George Castelli v. Douglas Aircraft Company International Association of MacHinists and Aerospace Workers District Lodge 720

Appellant George Castelli appeals the district court’s award of summary judgment in favor of appellee International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, Aeronautical Industrial Lodge 720 [Lodge 720 or the Union]. 1 Castelli alleges that Lodge 720 breached its duty of fair representation by failing to investigate adequately the circumstances surrounding *1482 his discharge from Douglas Aircraft, by refusing to permit him to be represented by an attorney at a grievance proceeding, and by various tactical errors at the grievance proceeding. We affirm.

FACTS

Castelli worked as a parts inspector for Douglas Aircraft until April 24, 1981. He was terminated for violating a rule against gambling on company premises. Castelli claims that he was not gambling, but merely selling gold jewelry to fellow employees. Criminal charges against Castelli were dismissed, and pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement between Lodge 720 and Douglas Aircraft, the Union initiated grievance and arbitration proceedings in his behalf. After failure to settle the grievance, arbitration was invoked.

Castelli asked the Union to appoint an attorney to represent him, or to allow him to retain…

concurring:

I concur in the decision to affirm the district court’s grant of summary judgment. I agree with the majority that federal labor law disfavors the involvement of an employee’s privately retained attorney in disputes in which the union is the exclusive bargaining representative. I write separately to emphasize the limits of our holding that the union did not breach its duty of fair representation in this case by failing to provide Castelli with “appointed or privately retained counsel to represent his interests during the collective bargaining grievance procedures.” Brief of Appellant at 1.

A union serves its members by bringing the organized force of all the workers in the union, the local, or the international, to bear upon the employer on behalf of the individual employee. See generally R.O. Boyer & H.M. Morais, Labor’s Untold Story (3rd ed. 1982). It is this “right to self-organization” that the National Labor Relations Act protects. 29 U.S.C. § 157 . See also Cal.Lab.Code § 923 (California public policy to protect the right of workers to organize and select their own representatives.)

The duty of fair representation insures that this collective strength not be…

752 F.2d 1480 118 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2717 , 102 Lab.Cas. P 11,350 George CASTELLI, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. DOUGLAS AIRCRAFT COMPANY; International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District Lodge 720, Defendants-Appellees. No. 84-5648. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Submitted Jan. 10, 1985. Decided Feb. 6, 1985. Joe Ling, Long Beach, Cal., for plaintiff-appellant. Robert A. Bush, Taylor, Roth & Bush, Los Angeles, Cal., for the Union. Edward R. McGah, Jr., Steven Greenberger, Irell & Manella, Los Angeles, Cal., for Douglas Aircraft. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of California. Before SNEED, POOLE and FERGUSON, Circuit Judges. POOLE, Circuit Judge: 1 Appellant George Castelli appeals the district court's award of summary judgment in favor of appellee International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, Aeronautical Industrial Lodge 720 [Lodge 720 or the Union]. 1 Castelli alleges that Lodge 720 breached its duty of fair representation by failing to investigate adequately the circumstances surrounding his discharge from Douglas Aircraft, by refusing to permit him to be represented by an attorney at a…