Jacobsen v. Luckenbach Steamship Co.

201 F. Supp. 883, 5 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 311, 49 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2587, 1961 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3714
CourtDistrict Court, D. Oregon
DecidedDecember 13, 1961
DocketCiv. No. 60-318
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 201 F. Supp. 883 (Jacobsen v. Luckenbach Steamship Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Oregon primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Jacobsen v. Luckenbach Steamship Co., 201 F. Supp. 883, 5 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 311, 49 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2587, 1961 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3714 (D. Or. 1961).

Opinion

KILKENNY, District Judge.

This is a common law action by plaintiff against defendant to recover certain pension benefits as a third party beneficiary. Plaintiff is a Columbia River pilot. Defendant is the owner and operator of a fleet of ocean going vessels operating in' intercoastal waters and on the high seas. Prior to March 27, 1947, defendant occasionally engaged the services of plaintiff as a Columbia River pilot and from that date through November 1959, when plaintiff retired at the age of 68, defendant employed the plaintiff at a regular monthly salary as a Columbia River pilot on its vessels on the Columbia River and its tributaries.

[885]*885In October 1953, Pacific Maritime Association,1 acting for plaintiff, entered into a contract with the International Organization of Masters, Mates & Pilots, West Coast Local No. 90.2 This agreement was amended from time to time until July 28, 1958, when an agreement ■was signed which was entitled “Agreement Covering Offshore, Intercoastal and Alaska Trade.” 3 This agreement refers to and incorporates as part of its provisions another agreement between PMA .and Local 90 known as the Pension agreement under which, in addition to a certain Declaration of Trust, the plaintiff •claims his rights. The agreements were thereafter amended from time to time, but the amendments are of no particular significance. The declared purpose of "these agreements was to promote more stable labor relations for the defendant with its Licensed Deck Officer employees •covered thereby and to grant said employees certain rights, benefits and privileges in lieu of and in addition to basic wages and to improve the efficiency of the operations of defendant and other members of the PMA.

After plaintiff’s retirement in December 1959, plaintiff submitted to defendant a request for information concerning a pension. The request was forwarded by defendant to the PMA. Further correspondence was had between the parties with reference to the pension claim, which correspondence found its way to the trustees of the Pension Plan, although plaintiff had no direct correspondence with or made any formal application to the trustees of said Plan. Plaintiff was advised that he had no rights under the agreements between PMA, Local 90 and said trustees.

Plaintiff’s principal contentions are as follows:

1. That he is a third party beneficiary under the agreements between the defendant, as represented by PMA and Local 90, which he claims was the sole bargaining agent for all Licensed Deck Officer employees and that he falls within any reasonable definition of a “Licensed Deck Officer”, and is therefore covered by the Pension and Trust agreements and entitled to their benefits.

2. That defendant, by its conduct, is precluded on the basis of estoppel from denying to plaintiff his pension rights.

The defendant contends:

1. That plaintiff is not a beneficiary, third party or otherwise, under the agreements between defendant and Local 90 and that it never was the intention of the parties to include plaintiff as such a beneficiary.

2. That assuming, arguendo, plaintiff is such a beneficiary, his sole remedy would be to invoke the procedure provided by the National Labor Relations Act and the agreements and, for that reason, this Court has no jurisdiction.

In view of my ultimate conclusion, a decision on the jurisdictional point would control and it would not be necessary to pass on the plaintiff’s common law claims. However, it would seem that this cause is earmarked for appeal and since there are certain issues of fact involved on the plaintiff’s first and second contentions, I believe it would be well for me to express my views on those issues and make findings on the evidence presented.

I. The language of the Pension Plan agreement which seems to be the basis of plaintiff’s claim directed that all employers party to the Plan “shall contribute to the MMP-PMA Pension Fund for each day of covered employment of eligible Licensed Deck Officers * * No such contribution was made by defendant for plaintiff.

The agreement provided that upon retirement of an eligible Licensed Deck Officer he should present an application to the trustees of the Pension Trust for his pension payments. The trustees were impowered to determine the eligibility of the applicant in accordance with the conditions of the agreement. The Master [886]*886agreement between PMA and Local 90 made specific reference to the Welfare & Pension Plan agreements.4 The Pension agreement (Exhibit 2) contains a definition of covered employment which would exclude plaintiff.5 A contributing employer is likewise defined:

“§ 14. Contributing Employer. ‘Contributing Employer’ means any employer on whose behalf the Association executes this Agreement or who obligates himself under Article VI of this Agreement.”

The covered employee is also defined.6 Only an eligible Licensed Deck Officer is entitled to the benefits under the Pension Plan.7 The trustees are the sole judges of the eligibility and other disputes which might arise under the Pension Plan (Exhibit 2, Article V, § 5) and their decision is final and binding on all parties, including licensed deck officers. The validity of claims against the Pension Trust Fund are governed exclusively by the Pension Plan agreement, the Declaration of Trust and the rules and regulations adopted by the trustees.8 The language of the Declaration of Trust is to the same effect.9 The Trust provides a full and complete administrative [887]*887procedure for the processing of claims such as that of plaintiff.10 Under the provisions of the Trust no employee or other beneficiary shall have a right to claim a pension except as specified in the Trust or the Pension Plan.11

The Master agreement contains a section on the wages to be paid to the licensed deck officers covered by the agreement. Although plaintiff claims to be a licensed deck officer, he concedes that he is not covered by the section on wages, hours and working conditions. He testified that he personally negotiated with defendant on all of those matters. It is significant that the master and other agreements specifically covered and provided for pilots who were employed as regular crew members on ships in the Alaska Trade. These pilots were recognized even to the extent of fixing a base monthly wage rate.12 The specific inclusion of pilots engaged in the Alaska Trade is rather conclusive that the parties did not intend to include Columbia River pilots, such as the plaintiff. Furthermore, the agreements cover only masters, mates and pilots of Local 90. Plaintiff concedes that he was not a member of Local 90. He admits that he was a member, as a pilot, of Local 98. The evidence is conclusive that Columbia River pilots, such as plaintiff, were not accepted as members of Local 90 during the period in question. The express inclusion in the contract of pilots in the Alaska Trade demands an application of the well known rule of contractual construction expressio unius est exclusio alterius. United States ex rel. Tennessee Valley Authority v.

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Bluebook (online)
201 F. Supp. 883, 5 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 311, 49 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2587, 1961 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3714, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jacobsen-v-luckenbach-steamship-co-ord-1961.