Service Employees v. Local 1199, N.W. ( 1995 )


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  • USCA1 Opinion











    United States Court of Appeals
    For the First Circuit

    ____________________


    No. 95-1471


    SERVICE EMPLOYEES INTERNATIONAL UNION, AFL-CIO, CLC,

    Plaintiff, Appellee,

    v.


    LOCAL 1199 N.E., SEIU, AFL-CIO, CLC,

    Defendant, Appellant,
    ____________________

    APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

    FOR THE DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS

    [Hon. William G. Young, U.S. District Judge] ___________________
    ___________________

    Before

    Stahl, Circuit Judge, _____________
    Campbell, Senior Circuit Judge, ____________________
    and Lynch, Circuit Judge. _____________

    ____________________

    Larry Engelstein with whom Jonathan P. Hiatt, Warren H. Pyle, and ________________ __________________ ______________
    Angoff, Goldman, Manning, Pyle, Wanger & Hiatt, were on briefs for ________________________________________________
    appellee.
    Robert M. Gault with whom Richard Mirabito, Susan M. Basham, John _______________ _________________ _______________ ____
    M. Creane, Michael E. Passero, Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and _________ __________________ _______________________________________
    Popeo, P.C., and Law Firm of John M. Creane, were on briefs for ____________ _____________________________
    appellant.

    ____________________
    November 21, 1995
    ____________________
    LYNCH, Circuit Judge. The attempted dissolution of LYNCH, Circuit Judge. _____________
















    timeless vows of fidelity between two labor organizations

    gave rise to this litigation. An extremely unhappy

    relationship between a local union and its International led

    the Local to stop paying its monthly per capita taxes to the

    International. That in turn led the International to sue the

    Local in federal court in Massachusetts to collect those

    taxes. When the Local replied that it had no obligation to

    pay the taxes, the International claimed arbitration. The

    court ordered arbitration; the arbitrator ordered the payment

    of the taxes and late fees. The Local appeals from the

    district court's decision confirming the arbitrator's award.

    We affirm in part and vacate and remand in part.

    The plaintiff International is the Service

    Employees International Union, AFL-CIO, CLC ("SEIU"), a one

    million member organization. The Local is District 1199, an

    18,000 member union of health care employees. The Local

    asserts that following a New York Times article in the Spring ______________

    of 1991 questioning the propriety of the financial dealings

    of certain International officials, it led a movement to

    promote reform within the International. These efforts, it

    says, were met with retribution from the International,

    which, in turn, caused the Local to withhold taxes. The

    International denies any wrongdoing or retribution and

    attributes more common, self-interested motives to the Local.

    History _______



    -3- 3













    The International sued the Local in federal court

    in Massachusetts on September 17, 1993, seeking a preliminary

    injunction requiring the Local to pay per capita taxes which

    it had withheld since October 1992. Six days later, in

    federal court in Connecticut, certain individual members of

    the Local sued both the Local itself and the International

    for rescission of the contract between the two on the

    grounds that the contract was entered into without fully

    informing the members or receiving their authorization.

    This, the Connecticut suit claimed, contravened the bylaws

    and constitution governing the Local as well as the Labor-

    Management Reporting and Disclosure Act ("LMRDA"), 29 U.S.C.

    401, et seq.1 __ ____

    The Massachusetts court denied the Local's motion

    to transfer the action to Connecticut. It also denied the

    International's motion for a preliminary injunction, but

    granted the International's motion to compel arbitration.

    The district court denied both the Local's motions to stay

    proceedings and to dismiss and the International's motions to

    enjoin the Local from proceeding with its cross-claim in

    Connecticut and for entry of default. The district court

    later denied the Local's motion to reconsider, vacate and


    ____________________

    1. Motions in the Connecticut case, O'Neil et al. v. ______________
    New England Health Care Employees Union, District 1199, and _____________________________________________________________
    SEIU, No. 3:93CV1918(JAC) (D. Conn.), were under advisement _____
    at the time of oral argument in this case.

    -4- 4













    reassign for reargument the motion to compel arbitration.

    The Local, however, went to arbitration voluntarily. The

    parties agreed upon the six questions to be put to the

    arbitrator.2

    Before arbitration commenced, on January 19, 1994,

    the Executive Board of the Local unanimously voted to

    terminate its contract with the International.


    ____________________

    2. The Local and the International stipulated that the
    six questions to be addressed by the arbitrator were:

    1. Does the failure of District 1199 NE to remit to the SEIU
    the monthly per capita tax, as set forth in Article 10 of the
    Affiliation Agreement, constitute a violation of the
    Affiliation Agreement, and if so, what shall be the remedy?

    2. Does the failure of District 1199 NE to pay to the SEIU
    the late penalty fee as required under Art II, Sec. 3 of the
    SEIU constitution and bylaws constitute a violation of the
    Affiliation Agreement, and if so, what shall be the remedy?

    3. Does the failure of District 1199 NE to pay its full per
    capita tax obligations to the SEIU before paying any other
    bills, as required under Art XII, Sec. 4 of the SEIU
    constitution and bylaws, constitute a violation of the
    Affiliation Agreement, and if so, what shall be the remedy?

    4. Does the failure of District 1199 NE to furnish to an
    auditor designated by the International President to examine
    its books and record all of its books, records, accounts,
    receipts, vouchers, and financial data as requested, as
    required under Art XII, Sec. 6(a) of the SEIU constitution
    and bylaws, constitute a violation of the Affiliation
    Agreement, and if so, what shall be the remedy?

    5. Does the District have the right to terminate the 1992
    Affiliation Agreement, and if so, under what circumstances?

    6. Does the District's purported termination on or about
    January 19, 1994, violate the 1992 Affiliation Agreement, and
    if so, what shall be the remedy?


    -5- 5













    After seven days of hearings, the arbitrator issued

    an initial decision that: (i) the Local was liable to the

    International for per capita taxes; (ii) the Local did not

    have the right to terminate its contract (the "Affiliation

    Agreement") with the International, except through the

    procedure set forth within the International's Constitution

    and Bylaws, and (iii) the Local's purported disaffiliation

    vote of January 19, 1994 violated the Affiliation Agreement

    and was rescinded. The Arbitrator reserved decision on

    various remedial issues, including payment schedule, late

    fees, auditor's access to data, and priority of paying per

    capita obligations, in order to give the parties a chance to

    reach a negotiated resolution.

    Negotiations on remedial matters failed, according

    to the Local, because the International preconditioned any

    compromise on the Local securing the withdrawal of the

    Connecticut lawsuit. The Local argued to the arbitrator that

    such preconditioning was an unlawful burden on the "right to

    sue" guaranteed to union members by the LMRDA. The

    arbitrator, however, refused to consider the issue, since it

    related to a separate lawsuit that was not before him. On

    November 9, 1994 the arbitrator awarded the International

    unpaid taxes, late fees, and all other ancillary relief.3

    ____________________

    3. The total amount of unpaid dues and late fees
    (calculated at the rate of 2% per month, compounded), was
    approximately $2,000,000 ($1,500,000 in unpaid dues and

    -6- 6













    Post-arbitration, the International moved to confirm the

    arbitrator's award, and the Local moved to vacate it. The

    district court granted the International's motion to confirm.

    The Local has appealed, making three arguments.

    The Local argues that the arbitrator exceeded his authority

    by rescinding the vote of the Local's Executive Board and

    ordering payment of the outstanding per capita taxes, saying

    these remedies were not authorized by the Affiliation

    Agreement. The Local also urges that confirmation of the

    arbitrator's award violated public policy in that the award

    undermined both the free speech rights of union members to be

    critical of the International and to institute legal

    proceedings against it. The Local finally argues that the

    district court erred in granting the International's motion

    to compel arbitration and in denying both the Local's motion

    to stay proceedings and its motion to transfer the case to

    Connecticut.

    Confirmation of the Arbitrator's Award ______________________________________

    This Court reviews the district court's

    confirmation of the arbitrator's award de novo as to __ ____

    questions of law and mixed questions of law and fact, and for

    clear error as to questions of fact. See First Options of ___ _________________

    Chicago, Inc. v. Kaplan, 115 S. Ct. 1920, 1926 (1995). ______________ ______

    Federal court review of arbitral decisions on matters of

    ____________________

    $500,000 in late fees).

    -7- 7













    contract interpretation is extremely narrow and

    extraordinarily deferential. See Dorado Beach Hotel Corp. v. ___ ________________________

    Union de Trabajadores de la Industria Gastronomica Local 610, ____________________________________________________________

    959 F.2d 2, 3-4 (1st Cir. 1992); El Dorado Technical Servs., ___________________________

    Inc. v. Union General de Trabajadores, 961 F.2d 317, 319 (1st ____ _____________________________

    Cir. 1992) ("[A] court should uphold an award that depends on

    an arbitrator's interpretation of a collective bargaining

    agreement if it can find, within the four corners of the

    agreement, any plausible basis for that interpretation.").

    The Local argues that this case should be treated

    as a commercial contract dispute between two entities and not

    as a labor dispute under 301 of the Labor Management

    Relations Act, 29 U.S.C. 185. This, the Local posits,

    would permit less deference to the arbitrator. Indeed, it

    appears it would not. This Court in Advest, Inc. v. _____________

    McCarthy, 914 F.2d 6 (1st Cir. 1990) explained, after ________

    reviewing different articulations of the standard of review

    of an arbitrator's award in both labor and commercial cases,

    that the different formulations were in essence "identical."

    See id. at 8-9; see also Hill v. Norfolk W. Ry. Co., 814 F.2d ___ ___ ___ ____ ____ __________________

    1192, 1195 (7th Cir. 1987). Without deciding the larger

    question, we decline in this dispute between two unions to

    vary from the deferential treatment of arbitration awards

    established by the Supreme Court in labor disputes under the

    United Steelworkers trilogy of cases. See United _____________________ ___ ______



    -8- 8













    Steelworkers v. Enterprise Wheel & Car Corp., 363 U.S. 593, ____________ _____________________________

    596-97 (1960); United Steelworkers v. American Mfg. Co., 363 ___________________ _________________

    U.S. 564, 568 (1960); United Steelworkers v. Warrior & Gulf ___________________ ______________

    Navigation Co., 363 U.S. 574, 582 (1960). ______________

    The Local argues that the arbitrator exceeded his

    authority by imposing remedies he was not authorized to

    impose. It concentrates its force on the arbitrator's ruling

    that the disaffiliation vote was contrary to the Affiliation

    Agreement and his award rescinding the vote. It also attacks

    the order that it pay the due per capita taxes and late fees

    that had accrued.

    The arbitrator interpreted the Affiliation

    Agreement to disallow disaffiliation except by the methods

    set forth in the International's Constitution and Bylaws.4

    Those methods do not include disaffiliation by a vote of a

    local union's executive board. The only method of

    disaffiliation allowed by the International's Constitution

    and Bylaws imposes onerous requirements. The article

    entitled "Dissolution" states that no local union "can

    dissolve, secede or disaffiliate while there are seven (7)

    dissenting members . . . ." Further, the Affiliation

    Agreement is of indefinite duration.

    ____________________

    4. In the Affiliation Agreement the International
    explicitly waived, for the Local, a number of the
    requirements of its Constitution and Bylaws, but did not
    waive the requirements of Article XXIV, the dissolution
    provision.

    -9- 9













    The Local argues that the arbitrator's award

    contradicts the autonomy it had explicitly negotiated for in

    the Affiliation Agreement. Whether or not we might have read

    the contract differently, or have sympathy for the plight of

    the Local that now finds itself unable to disaffiliate from

    the International with whom it has, at best, a badly

    strained relationship, the arbitrator's reading of the

    Affiliation Agreement is plausible and we cannot disturb it.

    In the face of evidence that affiliation negotiations had

    been lengthy, with the Local negotiating a number of specific

    protective provisions in the Affiliation Agreement (such as

    bars on the power of the International to impose a

    trusteeship, a merger, or a forfeiture of assets in the event

    of a dissolution), it was plausible to conclude, as the

    arbitrator did, that the Local bound itself to a contract of

    unlimited duration that allowed only a tiny escape hatch.5

    The Local also erroneously argues that because this

    case involves a contract dispute, the arbitrator was only

    authorized to award damages and nothing else for breach of

    contract. Specific performance is a recognized remedy for a

    ____________________

    5. The Local also points to cases mentioning
    "autonomy" as a factor in determining a local union's right
    to terminate its affiliation agreement. Those cases,
    however, turn, as does this one, on the terms of the local
    union's agreement with the international. See, e.g., Local ___ ____ _____
    No. 1, Amalgamated Lithographers v. Brown, 270 N.Y.S.2d 891, ________________________________ _____
    896 (N.Y. App. Div. 1966), aff'd, 286 N.Y.S.2d 853 (N.Y. _____
    1967); Sanders v. De Lucia, 266 F. Supp. 852, 856 (S.D.N.Y. _______ _________
    1967), aff'd, 379 F.2d 550 (2d Cir. 1967). _____

    -10- 10













    breach of contract, and because that remedy was not expressly

    precluded by the Affiliation Agreement, it was plausible for

    the arbitrator to award it. "[S]ubject to the terms of the

    empowering clause, arbitrators possess latitude in crafting

    remedies as wide as that which they possess in deciding

    cases." Advest, 914 F.2d at 10-11. ______

    The Local argues that the arbitrator's award

    exceeded his authority in that requiring a payment of the per

    capita taxes plus a penalty was not among the specific

    remedies listed in the International's Constitution and

    Bylaws for non-payment of dues. The remedies explicitly

    listed are suspension of the local union, revocation of the

    local union's charter, and appointment of a trustee. The

    arbitrator, however, plausibly rejected an interpretation

    that these were exclusive remedies. The relevant section of

    the International's Constitution and Bylaws does not limit

    the International's remedies to the three enumerated.

    Rather, the relevant clause refers the matter of non-payment

    of dues to the International President for such action as he

    shall deem appropriate, "including without limitation" the ___________________

    three actions specifically listed (emphasis added).

    Alleged Violations of Public Policy ___________________________________

    The Local argues that the arbitrator's award must

    be set aside in any event because it is contrary to public

    policy that is explicit, well-defined and dominant. See, ___



    -11- 11













    e.g., W.R. Grace & Co. v. Local Union 759, Int'l Union of the ____ ________________ ___________________________________

    United Rubber, Cork, Linoleum & Plastic Workers of Am., 461 ________________________________________________________

    U.S. 757, 766 (1983). That policy, it says, is contained in

    the LMRDA, 101(a)(2),(4), and the protections it

    guarantees to union members to be able to express freely

    their views and opinions, and to institute proceedings in

    court or in front of an administrative agency. W h e n a

    violation of well-defined and dominant public policy is

    asserted, the question is ultimately one for resolution by

    the courts, and a court is required to make its own

    independent evaluation. See id. ___ ___

    The Local makes two very precise arguments.6

    First, it says, the award condones violation of free speech

    rights in ignoring that the International "repeatedly and

    systematically retaliated against the District for engaging

    in union democracy activities." As an example, the Local

    points to the fact that the International President, John

    Sweeney, did not include the Local's representative on his

    slate of candidates for election to the executive board of

    the International (which would, according to the Local, have


    ____________________

    6. For the first time on appeal, the Local also argues
    that the arbitrator's reading of the Affiliation Agreement's
    preconditions to disaffiliation violates public policy. It
    is settled that "absent the most extraordinary circumstances,
    legal theories not raised squarely in the lower court cannot
    be broached for the first time on appeal." Teamsters, __________
    Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers Union, Local No. 59 v. __________________________________________________________
    Superline Transp. Co., 953 F.2d 17, 21 (1st Cir. 1992). _____________________

    -12- 12













    guaranteed the election of its candidate). The Local cites

    in support of its argument cases involving situations in

    which the union officials whose rights under the LMRDA were

    endangered had won elections and were being removed or ___

    suspended during their terms. See Maceira v. Pagan, 649 F.2d ______ ___ _______ _____

    8, 10-11 (1st Cir. 1981); Bradford v. Textile Workers, 563 ________ ________________

    F.2d 1138, 1139-40 (4th Cir. 1977). Although a plausible

    argument might be made for extending those cases beyond their

    facts, the arbitrator found as a matter of fact that no

    promise to slate the Local's candidate for the

    International's board elections had been made as a part of

    the Affiliation Agreement, and that refusal to do so was not

    in retaliation for the Local's "union democracy" activities.

    We may not second guess the factual findings of the

    arbitrator. See Paperworkers Int'l Union v. Misco, Inc., 484 ___ ________________________ ___________

    U.S. 29 (1987). In Misco, the Supreme Court counselled that _____

    it is "the arbitrator's view of the facts . . . that [the

    parties have] agreed to accept" and that "[c]ourts thus do

    not sit to hear claims of factual . . . error by an

    arbitrator as an appellate court does in reviewing decisions

    of lower courts." Id. at 37-38. The factual predicate for ___

    the Local's argument was explicitly found wanting by the

    arbitrator. Absent such a factual predicate, we may not

    reach the legal claims.





    -13- 13













    The Local next argues that the arbitrator's award

    violates LMRDA 101(a)(4), which provides as follows:

    Protection of right to sue.--No labor
    organization shall limit the right of any
    member thereof to institute an action in
    any court, or in a proceeding before any
    administrative agency, irrespective of
    whether or not the labor organization or
    its officers are named as defendants or
    respondents in such action or proceeding
    . . .

    29 U.S.C. 411(a)(4).

    During the negotiations mandated by the arbitrator,

    the International, according to the Local, refused to

    negotiate over a reduction in or a reasonable repayment

    schedule for the per capita taxes or a waiver of the late

    fees, unless the Local arranged for the withdrawal of the

    O'Neil lawsuit that its members had brought in Connecticut. ______

    The Local argues that the International, by conditioning

    negotiations on the Local securing the withdrawal of its

    members' lawsuit, violated the "right to sue" guaranteed to

    union members by LMRDA 101(a)(4).

    The arbitrator refused to consider the issue of

    whether the International had violated the "right to sue" of

    the Local's members. He said that the O'Neil lawsuit was not ______

    before him. The legal question, however, has nothing to do

    with the O'Neil litigation itself. Instead, the issue is ______

    whether the International, in refusing to do other than

    extract its maximum recovery unless the Local secured the



    -14- 14













    withdrawal of its members' lawsuit, violated the members'

    "right to sue."7 Two distinct issues are presented:

    payment of the per capita taxes and payment of the late fee.

    The per capita taxes paid by the local unions are

    the means by which the International funds its existence.

    The Local makes no claim that the per capita taxes are

    usually waived, reduced, or rescheduled. Since the per

    capita taxes are payments that the International expects to

    collect in full as a matter of course, the failure to

    ____________________

    7. There is clear evidence in the form of
    correspondence between the International and the Local
    showing the International's unwillingness to waive or reduce
    the payments owed, unless the O'Neil lawsuit was withdrawn. ______
    The arbitrator, however, made no findings on whether this was
    so and on the issue of whether conditioning negotiations on
    the Local securing withdrawal of a member's lawsuit
    constitutedan interference with a member's "right to sue."
    In addition, an issue mentioned in passing, but not
    squarely argued by the International, is whether this Court
    may consider the evidence of the International's conduct
    during settlement negotiations. But issues not squarely
    raised by the parties are waived. See Grella v. Salem Five ___ ______ __________
    Cent Savings Bank, 42 F.3d 26, 36 (1st Cir. 1994) (argument _________________
    raised by way of "cursory footnote" deemed waived). There is
    much law, in any event, to support admissibility. See NLRB ___ ____
    v. Gotham Indus., Inc., 406 F.2d 1306, 1313 (1st Cir. 1969) ___________________
    (statements made during the course of a labor negotiation
    that are the basis for a charge of unfair labor practices are
    admissible on the trial of that issue); see also Urico v. ___ ____ _____
    Parnell Oil Co., 708 F.2d 852, 854 (1st Cir. 1983) (evidence ________________
    of settlement negotiations is admissible to show that a
    wrongful refusal to make a reasonable settlement offer
    prevented the plaintiffs from being able to mitigate
    damages); Overseas Motors, Inc. v. Import Motors Ltd., 375 ______________________ ___________________
    F.Supp. 499, 537 (E.D. Mich. 1974)("[I]t would also seem
    reasonable to admit such evidence where the settlement
    negotiations are themselves subjects of the lawsuit--i.e.,
    operative facts"), aff'd, 519 F.2d 119 (6th Cir.), cert. _____ _____
    denied, 423 U.S. 987 (1975). ______


    -15- 15













    negotiate over reducing or rescheduling them cannot on these

    facts be said to be a "penalty" on the "right to sue."

    The late fee is a different matter. The 2% a month

    late fee is at a rate many states consider usurious8. When

    compounded monthly, the annual rate works out to 26.82% a

    year and adds up here to $500,000 -- approximately a third of

    the actual principal payment. Further, the evidence is that

    late fees are routinely waived by the International, and even

    when assessed, the fees are typically small.9 In the

    context of the high rate charged and the routine waiver of

    late fees in other cases, conditioning a waiver on the Local

    securing withdrawal of its members' lawsuit may be a

    deterrent to members suing. "If a union member's right to

    sue is to have any meaning, courts must be ever vigilant in

    protecting that right against indirect and subtle devices as

    well as against direct and obvious limitations." Phillips v. ________

    International Ass'n of Bridge Workers, Local 118, 556 F.2d __________________________________________________

    939, 942 (9th Cir. 1977); see also Moore v. Local 569 of ____ ____ _____ _____________

    ____________________

    8. For example, the rate above which interest charges
    constitute usury in Massachusetts is 20%. See Mass. Gen. L. ___
    ch. 271, 49; Begelfer v. Najarian, 381 Mass. 177, 182 ________ ________
    (1980); see also Eric A. Posner, Contract Law in the Welfare ___ ____ ___________________________
    State: A Defense of the Unconscionability Doctrine, Usury _____________________________________________________________
    Laws, and Related Limitations on the Freedom To Contract, 24 _________________________________________________________
    J. Legal Stud. 283, 313 (1995) (presenting a short history of
    the development of usury laws).

    9. Evidence pointed to by the International itself, to
    show how it regularly assesses and collects late fees, shows
    that other than in this case, all the late fees it has
    assessed have been for amounts lower than $1,000.

    -16- 16













    Int'l. Bhd. of Elec. Workers, 53 F.3d 1054, 1056 (9th Cir. _____________________________

    1995) ("The employee bill of rights protection is worded in

    the most inclusive terms, which are clearly intended to

    preclude restraints upon members' rights to seek relief from

    courts and agencies."), petition for cert. filed, 64 U.S.L.W. ________________________

    3271 (Sep. 20, 1995). If enforcement of the late fee portion

    of the arbitrator's award was in retaliation for the filing

    of the O'Neil lawsuit, that would arguably violate ______

    101(a)(4)'s prohibition against a union obstructing the right

    of its members to sue. The arbitrator failed to conduct any

    factfinding on this issue. Hence we vacate the award of late

    fees and remand this issue to the district court to send back

    to the arbitrator for factfinding and decision. See Labor ___ _____

    Relations Div. of Constr. Industries v. International Bhd of _____________________________________ ____________________

    Teamsters, Local No. 379, 29 F.3d 742, 749 (1st Cir. 1994) _________________________

    (case involving fact-intensive factor balancing remanded to

    district court with instructions that it be remanded to the

    arbitrator for initial determination).

    The International argues that there was no penalty

    on the members' right to sue because in this case, the late

    fees were imposed before the O'Neil suit was brought. The ______ ______

    International's distinction, however, is evanescent. It is

    not the imposition of the late fees that is at issue, but the

    subsequent refusal to grant a waiver of those late fees as __________





    -17- 17













    the International usually has done, unless the suit was

    withdrawn.10 Rulings on Motions __________________

    The Local argues that the district court erred in

    granting the International's motion to compel arbitration and

    in not granting both the Local's motion to have the case

    transferred to Connecticut for consolidation with the O'Neil ______

    case and its motion to stay the Massachusetts action.

    There was no error in compelling the Local to

    arbitration. To the extent that the Local is arguing that

    there was no need to order it to arbitration as it would go

    voluntarily, the district court could reasonably think an

    order necessary in light of the motion to enjoin arbitration

    filed by the Local in the Connecticut action.

    The district court's rulings on the motions to

    transfer and stay are reviewed for an abuse of discretion.

    See Cianbro Corp. v. Curran-Lavoie, Inc., 814 F.2d 7, 11 (1st ___ _____________ ___________________

    ____________________

    10. The International also argues that 101(a)(4)
    protects the rights of "members" to sue, and that that right
    does not extend to the Local as an organization. The Local,
    however, is not asserting its own right to sue, but that of
    its members. The Local appears to meet the three-pronged
    test for associational standing set out in Hunt v. Washington ____ __________
    State Apple Advertising Comm'n, 432 U.S. 333, 343 (1977). See ______________________________ ___
    International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace & _____________________________________________________________
    Agricultural Implement Workers v. Brock, 477 U.S. 274, 282 _______________________________ _____
    (1986) (holding that union has standing to assert rights of
    members where Hunt test is satisfied); United States v. Local ____ _____________ _____
    560 (I.B.T.), 974 F.2d 315, 339-42 (3d Cir. 1992)(applying ____________
    the test of organizational standing to sue to the case of a
    Local asserting the rights of its members under the LMRDA);
    see also American Postal Workers Union v. M. Frank, 968 F.2d ___ ____ _____________________________ ________
    1373, 1375 (1st Cir. 1992);


    -18- 18













    Cir. 1987); Chrysler Credit Corp. v. Marino, 63 F.3d 574, 578 _____________________ ______

    (7th Cir. 1995). The district court did not abuse its

    discretion in denying the Local's motions to transfer the

    action or to stay it. The Massachusetts suit dealt with the

    distinct issue of the parties' conduct under the Affiliation

    Agreement. The Connecticut action dealt with the separate

    issue of whether the Local's members needed to have ratified

    the Affiliation Agreement. In the interests of dealing with

    matters before it in a timely manner, the district court

    denied the stay, and was well within its bounds in doing so.

    Accordingly, the late fee portion of the award is ___________________________________________________

    vacated and remanded to the district court to be remanded to _____________________________________________________________

    the arbitrator. The district court's judgment is affirmed in _____________________________________________________________

    all other respects. The International's motion for sanctions _____________________________________________________________

    against the Local, for filing a frivolous appeal, is denied. _____________________________________________________________

    No costs are awarded. _____________________





















    -19- 19






Document Info

Docket Number: 95-1471

Filed Date: 11/21/1995

Precedential Status: Precedential

Modified Date: 9/21/2015

Authorities (28)

American Postal Workers Union v. Anthony M. Frank , 968 F.2d 1373 ( 1992 )

El Dorado Technical Services, Inc. v. Union General De ... , 961 F.2d 317 ( 1992 )

dorado-beach-hotel-corporation-v-union-de-trabajadores-de-la-industria , 959 F.2d 2 ( 1992 )

Robert Urico v. Parnell Oil Company , 708 F.2d 852 ( 1983 )

Efrain MacEira v. Luis Enrique Pagan , 649 F.2d 8 ( 1981 )

Paul J. Grella, Trustee v. Salem Five Cent Savings Bank , 42 F.3d 26 ( 1994 )

National Labor Relations Board v. Gotham Industries, Inc., ... , 406 F.2d 1306 ( 1969 )

Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers Union, ... , 953 F.2d 17 ( 1992 )

Cianbro Corporation v. Curran-Lavoie, Inc., D/B/A Kenneth E.... , 814 F.2d 7 ( 1987 )

Advest, Inc. v. Patrick McCarthy , 914 F.2d 6 ( 1990 )

labor-relations-division-of-construction-industries-of-massachusetts-inc , 29 F.3d 742 ( 1994 )

edgar-m-sanders-as-general-secretary-treasurer-of-journeymen-barbers , 379 F.2d 550 ( 1967 )

Roger Bradford v. Textile Workers of America, Afl-Cio, ... , 563 F.2d 1138 ( 1977 )

United States v. Local 560 (i.b.t.), Nominal (Intervenor), ... , 974 F.2d 315 ( 1992 )

wendell-b-phillips-iii-and-george-c-lorentzen-v-international , 556 F.2d 939 ( 1977 )

Morton M. Hill, Jr. v. Norfolk and Western Railway Company , 814 F.2d 1192 ( 1987 )

overseas-motors-inc-a-michigan-corporation-v-import-motors-limited , 519 F.2d 119 ( 1975 )

lawrence-moore-and-walter-f-whelan-walter-f-woblan-jr-v-local-569-of , 53 F.3d 1054 ( 1995 )

Begelfer v. Najarian , 381 Mass. 177 ( 1980 )

Overseas Motors, Inc. v. Import Motors Limited, Inc. , 375 F. Supp. 499 ( 1974 )

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