Stolz v. United Brotherhood of Carpenters & Joiners, Local Union No. 971

648 F. Supp. 1439, 1986 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17044
CourtDistrict Court, D. Nevada
DecidedDecember 2, 1986
DocketNo. CV-R-84-11-ECR
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 648 F. Supp. 1439 (Stolz v. United Brotherhood of Carpenters & Joiners, Local Union No. 971) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Nevada primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Stolz v. United Brotherhood of Carpenters & Joiners, Local Union No. 971, 648 F. Supp. 1439, 1986 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17044 (D. Nev. 1986).

Opinion

ORDER

EDWARD C. REED, Jr., Chief Judge.

On October 28, 1986, four weeks before trial in this matter was set to begin, and some six months after the motion cutoff date set by the scheduling order in this case, the defendant renewed its motion for summary judgment. The basic grounds for this renewed motion are essentially that this matter is barred by the applicable statute of limitations. Defendant contends that a new case, Aragon v. Federated Dept. Stores, Inc., 750 F.2d 1447 (9th Cir.1985) cert. denied — U.S. —, 106 S.Ct. 229, 88 L.Ed.2d 229 (1985), establishes “once and for all a clean, clear standard ...” regarding the statute of limitations for LMRDA actions in the Ninth Circuit. It appears to the Court, however, that defendant's reading of Aragon is grossly exaggerated. Further, this motion was filed well beyond the cutoff date, and was accompanied by no motion to lift the scheduling order. For both substantive and procedural reasons, therefore, the motion will be denied.

In Delcostello v. International Brotherhood of Teamsters, 462 U.S. 151, 103 S.Ct. 2281, 76 L.Ed.2d 476 (1983), the Supreme Court decided that hybrid actions arising under the LMRA, 29 U.S.C. § 141, et seq., would be governed by the same six-month statute found in § 10(b) of the National Labor Relations Act, 29 U.S.C. § 160(b). In its previous order denying the defendant’s motion for summary judgment on statute of limitations grounds, the Court did note that several circuits have applied Delcostello to actions under the LMRDA as well. See Vallone v. Local Union No. 705, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, 755 F.2d 520 (7th Cir.1984); Local Union No. 1397, United Steelworkers of America, 748 F.2d 180 (3rd Cir.1984). At that time, however, the Court found that the Ninth Circuit had yet specifically to apply Delcostello to actions under the LMRDA. In fact, the Circuit had reserved the question of broader application of Delcostello for later decision. See Klemens v. Air Line Pilots Ass’n, 736 F.2d 491, 499 n. 7 (9th Cir.1984) cert. denied 469 U.S. 1019, 105 S.Ct. 435, 83 L.Ed.2d 362 (1984). Although the defendant cites cases from other circuit courts that indicate their application of Delcostello to LMRDA actions, see Davis v. United Auto Workers, 765 F.2d 1510 (11th Cir.1985) cert. denied — U.S. —, 106 S.Ct. 1284, 89 L.Ed.2d 592 (1985); Linder v. Berge, 739 F.2d 686 (1st Cir. 1984), it fails to cite any Ninth Circuit case which conclusively indicates that Delcostel[1441]*1441lo is the controlling authority in LMRDA actions.

Contrary to defendant’s assertions, Aragon v. Federated Dept. Stores, supra, does not stand for this proposition. In that case, the plaintiff, Virginia Aragon, was fired from her position by Ralphs Grocery Co. on December 1, 1981. A Local of the Teamsters represented Aragon at a grievance proceeding, and achieved reinstatement to a less favorable position, without backpay, on March 12, 1982. Id., at 1448. In that she was discontented with this result, the plaintiff sued Ralphs for breach of its collective bargaining agreements in firing her, and sued the union for breach of its duty of fair representation in its pursuit of her grievance with Ralphs. Id., at 1448-49. The original complaint was filed in state court on March 24, 1983, but was never served. An amended complaint was filed and served on August 2, 1983. All of the defendants joined in a removal petition, and timely removed that action to the United States District Court on August 31, 1983. The district court then granted summary judgment in favor of all defendants on the grounds that the six-months statute of limitations under § 10(b) of the NLRA, which applied to breaches of collective bargaining agreements and to breaches of the duty of fair representation under Delcostello, could be applied retroactively in some cases.

The Ninth Circuit affirmed this holding. Initially, the court noted that the circuit had, until recently, “forcefully, repeatedly, and uniformly denied Delcostello retroactive application.” Id. at 1450, quoting Rodriquez v. Union Carbide Corp., 735 F.2d 365, 365-66 (9th Cir.1984). The court stated further, however, that a more recent case had fashioned a limited exception to this rule. In Glover v. United Grocers, Inc., 746 F.2d 1380 (9th Cir.1984), the court stated, the Ninth Circuit has “ ‘refused retroactive application in the past [where] its effect would have been to shorten the applicable state statute____ The retroactive effect of Delcostello is to lengthen, not to shorten, the time in which Glover could have filed.’ ” Id., at 1451, quoting Glover, supra, at 1382. Therefore, the court noted that if the state statute applicable in Aragon’s case were shorter than the six-month federal statute under Delcostello, the Glover exception would apply, and the plaintiff’s claim would be time-barred for failure to comply with the six-month Delcostello limitation.

The relevant inquiry, the court concluded, was which state statute of limitations governed Aragon’s action on the date it accrued.

If the state time limit was less than six months, then the six-month federal statute of limitations would govern; Aragon’s claim would fail. If the state time limit was greater than six months, then it would govern; the viability of Aragon’s claim would depend on how much time that state statute of limitations gave her.

Id. In this case, the court noted that the relevant state statute was a mere 100 days, by virtue of the relevant California statute of limitations for the appeal of arbitration decisions. Id., at 1452. Because the state statute was shorter than the six month federal statute, the court concluded, Delcostello did apply retroactively in this case, and the six month statute of § 10(b) of the NLRA did control. The plaintiff’s cause of action was still time-barred, however, in that she filed over a year after her cause of action accrued. Id., at 1453.

Therefore, even assuming that the Delcostello case does apply to LMRDA cases in the Ninth Circuit, the Aragon case announces no startling departure from the cases relied upon earlier by this Court. As stated in Aragon, Delcostello is applied retroactively only where it is needed to extend, rather than shorten, the applicable statute.

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Bluebook (online)
648 F. Supp. 1439, 1986 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17044, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/stolz-v-united-brotherhood-of-carpenters-joiners-local-union-no-971-nvd-1986.