Kaiser v. Consolidated Rail Corp.

514 F. Supp. 784, 1981 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13837
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Ohio
DecidedApril 17, 1981
DocketNo. C 79-712
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 514 F. Supp. 784 (Kaiser v. Consolidated Rail Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Ohio primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Kaiser v. Consolidated Rail Corp., 514 F. Supp. 784, 1981 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13837 (N.D. Ohio 1981).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

DON J. YOUNG, Senior District Judge.

This cause came to be heard upon the filing by defendant Consolidated Rail Corporation (“Conrail”) of a motion to dismiss. Also, defendant Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers (“Union”) has filed a motion to dismiss or, in the alternative, for summary judgment. Plaintiff has now filed an opposition to these motions, only at the urging of the Court in its July 14, 1980 order.

This is an action for breach of a collective bargaining agreement between the Penn Central Transportation Co. (“Carrier”) and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen & Engineermen (“BLF&E”). The amended complaint alleges that the defendant Carrier discharged plaintiff on December 5,1973, in violation of the terms of the collective bargaining agreement. The amended complaint charges the Union with a breach of duty of fair representation in connection with the Union’s alleged failure to process plaintiff’s grievance concerning the December 5, 1973 discharge.

Defendant Conrail’s Motion to Dismiss

Defendant Conrail first moves to dismiss on the ground that Conrail is not the proper defendant and is not liable in its own right for a breach of contract occurring in 1973. Defendant contends that Conrail did not begin operations as a rail carrier until April 1, 1976, pursuant to the Final System Plan prepared under § 206 of the Regional Rail Reorganization Act, as amended, 45 U.S.C. § 716. Defendant Conrail concludes that any liability in the present case remains a preconveyance obligation of the estate of the Penn Central Transportation Company under 45 U.S.C. § 774(e).

Subsequent to the defendant Conrail’s motion to dismiss, plaintiff has filed an amended complaint purporting to divert plaintiff’s claims on to Penn Central. It is unclear, however, whether the amended complaint successfully names Penn Central as a party defendant. Nevertheless, this Court finds that Penn Central is the proper party defendant and that 45 U.S.C. § 774(e) designates Conrail as the processing agent for claims of employees arising under the collective bargaining agreement of defendant Penn Central.

Defendant Conrail next moves for dismissal on the ground that plaintiff’s present lawsuit is barred by the principles of res judicata and collateral estoppel. Defendant contends that plaintiff filed an identical claim arising out of the December 5, 1973 discharge before Judge Walinski entitled Richard C. Kaiser v. Penn Central Transportation Co., No. 75-480. The complaint in that prior case alleges the same cause of action as in the present case, i. e. that plaintiff’s December 5, 1973 discharge violated the terms of the collective bargaining agreement. An amendment to that complaint also charged the Union with a breach of duty of fair representation, but failed to name the Union as a party defendant. Motion to Dismiss Appendix A. In an opinion and order dated August 5, 1976, Judge Walinski dismissed plaintiff’s action for lack of jurisdiction. Judge Walinski held that plaintiff’s complaint stated a “minor dispute,” that is, a controversy over the meaning of an existing collective bargaining agreement. The Judge concluded that such “minor disputes” are within the exclusive jurisdiction of the National Railroad Adjustment Board (“NRAB”) under § 3 of the Railway Labor Act, 45 U.S.C. § 153.

Subsequent to Judge Walinski’s opinion, plaintiff, through his attorney, filed a claim with the NRAB, First Division, on May 29, 1977. An oral hearing was held on January [786]*78625, 1978 at which both plaintiff and his attorney appeared before the Board. Affidavit of A. W. Paulos. To date, no decision has been rendered by the Board.

Plaintiff has now filed this lawsuit involving the very same cause of action as did the prior case. Both complaints-allege that plaintiff’s rights under the collective bargaining agreement were infringed by Penn Central’s termination of plaintiff’s employment on December 5, 1973. Both cases, in reality, involved the same parties, plaintiff Kaiser and defendant Penn Central.

Both lawsuits charged the Union with a breach of duty of fair representation. The only technical difference between the two lawsuits is that the present amended complaint actually names the Union as a party defendant. Plaintiff contends that the presence of the Union as a party defendant, combined with a claim of breach of duty of fair representation, brings this claim within the Glover exception to the exclusive jurisdiction of the NRAB. Glover v. St. Louis-San Francisco Railway Co., 393 U.S. 326, 89 S.Ct. 548, 21 L.Ed.2d 519 (1969).

This Court finds that plaintiff’s jurisdictional arguments regarding the Glover exception are barred by the doctrine of collateral estoppel. This precise jurisdictional issue was actually raised and decided by Judge Walinski in the prior action. The plaintiff raised the issue of the Union’s alleged breach of duty of fair representation in the prior lawsuit, both in his amendment to the complaint and in his motion for reconsideration of Judge Walinski’s final opinion and order. Judge Walinski carefully considered the Glover exception and, yet, concluded that the complaint stated a “minor dispute” within the exclusive jurisdiction of the NRAB. Judge Walinski necessarily held that plaintiff’s conclusory allegations of breach of duty of fair representation were insufficient to give this Court jurisdiction of plaintiff’s claim.

As stated above, the only discernible difference in the present case is that the Union is actually named as a party defendant. The present amended complaint contains the same conclusory allegations regarding the Union’s breach of duty of fair representation. This Court will not permit plaintiff to circumvent Judge Walinski’s order by simply naming the Union as a party defendant.

Since the issue of subject matter jurisdiction of this action was actually litigated and decided between plaintiff and defendant Penn Central in the prior action, plaintiff’s arguments on the same issue in the present case are barred by the doctrine of collateral estoppel. Dismissal of this case against Penn Central will fully effectuate the purposes of the doctrine of collateral estoppel, that is, to protect adversaries from the expense and vexation attending multiple litigations on the same issue; to conserve judicial resources, and to foster reliance on judicial action by minimizing the possibility of inconsistent decisions. Montana v. United States, 440 U.S. 147, 153-54, 99 S.Ct. 970, 973-74, 59 L.Ed.2d 210 (1979).

Finally, plaintiff’s present lawsuit here would, in effect, constitute an impermissible collateral attack on his case which is currently pending before the NRAB. Plaintiff has had opportunity to fully and fairly present his case to the Board with the aid of counsel. Once a claim is submitted to the Board, the Railway Labor Act permits judicial review only after the Board has rendered its decision. 45 U.S.C. § 153 First (¶).

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Related

Kaiser v. Consolidated Rail Corp
705 F.2d 454 (Sixth Circuit, 1982)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
514 F. Supp. 784, 1981 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13837, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kaiser-v-consolidated-rail-corp-ohnd-1981.