Larry E. Collins John K. Grauberger Phil J. Chapple v. Burlington Northern Railroad Company

Plaintiffs appeal the district court’s order dismissing their case for lack of jurisdiction due to failure to exhaust administrative remedies. We have jurisdiction to hear this appeal under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we affirm.

In 1980, Burlington Northern Railroad Company (BN) merged with the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway. This merger, commonly referred to as the "Frisco Merger,” was approved by the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) pursuant to 49 U.S.C. § 11347 . In approving this merger, the ICC imposed certain employee protective benefits, commonly known as the “New York Dock ” conditions, see New York Dock Railway-Control-Brooklyn Eastern District Terminal, 360 I.C.C. 60 , affirmed 609 F.2d 83 (2nd Cir.1979), for those affected by the merger who had not entered into a protective agreement with BN prior to its consummation. In effect, these protective benefits cushion the economic consequences to employees of layoffs caused by consolidation of railroads.

Plaintiffs are former employees of BN who, beginning in 1982, were furloughed from their jobs as carmen at BN’s car repair facility in Laurel, Montana. As members of the Brotherhood of Railway Carmen, which did not enter…