Seiu-Uhw

I. Background

Plaintiff Rollins worked for the Community Hospital of San Bernardino (“Hospital”) for over twenty years. In 2002, Rollins became a member of the Hospital’s union, Defendant SEIU-UHW (“Union”). Rollins was active in the Union, serving as a member of the bargaining team and as a union steward.

ROLLINS V. SEIU-UHW

In 2007, Rollins was working as a “Ward Clerk” for the Hospital when she was offered a promotion to become the Maternal Child Health (“MCH”) Billing Coordinator. Rollins was worried that, if she switched jobs and accepted the position, she would lose the seniority she had accrued. Rollins therefore had a union representative negotiate a side agreement (the “Seniority Agreement”) with the Hospital. The 2007 Seniority Agreement provided that, in the event that the MCH Billing Coordinator position was eliminated pursuant to a reduction in force (“RIF”), Rollins would be permitted to “bump” back to her old position as a Ward Clerk. The Seniority Agreement was memorialized in emails between the Hospital’s Director of Human Resources, Elizabeth Sanchez, and Union Representative Jill King.

In 2008, the Hospital and Union agreed to a new…

Concurrence by Judge LEMELLE

OPINION

Plaintiff-Appellant Starla Rollins appeals the district court’s grant of summary judgment to Defendant SEIU-UHW, Rollins’s former union, on Rollins’s § 301 claim under the Labor Management Relations Act. We agree with Rollins that summary judgment was improperly granted, reverse the district court’s order, and remand for further proceedings consistent with this decision.

I. Background

Plaintiff Rollins worked for the Community Hospital of San Bernardino (“Hospital”) for over twenty years. In 2002, Rollins became a member of the Hospital’s union, Defendant SEIU-UHW (“Union”). Rollins was active in the Union, serving as *1184 a member of the bargaining team and as a union steward.

In 2007, Rollins was working as a “Ward Clerk” for the Hospital when she was offered a promotion to become the Maternal Child Health (“MCH”) Billing Coordinator. Rollins was worried that, if she switched jobs and accepted the position, she would lose the seniority she had accrued. Rollins therefore had a union representative negotiate a side agreement (the “Seniority Agreement”) with the Hospital. The 2007 Seniority Agreement provided that, in the event that the…

concurring:

I concur with the majority opinion to reverse the decision granting defendant’s *1189 motion for summary judgment. Nonetheless, it is the role of the factfinder and not this Court to decide the relationship between Rollins’s Seniority Agreement (“SA”) and the Collective Bargaining Agreement (“CBA”). The majority opinion only leaves to the jury the question of whether the Union breached its duty of representation. The factfinder should also be tasked with determining whether or not the SA should remain in effect after the negotiation of the CBA.

The relationship between the SA and CBA is less clear than the majority conveys. A jury could determine whether Rollins, who was present for negotiations of the CBA, would be entitled to have the benefits of a previous agreement considered at all without explicitly incorporating them in the subsequent agreement. The SA should be interpreted through the introduction of parol evidence, weighed by the jury in order to resolve this factual inquiry.

When reviewing similar contracts in the past, this Court has permitted the use of parol evidence. In Cappa, this Court éx-plained a CBA that was not fully integrated and recognized the…