worry about it."
Peon then sought, but failed, to convince Stoody's Director of Employee Relations that he had notified the company that Galindo was a steward. Peon then called Adam Marthe, an International representative, and admitted that he had "goofed" and needed help. At that time, Peon told Marthe that he had forgotten to tell Stoody that Galindo was a steward.
After meetings between representatives of Stoody and the Local failed to prevent Galindo's layoff, the Local, assisted by Marthe, filed a grievance on behalf of Galindo. When the matter could not be resolved through the grievance process, the Local decided to take the case to arbitration. In preparation for arbitration, Marthe asked Galindo for a written statement concerning his testimony, but Galindo refused. Additionally, Marthe consulted with the Local's secretaries who searched for records of the union notifying the company concerning the appointment of stewards, but found none.
At the arbitration hearing, Peon and Galindo testified that Peon had telephoned Stoody, in Galindo's presence, and informed a personnel department employee that Galindo was a steward. The arbitrator rejected this testimony in an opinion issued on June 1, 1983. In finding that the company was not obligated to recognize Galindo as a shop steward, the arbitrator found that the Union had failed to notify Stoody within three days of Galindo's "appointment" to a stewardship. The arbitrator also noted in passing that Galindo had never been formally elected a steward.
On October 19, 1983, Galindo filed suit in federal district court seeking relief against Stoody, the Local, and the International under 29 U.S.C. Sec. 185. The complaint alleged that Stoody had breached the Agreement by laying off Galindo (this claim was dropped before trial). The complaint also alleged that the Local and the International had breached their duty of fair representation by: (1) failing to use effective means to notify Stoody of Galindo's stewardship; (2) failing to "properly investigate Stoody's position concerning notification"; and, (3) advising Galindo that he was not permitted to retain legal counsel at the arbitration.
At trial, both Galindo and Peon admitted that they had lied at the arbitration hearing when they testified that Peon had informed Stoody by telephone that Galindo was a steward.
The district court held that the Local and the International had breached their duty of fair representation to Galindo in connection with his layoff. At the outset, the court ruled that Galindo was a steward even though he had never been elected and had never performed steward duties. It found that Peon waived the election requirement and that, in any event, an election would have been "meaningless" because Galindo was the only non-supervisory employee in the department and thus had the only vote. The district court also held that "no occasion [had arisen] for [Galindo] to discharge any of the specific duties of a steward" in the two months between his appointment and layoff.
The district court held that the Local's failure to notify Stoody was a breach of its duty of