Opinion ID: 599160
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Statute of Limitations for a Section 101 Claim

Text: 26 The district court, again relying on DelCostello, applied the six-month statute of limitations contained in NLRA § 10(b) to Bradley's claim under LMRDA § 101(a)(5) and dismissed it as untimely. Bradley contends that the district court should have applied the one-year statute of limitations for personal injury actions contained in Tenn.Code Ann. § 28-3-104. 8 27 Although the Supreme Court has not decided the precise question presented, the Reed decision provides substantial guidance. In that case, the plaintiff sued his union and several of its officers, alleging violations of LMRDA, § 101(a)(2), 29 U.S.C. § 411(a)(2), which guarantees the freedom of speech and assembly to union members. Reed, 488 U.S. at 321-22, 109 S.Ct. at 624. The lower court, relying on DelCostello, had borrowed § 10(b) of the NLRA as the appropriate statute of limitations. Id. at 323, 109 S.Ct. at 624. In reversing, the Supreme Court held that LMRDA § 101(a)(2) actions are analogous to actions brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for the purpose of deciding which statute of limitations is most appropriate to govern actions under LMRDA § 101(a)(2). 9 Id. at 326, 109 S.Ct. at 626. Like § 1983, LMRDA § 101(a)(2) protects individual rights. 10 Its main goal is ensuring that unions [are] democratically governed and responsive to the will of their memberships. Id. at 325, 109 S.Ct. at 626 (quoting Finnegan v. Leu, 456 U.S. 431, 436, 102 S.Ct. 1867, 1870, 72 L.Ed.2d 239 (1982)). See Allgood v. Elyria United Methodist Home, 904 F.2d 373, 377-78 (6th Cir.) (discussing principal goals of LMRDA § 101), reh'g granted, in part, appeal dismissed, in part, 913 F.2d 1159 (6th Cir.1990). Thus, both § 1983 and LMRDA § 101(a)(2) are designed to deter or redress denials of individual rights: LMRDA § 101(a)(2) concerns denial of individual rights by unions while § 1983 concerns denial of individual rights by government officials acting under color of state law. 28 Previously, in Owens v. Okure, 488 U.S. 235, 109 S.Ct. 573, 102 L.Ed.2d 594 (1989), and Wilson v. Garcia, 471 U.S. 261, 105 S.Ct. 1938, 85 L.Ed.2d 254 (1985), the Court had decided that § 1983 actions are governed by state general or residual statutes of limitations for personal injury actions. See Reed, 488 U.S. at 326, 109 S.Ct. at 626. Because LMRDA § 101(a)(2) also protects individual rights, the analogy of § 1983 actions to personal injury actions applied equally well to LMRDA § 101(a)(2). Therefore, LMRDA actions are governed by state general or residual statutes of limitations. Id. at 327, 109 S.Ct. at 627. 29 Although the present action is based on LMRDA § 101(a)(5), not LMRDA § 101(a)(2), we nevertheless find that the analogy to personal injury actions is also appropriate here because LMRDA § 101(a)(5) shares LMRDA § 101(a)(2)'s similarity with § 1983. As we have stated: Section 101(a)(5) of the Act ... prohibits the disciplining of any member by a union unless he has been 'afforded a full and fair hearing.' We construe this to mean that traditional concepts of due process should apply. Kuebler v. Cleveland Lithographers and Photoengravers Union Local 24-P, 473 F.2d 359, 363-64 (6th Cir.1973). Thus, LMRDA § 101(a)(5) addresses issues similar to the fundamental notions of due process. It protects individual rights; therefore, like § 1983, it should be governed by state general or residual statutes for personal injury actions. 30 This result comports with our decision in Allgood, in which we applied state residual personal injury statutes of limitations to actions brought under LMRDA § 101(a)(1) & (2). Allgood, 904 F.2d at 378. We noted in Allgood that all LMRDA § 101 claims serve the core function of enhancing union democracy through enforcement of rights of union members, not of protecting the integrity of collective bargaining.... Id. at 377 (quoting Reed, 488 U.S. at 331 n. 6, 109 S.Ct. at 629 n. 6 (emphasis original)). Therefore, they are more analogous to § 1983 actions governed by personal injury statutes of limitations than charges of unfair labor practices which are governed by NLRA § 10(b). Id. at 378. 31 We hold that the district court should have applied the one-year statute of limitations for personal injury actions contained in Tenn.Code Ann. § 28-3-104(a)(1) to Bradley's LMRDA § 101(a)(5) claim. 11