Darin Fowler v. Opinion United Automobile Workers of America

*The Honorable Walter H. Rice, Senior United States District Judge for the
Southern District of Ohio, sitting by designation.
NOT RECOMMENDED FOR FULL-TEXT PUBLICATION
File Name: 06a0143n.06
Filed: February 24, 2006
No. 04-2180
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT
DARIN FOWLER,
Plaintiff-Appellant, ON APPEAL FROM THE
UNITED STATES DISTRICT
COURT FOR THE EASTERN
DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN
v. OPINION
UNITED AUTOMOBILE WORKERS
OF AMERICA,
Defendant-Appellee.
______________________________________
Before: NORRIS and BATCHELDER, Circuit Judges; and RICE,* Senior District
Judge.
PER CURIAM.
From October 25, 1993, until May 20, 1999, Appellant Darin Fowler (“Fowler”)
was employed by A.G. Simpson Automotive Systems (“A.G. Simpson”) at its Sterling
Heights, Michigan, manufacturing facility. Fowler’s employment was governed by a

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collective bargaining agreement between Local 417 of the United Automobile,
Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (“Local 417") and A.G.
Simpson, as well as by rules and regulations adopted by the latter.
On May 20, 1999, A.G. Simpson fired Fowler for excessive absenteeism,
because he had been absent from work on May 10th and 11th, absences which A.G.
Simpson concluded were unexcused. The following day, May 21st, Local 417 initiated
grievance proceedings, contending that A.G. Simpson had breached the applicable
collective bargaining agreement and the rules and regulations by discharging Fowler.
On April 4, 2000, before that grievance could proceed to arbitration, it was withdrawn
by Dan McCarthy, President of Local 417, and Ernie Emery, the representative of the
United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (“UAW”)
for Region 1. Fowler then took advantage of the internal union process to appeal
the withdrawal of the grievance on his behalf. On May 22, 2001, the Convention
Appeals Committee of the UAW directed the UAW and Local 417 to attempt to reinstate
Fowler’s grievance. The grievance was reinstated, and the matter was submitted to an
arbitrator, who found that Fowler had been discharged without cause, given that he had
valid excuses for having been absent from work on both May 10 and 11, 1999. The
arbitrator ordered that Fowler be reinstated and awarded him back pay, except for the
period from April 4, 2000, when the grievance was withdrawn, until June, 2001, when it
was reinstated.
Fowler then brought this action against the UAW, seeking to recover back pay
for that period. He set forth a hybrid § 301 action, i.e., an action under § 301 of the
Labor Management Relations Act, 29 U.S.C. § 185. Fowler alleged that the UAW

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1A hybrid § 301 action has two elements: “breach of a collective bargaining
agreement by the employer and breach of the duty of fair representation by the
union.” Garrison v. Cassens Transport Co., 334 F.3d 528, 538 (6th Cir. 2003)
(internal quotation marks and citation omitted), cert. denied, 540 U.S. 1179 (2004).
Herein, the arbitrator concluded that A.G. Simpson had breached the collective
bargaining agreement which governed Fowler’s employment by discharging him
without just cause, given that he had valid excuses for missing work on both May
10th and May 11th. A union will breach its duty of fair representation by, inter alia,
arbitrarily handling an employee’s grievance. Vaca v. Sipes, 386 U.S. 171, 190
(1967). Fowler has not sued A.G. Simpson, his employer. It is, however, of no
consequence that he has brought suit against the UAW alone, since an employee
in a hybrid § 301 action “may, if he chooses, sue one defendant and not the other;
but the case he must prove is the same whether he sues one, the other, or both.”
DelCostello v. Teamsters, 462 U.S. 151, 165 (1983).
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had acted arbitrarily and capriciously by withdrawing the grievance and that he had
been dismissed without cause because he had valid excuses for missing the two
days which led to his discharge. 1
After the parties had conducted discovery, the UAW moved for summary
judgment, arguing that the evidence failed to raise a genuine issue of material fact
on whether it had breached the duty of fair representation owed to Fowler. The
district court agreed and granted summary judgment to the UAW. Fowler appeals,
arguing that the grant of summary judgment was erroneous, because the evidence
raised such an issue of fact.
We review the grant of summary judgment de novo. Schweitzer v. Teamster
Local 100, 413 F.3d 533, 536 (6th Cir.2005). In reviewing the grant of a motion for
summary judgment, we must construe the evidence in the manner most favorable to the
nonmoving party. Demski v. U.S. Dept. of Labor, 419 F.3d 488, 491 (6th Cir. 2005).
Summary judgment is appropriate “if the pleadings, depositions, answers to
interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that

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there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to
a judgment as a matter of law.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c).
Given that oral argument was waived, and having studied the record and the
briefs of the parties, we are not persuaded that the district court erred in granting
summary judgment to the Appellee. Given that the district court thoroughly and
correctly articulated the reasons why the Appellee is entitled to summary judgment, the
issuance of a detailed opinion by this Court would be superfluous and would serve no
useful purpose. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the district court, based upon
the reasoning set forth in its memorandum opinion filed on August 27, 2004.

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