Georgia State AFL-CIO v. Olens

194 F. Supp. 3d 1322, 206 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 3747, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 94011, 2016 WL 3774071
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Georgia
DecidedJuly 7, 2016
DocketCIVIL ACTION NO. 1:13-cv-03745
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 194 F. Supp. 3d 1322 (Georgia State AFL-CIO v. Olens) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Georgia State AFL-CIO v. Olens, 194 F. Supp. 3d 1322, 206 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 3747, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 94011, 2016 WL 3774071 (N.D. Ga. 2016).

Opinion

ORDER

William C. O’Kelley, Senior United States District Judge

The above-captioned case is before the court for consideration of defendants Sam Olens and John Nathan Deal’s (hereinafter “defendants”) motion for judgment on the pleadings [28] and plaintiffs Georgia State AFL-CIO, Truck Drivers & Helpers Local No. 728 (“Local No. 728”), and United Food and Commercial Workers, Local 1996’s (“Local 1996”) (hereinafter “plaintiffs”) motion for summary judgment [41], The parties have filed responses to the respective motions [32, 44]. The court will begin by briefly recounting the procedural history and facts at issue in the case.

I. Procedural History and Factual Background

This action was filed on November 12, 2013. The facts are largely undisputed. Plaintiffs mount a facial challenge to revisions of Georgia’s right-to-work statute that became effective July 1, 2013. See O.C.G.A. §§ 34-6-21 to -28; 2013 Ga. Laws 192; see also H.B. 361, 152d Gen. Assemb., Reg. Sess. (Ga. 2013). On March 21, 2014, defendants filed a motion to dismiss. The court granted in part and denied in part defendants’ motion. Plaintiffs have since narrowed their claims to challenge only three sections of the statute — 3(d), 4, and 5. (See Joint Prelim. Report & Disc. Plan 2, ECF No. 27.)

Section 3(d) states that “[n]o employer or labor organization shall be forced to enter into any agreement, contract, understanding, or practice ... that subverts the established process by which employees may make informed and free decisions regarding representation and collective bargaining rights provided for by federal la[1325]*1325bor laws.” O.C.G.A. § 34-6-21(d). Section 4 prohibits an employer from deducting from “wages or other earnings of any employee any fee, assessment, or other sum of money ... to be paid over to a labor organization except on the written authorization of the employee. Such authorization may be revoked at any time at the request of the employee.” Id. § 34-6-25(a) (emphasis added). Lastly, section 5 makes it unlawful for employers and labor organizations to contract for such a deduction from wages (i.e., one not revocable at will). Id. § 34-6-26(a).

Plaintiffs allege that these statutory sections are preempted by the National Labor Relations Act, 29 U.S.C. §§ 151-169, as amended by the Labor Management Relations Act, 29 U.S.C. § 141-197 (“NLRA”) as the governing federal law and standard under the Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution. Plaintiffs base their claim on several portions of the NLRA, including Section 302(c)(4) (codified at 29 U.S.C. § 186), which provides inter alia that “[i]t shall be unlawful for any employer or association of employers ... to pay, lend, or deliver ... any money or other thing of value ... to any representative of any of his employees who are employed in an industry affecting commerce.” 29 U.S.C. § 186(a)(1) (2012). In the same section, the statute lists several exceptions to this general rule. See id. § 184(e). Among them, it specifies that

The provisions of this section shall not be applicable ... with respect to money deducted from the wages of employees in payment of membership dues in a labor organization: Provided, That the employer has received from each employee, on whose account such deductions are made, a written assignment which shall not be irrevocable for a period of more than one year, or beyond the termination date of the applicable collective agreement, whichever occurs sooner.

Id. § 186(c)(4) (emphasis added). Likewise, plaintiffs assert that O.C.G.A. § 34-6-21(d) is preempted for similarly interfering with NLRA regulation and attempting to exercise authority over an area exclusively regulated by federal law.

Plaintiff Georgia State AFL-CIO is a voluntary unincorporated labor federation affiliated with various labor organizations (e.g., plaintiffs Local No. 728 and Local 1996 in this case).1 Several of these organizations are currently parties to collective bargaining agreements (“CBAs”) that contain provisions governing employer payroll deduction authorizations. In contrast to the Georgia statute, yet consistent with federal law, these provisions make employee checkoff authorizations irrevocable for one year or until the expiration date of the applicable collective bargaining agreement, whichever occurs sooner. This forms the basis of the dispute as it presently stands.

On the theories that plaintiffs (1) have failed to sufficiently plead their allegations of Garmon and Machinist preemption, (2) have improperly based their 42 U.S.C. § 1983 claim on the Supremacy Clause, and, alternatively, (3) have failed to show that the NLRA grants a federal right sufficient to pursue their § 1983 claim, defendants moved for a judgment on the pleadings on September 8, 2015, After a period [1326]*1326for discovery, plaintiffs moved for summary judgment. The court will discuss these two motions in turn.

II. Defendants’ Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(c) provides that “[a]fter the pleadings are closed — but early enough not to delay trial — a party may move for judgment on the pleadings.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(c). “Judgment on the pleadings is appropriate where there are no material facts in dispute and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Cannon v. City of W. Palm Beach, 250 F.3d 1299, 1301 (11th Cir.2001); see also Ortega v. Christian, 85 F.3d 1521, 1524 (11th Cir.1996). The court must accept the facts in the complaint as true and view them in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. Cannon, 250 F.3d at 1301. The court may consider only the substance of the pleadings and any judicially noticed facts. Hawthorne v. Mac Adjustment, Inc., 140 F.3d 1367, 1370 (11th Cir.1998). Thus, “[t]he complaint may not be dismissed ‘unless it appears beyond doubt that the plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of his claim which would entitle him to relief.’ ” Id. (quoting Slagle v. ITT Hartford, 102 F.3d 494

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194 F. Supp. 3d 1322, 206 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 3747, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 94011, 2016 WL 3774071, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/georgia-state-afl-cio-v-olens-gand-2016.