Opinion ID: 482037
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The employees' hybrid section 301 claim

Text: 20 There is no question that the hybrid section 301 action brought by the plaintiffs is governed by the six-month statute of limitations borrowed from section 10(b) of the National Labor Relations Act, 29 U.S.C. Sec. 160(b). Delcostello v. Int'l Bhd. of Teamsters, 462 U.S. 151, 103 S.Ct. 2281, 76 L.Ed.2d 476 (1983). Thus, as to the employees' claims, we have before us only the question of when the limitations period began to run. 21 This Court has held that [a] claim accrues under section 10(b) when the claimant discovers, or in the exercise of reasonable diligence should have discovered, the acts constituting the alleged violation. Adkins v. International Union of Elec., Radio & Mach. Workers, 769 F.2d 330, 335 (6th Cir.1985) (citing Shapiro v. Cook United, Inc., 762 F.2d 49, 51 (6th Cir.1985)). A district court opinion has stated that this accrual period applies ... even if some possibility of nonjudicial enforcement remain[s]. Rose v. General Motors Corp., 573 F.Supp. 747, 752 (S.D.Ohio 1983). 22 Here, the district court found that the date of accrual of the plaintiffs' cause of action against Bendix and the UAW was November 18, 1982, seven days after the denial of their grievance. In so finding, it stated that it was at that point that the plaintiffs knew or should have known that there was a dispute with Bendix over their rights under the collective bargaining agreement. The court in Rose had found that in a section 301 action it is appropriate to consider that a claim accrues against the company when it accrues against the union. The Third Circuit has held, and we agree, that the employee's hybrid cause of action may arise when the union takes an unequivocal position that it will not seek arbitration. Federation of Westinghouse Indep. Salaried Unions v. Westinghouse Elec. Corp., 736 F.2d 896, 902 (3d Cir.1984). That court pointed out that the union's cause of action may arise at a different time, making the maximum limitations period twelve months. Id. 23 Here, though plaintiffs had filed grievances on previous occasions, they were on notice no later than November 11, 1982, that Bendix did not intend to honor paragraph 154. The employees' claim arose on November 18, 1982, seven days after they received Bendix' letter. Because it was not filed within the six-month period established in DelCostello, this action was therefore untimely. We affirm the district court's dismissal of the employees' claim. 24