Hardy v. INTERN. BROTH. OF BOILERMAKERS, ETC.

682 F. Supp. 1323
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedFebruary 29, 1988
DocketCiv. A. No. 86-4520
StatusPublished

This text of 682 F. Supp. 1323 (Hardy v. INTERN. BROTH. OF BOILERMAKERS, ETC.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hardy v. INTERN. BROTH. OF BOILERMAKERS, ETC., 682 F. Supp. 1323 (E.D. Pa. 1988).

Opinion

682 F.Supp. 1323 (1988)

HARDY, Daniel W. and Wilson, Ernest G.
v.
INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF BOILERMAKERS, IRON SHIP BUILDERS, BLACKSMITHS, FORGERS AND HELPERS, and Abbott, Ande.

Civ. A. No. 86-4520.

United States District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania.

February 29, 1988.

*1324 *1325 Judith Brown Chomsky, Ira Jay Katz, Philadelphia, Pa., for plaintiffs.

William Einhorn, Sagot & Jennings, Philadelphia, Pa., Steve A.J. Bukaty, Blake & Uhlig, P.A., Kansas City, Kan., for defendants.

MEMORANDUM

CLIFFORD SCOTT GREEN, District Judge.

Plaintiffs Daniel W. Hardy and Ernest G. Wilson are the former president and executive secretary respectively of Local Lodge 802 ("Lodge 802"), the collective bargaining representatives of ship building employees at the Pennsylvania Ship Building Company ("Penn Ship") in Chester, Pennsylvania. Lodge 802 is a subordinate union branch of the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Ship Builders, Blacksmiths Forgers and Helpers ("International"). The defendants are International and Ande Abbott, the former appointed trustee of Local 802.

In this action, plaintiffs challenge International's imposition and administration of a trusteeship over Lodge 802 from May 19, 1986 through December 31, 1986 and subsequent internal union proceedings against plaintiffs as violations of Title III of the Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act ("LMRDA" or "the Act"), 29 U.S. C. § 461 et seq. and International's Constitution. As relief, plaintiffs seek an order (1) declaring the trusteeship invalid[1], (2) declaring defendants' removal of plaintiffs from office was invalid and reinstating the plaintiffs to their respective offices, (3) setting aside International's decision on the internal union charges and (4) awarding plaintiffs compensatory and punitive damages, costs, and attorney fees.

To date, plaintiffs have filed several motions with this court. Currently pending are three motions by plaintiff: a motion for summary judgment, a motion for summary judgment on internal union charges and a motion for a preliminary injunction on internal union charges. In turn, defendants have filed a motion for summary judgment. The record before the court consists not only of the pleadings, but also of the depositions, affidavits and hearing record on the motion for preliminary injunctive relief. This court has jurisdiction over this matter pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1337, and 29 U.S.C. §§ 185, 464(a) and (b).

Undisputed facts, as set forth in the proposed pretrial order and elsewhere in the pleadings, include the following: Plaintiffs Hardy and Wilson assumed their offices as president and executive secretary of Lodge 802 on October 1, 1984. Their terms were scheduled to end on June 30, 1987. At the time plaintiffs assumed office Lodge 802 was facing financial difficulties. By the beginning of 1986, Lodge 802 owed approximately $35,000 in per capita tax to International, notwithstanding the fact that the lodge members had paid their dues to the lodge, and an additional $17,000 in unpaid real estate taxes and penalties on its building. The growing arrearage in per capita tax threatened to jeopardize Lodge 802's standing with International. Normally, such taxes, paid from membership dues, went to support the activities of International *1326 on behalf of all subordinate lodges. One such activity was International's Consolidated Convention which occurred every five years and was scheduled to take place in August, 1986. Because of the outstanding per capita tax arrearages, Lodge 802 was not entitled to participate in the convention.

The parties agree that the financial health of Lodge 802 has long been intertwined with that of Penn Ship. In prior times of full employment at the shipyard, when Lodge 802 had several thousand members, the Lodge employed a full-time business manager, and paid lost time compensation of four hours per day to two chief stewards for services rendered. This manpower was considered necessary to service the members of the bargaining unit. However, when Penn Ship began to experience difficult economic times in 1985 and resorted to mass layoffs, Lodge 802 felt the impact through falling membership rolls. During this financial crisis, it appears that union members made several unsuccessful attempts to persuade and direct Hardy and Wilson to undertake certain cost-cutting measures such as having secretary Wilson and Chief Steward Frank Sutton return to work full-time in the shipyard rather than to continue to draw salaries from the limited funds of the union. This issue was also the focus of several communications occurring between plaintiffs and the International.

Defendants established a trusteeship over the Lodge on May 19, 1986. Mr. Abbott delivered to Hardy on May 19, 1986, and to Wilson on May 20, 1986, copies of a telegram from International President Charles W. Jones. The telegram advised all lodge officers that "[a]s a consequence of the problems which have arisen relating to the administration of the affairs of Lodge 802," President Jones was exercising his emergency powers pursuant to Article XVIII, section 3 of the Constitution to (1) appoint Ande Abbott as a trustee over Local 802, (2) suspend Hardy and Wilson from their offices "immediately and indefinitely" and (3) appoint a hearing officer with regard to the trusteeship.

Trustee Abbott, upon delivering the telegram to Hardy, commented that the only reasons he was aware of for the trusteeship were the per capita tax owed to International and complaints received by International about "what was happening" in the Lodge.

On or about May 20, 1986, Trustee Abbott gave Hardy a copy of the "Official Hearing Notice" which set the time and place of the trusteeship hearing. Hardy discussed the trusteeship hearing with Abbott on or about May 28 at the Lodge.

The trusteeship hearing took place on June 2, 1986. Plaintiffs appeared, testified and presented rebuttal evidence. The hearing officer did not permit plaintiffs or any other person to cross-examine witnesses.

Following the hearing, International President Jones sent ballots to members of the Executive Council of International requesting their vote on whether to continue the trusteeship. By September 3, 1986 a majority of the Executive Council had voted in favor of continuing the trusteeship.[2]

On September 16, 1986, Trustee Abbott filed internal union charges against plaintiffs, alleging that they violated Article XVII, section 1(g) of the Constitution by "mishandling, misappropriating or otherwise misusing union funds or properties." The particular facts cited as a basis for the charges included Hardy's allegedly wrongful salary overpayments, in excess of the *1327 salary prescribed by the local's by-laws, to Wilson and lost time payments to Chief Steward Sutton.

A hearing on the internal union charges against plaintiffs was held on October 8, 1986. International officer Don Lacefield presided over the hearing, which the parties agree was "conducted in strict conformity" with the International Constitution. (Pretrial Order, p. 16). Sometime later that month the Executive Council found that plaintiffs had violated the Constitution and Lodge 802's by-laws with regard to the payments to Wilson.

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682 F. Supp. 1323, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hardy-v-intern-broth-of-boilermakers-etc-paed-1988.