Source: http://openjurist.org/424/us/554
Timestamp: 2014-12-28 23:02:19
Document Index: 262494765

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 301', '§ 301', '§ 185', '§ 301', '§ 301', '§ 301', '§ 203', '§ 173']

424 US 554 Hines v. Anchor Motor Freight Inc | OpenJurist
424 U.S. 554 - Hines v. Anchor Motor Freight Inc	Home424 us 554 hines v. anchor motor freight inc
424 US 554 Hines v. Anchor Motor Freight Inc 424 U.S. 554
47 L.Ed.2d 231
Charles A. HINES, etc., et al., Petitioners,v.ANCHOR MOTOR FREIGHT, INC., et al.
Petitioner employees were discharged by respondent employer for alleged dishonesty. Respondent union, claiming that petitioners were innocent, opposed the discharges, and pursuant to the collective-bargaining contract the matter was submitted to an arbitration committee, which upheld the discharges. The collective-bargaining contract provided that a decision by the arbitration committee would be final and binding on all parties, including the employees affected. However, when subsequent information indicated that the charges of dishonesty might have been false, petitioners brought a wrongful-discharge suit against the employer and union under § 301 of the Labor Management Relations Act, alleging that the falsity of the charges could have been discovered with a minimum of investigation, and that the union had made no effort to ascertain the truth and thereby had violated its duty of fair representation by arbitrarily and in bad faith depriving petitioners of their employment and permitting their discharge without sufficient proof. The District Court granted summary judgment for respondents on the ground that the arbitration committee's decision was final and binding absent a showing of bad faith, arbitrariness, or perfunctoriness on the union's part. Concluding that there were sufficient facts from which to infer bad faith or arbitrary conduct on the union's part and that petitioners should have been afforded an opportunity to prove their charges, the Court of Appeals reversed the District Court to that extent, but affirmed the judgment in the employer's favor on the ground that the finality provision of the collective-bargaining contract had to be observed unless evidence showed misconduct by the employer or a conspiracy between it and the union. Held : It was improper to dismiss petitioners' suit against respondent employer, since if petitioners prove an erroneous discharge and respondent union's breach of duty of fair representation tainting the arbitration committee's decision, they are entitled to an appropriate remedy against the employer as well as the union. Pp. 561-572.
(b) Respondent employer, if the charges of dishonesty were in error, played its part in precipitating the dispute, and though the employer may not have knowingly or negligently relied on false evidence in discharging petitioners and may have prevailed before the arbitration committee after presenting its case by fair procedures, petitioners should not be foreclosed from their § 301 remedy otherwise available against the employer if the contractual processes have been seriously flawed by the union's breach of its duty. Pp. 569-570.
Niki Z. Schwartz, Cleveland, Ohio, for petitioners.
Bernard S. Goldfarb, Cleveland, Ohio, for respondents.
* Petitioners,1 who were formerly employed as truck drivers by respondent Anchor Motor Freight, Inc. (Anchor), were discharged on June 5, 1967. The applicable collective-bargaining contract forbade discharges without just cause. The company charged dishonesty. The practice at Anchor was to reimburse drivers for money spent for lodging while the drivers were on the road overnight. Anchor's assertion was that petitioners had sought reimbursement for motel expenses in excess of the actual charges sustained by them. At a meeting between the company and the union, Local 377, International Brotherhood of Teamsters (Union), which was also attended by petitioners, Anchor presented motel receipts previously submitted by petitioners which were in excess of the charges shown on the motel's registration cards; a notarized statement of the motel clerk asserting the accuracy of the registration cards; and an affidavit of the motel owner affirming that the registration cards were accurate and that inflated receipts had been furnished petitioners. The Union claimed petitioners were innocent and opposed the discharges. It was then agreed that the matter would be presented to the joint arbitration committee for the area, to which the collective-bargaining contract permitted either party to submit an unresolved grievance.2 Pending this hearing, petitioners were reinstated. Their suggestion that the motel be investigated was answered by the Union representatives' assurances that "there was nothing to worry about" and that they need not hire their own attorney.
A hearing before the joint area committee was held on July 26, 1967. Anchor presented its case. Both the Union and petitioners were afforded an opportunity to present their case and to be heard. Petitioners denied their dishonesty, but neither they nor the Union presented any other evidence contradicting the documents presented by the company. The committee sustained the discharges. Petitioners then retained an attorney and sought rehearing based on a statement by the motel owner that he had no personal knowledge of the events, but that the discrepancy between the receipts and the registration cards could have been attributable to the motel clerk's recording on the cards less than was actually paid and retaining for himself the difference between the amount receipted and the amount recorded. The committee, after hearing, unanimously denied rehearing "because there was no new evidence presented which would justify a reopening of this case." App. 212.
The Union denied the charges and relied on the decision of the joint area committee. Anchor asserted that petitioners had been properly discharged for just cause. It also defended on the ground that petitioners, diligently and in good faith represented by the Union, had unsuccessfully resorted to the grievance and arbitration machinery provided by the contract and that the adverse decision of the joint arbitration committee was binding upon the Union and petitioners under the contractual provision declaring that "(a) decision by a majority of a Panel of any of the Committees shall be final and binding on all parties, including the employee and/or employees affected."3 Discovery followed, including a deposition of the motel clerk revealing that he had falsified the records and that it was he who had pocketed the difference between the sums shown on the receipts and the registration cards. Motions for summary judgment filed by Anchor and the Unions were granted by the District Court on the ground that the decision of the arbitration committee was final and binding on the employees and 'for failure to show facts comprising bad faith, arbitrariness or perfunctoriness on the part of the Unions." 72 CCH Lab. Cas. P 13,987, p. 28,131 (ND Ohio 1973). Although indicating that the acts of the Union "may not meet professional standards of competency, and while it might have been advisable for the Union to further investigate the charges . . .," the District Court concluded that the facts demonstrated at most bad judgment on the part of the Union, which was insufficient to prove a breach of duty or make out a prima facie case against it. Id., at 28,132.
After reviewing the allegations and the record before it, the Court of Appeals concluded that there were sufficient facts from which bad faith or arbitrary conduct on the part of the local Union could be inferred by the trier of fact and that petitioners should have been afforded an opportunity to prove their charges.4 To this extent the judgment of the District Court was reversed. The Court of Appeals affirmed the judgment in favor of Anchor and the International. Saying that petitioners wanted to relitigate their discharges because of the recantation of the motel clerk, the Court of Appeals, quoting from its prior opinion in Balowski v. International Union, 372 F.2d 829 (CA 6 1967),5 concluded that the finality provision of collective-bargaining contracts must be observed because there was "(n)o evidence of any misconduct on the part of the employer . . . " and wholly insufficient evidence of any conspiracy between the Union and Anchor. 506 F.2d, at 1157, 1158.6
It is this judgment of the Court of Appeals with respect to Anchor that is now before us on our limited grant of the employees' petition for writ of certiorari. 421 U.S. 928, 95 S.Ct. 1654, 44 L.Ed.2d 85 (1975).7 We reverse that judgment.
Section 301 of the Labor Management Relations Act, 1947, 61 Stat. 156, 29 U.S.C. § 185, provides for suits in the district courts for violation of collective-bargaining contracts between labor organizations and employers without regard to the amount in controversy.8 This provision reflects the interest of Congress in promoting "a higher degree of responsibility upon the parties to such agreements . . . ." S.Rep.No.105, 80th Cong., 1st Sess., 17 (1947). The strong policy favoring judicial enforcement of collective-bargaining contracts was sufficiently powerful to sustain the jurisdiction of the district courts over enforcement suits even though the conduct involved was arguably or would amount to an unfair labor practice within the jurisdiction of the National Labor Relations Board. Smith v. Evening News Assn., 371 U.S. 195, 83 S.Ct. 267, 9 L.Ed.2d 246 (1962); Atkinson v. Sinclair Rfg. Co., 370 U.S. 238, 82 S.Ct. 1318, 8 L.Ed.2d 462 (1962); Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen & Helpers of America v. Lucas Flour Co., 369 U.S. 95, 82 S.Ct. 571, 7 L.Ed.2d 593 (1962); Charles Dowd Box Co. v. Courtney, 368 U.S. 502, 82 S.Ct. 519, 7 L.Ed.2d 483 (1962). Section 301 contemplates suits by and against individual employees as well as between unions and employers; and contrary to earlier indications § 301 suits encompass those seeking to vindicate "uniquely personal" rights of employees such as wages, hours, overtime pay, and wrongful discharge. Smith v. Evening News Assn., supra, 371 U.S., at 198-200, 83 S.Ct., at 269-270. Petitioners' present suit against the employer was for wrongful discharge and is the kind of case Congress provided for in § 301.
Collective-bargaining contracts, however, generally contain procedures for the settlement of disputes through mutual discussion and arbitration. These provisions are among those which are to be enforced under § 301. Furthermore, Congress has specified in § 203(d), 61 Stat. 154, 29 U.S.C. § 173(d), that "(f)inal adjustment by a method agreed upon by the parties is declared to be the desirable method for settlement of grievance disputes . . . ." This congressional policy "can be effectuated only if the means chosen by the parties for settlement of their differences un