National Ass'n of Government Employees, Inc. v. National Emergency Medical Services Ass'n

969 F. Supp. 2d 59, 2013 WL 4518028, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 120056
CourtDistrict Court, D. Massachusetts
DecidedAugust 23, 2013
DocketCivil Action No. 13-10854-JLT
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 969 F. Supp. 2d 59 (National Ass'n of Government Employees, Inc. v. National Emergency Medical Services Ass'n) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Massachusetts primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
National Ass'n of Government Employees, Inc. v. National Emergency Medical Services Ass'n, 969 F. Supp. 2d 59, 2013 WL 4518028, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 120056 (D. Mass. 2013).

Opinion

ORDER

TAURO, District Judge.

This court ACCEPTS and ADOPTS the July 16, 2013, Report and Recommendation [# 47] of Magistrate Judge Dien. For the reasons set forth in the Report and Recommendation, this court hereby orders that:

1. Plaintiff National Association of Government Employees, Inc.’s (“NAGE”) Motion to Strike Counterclaims [# 40] is ALLOWED. The court treats the verified counterclaim as an affidavit in support of Defendant’s request for a preliminary injunction.
2. Defendant Colcord’s Motion for a Preliminary Injunction [# 27] is DENIED.
3. Defendant National Emergency Medical Services Association, Inc.’s (“NEMSA”) Motion for a Preliminary Injunction [# 27] is ALLOWED. Pending the outcome of any requests for preliminary relief submitted in arbitration proceedings between NAGE and NEMSA, it is hereby ordered that (1) NAGE shall be restrained and enjoined from participating in any eleetion(s) in which it would be seeking to replace NEM-SA or otherwise challenge NEM-SA’s status as the representative for any existing employees or bargaining units; (2) NAGE shall withdraw all pending petitions to decertify NEMSA as the representative of any existing bargaining units; and (3) NAGE shall be restrained and enjoined from pursuing further efforts to decertify NEMSA as the representative of any existing bargaining units.
4. The court clarifies that the facts that form the basis of the preliminary injunction are not in dispute. Accordingly, an evidentiary hearing is not necessary. In pages nineteen through twenty of its objections, NAGE claims that four facts are in dispute. None of the facts described in these two pages forms the basis of this court’s order. Even if this court were to accept NAGE’s version of these facts as true, an injunction would still be appropriate in this case.1
5. NEMSA must now post a bond pursuant to § 107 of the Norris-LaGuardia Act, 28 U.S.C. §§ 101-115. This court refers the determination of the proper bond to Magistrate Judge Dein.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION ON DEFENDANTS’ MOTION FOR PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION AND PLAINTIFF’S MOTION TO STRIKE COUNTERCLAIMS

DEIN, United States Magistrate Judge.

I. INTRODUCTION

This is a dispute between two labor unions, the plaintiff, National Association of [63]*63Government. Employees, Inc. (“NAGE”), and the defendant, National Emergency Medical Services Association, Inc. (“NEM-SA”), and its Executive Director Terrence Colcord (“Colcord”).' On April 30, 2012, NAGE and NEMSA entered into Affiliation and Servicing Agreements pursuant to which, inter alia, NEMSA was to become an affiliate of NAGE and NAGE agreed not to seek to replace NEMSA as the collective bargaining representative of various bargaining units (“anti-raiding provisions”). On the same day, NAGE entered into an employment agreement with Col-cord pursuant to which Colcord was to be paid to obtain members for the affiliated entity. The Affiliation arid Servicing Agreements have arbitration clauses requiring that all disputes be resolved through mediation and/or arbitration.

NAGE claims that NEMSA breached a material term of its Agreements by failing to make all the payments due under the Agreements, which NEMSA denies.1 NAGE claims further that this material breach relieved it of all obligations under the Agreements, including its agreement to seek arbitration. Therefore, on April .5, 2013, NAGE unilaterally terminated the Agreements and promptly moved to decertify NEMSA as the representative of various bargaining units. NAGE commenced the instant action on April 11, 2013, seeking damages for the defendants’ alleged breach of contract and a declaration that it had the right to terminate the Agreements. NAGE also filed a motion for a trustee process attachment seeking to attach dues paid to NEMSA by American Medical Response. After hearing, this court denied the motion for trustee process attachment. (Docket No. 44).

NEMSA and Colcord responded to NAGE’s Complaint with a “Motion to Dismiss or, in the Alternative, Motion for Stay and Order Compelling Arbitration.” (Docket No. 13). The defendants subsequently withdrew their request that the litigation be dismissed. The request for a stay is under advisement.

On June 14, 2013, NEMSA and Colcord filed a motion for a preliminary injunction “to prevent NAGE from raiding NEMSA’s union members contrary to an Affiliation Agreement between NEMSA and NAGE, and contrary to an employment agreement between Colcord and NAGE, and to preserve the disputes for arbitration as the parties agreed.” (Docket No. 27). The motion is supported by a memorandum (Docket No. 28) and “Verified' Counterclaims for Preliminary Injunction to Preserve Jurisdiction of Labor Arbitration by Defendants/Plaintiffs-in-Counterclaim.” (Docket No. 26). NAGE has moved to strike the counterclaims (Docket No. 40) and has also opposed the request for a preliminary injunction. (See Docket No. 43).

For the reasons detailed herein, this court recommends to the District Judge to whom this matter is assigned that NAGE’s motion to strike the counterclaims be allowed as they are not filed as part, of an answer, but that the court accept the verified counterclaims as a filing in support of the motion for preliminary injunction and address the merits of the defendants’ request for a preliminary injunction. This court further recommends that Colcord’s motion for a preliminary injunction be denied as he has not suffered irreparable harm by the termination of his employment agreement. While recognizing that the court’s authority to issue an injunction [64]*64is very restricted in labor disputes, this court recommends that NEMSA’s motion for a preliminary injunction be allowed, but only to the extent necessary to enforce the parties’ agreement to arbitrate their disputes under the Affiliation Agreement and the Servicing Agreement. Accordingly, this court recommends to the District Judge to whom this case is assigned that the court enter the following order:

Pending the outcome of any requests for preliminary relief submitted in arbitration proceedings between the National Association of Government Employees, Inc. (“NAGE”) and the National Emergency Medical Services Association, Inc. (“NEMSA”), it is hereby ORDERED that (1) NAGE shall be restrained and enjoined from participating in any election^) in which it would be seeking to replace NEMSA or otherwise challenge NEMSA’s status as the .representative for. any existing employees or bargaining units; (2) NAGE shall withdraw all pending petitions to decertify NEMSA as the representative of any existing bargaining units; and (8) NAGE shall be restrained and enjoined from pursuing further efforts to decertify NEMSA as the representative of any existing bargaining units.

II. STATEMENT OF FACTS

On April 30, 2012, NAGE and NEMSA entered into Affiliation and Servicing Agreements, which, by their terms, were to “remain in effect until and unless [they are] amended or terminated by mutual agreement of the parties hereto.” (Affiliation Agreement (Docket No. 3-2) Art. IX:C; see also

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969 F. Supp. 2d 59, 2013 WL 4518028, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 120056, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/national-assn-of-government-employees-inc-v-national-emergency-medical-mad-2013.