Retail Clerks Union Local 648, Afl-Cio v. Hub Pharmacy, Inc.

Retail Clerks Union Local 648 (“the Union”) appeals the dismissal of its action against Hub Pharmacy, Inc. (“Hub”). The Union sued Hub for damages and an accounting pursuant to section 301 of the Labor Management Relations Act (“LMRA”), 29 U.S.C. § 185 , in order to enforce the collective bargaining agreement. The complaint was filed more than four years after the agreement expired, but intervening proceedings were held before the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) and this court.

The district court found that California’s equitable tolling doctrine did not apply to extend the four-year statute of limitations and dismissed. We reverse.

FACTS

In a prior action, the NLRB held in January 1975 that Hub had violated sections 8(a)(5) and (1) of the National Labor Relations Act when it repudiated a collective bargaining agreement reached on its behalf by the San Francisco Pharmaceutical Association in a multi-employer bargaining unit, and when it untimely withdrew from the unit. The NLRB ordered that Hub honor and abide by any agreement executed by the Union and the Association. Hub Pharmacy, Inc., 216 N.L.R.B. 69 (1975). In August 1977, this court entered its judgment enforcing…