Opinion ID: 565162
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Retired and Resigned Pilots

Text: 17 The pilots next argue that ALPA violated its DFR in bad faith by misrepresenting to retired and resigned pilots that they would be included in any settlement with Continental. The pilots allege that, despite these promises, ALPA did not represent pilots who retired or resigned during the strike. 7 The pilots further contend that even after ALPA had conceded the retired/resigned pilot issue to Continental, ALPA continued to tell the pilots they would be included. The pilots argue that ALPA's alleged misrepresentations to the retired/resigned pilots support their bad faith DFR claim in the same way as the other alleged union misrepresentations discussed above. 18 ALPA argues that a DFR is only owed to employees of a unit and that because the retirees were no longer part of the Continental bargaining unit, they had no duty to represent them. 8 See Allied Chem. & Alkali Workers Local Union No. 1 v. Pittsburgh Plate Glass Co., 404 U.S. 157, 181 n. 20, 92 S.Ct. 383, 398 n. 20, 30 L.Ed.2d 341 (1971) (Since retirees are not members of the bargaining unit, the bargaining agent is under no statutory duty to represent them in negotiations with the employer.); Anderson v. Alpha Portland Indus., Inc., 727 F.2d 177, 181 (8th Cir.1984) ([T]he union owes no duty of fair representation to retirees since the union's duty runs only to employees within the bargaining unit for whom the union acts as exclusive bargaining representative.), aff'd en banc, 752 F.2d 1293, cert. denied, 471 U.S. 1102, 105 S.Ct. 2329, 85 L.Ed.2d 846 (1985). ALPA argues that even a promise of representation to a retiree would not implicate the DFR. See Meza v. General Battery Corp., 908 F.2d 1262, 1272-73 & n. 11 (5th Cir.1990) (Even if the Union volunteered to represent former employee, it is doubtful whether the Union owed him a duty of fair representation.). 19 Again we need not reach the issue of whether retirees are owed a DFR in this situation. Assuming such a duty exists, ALPA did not breach it in bad faith. First, the pilots rely on alleged misrepresentations made to a single retired pilot. The first one was allegedly in a statement by MEC Chairman Dennis Higgins in a December 1984 meeting; the other was allegedly included in an equivocal letter from ALPA President Henry Duffy in September 1985. As the text of the relevant summary judgment evidence in the margin shows, these statements do not rise to the level of bad faith intentional misrepresentations designed to harm the retired pilots. 9 Second, even if ALPA sacrificed benefits to the retired pilots for the greater good of the entire union membership, this choice will not support an inference of a bad faith breach of ALPA's DFR. In negotiating conflicts such as the one ALPA faced with Continental, some groups within the union will always fare better than others. Arriving at a compromise that includes disparate benefits for various groups is not per se outside ALPA's discretion or the wide range of reasonableness, see Ford Motor Co. v. Huffman, 345 U.S. 330, 338, 73 S.Ct. 681, 686, 97 L.Ed. 1048 (1953), to which it is entitled as the pilots' duly chosen bargaining representative. The Supreme Court has held that this settlement was not arbitrary or discriminatory. The summary judgment record will not support an inference that it was made with a bad faith motive to harm retirees. The district court correctly granted summary judgment on this issue. 20