Opinion ID: 358674
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: exhaustion of the grievance procedure: local's breach of

Text: DUTY OF FAIR REPRESENTATION 16 An aggrieved employee covered by a collective bargaining agreement which provides exclusive remedies for breaches of that agreement, must attempt to exhaust those contractual remedies before initiating suit. Vaca v. Sipes, 386 U.S. 171, 87 S.Ct. 903, 17 L.Ed.2d 842 (1967); Republic Steel v. Maddox, 379 U.S. 650, 85 S.Ct. 614, 13 L.Ed.2d 580 (1965). Failure to exhaust is excused if the union, by breach of its duty of fair representation, prevented the employee from exhausting those remedies. Vaca v. Sipes, supra, 386 U.S. at 184-86, 87 S.Ct. 903; De Arroyo v. Sindicato de Trabajadores Packinghouse, 425 F.2d 281, 283 (1st Cir.), Cert. denied, 400 U.S. 877, 91 S.Ct. 117, 27 L.Ed.2d 114 (1970). That duty of fair representation is breached if the union treats the grievance in an arbitrary, discriminatory or bad faith manner. For example, the union may not arbitrarily ignore a meritorious grievance or process it in perfunctory fashion. Vaca v. Sipes, supra, 386 U.S. at 190-91, 87 S.Ct. at 917. 17 Both appellants characterize their posture in these exchanges as willing at all times to follow the grievance mechanism as provided in the bargaining agreement but that appellee either passively or actively resisted by his constant attempts to secure representation of his own choosing. In contrast, appellee insists that these exchanges evidence both his repeated efforts to exhaust the grievance procedure and the Local's silent refusal and continuing failure to take any action. The trial judge adopted appellee's view. 18 This Court has had previous occasion to instruct appellee Soto Segarra with regard to when attempts to exhaust are sufficient to permit side-stepping the grievance mechanism provided by the bargaining agreement. In two other decisions involving a wage claim grievance brought by Soto Segarra, this Court found in accordance with the district court that Soto Segarra's efforts were wanting. In the first case, Cruz Soto Segarra v. Sea-Land Service and ILA, Local 1575, Memorandum Op. No. 72-1032 (1973), Soto Segarra made no demand on the union to initiate grievance procedures. The Court rejected the proffered justification that the Local's failure to process the discharge grievance involved in the instant matter and Soto Segarra's non-union status excused any attempt to obtain union assistance. Soto Segarra brought a second suit when the union, following its offer to process his grievance, failed to take any positive action. However, this Court again agreed with the district court, Cruz Soto Segarra v. Sea-Land Service and ILA, Local 1575, Memorandum Op. No. 74-8076 (1974), that appellee's own failure to follow up on the Local's offer to meet with him to prepare his case constituted insufficient exhaustion. Grievance proceedings were still available to him and there was no reason to anticipate that the union would not fairly represent him despite their mutual hostility. 19 Contrary to the previous case, it was the union in the instant matter who failed to respond to appellee's request to process his grievance until a second request was made some 40 days later, well after the expiration of the 12-day period specified in the collective bargaining agreement. Appellee's final letter also received no reply even though, as the letter stressed, appellee was suffering extreme hardship from his prolonged unemployment. The Local's silence was matched by their inaction. No evidence even remotely indicated that the union's failure to process the grievance was based on an investigation and evaluation of the merits. See, e. g., Ruzicka v. General Motors Corp., 523 F.2d 306, 310 (6th Cir. 1975). Although the Local was not obligated to accept appellee's conditions that were contrary to the collective bargaining agreement, on a number of occasions appellee addressed unconditional requests to process his grievance and received no response. Thus, the district court could properly find that the union breached its duty of fair representation by arbitrarily ignor(ing) a meritorious grievance, Vaca v. Sipes, supra, 386 U.S. at 191, 87 S.Ct. 903. 20 For appellee's part, while not all his efforts were in a truly cooperative spirit, he did not sit idly by but instead persistently beseeched officials on the local and international level to process his grievance. Since appellee was not a union member, he was not bound by contract with the union to exhaust any formal internal union appeals before resorting to a judicial forum. Compare with Harrison v. Chrysler Corp., 558 F.2d 1273 (7th Cir. 1977); Ruzicka v. General Motors Corp., supra, 523 F.2d at 311-12; Retana v. Apartment, Motel, Hotel & Elevator Operators Union, Local 14, 453 F.2d 1018 (9th Cir. 1972); Brady v. Trans World Airlines, 401 F.2d 87, 104 (3d Cir. 1968), Cert. denied, 393 U.S. 1048, 89 S.Ct. 680, 21 L.Ed.2d 691 (1969) (all cases involved union members). Even if the strong federal policy favoring the dispute resolution mechanism provided in the bargaining agreement might require a non-union member to give the union a further opportunity to correct its breach and proceed with the grievance process, See Harrison v. Chrysler Corp., supra, 558 F.2d at 1278-79, appellee's six-month letter writing campaign provided the union with many adequate opportunities. See Ruzicka v. General Motors Corp., supra, 523 F.2d at 311-12; Peterson v. Rath Packing Co., 461 F.2d 312, 315-16 (8th Cir. 1972); Retana v. Apartment, Motel, Hotel and Elevator Operators Union, Local 14, supra, 453 F.2d at 1027-28. The union's initial silence and continuing inaction necessarily confirmed appellee's suspicion that the union would be less than vigorous in his defense. In contrast to the previous case involving a wage claim, as to the discharge grievance the Local shared a common interest with the employer to be rid of their most outspoken critic. 21 Finally, unlike the previous cases, the court below found appellee had sufficiently attempted to exhaust the grievance procedure but was thwarted by the Local's breach of its duty of fair representation. This finding turned in large measure on historical fact, credibility of witnesses and inferences. A trial court's findings of fact can only be overturned if clearly erroneous. Rule 52(a), Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. See Petersen v. Rath Packing Co., supra, 461 F.2d at 316. 2 Although the net import of the intercourse between the parties is quite ambiguous, the district court's findings of bad faith discrimination 3 and arbitrary refusal to process the grievance find support in the record. 22