Opinion ID: 2054305
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Duty of Fair Representation

Text: In granting summary judgment to defendants, the hearing justice looked to federal law for guidance in determining what constitutes a breach of the duty of fair representation by a labor union. Citing Vaca v. Sipes, 386 U.S. 171, 190, 191, 87 S.Ct. 903, 916, 917, 17 L.Ed.2d 842, 857, 858 (1967), the hearing justice concluded that the duty of fair representation is breached upon a showing of arbitrary, discriminatory, or bad faith conduct, or by the handling of a grievance in a perfunctory manner and not by union error in failing to process a meritorious grievance. The hearing justice, noting that it was undisputed that the union had failed to make a timely demand for arbitration, found this neglect to be [h]uman error [and] not indifference. Thus, he concluded there was no evidence that the union acted in an arbitrary, discriminatory, or bad faith manner; but rather, Council 94 was guilty of mere negligence that did not amount to a breach of the duty of fair representation. In Belanger v. Matteson, 115 R.I. 332, 341, 346 A.2d 124, 131 (1975), this Court first addressed the duty owed by a labor union to its members and adopted the federal rule that, as the exclusive representative of all the employees in a given class, a labor union is under a duty to fairly and adequately represent the interests of all those whom it represents. This duty extends to the resolution of disputes by means of grievance and arbitration. The duty upon the Union here is to `   in good faith and in a nonarbitrary manner, make decisions as to the merits of particular grievances,' and, if it decides to pursue a grievance, it must not do so in a perfunctory manner. Id. (quoting Vaca, 386 U.S. at 194, 87 S.Ct. at 919, 17 L.Ed.2d at 860). We recognize that unions are not mandated to provide perfect representation or even representation that is free of negligence. See Achilli v. John J. Nissen Baking Co., 989 F.2d 561, 563 (1st Cir.1993). Further, mere negligence has been held to be insufficient to substantiate a claim for breach of the duty of fair representation. United Steelworkers of America v. Rawson, 495 U.S. 362, 372-73, 110 S.Ct. 1904, 1911, 109 L.E.2d 362, 375 (1990). Throughout this litigation the union has maintained that it was guilty only of negligence and therefore cannot be found to have violated the duty of fair representation. However, the testimony of the business agent that he handed the request to a secretary and never thought of it again is evidence that Lee's arbitration was handled in a perfunctory manner. Further, the penalty imposed upon Lee by the employer was termination of her employment with the town, including loss of all seniority, salary and benefits. Given these high stakes, Lee's interest in pursuing her right to arbitration was compelling. We are not convinced that under the circumstances presented in this case, the failure to perform the ministerial act of a timely demand for arbitration amounts to mere negligence. When the neglect of the union completely extinguishes the employee's right to a determination of the merits of her termination, we conclude that the failure by the union to take such a basic step as a timely filing to contest the most significant sanction available to an employer is an example of arbitrary and perfunctory conduct that amounts to unfair representation. Accordingly, we sustain plaintiff'sappeal and vacate the decision of the hearing justice. However, in order to recover against the union, plaintiff must establish, by a preponderance of the evidence that an arbitrator would have ruled in her favor and set the termination aside.