Opinion ID: 1336469
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: imputation of liability to the unions

Text: The Unions contend the trial court improperly instructed the jury that they had an affirmative duty to take steps to stop their members from violating the court's order. [9] They argue that neither our common law nor the labor relations statutory law of this country justified the trial court's instructions. We begin by noting that the injunction and the subsequent contempt charges arose out of a claim that the union members had engaged in mass picketing and a further claim that violence and intimidation had occurred. Following United States Supreme Court precedent, we recognized in United Maintenance and Mfg. Co., Inc. v. United Steelworkers of Am., 157 W.Va. 788, 204 S.E.2d 76 (1974), that state courts retain jurisdiction to enjoin nonpeaceful picketing, stating in Syllabus Point 1: Where jurisdiction over a labor dispute has not been preempted by National Labor Relations Board jurisdiction, a state may regulate picketing by injunction if the injunction has a reasonable basis in prevention of disorder, protection of life or property, or promotion of the general welfare as defined by state law; however, such injunction must be specifically directed to acts or conduct which are designed to accomplish an illegal purpose, and not include those which keep within the protected area of free speech. Because we are involved with a state-created right, the contempt power, we are not necessarily bound by federal labor law in determining the question of the Unions' liability for the actions of their members in violating the court order. However, it is clear under federal law, independently of any labor statute, that the Unions' liability rests upon the common law doctrine of respondeat superior, which was first expressed in United Mine Workers of Am. v. Colorado Coal Co., 259 U.S. 344, 395, 42 S.Ct. 570, 577-78, 66 L.Ed. 975, 982 (1922): The argument of counsel for the plaintiffs is that because the National body had authority to discipline District organizations, to make local strikes its own and to pay their cost, if it deemed it wise, the duty was thrust on it when it knew a local strike was on, to superintend it and prevent its becoming lawless at its peril. We do not conceive that such responsibility is imposed on the National body. A corporation is responsible for the wrongs committed by its agents in the course of its business, and this principle is enforced against the contention that torts are ultra vires of corporation. But it must be shown that it is in the business of the corporation. Surely no stricter rule can be enforced against an unincorporated organization like this. [10] Furthermore, as Justice Brennan pointed out for a unanimous court in Carbon Fuel Co. v. United Mine Workers of Am., 444 U.S. 212, 216-17, 100 S.Ct. 410, 414, 62 L.Ed.2d 394, 399 (1979), Congress in the Labor Management Relations Act, 29 U.S.C. § 185 (1947) (Taft-Hartley Act), provided in § 301(b) that a union `shall be bound by the acts of its agents' and in § 301(e) provided that the common law of agency shall govern `in determining whether any person is acting as an agent of another person.' ... Congress' reason for adopting the common-law agency test, and applying to unions the common-law doctrine of respondeat superior, follows the lead of Mr. Chief Justice Taft in Colorado Coal Co. v. Mine Workers. ... [11] While the federal rule set out above applies to suits for damages against a union, there is accorded a different standard to situations which fall within the Norris-LaGuardia Act, 29 U.S.C. § 106 (1931). As pointed out in note 6 of Carbon Fuel, 444 U.S. at 216, 100 S.Ct. at 414, 62 L.Ed.2d at 399, Congress has set a higher standard of proof to affix union responsibility in cases where damages are sought for violation of a contempt order: [T]he Norris-LaGuardia Act ... requires `clear proof of actual participation in, or actual authorization of, such acts, or of ratification of such acts after actual knowledge thereof.' 29 USC § 106 [29 USCA § 106] (emphasis supplied). Several state courts, in the absence of any state statutory standards, have adopted this standard of clear proof in order to harmonize their law with the federal law. The Kansas Supreme Court in Hiestand v. Amalgamated Meatcutters and Butcher Workman of N. Am., 233 Kan. 759, 763-64, 666 P.2d 671, 675 (1983), made this analysis: Consistency between our state and federal courts would be obtained by adopting the clear proof standard of § 6. The United States Supreme Court in Mine Workers v. Gibbs, 383 U.S. at 737, 86 S.Ct. at 1144, held 29 U.S.C. § 106 applied to federal court adjudications of state tort claims arising out of labor disputes. Forum shopping would not loom as a possibility. Plaintiffs would have no reason to commence actions in state courts attempting to avoid the clear proof standard of federal courts thereby bypassing Congressional intent. Defendant unions would have no reason to attempt removal to federal courts in an effort to obtain the added protection of the clear proof standard. In addition, consistency in the state and federal courts regarding the burden of proof would eliminate the injustice to those litigants having no right to federal jurisdiction. One may prevail in the state system but fail in the federal system under the same factual situation due to the different burdens of proof required. We have not had occasion to establish a specific standard for determining a union's liability for damages resulting from the violation of a preliminary injunction order. We need not make such determination in this case as the trial court's instructions were erroneous even under the common agency theory of liability. Both Carbon Fuel and the earlier Coronado Coal cases demonstrate there is no affirmative duty placed on the union to take action to prevent the misconduct of members. Courts since Carbon Fuel have uniformly concluded that a union cannot be held liable on the theory that it did not take all reasonable efforts to prevent or terminate a strike or to control illegal picketing. For liability to attach against a union, it must be shown that through its officials, the union participated in, encouraged, or ratified the misconduct. E.g., Yellow Bus Lines, Inc. v. Drivers' Chauffeurs & Helpers Local Union 639, 839 F.2d 782 (D.C.Cir.1988); Consolidation Coal Co. v. Local 2216, United Mine Workers of Am., 779 F.2d 1274 (7th Cir.1985); Hardline Elect., Inc. v. Int'l Bhd. of Elect. Workers, Local 1547, 680 F.2d 622 (9th Cir.1982); California Trucking Ass'n v. Bhd. of Teamsters & Auto Truck Drivers, Local 70, 679 F.2d 1275 (9th Cir.1981); Consolidation Coal Co. v. United Mine Workers of Am., Local 1261, 725 F.2d 1258, 1261 (10th Cir.1984); Prater v. United Mine Workers of Am., Districts 20 and 23, 793 F.2d 1201 (11th Cir.1986); American Bridge Div., United States Steel Corp. v. Int'l Union of Operating Engineers, Local 487, 772 F.2d 1547 (11th Cir.1985); Alabama Power Co. v. Local Union No. 1333, Laborer's Int'l Union of N. Am., 734 F.2d 1464 (11th Cir.1984); Old Ben Coal Co. v. Local Union No. 1487 of United Mine Workers of Am., 601 F.Supp. 1061 (S.D.Ill.1984). [12] The evidence does not clearly and convincingly establish agency such that the International, District, or local union can be held in contempt. It is undisputed that no officer or official representative of the International or District committed any of the contumacious acts or was present when any such proven acts were committed. While the International did authorize the selective strike and pay strike benefits, the uncontroverted evidence shows that the picketers were given written instructions telling them to engage in only peaceful picketing. The International also conducted formal instructional classes and gave follow-up instructions not to engage in violent picketing. International officials went to the picket line periodically and not only repeated those instructions on nonviolence, but also removed persons who should not have been there or who had been accused of violating the Unions' picketing rules. The International specifically prohibited drinking of alcoholic beverages and threatened suspension of strike benefits for noncompliance. In addition, shortly after the temporary injunction order was entered, International officials informed the strikers that the court order had to be obeyed. There was no showing that the District officials or local union officials were in any manner advising, encouraging, or ratifying any of the unlawful acts. PG & H places a great deal of reliance on Consolidation Coal Co. v. Local 1702, United Mine Workers of Am., 709 F.2d 882 (4th Cir.1983), but we believe it inapplicable to the facts of this case. The principal issue discussed was whether a local union could be found liable under a mass action theory because all of its members, including the local union officials, had engaged in a wildcat strike over the suspension of a union member. Generally, the mass action theory fixes liability on the union itself where all of its members take the same action in concert. The question in Consolidation Coal was whether Carbon Fuel had eliminated this theory of union liability by virtue of this language: Congress limited the responsibility of unions for strike in breach of contract to cases when the union may be found responsible according to the common law rule of agency. 444 U.S. at 216, 100 S.Ct. at 413, 62 L.Ed.2d at 399. The Fourth Circuit in Consolidation Coal found that the mass action theory was still available as a means of affixing liability against a local union in addition to the traditional agency theory. [13] However, PG & H admits in its brief that [t]he mass action theory is not pertinent to this appeal. To the extent that Consolidation Coal holds that the failure of local union officials to use reasonable efforts to return striking miners to work is evidence of the union's ratification of the strike, we find it to be completely at odds with Carbon Fuel and decline to follow it. We have not encountered a single court since Carbon Fuel, except Consolidation Coal, which has imposed liability upon a union under common law agency principles for its failure to take reasonable action to get its members back to work. The jury instructions under the foregoing law were erroneous and should not have been given. Furthermore, under the evidence, we find that the unions were not shown to be liable under a common law agency theory since they did not authorize or ratify the misconduct. Had it not been for the misconception, as shown by the jury instructions, that the unions could be held liable for failing to take all reasonable precautions to stop the misconduct, the case should not have been submitted to the jury. [14] For the foregoing reasons, the judgment of the Circuit Court of Kanawha County is reversed. Reversed. McHUGH, C.J., concurs and reserves the right to file a concurring opinion. BROTHERTON and NEELY, JJ., dissent and reserve the right to file dissenting opinions.