Monarch Long Beach Corp. v. Soft Drink Workers

762 F.2d 228
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Second Circuit
DecidedMay 20, 1985
DocketNo. 845, Docket 84-7866
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 762 F.2d 228 (Monarch Long Beach Corp. v. Soft Drink Workers) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Monarch Long Beach Corp. v. Soft Drink Workers, 762 F.2d 228 (2d Cir. 1985).

Opinion

MESKILL, Circuit Judge:

This is an appeal from a judgment entered in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, Wexler, J, dismissing both counts of Monarch Long Beach Corporation’s (Monarch) complaint against Soft Drink Workers, Local 812, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, and the President and Secretary-Treasurer of Local 812 (collectively Local 812 or the union), 593 F.Supp. 384 (E.D.N.Y. 1984). Both counts sought damages for alleged injuries to Monarch’s business resulting from the secondary boycott activities of the union. Relying on DelCostello v. International Brotherhood of Teamsters, 462 U.S. 151, 103 S.Ct. 2281, 76 L.Ed.2d 476 (1983), the district court dismissed count one, a claim under section 303 of the Labor Management Relations Act (LMRA), 29 U.S.C. § 187 (1982), as untimely filed. The court dismissed the second count, a pendent state claim, on federal preemption grounds.

We believe that the district court’s application of DelCostello was incorrect and that count one was timely filed and should not have been dismissed. The district court correctly concluded that Monarch’s state law claim was preempted by federal law.

Background

Local 812 is a labor organization that represents primarily workers employed by soft drink manufacturers in the New York City metropolitan area. In 1977 and 1978, due at least in part to the high costs of doing business in and around New York City, a number of soft drink manufacturers in Local 812’s jurisdiction suffered precipitous declines in business. As a result, many Local 812 members lost their jobs. A survey conducted by the union revealed that a substantial number of area retailers purchased their soft drink products from outside of Local 812’s territory.

Monarch, a retailer and wholesaler of beer and soda located in Local 812’s jurisdiction, at all times relevant to this litigation purchased most of its soda from non-local manufacturers. On March 27, 1978, Local 812 began to picket and distribute handbills at Monarch’s retail outlet. Union members urged customers to buy only locally produced soft drinks from Monarch.

On April 7,1978, Monarch filed an unfair labor practice charge against Local 812. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or Board) issued a complaint against the union for engaging in prohibited secondary boycott activities in violation of section 8(b)(4)(ii)(B) of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), 29 U.S.C. § 158(b)(4)(ii)(B) (1982). The Board’s petition for a section 10(Z), 29 U.S.C. § 160(Z) (1982), injunction was denied by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York on May 30. The picketing continued through June 1978, while hearings were being held before the NLRB administrative law judge (ALJ). Picketing finally ended on August 25, 1978 when the New York Supreme Court, at Monarch’s request, issued a preliminary injunction.1

[230]*230The AU decided against Local 812 in March 1979. The Board affirmed the AU’s findings and conclusions and issued a cease and desist order against the union. Local 812 appealed to the D.C. Court of • Appeals.1 2 That court affirmed the Board’s decision and granted the Board’s cross-application for enforcement. Soft Drink Workers Union Local 812 v. NLRB, 657 F.2d 1252 (D.C.Cir.1980).

Monarch filed this action in the federal district court for the Eastern District of New York on August 25, 1981 — exactly three years from the date on which the picketing ended. The district court dismissed Monarch’s complaint on September 21, 1984.

Discussion

A. Count One — The Section 303 Claim Seeking reparation for economic harm allegedly caused by Local 812’s unlawful conduct, Monarch’s federal cause of action stated a claim for damages under section 303 of the LMRA. That provision confers upon any person “injured in his business or property” as a result of secondary boycott activities — conduct deemed unlawful for the limited purpose of the provision — a right of action to “recover the damages by him sustained and the cost of the suit.” Section 303 contains no limitation period.

When Congress creates a federal cause of action but does not expressly provide an applicable statute of limitations, we assume that Congress intended the courts to adopt the limitation period of an analogous cause of action. Ordinarily, courts have drawn a rule from state law, Johnson v. Railway Express Agency, 421 U.S. 454, 462-65, 95 S.Ct. 1716, 1721-23, 44 L.Ed.2d 295 (1975); UAW v. Hoosier Cardinal Corp., 383 U.S. 696, 703-04, 86 S.Ct. 1107, 1111-13, 16 L.Ed.2d 192 (1966), and “resort to state law remains the norm for borrowing of limitations periods.” DelCostello, 462 U.S. at 171, 103 S.Ct. at 2294. But where the application of a state statute of limitations would “frustrate or interfere with the implementation of national policies” or “be inconsistent with the underlying policies of the federal statute,” courts should borrow a timeliness rule from federal law. Occidental Life Insurance Co. v. EEOC, 432 U.S. 355, 367, 97 S.Ct. 2447, 2454, 53 L.Ed.2d 402 (1977); Wilson v. Garcia, — U.S. -, - & n. 12, 105 S.Ct. 1938, 1941 & n. 12, 85 L.Ed.2d 254 (1985).

Examining this practice within the specialized realm of labor law, the Supreme Court in DelCostello explained that “when a rule from elsewhere in federal law clearly provides a closer analogy than available state statutes, and when the federal policies at stake and the practicalities of litigation make that rule a significantly more appropriate vehicle for interstitial lawmaking, [courts should] not hesitate[] to turn away from state law.” 462 U.S. at 172,103 S.Ct. at 2294. The issue before the Del-Costello Court was what limitations period to apply to a hybrid section 301/duty of fair representation suit brought by an employee against an employer under section 301 of the LMRA, 29 U.S.C. § 185 (1982), for breach of the collective bargaining agreement and against a union for breach of its duty of fair representation. The Court concluded that ordinary state law provided no adequate analogy to the hybrid suit and thus it turned to federal law to find an appropriate statute of limitations.

Guided by a number of related concerns, the DelCostello Court adopted the six month period for filing unfair labor charges with the NLRB contained in section 10(b) of the NLRA, 29 U.S.C. § 160(b). Noting the close analogy, indeed occasional [231]

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