Opinion ID: 347564
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: jurisdiction

Text: 9 We are obliged to meet an important threshold question of subject matter jurisdiction, although neither the parties nor the district court raised the issue, Cutler v. Rae, 48 U.S. (7 How.) 729, 12 L.Ed. 890 (1849), particularly since the scope of section 302 jurisdiction still remains controversial. 4 10 Section 302 takes the form of a broad prohibition of payments of money or other thing of value by employers to representatives of employees. An exception is made, however, in subsection (c)(5) for employee benefit trust funds that meet certain rigid standards, among which is a unique feature requiring equal representation for employers and employees in the administration of the funds. Subsection (e) of section 302 grants district courts jurisdiction to restrain violations of this section, . . . . Although the extent of the jurisdiction under section 302(e) is not yet settled, 5 this much is certain: a federal district court does have jurisdiction under the section to enforce a trust fund's compliance with the statutory standards set forth in subsection (c)(5) by eliminating those offensive features in the structure or operation of the trust that would cause it to fail to qualify for a (c)(5) exception. Arroyo v. United States, 359 U.S. 419, 426-27, 79 S.Ct. 864, 3 L.Ed.2d 915 (1959); Nedd v. UMW, 556 F.2d 190 at 201 n.18 (3d Cir. 1977); Blassie v. Kroger Co., 345 F.2d 58 (8th Cir. 1965). Since plaintiffs in the instant case alleged inter alia a structural violation of the equal representation clause of subsection (c)(5)(B), the district court was justified in the exercise of its jurisdiction. 11 In addition to alleging a subsection (c)(5) violation, however, plaintiffs also claim that the amendments to the trust agreements are invalid on two other grounds: (1) that they were not properly adopted, and (2) that even if properly adopted, they are void under Article X of the agreements and declarations of trust which prohibits amendments that exceed the original purposes of the trust agreement. 6 These two claims, grave as they appear to be, do not purport to rest on any federal statute. Thus, jurisdiction over them is problematic. 12 Some authorities suggest that section 302(e) vests the federal courts with broad, equity jurisdiction over the operation and administration of 302(c)(5) trusts. 7 The majority position, however, to which this circuit subscribes, does not find in section 302 a grant of jurisdiction board enough to reach plaintiffs' non-statutory claims in the instant case. 8 On the other hand, since plaintiffs have stated one claim over which federal jurisdiction is clear, the district court in its discretion might have exercised pendent jurisdiction over the non-statutory, state law claims. See Snider v. All State Administrators, Inc., 481 F.2d 387 (5th Cir.) rehearing denied, 481 F.2d 1403 (1973), cert. denied, 415 U.S. 957, 94 S.Ct. 1484, 39 L.Ed.2d 571 (1974). We therefore acknowledge the possibility of district court jurisdiction over the plaintiffs' state law claims, but we do not find it necessary to reach them on appeal for reasons which will subsequently become clear.