Granite Rock Company v. International Brotherhood of Teamsters
Issues
Whether a federal court or an arbitrator decides in the first instance if a contract containing an arbitration provision was formed.
Whether §301(a) of the Labor-Management Relations Act, which governs federal jurisdiction for contract violations, not only applies to contracting parties but also to entities not party to the contract that may have interfered with the contract.
Petitioner, Granite Rock, and respondent, Teamsters Local 287, negotiated a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (“CBA”) which included no-strike and arbitration clauses. A dispute arose regarding the validity of the agreement after Local 287 initiated a strike with the support of respondent, International Brotherhood of Teamsters (“IBT”). Granite Rock sued Local 287 and IBT under §301(a) of the Labor-Management Relations Act. The district court found that the agreement including the arbitration clause was valid and, therefore, referred Granite Rock and Local 287 to arbitration. The court, however, dismissed the claim against IBT, holding that §301(a) did not apply. The Ninth Circuit upheld IBT’s dismissal but held that the district court should have also deferred the question of whether a contract was formed to arbitration. The Supreme Court must now decide if a federal court has initial jurisdiction to determine the validity of a contract containing an arbitration clause and whether §301(a) allows plaintiffs to sue others not party to the contract.
Questions as Framed for the Court by the Parties
1. Does a federal court have jurisdiction to determine whether a collective bargaining agreement was formed when it is disputed whether any binding contract exists, but no party makes an independent challenge to the arbitration clause apart from claiming it is inoperative before the contract is established?
2. Does Section 30l(a) of the Labor-Management Relations Act, which generally preempts otherwise available state law causes of action, provide a cause of action against an international union that is not a direct signatory to the collective bargaining agreement, but effectively displaces its signatory local union and causes a strike breaching a collective bargaining agreement for its own benefit?
For years, petitioner, Granite Rock, a California cement company, and respondent, Teamsters Local 287 (“Local 287”) (the local chapter of respondent, International Brotherhood of Teamsters (“IBT”)), had a Collective Bargaining Agreement (“CBA”). See
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