Discovery is DENIED as moot.

I. PLAINTIFFS’ ALLEGATIONS

Plaintiffs’ Amended Complaint contains the following allegations:

Regional Council and Local 200 are labor organizations that represent employees for the purpose of collective bargaining. Amended Complaint, ¶¶ 10, 11. Regional Council is engaged in a labor dispute with Compass because Compass allegedly fails to follow Regional Council’s area standard wages and benefits. Id. at 20, Exhibit 1. Daimler is a general contractor that subcontracts work to Compass. Id. at 18, 27, 35.

Beginning in the winter of 2011, Regional Council and/or Local 200 started bannering, handbilling, and sending letters to parties who either directly contracted with Daimler to do construction work or were tenants whose landlord contracted with Daimler to do construction work. Regional sent one letter to Net Jets Aviation (“Net Jets”), and engaged in bannering and handbilling outside OhioHealth and Terix, Inc., premises.

The Letter. Bridgeway Partners LLC, as Net Jets’ landlord, contracted with Daimler on or about April 2, 2011 to construct interior tenant improvements and a café within a building being constructed on [839]*839Bridgeway Avenue in Columbus, Ohio. Id. at 17. Daimler then contracted with Compass to install and finish metal studs, drywall, and an acoustic ceiling in the building. Id. at 18. On or about February 7, 2012, Mark Moen sent a letter on behalf of Regional Council to the CEO of Net Jets. Id. at 19. The letter noted that “Daimler often uses subcontractors, including Compass, who fail to follow the Regional Council’s area standard wages and benefits and, as such, the Regional Council has a labor dispute with certain subcontractors, including Compass.” Id. at 19-20. The letter asks the CEO of Net Jets not to use Daimler “so long as their subcontracts do not meet area labor standards.” The letter continues as follows:

We want you to be aware that our public information campaign against the above referenced Subcontractors will unfortunately impact all parties associated with projects where they are employed. That campaign will include highly visible lawful banner displays and distribution of handbills at the jobsite and premises of property owners, developers, general contractors, and other firms involved with projects involving a non-area standard contractor. We certainly prefer to work cooperatively with all involved parties but cannot sit idly by while these entities condone and/or support the non-area standards contractor.
If you agree to comply with the request we have made in this letter, or if our information about a non-area standard contractor being involved with any of your projects is incorrect, please call the undersigned immediately at 888-389-2828. Doing so will provide the greatest protection against your firm becoming publicly involved in this dispute through misunderstanding or error.

Id. at 22-23, Exhibit 1.

The Banners. I-A Preserve Building LLC, identified as Terix, Inc.’s landlord, contracted with Daimler on or about November 30, 2011 to oversee work being performed within a suite of an office building located on Frantz Road in Dublin, Ohio. See id. at 34, 51. Daimler then contracted with Compass to install and finish metal studs, drywall, and an acoustic ceiling in the building. Id. at 35. Plaintiffs allege that Regional Council and/or Local 200 “engaged in ... bannering and handbilling at the Frantz Road project.” Id. at 36. “The banner read[] ‘SHAME ON TERIX COMPUTER’ in large bold print. Id. at 37, Exhibits 5, 6, and 7. “The phrase ‘Labor Dispute’ ” was “written in smaller letters on either side of the banner.” Id.

OhioHealth entered into a contract with Daimler on or about August 18, 2011, for Daimler to oversee work being performed on Riverside Methodist Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. Id. at 26. Daimler then entered into a contract with Compass to perform renovations on the building. Id. at 27. Regional Council and/or Local 200 engaged in bannering at Riverside Methodist Hospital; the “banner read ‘SHAME ON OhioHealth’ in large bold print” and the “phrase ‘Labor Dispute’ was written in smaller letters on either side of the banner.” Id. at 28, 29, Exhibit 2.

The Handbills. Plaintiffs allege that Regional Council and/or Local 200 engaged in handbilling at both the Frantz Road project and Riverside Methodist Hospital. Id. at 28, 33. Regional Council allegedly continued to engage in bannering and handbilling at the Frantz Road project on at least five occasions after Compass completed the project. Id. at 46-47.

The handbills distributed at the Frantz Road project read “SHAME ON Terix Computer For Desecration of the American Way of Life.” Id. at 38, Exhibit 8. [840]*840Underneath this phrase was “a picture which depicts a rat eating an American flag.” Id. “The Handbill further states:

A rat is a contractor that does not pay all of its employees area standard wages, including either providing or making payments for health care and pension benefits.
Shame on Terix Computer for contributing to erosion of area standards for carpenter craft workers. Compass Construction is performing work for general contractor Daimler Group on the Terix Computer project located at 5450 Frantz Rd., Dublin, OH 43016.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
890 F. Supp. 2d 836, 2012 WL 3585440, 194 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2269, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 117075, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/compass-construction-v-indianakentuckyohio-regional-council-of-ohsd-2012.