Cruz v. Local Union Number 3 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers

150 F.R.D. 29, 1993 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9570, 1993 WL 262676
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. New York
DecidedJuly 12, 1993
DocketNo. CV 89-4240 (ADS)
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 150 F.R.D. 29 (Cruz v. Local Union Number 3 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Cruz v. Local Union Number 3 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, 150 F.R.D. 29, 1993 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9570, 1993 WL 262676 (E.D.N.Y. 1993).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM DECISION AND ORDER

SPATT, District Judge.

This action was initially commenced with the plaintiffs’ assertion of two causes of action: (1) under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act of 1988 (“WARN”) against the employer, Robert Abbey, Inc.; and (2) under section 301 of the Labor Management Relations Act for the alleged breach by both the employer and by the defendant Local Union Number 3 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (“the Union”) of the duty of fair representation. The action against the employer was settled for the sum of $110,000 on or about April 22, 1993.

The fair representation cause of action against the Union was tried from April 26, 1993 through May 7, 1993. On the third day of trial, the Court decertified the class of plaintiffs. The claims of fourteen plaintiffs were submitted to the jury, which rendered a verdict on May 7, 1993, awarding money damages to eight of the fourteen plaintiffs. Answering the questions on the verdict sheet, the jurors found (1) that the employer Robert Abbey, Inc. had violated the seniority provisions of the collective bargaining agreement when it laid off the eight prevailing plaintiffs; (2) that defendant Local 3 had breached its duty of fair representation to the plaintiffs; (3) that monetary damages were sustained by those eight plaintiffs; and (4) that the Union was responsible for 90% of the damages sustained by Carmen Febles and that the Union was responsible for 100% of the damages sustained by the remaining seven plaintiffs. The jury awarded a total of $25,965.86 in backpay in favor of the eight plaintiffs against the sole remaining defendant, Local Union Number 3.

After the jury was discharged, counsel for the defendant Union moved for judgment as a matter of law pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 50. The Court requested that both parties submit papers with regard to the defendant’s Rule 50 motion and the issue of attorney’s fees for the prevailing plaintiffs’ counsel.

On June 11,1993, the parties appeared and argued the following issues as directed by the Court: (1) whether the damage award was so speculative as to require the Court to set it aside; (2) if the damage award were to be set aside, should the court direct that nominal damages be awarded to the successful plaintiffs; and (3) whether counsel for the successful plaintiffs are entitled to recover attorney’s fees in the event the verdict is reduced to an award for nominal damages.

[32]*32Having reviewed the papers submitted by both parties, and having heard oral argument of these issues on June 11, 1993, and for the reasons stated in the record during oral argument, the Court made the following determinations:

(1) the Court declined to set aside the jury’s finding that Local Union Number 3 breached its duty of fair representation, and held that there was substantial evidence in the record of a violation of that duty by the Union; the defendant’s motion for judgment as a matter of law was therefore denied;
(2) with regard to the issue of compensatory damages, the Court found that there was no reasonable view of the evidence that could support the monetary damages awarded to the eight successful plaintiffs by the jury (see Trademark Research Corp. v. Maxwell Online, Inc., 995 F.2d 326, 334 [2d Cir.1993] [“New York law does not countenance damage awards based on ‘Speculation or conjecture’; ‘there must be a definite and logical connection between what is proved and the damages a jury is asked to find,’ ” quoting Berley Indus., Inc. v. City of New York, 45 N.Y.2d 683, 687, 412 N.Y.S.2d 589, 591, 385 N.E.2d 281, 283 (1978) ]; see also Yanity v. Benware, 376 F.2d 197 [2d Cir.1967]; Bloom v. Intern. Broth. of Teamsters Local 468, 752 F.2d 1312 [9th Cir.1984]);
(3) despite the fact that the record does not support an award of compensatory damages as a matter of law, the Court determined that an award of nominal damages was appropriate based upon the union’s breach of the duty of fair representation, as a matter of right since substantive rights had been violated (see Ruggiero v. Krzeminski, 928 F.2d 558 [2d Cir.1991]; Smith v. Coughlin, 748 F.2d 783, 789 [2d Cir.1984]; Gray v. Great American Recreation Association, Inc., 970 F.2d 1081 [2d Cir.1992]); see also Rosario v. Amalgamated Ladies’ Garment Cutters’ Union, 749 F.2d 1000 [2d Cir.1984]; Thomas v. Bakery, Confectionary and Tobacco Workers International Union, Local 433, 982 F.2d 1215 [8th Cir.1993];
(4) the plaintiffs’ attorneys were entitled to an award of attorney’s fees incurred as a result of the union’s breach of its duty of fair representation (see Ames v. Westinghouse Elec. Corp., 864 F.2d 289 [3d Cir.1988]; Zuniga v. United Can Co., 812 F.2d 443 [9th Cir.1987]; Bygott v. Leaseway Transportation Corp., 637 F.Supp. 1433 [E.D.Pa.1986]; Harrison v. United Transportation Union, 530 F.2d 558 [4th Cir.1974], cert. denied, 425 U.S. 958, 96 S.Ct. 1739, 48 L.Ed.2d 203 [1976]; compare Farrar v. Hobby, — U.S. -, 113 S.Ct. 566, 121 L.Ed.2d 494 [1992]);
(5) the Court declined to award prejudgment interest.

The Court then directed the attorneys for the plaintiff to submit an affidavit of services. Additional time was given for the defendant to respond to that affidavit. The Court now considers the final issue in this case concerning the amount of attorney’s fees to be awarded to the attorneys for the prevailing plaintiffs.

I. Calculation of Attorney’s Fees

An award of attorney’s fees to a prevailing party rests squarely within the District Court’s discretion (see Rosario v. Amalgamated Ladies’ Garment Cutters’ Union, 749 F.2d 1000, 1004 [2d Cir.1984]). Further, “[h]ours spent on claims unrelated to those forming the basis of the claim giving rise to the fee award must be excluded unless the claims ‘involve a common core of facts or will be based on related legal theories’ ” (Rosario, at p. 1004, quoting Hensley v. Eckerhart, 461 U.S. 424, 435, 103 S.Ct. 1933, 1940, 76 L.Ed.2d 40 [1983]). In such cases, the lawsuit cannot be viewed as a series of “discrete claims,” and the District Court should focus “on the significance of the overall relief obtained by the plaintiff in relation to the hours reasonably expended on the litigation---- The most critical factor is the degree of success obtained” (Hensley v. Eckerhart, supra).

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

Related

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
150 F.R.D. 29, 1993 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9570, 1993 WL 262676, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cruz-v-local-union-number-3-of-the-international-brotherhood-of-electrical-nyed-1993.