Source: https://m.openjurist.org/481/us/851
Timestamp: 2020-07-03 18:02:36
Document Index: 555857856

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 301', '§ 301', '§ 301', '§ 301', '§ 185', '§ 301', '§ 1441', '§ 301', '§ 301', '§ 301', '§ 301', '§ 301', '§ 301', '§ 301', '§ 301', '§ 301', '§ 301', '§ 301', '§ 17', '§ 301', '§ 301', '§ 301', '§ 185', '§ 301', '§ 10', '§ 160', '§ 301', '§ 301']

481 US 851 International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers v. Hechler | OpenJurist
481 U.S. 851 - International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers v. Hechler
481 US 851 International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers v. Hechler
107 S.Ct. 2161
95 L.Ed.2d 791
INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF ELECTRICAL WORKERS, AFL-CIO, et al., Petitioners
Sally HECHLER.
Respondent, an electrical apprentice employed by Florida Power and Light Company (Florida Power), was injured while assigned to a job that required her to perform tasks allegedly beyond the scope of her training and experience. She brought suit in a Florida court against petitioner unions (collectively referred to as the Union), alleging that "pursuant to contracts and agreements" between the Union and Florida Power, "to which . . . [she] was a third-party beneficiary," and "pursuant to the relationship by and between" the Union and her, the Union had a duty of care to ensure her a safe workplace, which it had breached by allowing her to be assigned to work in a dangerous location. The Union removed the action to federal court on the grounds that its alleged duty arose solely from the collective-bargaining agreement, and therefore that any breach of its duty was actionable solely under § 301 of the Labor Management Relations Act, 1947. The Union then moved to dismiss the complaint as untimely under the applicable federal statute of limitations. Respondent argued that the basic nature of her action was a state common-law "suit in tort," and prayed that the case be remanded to the state court. The District Court granted the Union's motion to dismiss, holding that the Union's alleged duty flowed from the collective-bargaining agreement, and that respondent's claim thus was pre-empted by § 301 and was untimely under federal law. The Court of Appeals reversed.
1. Respondent's claim is not sufficiently independent of the collective-bargaining agreement to withstand § 301's pre-emptive force. Pp. 855-862.
In Allis-Chalmers Corp. v. Lueck, 471 U.S. 202, 105 S.Ct. 1904, 85 L.Ed.2d 206 (1985), this Court held that "when resolution of a state-law claim is substantially dependent upon analysis of the terms of an agreement made between the parties in a labor contract," the plaintiff's claim is pre-empted by § 301 of the Labor Management Relations Act, 1947 (LMRA), 61 Stat. 156, 29 U.S.C. § 185. 471 U.S., at 220, 105 S.Ct., at 1916. The question presented by this case is whether a state-law tort claim that a union has breached its duty of care to provide a union member with a safe workplace is sufficiently independent of the collective-bargaining agreement to withstand the pre-emptive force of § 301.
Two years later, respondent sued the Union in state court in Broward County, Fla. In her complaint, she alleged that "pursuant to contracts and agreements entered into by and between" the Union and Florida Power, and "pursuant to the relationship by and between" the Union and respondent, the Union had a duty to ensure that respondent "was provided safety in her work place and a safe work place," and to ensure that respondent "would not be required or allowed to take undue risks in the performance of her duties which were not commensurate with her training and experience." App. 4. The Union, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1441, removed the lawsuit to the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida on the grounds that the "alleged duty arises solely from the alleged collective bargaining agreement between [the Union] and Florida Power," and therefore that any breach of this duty was actionable under § 301. 1 Record 3. Respondent at that time raised no objection to the removal.
The District Court granted the Union's motion to dismiss. The court observed that the gravamen of the complaint was that the Union had breached a duty of care to respondent to provide her a safe workplace. "Significantly, the duty allegedly owed to [Hechler] flows from the collective bargaining agreement, which imposes a duty on the [Union] to monitor the safety and training of its members." App. to Pet. for Cert. 3a. The court concluded that because respondent had failed "to demonstrate that the [Union's] allegedly negligent activity was unrelated to the collective bargaining agreement or beyond the scope of the employee-union fiduciary relationship," her claim was pre-empted by federal labor law. Id., at 4a. Having found that respondent's suit was governed by federal law, the court then held that the 6-month statute of limitations adopted in DelCostello v. Teamsters, 462 U.S. 151, 103 S.Ct. 2281, 76 L.Ed.2d 476 (1983), applied to Hechler's case, and dismissed the suit as untimely.
The Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit reversed. 772 F.2d 788 (1985). It ruled that the complaint "on its face states a common law negligence claim that may be cognizable in state court and is not preempted by the federal labor laws." Id., at 790-791. The court concluded: "Though the [collective-bargaining] contract may be of use in defining the scope of the duty owed, liability will turn on basic negligence principles as developed by state law." Id., at 794. Finding that "federal labor law was not invoked in plaintiff's complaint," id., at 799, the court directed that the District Court remand the case to the state court for adjudication on the merits.
In Allis-Chalmers Corp. v. Lueck, 471 U.S. 202, 105 S.Ct. 1904, 85 L.Ed.2d 206 (1985), we reviewed the pre-emptive scope of § 301.1 We think it useful, at the outset, to repeat briefly the background outlined in the opinion in Allis-Chalmers. In Textile Workers v. Lincoln Mills, 353 U.S. 448, 77 S.Ct. 912, 1 L.Ed.2d 972 (1957), the Court held that § 301 does more than simply confer jurisdiction on federal courts to hear suits charging violations of collective-bargaining agreements. Id., at 450-451, 77 S.Ct., at 914-915. The Court concluded that Congress, through § 301, had authorized federal courts to create a body of federal law for the enforcement of collective-bargaining agreements—law "which the courts must fashion from the policy of our national labor laws." Id., at 456, 77 S.Ct., at 918. It was explained in Allis-Chalmers, 471 U.S., at 209, 105 S.Ct., at 1910, that the Court in Lincoln Mills "understood § 301 as a congressional mandate to the federal courts to fashion a body of federal common law to be used to address disputes arising out of labor contracts."
Not long after Lincoln Mills was decided, the Court held that state courts have concurrent jurisdiction over § 301 claims. Charles Dowd Box Co. v. Courtney, 368 U.S. 502, 82 S.Ct. 519, 7 L.Ed.2d 483 (1962). Although the Court in Dowd proceeded upon the hypothesis that state courts would apply federal law when they exercised jurisdiction over § 301 claims,2 it was in another case that same Term, Teamsters v. Lucas Flour Co., 369 U.S. 95, 82 S.Ct. 571, 7 L.Ed.2d 593 (1962), that the Court expressly held that federal law, and not state law, must be used in adjudicating § 301 claims. There the Court observed: "The dimensions of § 301 require the conclusion that substantive principles of federal labor law must be paramount in the area covered by the statute." 369 U.S., at 103, 82 S.Ct., at 576. The need for this uniformity was clearly explained:
In Allis-Chalmers, the Court applied the rule that a tort claim "inextricably intertwined with consideration of the terms of the labor contract" is pre-empted under § 301, 471 U.S., at 213, 105 S.Ct., at 1912, and concluded that the claim in Allis-Chalmers fell within that category. The employee's allegation there was that his employer and its insurance company intentionally had failed to make required disability payments under a plan negotiated in a collective-bargaining agreement, and that, in so doing, they had breached a state-law insurance duty to act "in good faith" in paying disability benefits. Id., at 206, 105 S.Ct., at 1908. The Court observed that any attempt to assess liability on the part of the employer would inevitably involve interpretation of the underlying collective-bargaining contract. First, the disability plan adopted in the collective-bargaining agreement might itself have included an implied requirement of good faith that the employer breached by its conduct. The Court explained: "[I]t is a question of federal contract interpretation whether there was an obligation under this labor contract to provide the payments in a timely manner, and, if so, whether Allis-Chalmers' conduct breached that implied contract provision." Id., at 215, 105 S.Ct., at 1913. Second, under the relevant state law, the duty of "good faith" on which the plaintiff relied "intrinsically relate[d] to the nature and existence of the contract." Id., at 216, 105 S.Ct., at 1914. The concept of "good faith" meant " 'being faithful to one's duty or obligation,' ibid.,quoting Hilker v. Western Automobile Ins. Co., 204 Wis. 1, 13, 235 N.W. 413, 414 (1931), and, under state law, that duty was determined primarily by analyzing the responsibilities agreed to by the insurer in the written contract. The Court reasoned: "Because the right asserted not only derives from the contract, but is defined by the contractual obligation of good faith, any attempt to assess liability here inevitably will involve contract interpretation." 471 U.S., at 218, 105 S.Ct., at 1914. Inasmuch as federal law must control the uniform meaning given to contract terms in a collective-bargaining agreement, however, an employee's state-law tort action that necessarily rests on an interpretation of those terms is pre-empted by § 301. Id., at 218-219, 105 S.Ct., at 1914-1915.3
Another party, such as a labor union, of course, may assume a responsibility towards employees by accepting a duty of care through a contractual arrangement. If a party breaches a contractual duty, the settled rule under Florida law is that the aggrieved party may bring either an action for breach of contract or a tort action for the injuries suffered as a result of the contractual breach. See, e.g., Banfield v. Addington, 104 Fla. 661, 669-670, 140 So. 893, 897 (1932); Parrish v. Clark, 107 Fla. 598, 603, 145 So. 848, 850 (1933) ("[A]n action may arise for the breach of the contract, or for the positive tort committed by the violation of a duty arising out of the assumption of the contractual relation"); Safeco Title Ins. Co. v. Reynolds, 452 So.2d 45, 48 (Fla.App.1984) (it is a "long-established general principle that injuries caused by the allegedly negligent performance of a contractual duty may be redressed through a tort action"). The threshold inquiry for determining if a cause of action exists is an examination of the contract to ascertain what duties were accepted by each of the parties and the scope of those duties. See 38 Fla.Jur.2d, Negligence § 17, p. 29 (1982); Vorndran v. Wright, 367 So.2d 1070 (Fla.App.1979) (architect's contract did not include a duty to ensure compliance with safety regulations and thus employee injured on the job had no cause of action against the architect); Schauer v. Blair Construction Co., 374 So.2d 1160, 1161 (Fla.App.1979) (summary judgment in favor of architect improperly granted when genuine issue of material fact existed regarding architect's alleged contractual obligation to supervise construction).
In her complaint, respondent alleges precisely this type of tortious breach-of-contract claim. She asserts that "pursuant to contracts and agreements" between the Union and Florida Power, "to which contracts and agreements the Plaintiff was a third-party beneficiary," the Union owed respondent a duty of care to ensure her a safe working environment. App. 4. Having assumed this duty under the collective-bargaining agreement, the Union—according to the complaint—was then negligent "by allowing [Hechler] to be assigned to work in . . . a dangerous location and environment and by failing to provide her with or ascertaining that she had the necessary training, experience, background, and education to work in such a dangerous environment," and was further negligent in failing to "provid[e] and/or enforc[e] safety rules, regulations and requirements which would preclude such persons with inadequate and insufficient background, training, education, and experience, such as the Plaintiff, . . . from being placed in such an inherently dangerous working environment." Id., at 5.
Respondent's allegations of negligence assume significance if and only if—the Union, in fact, had assumed the duty of care that the complaint alleges the Union breached. The collective-bargaining agreement between the Union and Florida Power, and ancillary agreements between those parties, contain provisions on safety and working requirements for electrical apprentices on which Hechler could try to base an argument that the Union assumed an implied duty of care.4 In order to determine the Union's tort liability, however, a court would have to ascertain, first, whether the collective-bargaining agreement in fact placed an implied duty of care on the Union to ensure that Hechler was provided a safe workplace, and, second, the nature and scope of that duty, that is, whether, and to what extent, the Union's duty extended to the particular responsibilities alleged by respondent in her complaint. Thus, in this case, as in Allis-Chalmers, it is clear that "questions of contract interpretation . . . underlie any finding of tort liability." 471 U.S., at 218, 105 S.Ct., at 1915. The need for federal uniformity in the interpretation of contract terms therefore mandates that here, as in Allis-Chalmers, respondent is precluded from evading the pre-emptive force of § 301 by casting her claim as a state-law tort action.5
If respondent's suit is treated as a § 301 claim, a court must determine whether her claim is time barred by the applicable statute of limitations under federal law. The Union argues that respondent's claim can be characterized only as a "duty of fair representation" claim against the Union for failing properly to represent Hechler's interests before the employer, and that her claim must therefore be governed by the 6-month period of limitations prescribed by DelCostello v. Teamsters, 462 U.S. 151, 103 S.Ct. 2281, 76 L.Ed.2d 476 (1983).6 Respondent argues, however, that her suit is not a "duty of fair representation" claim, but is simply a § 301 claim, on the basis of her status as a third-party beneficiary of the collective-bargaining agreement and the Union's breach of duties assumed under that agreement.7
Respondent has alleged nothing more than a breach of the Union's federal duty of fair representation. She has not alleged that the Union breached any specific promise made to her, and her argument that Florida law has augmented the Union's representational duties is plainly pre-empted by federal law. The suggestion that she is a "third-party beneficiary" of the collective-bargaining agreement that the Union negotiated and executed on her behalf is a concept I simply do not understand. Whatever rights she has under that contract are rights against her employer, not against the party that represented her in its negotiation. Since her claim against the Union is a duty-of-fair-representation claim, her complaint is barred by the 6-month period of limitations prescribed by this Court's decision in DelCostello v. Teamsters, 462 U.S. 151, 103 S.Ct. 2281, 76 L.Ed.2d 476 (1983).* Remanding the case to the Court of Appeals is therefore unnecessary. I would simply reverse the judgment of the Court of Appeals and reinstate the District Court's order dismissing the complaint.
"Suits for violation of contracts between an employer and a labor organization representing employees in an industry affecting commerce as defined in this chapter, or between any such labor organizations, may be brought in any district court of the United States having jurisdiction of the parties, without respect to the amount in controversy or without regard to the citizenship of the parties." 29 U.S.C. § 185(a).
On appeal to the Court of Appeals, Hechler continued to characterize the Union's duty of care as grounded in the collective-bargaining agreement. She described the issue presented as "whether the federal labor laws pre-empt a worker's state common-law action against her union for negligence in breaching its duty—created by the union's contract with the employer—to insure that the plaintiff was properly trained for her work assignment." Brief for Appellant in No. 84-5799 (CA11), p. ii (emphasis added). See also id., at 1, 45, n. 47. Again, there was no mention by Hechler of the existence of other state law that might form an alternative source of the Union's duty. The Court of Appeals accepted the proposition that the Union's duty of care would arise from the collective-bargaining agreement, but agreed with Hechler that, "[t]hough the contract may be of use in defining the scope of the duty owed," the suit essentially remained a state-law claim of negligence. 772 F.2d 788, 794 (1985).
In DelCostello, the Court concluded that a hybrid suit, consisting of a § 301 claim against an employer and a duty-of-fair-representation claim against a union, is similar to an unfair labor practices charge, and that federal courts should therefore borrow the 6-month limitations period established in § 10(b) of the National Labor Relations Act, 29 U.S.C. § 160(b), for such charges. A duty-of-fair-representation claim arises when a union that represents an employee in a grievance or arbitration procedure acts in a "discriminatory, dishonest, arbitrary, or perfunctory" fashion. 462 U.S., at 164, 103 S.Ct., at 2290. See Vaca v. Sipes, 386 U.S. 171, 87 S.Ct. 903, 17 L.Ed.2d 842 (1967); Hines v. Anchor Motor Freight, Inc., 424 U.S. 554, 96 S.Ct. 1048, 47 L.Ed.2d 231 (1976). The Court in DelCostello expressly distinguished the hybrid § 301/duty-of-fair-representation claim before it from "a straightforward breach-of-contract suit under § 301." 462 U.S., at 165, 103 S.Ct., at 2291.