O'Doherty v. Brotherhood of Railway, Airline & Steamship Clerks, Freight Handlers, Express & Station Employees

485 F. Supp. 42, 103 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2919, 1979 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13256
CourtDistrict Court, D. Nebraska
DecidedApril 4, 1979
DocketCiv. No. 78-0-369
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 485 F. Supp. 42 (O'Doherty v. Brotherhood of Railway, Airline & Steamship Clerks, Freight Handlers, Express & Station Employees) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Nebraska primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
O'Doherty v. Brotherhood of Railway, Airline & Steamship Clerks, Freight Handlers, Express & Station Employees, 485 F. Supp. 42, 103 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2919, 1979 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13256 (D. Neb. 1979).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM

DENNEY, District Judge.

This matter comes before the Court upon the defendant’s motion to dismiss or in the alternative for summary judgment [Filing # 12]. Briefs have been submitted and oral argument was held on March 16, 1979.

This case involves a suit brought by a member of a local lodge of the Brotherhood of Railway, Airline, Steamship Clerks, Freight Handlers, Express and Station Employees [BRAC], to enjoin the governing rules of BRAC covering representation of BRAC local lodges on intermediate subordinate bodies of BRAC, known as a System Board of Adjustment [System Board], and to enjoin the voting on those boards for officers thereof.

Plaintiff alleges that he is a member in good standing of BRAC Local Lodge No. 335 which has a representative on the System Board. Plaintiff contends that this representation is in no way proportionate to the membership of his lodge and, thus, violates rights of the plaintiff and other members of his lodge granted to them under Section 101 of Title I of the Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act [LMRDA], 29 U.S.C. § 411 et seq.

In response, the defendant has raised various legal defenses relating to subject matter jurisdiction, venue and failure to state a claim.

Initially, the defendant contends that § 402 of Title IV of the LMRDA, 29 U.S.C. § 482, providing for complaint to and suit by the Secretary of Labor, is the only remedy available to the plaintiff in matters of the type involved herein and, therefore, that this Court lacks jurisdiction.

Section 101(a)(1) of the LMRDA reads as follows:

Sec. 101. (a)(1) Every member of a labor organization shall have equal rights and privileges within such organization to nominate candidates, to vote in elections or referendums of the labor organization, to attend membership meetings, and to participate in the deliberations and voting upon the business of such meetings, subject to reasonable rules and regulations in such organization’s constitution and bylaws.

29 U.S.C. § 411(a)(1).

Pursuant to § 102 (29 U.S.C. § 412), a federal district court may entertain a private action brought by a union member alleging a violation of § 101.

On the other hand, Title IV of the LMRDA sets forth the requirements of that statute for the election of officers of national and international unions, officers of [44]*44intermediate bodies of such organizations, and of local unions or lodges. Section 401(d) and (e) (29 U.S.C. § 481), of that title provides for the election of officers of intermediate bodies, such as the BRAC System Board involved herein. Section 401(d), which provides a method for electing the members of such bodies, reads as follows:

(d) Officers of intermediate bodies, such as general committees, system boards, joint boards, or joint councils, shall be elected not less often than once every four years by secret ballot among the members in good standing or by labor organization officers representative of such members who have been elected by secret ballot.

29 U.S.C. § 481(d).

Section 402 of the same title provides for the enforcement of the election requirements of the statute by the Secretary. This section reads as follows:

(a) A member of a labor organization—

(1) who has exhausted the remedies available under the constitution and bylaws of such organization and of any parent body, or

(2) who has invoked such available remedies without obtaining a final decision within three calendar months after their invocation, may file a complaint with the Secretary within one calendar month thereafter alleging the violation of any provision of section 481 of this title (including violation of the constitution and bylaws of the labor organization pertaining to the election and removal of officers). The challenged election shall be presumed valid pending a final decision thereon (as hereinafter provided) and in the interim the affairs of the organization shall be conducted by the officers elected or in such other manner as its constitution and bylaws may provide.

29 U.S.C. § 482(a).

As the Court has already mentioned, the plaintiff did not proceed in accordance with § 402 of the statute. He did not file a complaint with the Secretary. Instead, he brought a private action in this Court pursuant to § 101. The Court has reviewed the reasoning of those courts which have examined the interplay of § 101 and § 402 and finds that exclusive jurisdiction of plaintiff’s complaint lies with the Secretary and that this Court does not have jurisdiction of the subject matter thereof.

In Calhoon v. Harvey, 379 U.S. 134, 85 S.Ct. 292, 13 L.Ed.2d 190 (1964), the Supreme Court described the scope of the Title IV remedy as follows:

Title IV sets up a statutory scheme governing the election of union officers * * and attempting to guarantee fair union elections in which all the members are allowed to participate. * * * It is apparent that Congress decided to utilize the special knowledge and discretion of the Secretary of Labor in order best to serve the public interest. * * * Reliance on the discretion of the Secretary is in harmony with the general congressional policy to allow unions great latitude in resolving their own internal controversies, and, where that fails, to utilize the agencies of Government most familiar with union problems to aid in bringing about a settlement through discussion before resort to the courts.

Calhoon v. Harvey, supra, 379 U.S. at 140, 85 S.Ct. at 296.

Since Calhoon, various cases involving indistinguishable fact patterns have held that in cases such as this, the plaintiff’s exclusive remedy is with the Secretary of Labor pursuant to Title IV, not Title I. Kempthorne v. United Transp. Union, 457 F.2d 551 (7th Cir. 1972); Sargent v. United Transp. Union, 333 F.Supp. 956 (W.D.N.Y.1971); Spivey v. General Grievance Committee of the Bhd. of R.R. Trainmen, 69 LRRM 2709 (N.D.Ga.1968).

In Kempthorne, the plaintiff filed a complaint which is described by the Court as follows:

The plaintiff’s complaint is directed to the provision of the constitution of the parent union whereby the general chairman of the General Committee of Adjustment is elected by the respective chairmen of the various local lodges except [45]*45that such chairman may be elected by direct vote of the members if such procedure is adopted by a two-thirds vote of the local chairmen. Plaintiffs claim that because the local lodges vary substantially in membership, individual members who belong to a large lodge are denied equal voting rights, in violation of the one-man one-vote principle.

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485 F. Supp. 42, 103 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2919, 1979 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13256, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/odoherty-v-brotherhood-of-railway-airline-steamship-clerks-freight-ned-1979.