Carolyn R. Hurd v. Ralphs Grocery Company, and United Food and Commercial Workers Union, Local No. 324

Carolyn R. Hurd (Hurd) appeals from the district court’s order granting sanctions pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 11 for attorney’s fees and costs to United Food and Commercial Workers Union, Local No. 324 (the Union). After granting the Union’s motion for a summary judgment, the district court imposed sanctions because of its conclusion that Hurd’s cause of action against the Union for breach of the duty of fair representation had no basis in law or in fact. Because Hurd’s opposition to the motion for a summary judgment presented a good faith argument for the extension of existing law, we reverse.

I.

In January 1972 Hurd, began working for Ralphs Grocery Company (Ralphs) as a food clerk. Hurd was a member of the Union. Hurd was discharged on March 15, 1984 for fraudulent appropriation of a discount coupon belonging to Ralphs.

Hurd unsuccessfully contested her discharge through the three step procedure provided for in the Union’s collective bargaining agreement, which specified the terms and conditions of her employment with Ralphs. Thereafter, she filed a complaint in the Superior Court of the State of California for the County of Orange alleging, inter alia, that the Union had…