Opinion ID: 1166496
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: service on international union

Text: The complaint and amended complaint named two defendants  the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and Teamsters Local 959. The proofs of service, which are not in the record on appeal, reveal that both defendants were served by personal delivery of the summons and complaint to Jesse Carr, Secretary-Treasurer of Local 959, in Anchorage. The Local answered. The International, through the same counsel, moved to dismiss the action for want of effective service and for want of personal jurisdiction. The court entered an order quashing the service on the International but said that if the plaintiff could make effective service on the International, the action against that defendant could proceed. This question is governed by state, not federal, law. See Dixie Carriers, Inc. v. Nat'l Maritime Union, 35 F.R.D. 365, 369 (S.D.Tex. 1964). It is a question of first impression in Alaska. King's theory on the merits apparently was that the Local was the agent of the International, and that the International was therefore vicariously liable for the Local's actions. The Local, not the International, was a party to the contracts in question. Civil Rule 4(d)(6) provides that an unincorporated association may be served by personal delivery of the summons and complaint to an officer, a managing or general agent, or to any other person authorized by appointment or by law to receive service of process. The rule is that, without more, a local or the agent of a local is not the agent of an international union for purposes of service. [32] The facts of an individual case may reveal that a local is in fact the agent of the international, in which case, service on the local would be service on the international. The factual question in each case is the degree of autonomy which the local enjoys. [33] Several cases have considered whether locals of the Teamsters were agents of the International. Morgan Drive Away, Inc. v. Int'l Brotherhood of Teamsters, 268 F.2d 871 (7th Cir.), cert. denied, 361 U.S. 896, 80 S.Ct. 199, 4 L.Ed.2d 152 (1959), held that they were not, and quashed service of the International made on an officer of a local. Int'l Brotherhood of Teamsters v. United States, 275 F.2d 610 (4th Cir.), cert. denied, 362 U.S. 975, 80 S.Ct. 1060, 4 L.Ed.2d 1011 (1960), and Price v. Int'l Brotherhood of Teamsters, 46 F.R.D. 18 (E.D.Pa. 1969), both held that the locals in question were agents and upheld the service. In the latter two cases, the locals involved were under trusteeship, an arrangement which apparently leaves the local with almost no autonomy. King, as plaintiff, had the burden of proving the validity of the attempted service of process. Morrow v. New Moon Homes, Inc., 548 P.2d 279, 294 (Alaska 1976). Since he presented no evidence by affidavit or otherwise in response to the motion to dismiss, the trial court's decision against him on this issue was correct.