Lyon v. Atlantic Coast Line Railroad

243 F. Supp. 1020, 60 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2365, 1965 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6545
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. South Carolina
DecidedJuly 21, 1965
DocketCiv. A. No. 4407
StatusPublished

This text of 243 F. Supp. 1020 (Lyon v. Atlantic Coast Line Railroad) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. South Carolina primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lyon v. Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, 243 F. Supp. 1020, 60 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2365, 1965 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6545 (southcarolinawd 1965).

Opinion

WYCHE, District Judge.

The above case is before me upon motion for summary judgment by the defendants upon the grounds that the summons and complaint, the answer, the unanswered Request for Admissions show that there is no genuine issue of any material fact and that the defendants are entitled to judgment as a matter of law; that the plaintiff was served with a Request for Admissions on April 1, 1964; that the plaintiff has not answered said Request for Admissions and therefore the statements set forth therein are deemed admitted for the purposes of this case; plaintiff admits that his claim which is the subject of this action, was submitted to the National Railroad Adjustment Board, Third Division, that he participated in said proceeding and that said Board in Award No. 11257 (Docket No. MS 10925) denied his claim; and upon the further ground that any judicially enforceable cause of action arising from the acts of the defendants in processing plaintiff’s claim, including any alleged collusion or conspiracy, and arising from the refusal of the defendants to misplace another employee on behalf of the plaintiff is now barred by the assertion and presentation of the same to and the adjudication and determination of the validity of such acts, processing and refusal to misplace, by the National Railroad Adjustment Board under the terms and conditions of the applicable collective bargaining agreement, and pursuant to and in comformance with the Railway Labor Act, and that the pleadings and affidavits show that the defendants are entitled to judgment as a matter of law.

The plaintiff filed a claim with the Third Division of the National Railroad Adjustment Board alleging that the union and the carrier, the defendants herein, had acted in collusion to prevent him from being assigned to operate a certain machine known as an “Orton Crane”, to which assignment he was entitled pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement between the defendants. He requested the Adjustment Board to di[1022]*1022rect that he be paid for lost wages and be assigned to operate the machine.

On March 28, 1963, following consideration of the merits of the claim, the Adjustment Board issued Award No. 11257, in the proceeding identified as Docket No. MS 10925, finding that the petitioner had erroneously construed the agreement between the union and the carrier and that under the agreement the petitioner was not entitled to the relief sought, and denying the claim.

Thereafter, on August 15, 1963, the plaintiff commenced the instant action in the Court of Common Pleas, McCormick County, South Carolina. On September 3, 1963, the action was removed to this Court, and on January 3, 1964, a motion to remand was denied. In his complaint plaintiff repeated the allegations previously made before the Adjustment Board and requested the same relief sought from the Adjustment Board and which the Adjustment Board had denied.

The plaintiff is seeking in this action a de novo determination by this Court of the precise matter which was considered and determined by the Adjustment Board. Having gone to, and lost before the National Railroad Adjustment Board, plaintiff is precluded from resort to the courts.

In Union Pacific R. Co. v. Price, 360 U.S. 601, 79 S.Ct. 1351, 3 L.Ed.2d 1460 (1959), the Supreme Court determined the issue presented here. There, a railroad employee sued in the District Court to recover from the railroad damages resulting from a discharge allegedly in violation of a collective bargaining agreement between the union and the defendant carrier. The validity of the discharge had previously been unsuccessfully challenged on the same grounds in a proceeding before the Adjustment Board. The District Court granted the defendant’s motion for summary judgment, the Court of Appeals reversed, and the Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeals and remanded with a direction to that Court to affirm the judgment of the District Court. In so holding, the Supreme Court relied both upon the express terms of the statute and the legis-. lative history underlying the enactment providing for the establishment of the Adjustment Board.

Section 3 First (m) of the Railway Labor Act (48 Stat. 1191-1192, 45 U.S. C.A. § 153 First (m)) provides: “The awards of the several divisions of the Adjustment Board shall be stated in writing. A copy of the awards shall be furnished to the respective parties to the controversy, and the awards shall be final and binding upon both parties to the dispute, except insofar as they shall contain a money award. In case a dispute arises involving an interpretation of the award, the division of the Board upon request of either party shall interpret the award in the light of the dispute.” (Emphasis added)

The statute on its face states that the Board’s disposition of a dispute shall be “final and binding” with no provision that such determination is subject to subsequent court attack by the losing party, as the plaintiff in this case is seeking to do.

The history surrounding the enactment of legislation creating the Adjustment Board shows that Congress intended to make Adjustment Board determinations final and binding. In hearings before the House and Senate Committees considering the legislation to create the Adjustment Board, it was made clear by witnesses testifying in favor of the legislation that one of the strongest points in support of the creation of the Adjustment Board was that its decisions would be final and binding. See discussion in Union Pacific R. Co. v. Price, supra, pages 609-614, 79 S.Ct. pages 1355-1358.

The Supreme Court’s conclusion in Union Pacific R. Co. v. Price, supra, is applicable in the present case: “To say that the discharged employee may litigate the validity of his discharge in a common-law action for damages after failing to sustain his grievance before [1023]*1023the Board is to say that Congress planned that the Board should function only to render advisory opinions, and intended the Act’s entire scheme for the settlement of grievances to be regarded ‘as wholly conciliatory in character, involving no element of legal effectiveness, with the consequence that the parties are entirely free to accept or ignore the Board’s decision. * * * (a contention) inconsistent with the Act’s terms, purposes and legislative history.’ Elgin, J. & E. R. Co. v. Burley, 325 U.S. 711, 720-721 [65 S.Ct. 1282, 1288, 89 L.Ed. 1886].” (At page 617, 79 S.Ct. at page 1360.)

In Brotherhood of Locomotive Engrs. v. Louisville & N. R. Co., 373 U.S. 33, 38, 83 S.Ct. 1059, 1062, 10 L.Ed.2d 172 (1963), the Supreme Court said: “The several decisions of this Court interpreting § 3 First have made it clear that this statutory grievance procedure is a mandatory, exclusive, and comprehensive system for resolving grievance disputes. * * * A corollary of this view has been the principle that the process of decision through the Adjustment Board cannot be challenged ' collaterally by methods of review not provided for in the statute. In Union Pacific R. Co. v. Price, 360 U.S. 601 [79 S.Ct.

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Related

Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway Co. v. Burley
325 U.S. 711 (Supreme Court, 1945)
Union Pacific Railroad v. Price
360 U.S. 601 (Supreme Court, 1959)
Locomotive Engrs. v. L. & NR Co.
373 U.S. 33 (Supreme Court, 1963)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
243 F. Supp. 1020, 60 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2365, 1965 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6545, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lyon-v-atlantic-coast-line-railroad-southcarolinawd-1965.