Opinion ID: 451885
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: District Court Ruling and Rerun Election

Text: 8 The district court 594 F.Supp. 188, held that the CSEA had violated Sec. 401(b) of the Act by failing to conduct its election by secret ballot, and ordered the CSEA to hold a new election within 90 days. 29 U.S.C. Sec. 481(b). It further held that the nominating procedures did not violate Sec. 401(e) of the LMRDA. 29 U.S.C. Sec. 481(e). Noting that the CSEA apparently did not know until just prior to the 1982 election that its elections were subject to the Act, the district court then held that the use of the nominating committee, standing alone, violated the Act. But the district judge went on to hold that the alternative procedure, which allowed members rejected by the committee to obtain a place on the ballot by submitting a petition signed by 3,800 members, provided a reasonable alternative to the concededly unreasonable committee method of nominating. The Secretary's motion for summary judgment regarding the nominating procedures was therefore denied. The CSEA's motion for partial summary judgment was also denied upon the court's finding that Carter had exhausted her internal union remedies before submitting her complaint to the Secretary. 9 Pursuant to the district court's order, the CSEA held a rerun election. The election was supervised by the Secretary, and members voted by secret ballot. Prior to the district court's decision, the CSEA had agreed to discontinue its practice of automatically placing incumbents' names on the ballot. Moreover, in the rerun election, the Union on its own initiative required a member rejected by the committee to obtain only 1,000 petition signatures in order to have his or her name placed on the ballot. 10 The election held pursuant to the court order does not moot this appeal. See Donovan v. Local 120, Laborers' International Union, 683 F.2d 1095, 1098-99 (7th Cir.1982). Instead, determination of the issues raised will provide the Union with guidance in holding future elections, including its regularly scheduled triennial election to be held in June 1985. This appeal presents two questions: first, whether the district court correctly held that Helen Carter had exhausted the remedies available to her under the CSEA Constitution and Bylaws; and if so, whether the district court erred as a matter of law in holding that the CSEA nominating procedures, when considered as a whole, were reasonable.