Coulon v. Carey Cadillac Renting Co.

231 F. Supp. 991, 50 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2888, 1962 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4353
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedAugust 2, 1962
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 231 F. Supp. 991 (Coulon v. Carey Cadillac Renting Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Coulon v. Carey Cadillac Renting Co., 231 F. Supp. 991, 50 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2888, 1962 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4353 (S.D.N.Y. 1962).

Opinion

CASHIN, District Judge.

Defendant has moved to dismiss plaintiffs’ complaint pursuant to Rule 12(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

The present motion for dismissal arises from an action brought by plaintiffs under Section 301 of the Labor Management Relations Act of 1947, 61 Stat. 156, 29 U.S.C. § 185. Plaintiffs’ complaint pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 2201-2202 seeks declaratory relief, alleging a violation of a collective bargaining agreement between an employer engaged in interstate commerce and a labor organization as defined in Section 2(5) of the Labor Management Relations Act.

Plaintiffs (hereinafter referred to as the “Union”), are the Chairman of the Grievance Committee and officials of the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen, C. W. Jones Lodge 835, which is suing in its own right and as representative of the operating employees of the defendant Company.

The defendant, Carey Cadillac Renting Company, Inc., is a corporation having its principal office in the Southern District of New York, and is engaged in the business of leasing chauffeur-driven limousines for the transportation of persons in interstate and intrastate commerce.

On December 1, 1960, the Union and the Company entered into a Collective Bargaining Agreement, Article VI, Section 1 of which reads as follows:

“ARTICLE VI
“BROTHERHOOD
“SECTION 1. The Company agrees that during the term of this contract, all operations of any and all vehicles used in the Company’s business for the production of revenue shall be under the jurisdiction of the Brotherhood. * * * ”

Both parties to the action agree that in effect the labor contract provides for a “union shop”. The plaintiff Union has jurisdiction of the operation of any and all vehicles used in the Company’s business for the production of revenue. The agreement further provides that after sixty days’ service all chauffeurs shall be considered to have qualified and may apply for union membership.

The complaint alleges that on or about and after February 1, 1962, the Company violated and continues to violate the contract in that it has followed a pattern of “farming out” part of its business to competitive enterprises, some of which employ non-union operators. In return, the Company receives revenue in the form of a percentage of the profits collected by those enterprises. As a con[993]*993sequence of this “farming out” procedure, about fifteen members of the Union have been furloughed who would have been able to be employed if this system had not been utilized.

The Union claims that this procedure is an unfair labor practice, and is a violation of the labor agreement. Plaintiffs claim that it is also a scheme to discredit the Union as a collective bargaining agent. The Company has refused to arbitrate on the ground that the question is not an arbitrable issue. The Union’s complaint seeks a declaratory judgment that under the contract of December 1, 1960 the defendant Company cannot, without the consent of the plaintiffs, furlough members of the Brotherhood when there are vehicles to operate and passengers to be transported, with the purpose of transferring customers for revenue purposes to competing enterprises. The Union also seeks an order requiring the defendant to cancel existing furloughs, and to pay money damages.

The Company moves to dismiss the complaint, questioning the jurisdiction of the court, and the correctness of the plaintiffs as parties. The Company’s objections are without merit.

The court has jurisdiction over the present controversy under Section 301 (a) of the Labor Relations Act as amended, 29 U.S.C. § 185. The action is not merely a suit to enforce the alleged claim of an individual member of a labor organization, but obviously concerns the enforcement of the right of a labor union “to maintain the integrity of its contract.” Allied Oil Workers Union v. Ethyl Corp., 301 F.2d 104, 105 (5 Cir. 1962). As such, as was similarly indicated by the learned Judge in the Allied Oil Workers case, the present controversy is ruled not by Association of Westinghouse Salaried Employees v. Westinghouse Electric Corp., 348 U.S. 437, 75 S.Ct. 489, 99 L.Ed. 510 (1955), but falls rather within the doctrine of Textile Workers Union v. Lincoln Mills, 353 U.S. 448, 77 S.Ct. 912, 1 L.Ed.2d 972 (1957); Goodall-Sanford, Inc. v. United Textile Workers of America, 353 U.S. 550, 77 S.Ct. 920, 1 L.Ed.2d 1031 (1957); and General Electric Co. v. Local 205, 353 U.S. 547, 77 S.Ct. 921, 1 L.Ed.2d 1028 (1957).

The crux of the defendant’s dismissal motion is that the plaintiffs do not state a claim upon which relief can be granted, in that it is claimed that the interpretation of the collective bargaining contract which the Union seeks is made illegal by operation of the 1959 Landrum-Griffin Act. In pertinent part, 29 U.S.C. § 158(e) states:

“It shall be an unfair labor practice for any labor organization and any employer to enter into any contract or agreement, express or implied, whereby such employer ceases or refrains or agrees to cease or refrain from handling, using, selling, transporting or otherwise dealing in any of the products of any other employer, or to cease doing business with any other person, and any contract or agreement entered into heretofore or hereafter containing such an agreement shall be to such extent unenforcible and void: * *

The Company asserts that, in view of this provision, as a matter of law its practice of farming out work to competitors and furloughing its employees cannot constitute a violation of an agreement and any agreement which would make it a violation is void and unenforceable. The defendant’s reliance upon Section 158(e) for this proposition is, however, misplaced because the statute was enacted for a different purpose from that claimed by the Company. The legislative history of the act does not indicate that Congress intended that this provision, which was designed to cover secondary boycotts and “hot cargo” agreements, be broadly extended in application to a case such as the one at hand. In this regard, it is interesting to note that in United Steel Workers of America v. Warrior & Gulf Navigation Company, 363 U.S. 574, 80 S.Ct. 1347, 4 L.Ed.2d 1409 (1960), which was decided [994]

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231 F. Supp. 991, 50 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2888, 1962 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4353, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/coulon-v-carey-cadillac-renting-co-nysd-1962.