Opinion ID: 536538
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Hybrid Actions

Text: 9 The National Railroad Adjustment Board (Board) has exclusive jurisdiction over a railroad employee's grievances against the railroad involving the interpretation or application of a collective bargaining agreement. 45 U.S.C. Sec. 153 First (i); Andrews v. Louisville & Nashville R.R. Co., 406 U.S. 320, 325, 92 S.Ct. 1562, 1565, 32 L.Ed.2d 95 (1972); Brown v. American Airlines, Inc., 593 F.2d 652, 654 (5th Cir.1979). Judicial review of Board decisions is narrowly limited to review of whether the Board has failed to comply with RLA requirements, whether the Board has exceeded its jurisdiction, or whether there was fraud or corruption by a Board member. 45 U.S.C. Sec. 153 First (p) & (q). 10 The appellants' breach of contract claims in this case necessarily involve interpretation of the collective bargaining agreement and the Manning Agreement, and thus must first be prosecuted to arbitration by the Board, through administrative channels as set out in the RLA. Even state law claims such as fraud must be resolved by the Board if they are inextricably intertwined with the grievance process and necessarily involve interpretation of a collective bargaining agreement. Leu v. Norfolk & Western Ry. Co., 820 F.2d 825, 829 (7th Cir.1987); Stephens v. Norfolk & W. Ry. Co., 792 F.2d 576, 580 (6th Cir.1986). Ordinarily, therefore, the district court would not have jurisdiction to consider claims against an employer subject to the RLA like the claims made by the appellants here, because first the appellants would have to exhaust their administrative remedies under the RLA. 11 An exception to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Board exists, however, when the employee has not only a dispute with the employer involving interpretation of the collective bargaining agreement, but also a claim against the union for breach of the union's duty of fair representation. In that situation, the employee may bring a hybrid action alleging claims against both the union and the employer. See, e.g., Glover v. St. Louis-San Francisco Ry. Co., 393 U.S. 324, 328-29, 89 S.Ct. 548, 550-51, 21 L.Ed.2d 519 (1969); Brock v. Republic Airlines, Inc., 776 F.2d 523, 525 (5th Cir.1985). 12 Hybrid actions are recognized under both the RLA, e.g., Glover, 393 U.S. 324, 89 S.Ct. 548, and the Labor Management Relations Act (LMRA), e.g., DelCostello v. International Brotherhood of Teamsters, 462 U.S. 151, 164-65, 103 S.Ct. 2281, 2290-91, 76 L.Ed.2d 476 (1983). A hybrid action brought under the LMRA does not have to join both the employer and the union as defendants; it is sufficient for the employee to sue one or the other, but the employee must prove a cause of action against both. DelCostello, 462 U.S. at 165, 103 S.Ct. at 2291; Smith v. Kerrville Bus Co., Inc., 748 F.2d 1049, 1053 (5th Cir.1984). The Fifth Circuit has not yet decided whether an employee bringing a hybrid suit under the RLA must join the union as a party. 1 13 The appellants brought the action at bar only against Santa Fe, the employer, and not against the UTU. The appellants' complaint, however, contains an allegation that the appellants have not been fairly represented in the premises and therefore this cause of action is their only remedy. The appellants also presented some evidence that the UTU wrongfully refused to prosecute their claims against Santa Fe because the appellants were not members of the UTU. The appellants urge this court to find that these allegations that the UTU breached its duty of fair representation suffice to confer jurisdiction in the district court over their claims against Santa Fe, and that under DelCostello it was unnecessary for them to join the union as a defendant. 14 Some courts have found that an allegation that the union breached a duty of fair representation by wrongfully failing to pursue a grievance is an insufficient ground for allowing the employee to bypass RLA administrative remedies and proceed directly to federal court in a hybrid action. See Rader v. United Transportation Union, 718 F.2d 1012, 1014 (11th Cir.1983); Essary v. Chicago & N.W. Transp. Co., 618 F.2d 13, 17 n. 6 (7th Cir.1980); Zysling v. Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe R.R. Co., No. CA-2-85-59, 121 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2879, 2880, 1985 WL 6051 (N.D.Tex.1985). Compare Vaca v. Sipes, 386 U.S. 171, 185, 87 S.Ct. 903, 914, 17 L.Ed.2d 842 (1967) (exhaustion of administrative remedies is unnecessary if the union wrongfully refuses to process the employee's grievance under a collective bargaining agreement governed by the LMRA and the National Labor Relations Act). This conclusion is based on the provisions of the RLA that allow an employee to process a claim to the Adjustment Board without the concurrence of the union. 45 U.S.C. Sec. 153 First (i) & (j). 15 We do not reach the issue whether DelCostello allows an employee to bring a hybrid suit under the RLA without joining the union as a party, because we find that any claims the appellants in this case may have had against the UTU for breach of its duty of fair representation are time-barred. For the same reason, we also do not reach the issue whether the UTU's wrongful refusal to process grievances sufficed as a breach of the UTU's duty of fair representation under the RLA. Even if the appellants alleged a valid claim that the UTU breached its duty of fair representation, making this action a genuine hybrid action, and even if the holding of DelCostello on the non-necessity of suing both the union and the employer were to extend to hybrid actions brought under the RLA, we hold that summary judgment was proper in this case because the appellants did not bring the action containing allegations of unfair representation by the UTU within six months of the accrual of their claim against the UTU.