Opinion ID: 453424
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: DelCostello's Six-Month Statute of Limitations Bars

Text: 28 Harper's Claims for Relief Arising Under Section 301 29 In DelCostello v. International Brotherhood of Teamsters, 462 U.S. 151, 103 S.Ct. 2281, 76 L.Ed.2d 476 (1983), the Supreme Court held that the six-month statute of limitations for making charges of unfair labor practices to the NLRB, contained in section 10(b) of the National Labor Relations Act, 29 U.S.C. Sec. 160(b), also applies to hybrid duty-of-fair-representation/breach-of-collective-bargaining-agreement claims arising under section 301. 462 U.S. at 155, 103 S.Ct. at 2285. The Union never brought Harper's claim to arbitration. This six-month statute of limitations applies to actions brought against a union and an employer regardless of whether the original grievance was arbitrated. Barina v. Gulf Trading & Transportation Co., 726 F.2d 560, 561 n. 1 (9th Cir.1984) (citation omitted). The six-month statute of limitations thus applies to Harper's claim. 30 The question remains open in this circuit whether accrual occurs when the employee learns, or should have learned, that his dispute was finally resolved, ... or whether accrual occurs when the employee learns, or should have learned, that the union may have violated its duty of fair representation. Barina, 726 F.2d at 562 n. 2. In Harper's case, that was the same day--August 3, 1983, the day that Harper received Local 1309's letter that it would not pursue arbitration of his discharge. 31 Harper claims, however, that the Union continually breached its duty of fair representation by continuing to fail to pursue his grievance. This continuing breach theory finds no support in the case law, and it contradicts one of the premises of the hybrid Sec. 301 lawsuit. The wrong of which Harper complains is a hybrid wrong, caused by both the employer and the Union. The suit to vindicate the wrong is a hybrid action; and the date of accrual should reflect this by measuring the date of accrual from the last day that both the Union and the employer could have finally resolved the dispute. Accord Aragon v. Federated Department Stores, Inc., 750 F.2d 1447, 1453-54 (9th Cir.1985) (applying same statute of limitations to claims against employer and union that accrued pre-DelCostello). 32 Harper's cause of action therefore accrued, at the latest, on August 3, 1983. This was more than one month after the Supreme Court decided DelCostello, so there is no question about the applicability of the six-month statute of limitations to this suit. Harper's complaint was filed on March 15, 1984, after the statute of limitations had run. His claims are therefore time-barred. 33