Murray v. Laborers Union Local No. 324

55 F.3d 1445
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
DecidedMay 31, 1995
DocketNos. 93-15641, 93-16176 and 93-16540
StatusPublished
Cited by51 cases

This text of 55 F.3d 1445 (Murray v. Laborers Union Local No. 324) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Murray v. Laborers Union Local No. 324, 55 F.3d 1445 (9th Cir. 1995).

Opinion

SNEED, Circuit Judge:

Appellants, a labor union, four of its officers, and one of its members, appeal from the judgment of the district court, entered after a jury verdict, holding them liable for violating Appellee Douglas Murray’s rights under the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 (LMRDA). Murray cross-appeals, claiming that the district court erred by granting directed verdicts in favor of the Appellants on several claims and by refusing to vacate an unfavorable arbitration award.1 We affirm.

I.

FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS BELOW

Appellant Laborers Union Local No. 324 (the Union) represents construction workers. Appellants Jesse Thomas, Jesse Durran, Jr., Charles Evans, and Bob Davis are officers of the Union, and Appellant Jesse Durran, Sr. is a now-retired member of the Union. Ap-pellee and Cross-Appellant Murray is a member of the Union and a longtime dissident. Murray brought suit following a series of clashes with Union officers.

A. Job Referral

The first dispute involved a job referral. Ordinarily, Union members are dispatched to jobs as their names come up on the “plug” board in the hiring hall. As jobs are given to [1449]*1449those listed at the top of the board, those beneath them move up and are next in line to receive positions. Under certain circumstances, however, employers are allowed to request a Union member by name in a referral letter, in which ease the member is dispatched regardless of the position of his name on the plug board.

In December 1988, an employer, National Energy Constructors (NEC), issued a referral letter for Murray and several others. At the time, Murray was attending classes at a training center, of which the Union was aware. Nonetheless, the Union did not attempt in any way to contact Murray. Jesse Durran, Jr., who saw Murray at the training center during December, not only was rude to Murray but did not tell him about the letter.

By the time Murray learned about the referral letter, the job with NEC was apparently no longer available. Murray filed a hiring hall grievance against the Union for not contacting him. The permanent hiring hall arbitrator, Gerald McKay, in due course ruled that the Union was not contractually obligated to tell Murray about the letter.

B.Collection of Arbitration Costs from Murray’s Dues

When NEC refused to issue a second referral letter, Murray attempted to file a grievance against NEC for discrimination. Instead of following the procedure for a grievance against an employer, however, Murray filed another hiring hall grievance. On July 5,1989, arbitrator McKay ruled that Murray’s complaint could not be redressed through the hiring hall grievance process because his dispute was with NEC, not the Union. He ordered Murray to pay the costs of arbitration for having filed a frivolous hiring hall grievance.

In mid-January 1990, the dispute between Murray and the Union moved to another level when Murray prepaid his union dues in order to maintain his eligibility to run for office in the upcoming election. In February, the Union sent Murray the bill for its arbitration costs, totaling $802, which Murray contested. In March, the Union informed Murray by letter that it had applied Murray’s prepaid dues towards the arbitration costs and would continue to apply Murray’s dues until the amount was paid off. Murray paid the full assessment under protest in order to maintain his eligibility to run for office.

C. Distribution of Literature

Murray, in an effort to reach the rank and file of Union members, edited and published several editions of a newsletter entitled “Pick & Shovel,” which tended to be critical of the Union and its leadership. He distributed it, along with other labor literature, in the Union’s hiring halls in various towns over the course of a year. In June 1989, shortly before arbitrator McKay’s July 5, 1989 ruling, Murray was setting up to distribute literature in the hiring hall in Martinez, California, when Charles Evans approached him and told him not to hand out literature. Murray refused to leave, and Evans called the police. When the police arrived, they asked whether there was a union rule against distributing literature, to which Evans replied that there was not. The police left without taking any action against Murray.

At the June meeting, the Union membership voted in favor of a rule barring solicitation and distribution of literature in hiring halls during dispatch hours. Signs announcing the “No Solicitation, No Distribution” rule were subsequently posted in the hiring halls.

D. The October 1989 Meeting

A regular Union meeting was held on October 24, 1989, at which, as part of the routine agenda, the minutes of the prior meeting were read. During this period, Murray contested the accuracy of the minutes. The minutes were nonetheless approved. The not-easily repressed Murray attempted to speak again during an unrelated agenda topic. The Union president, Jesse Thomas, ruled Murray out of order and demanded repeatedly that he “shut up and sit down.” Union officials, Evans and Davis, joined in the demand. When Murray refused to do so, Thomas ordered Murray to leave. Murray refused. Thomas told the sergeant-at-arms, John Alford, to escort Murray out. Alford hesitated, and Thomas asked the member[1450]*1450ship generally to help Alford remove Murray. Durran, Jr. approached and tried to pick up Murray’s briefcase, but Murray prevented him, and a scuffle ensued. Jesse Durran, Sr. entered the fray and grabbed and pulled Murray’s hair. Order was eventually restored when other Union members broke up the fight. Murray remained at the meeting.

Murray did not rest; he filed suit in federal court on November 27, 1989. His first amended complaint alleged various violations of his rights under the LMRDA, breach of the duty of fair representation, assault and battery, and conversion.

A jury trial began on February 16, 1993. Following the presentation of Murray’s case, Appellants moved for judgment as a matter of law under Rule 50(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The court rendered judgments in favor of Appellants on the following causes of action: (1) the duty of fair representation claim; (2) the assault and battery claims against the Union, Thomas, Evans, and Davis; (3) the LMRDA claim; and (4) the conversion claim, both arising from the Union’s collection of arbitration costs from Murray; and (5) the LMRDA claim for infringement of the right to participate in and vote at Union meetings. The remaining claims were submitted to the jury.

The jury found that the Union and three of its officers, Evans, Thomas, and Durran, Jr., had violated Murray’s right of free speech under the LMRDA.2 The jury awarded Murray $100 in compensatory damages, plus punitive damages: $50,000 against the Union, $10,000 against Thomas, $10,000 against Dur-ran, Jr., and $7,500 against Evans. The jury further found that Jesse Durran, Sr. had committed assault and battery, and awarded Murray $100 in compensatory damages and $1,000 in punitive damages against him.3

The court denied the Union’s post-trial motions for judgment as a matter of law and for a new trial.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

United States v. Brett Depue
879 F.3d 1021 (Ninth Circuit, 2018)
United States v. Easton
Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, 2012
Arizona, Dept. of Law, Civil Rights Div. v. Asarco
798 F. Supp. 2d 1023 (D. Arizona, 2011)
Guy v. City of San Diego
608 F.3d 582 (Ninth Circuit, 2010)
Robertson v. Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde
4 Am. Tribal Law 197 (Grand Ronde Tribal Court, 2003)
Bourns, Inc. v. Raychem Corp.
331 F.3d 704 (Ninth Circuit, 2003)
Argentine v. United Steelworkers of America
287 F.3d 476 (Sixth Circuit, 2002)
Moreland v. Spirit Mountain Casino
3 Am. Tribal Law 33 (Grand Ronde Tribal Court, 2001)
Jimenez Ex Rel. Estate of Jimenez v. Chrysler Corp.
74 F. Supp. 2d 548 (D. South Carolina, 1999)
Kinslow v. Briscoe
130 F. Supp. 2d 965 (N.D. Illinois, 1999)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
55 F.3d 1445, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/murray-v-laborers-union-local-no-324-ca9-1995.