Duty of Fair Representation Trial
On May 13, 2009, a group of AWA pilots who filed suit on behalf of the class of America West pilots in Federal District Court in Phoenix, Arizona succeeded in convincing a federal judge and federal jury that USAPA breached their duty of fair representation to the America West pilots. Federal Judge Neil Wake issued an injunction against USAPA during the week of May 18, 2009 barring USAPA from changing the seniority list from the Airline Pilots Association (ALPA) internal arbitrated list produced by Arbitrator George Nicolau, The trial lasted for eight days of trial, following nearly 9 months of legal preliminaries, and included thousands of pages of evidence.
The DFR suit was appealed by USAPA. In December 2009, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit heard the case. The following link is the audio of the oral arguments; Don Addington v. US Airline Pilots Association, No. 09-16564
February 12, 2010 Judge Wake issued a temporary stay concerning all District Court proceedings in the Addington case. This was done to allow the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to rule on the initial outcome of the federal court trial prior to proceeding with a damages trial for the former AWA pilots listed on the lawsuit.
June 4, 2010 The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ordered a dismissal of the DFR suit against USAPA. "USAPA contends, inter alia, that the district court never had jurisdiction because the West Pilots’ claim is not ripe. We agree." However, the court also noted that nothing prevented the west pilots from re-filing a new DFR suit once a pilot contract was voted on. "http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2010/06/04/09-16564.pdf. Courts have also advised USAPA that it needs a "legitimate union purpose" to alter the Nicoau Award. To date, USAPA has not identified such a purpose.
Petition for a writ of certiorari was filed by the America West Pilots legal team with the Supreme Court and was subsequently denied on January 10, 2011.http://www.supremecourt.gov/Search.aspx?FileName=/docketfiles/10-463.htm This affirmed the 9th Circuit Courts dismissal of the duty of fair representation lawsuit against USAPA.
Read more about this topic: US Airline Pilots Association
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