Free Proposed Order - District Court of California - California

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

SERVICE EMPLOYEES 13 INTERNATIONAL UNION, LOCAL 715, Petitioner And Counter14 Respondent,
15 16

Case No: 5:08-CV-0213 JF [PROPOSED] ORDER GRANTING STANFORD HOSPITAL AND CLINICS' AND LUCILE PACKARD CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL'S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT OR, IN THE ALTERNATIVE, SUMMARY ADJUDICATION OF CLAIMS OR DEFENSES [FED. R. CIV. P. 56]
Date: Time: Dept: August 29, 2008 9:00 A.M. Ctrm. 3, 5th Floor

vs.

STANFORD HOSPITAL AND CLINICS 17 AND LUCILE PACKARD CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL,
18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28

Respondents And CounterPetitioners.

Judge:

Hon. Jeremy Fogel

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[PROPOSED] ORDER GRANTING STANFORD AND LPCH'S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT/ADJUDICATION CASE NO: 5:08-CV-0213 JF

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The motion of Respondents and Counter-Petitioners Stanford Hospital And Clinics and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital (the "Hospitals") for summary judgment or, in the alternative adjudication of claims or defenses (the "Motion") came on regularly for hearing on August 29, 2008, with Eileen R. Ridley of Foley & Lardner LLP appearing as counsel for the Hospitals and Bruce Harland of Weinberg Roger & Rosenfeld appearing as counsel for Petitioner Service Employees International Union, Local 715 ("Local 715"). After full consideration of the supporting and opposing papers regarding said motion, the evidence submitted by the parties, the oral argument of counsel, and the files and papers in the action, and good cause appearing, the Court finds that there is no triable issue of any material fact and that the Hospitals are entitled to judgment as a matter of law under Rule 56 of the Federal Rules Of Civil Procedure for the reasons stated below. I. LOCAL 715 IS IN DEFAULT BECAUSE IT FAILED TO ANSWER THE HOSPITALS' COUNTER-PETITION Local 715 is in default, and judgment is ordered against it with respect to the Hospitals' counter-petition because Local 715 failed to plead in response to the Hospitals' counter-petition. The Court finds that the following facts are material and undisputed. "Local 715" filed the instant petition to confirm on January 11, 2008. [Dkt. No. 1.] The Hospitals timely filed an answer to the petition on March 6, 2008, as well as a counter-petition to vacate the Award. [Dkt. No. 18.]

20 21 22 Rule 12(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure provides that "A party must 23 serve an answer to a counterclaim or crossclaim within 20 days after being served with the 24 pleading that states the counterclaim or crossclaim." F.R.Civ.P. 12(a)(1)(B). Based upon the 25 above-stated undisputed material facts, "Local 715" is in default and judgment is accordingly 26 ordered against it and in favor of the Hospitals on the Hospitals' counter-petition. 27 28 1
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"Local 715" did not plead in response to the counter-petition. [Inciardi Decl. Exh. HH.]

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II.

LOCAL 715 HAS CEASED TO EXIST In the alternative, the Hospitals were not, and are not, obligated to arbitrate over the

grievance at issue herein involving Victor Acosta (the "Acosta Grievance") because "Local 715" ceased to exist on or around March 1, 2007. Additionally, because Local 715 ceased to exist on or around March 1, 2007, "Local 715" lacks standing to enforce or confirm the award issued by Arbitrator Thomas Angelo (the "Arbitrator") regarding the Acosta Grievance. The Court finds that the following facts are material and undisputed: · In 1998, the National Labor Relations Board ("NLRB" or the "Board") issued an order (the "Certification") certifying Local 715 as the exclusive collective bargaining representative of a unit of Hospital employees (the "Bargaining Unit") as set forth in the Certification. [Declaration of Laurence R. Arnold In Support of Motions ("Arnold Decl.) Exh. A.] · Thereafter, the Hospitals and Local 715 engaged in collective bargaining resulting in a series of collective bargaining agreements. The current collective bargaining agreement

15 (the "CBA") became effective on January 20, 2006, and is scheduled to expire on 16 November 4, 2008. [Arnold Decl. Exh. B.] 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 alleged violations of the CBA may be challenged. However, only Local 715 may appeal 24 a grievance to arbitration. [Arnold Decl. Exh. B.] 25 26 27 28 · Between February 18 and February 20, 2006, Local 715 entered into a "Servicing Agreement" with Service Employees International Union, United Healthcare Workers ­ 2
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Article 1 of The CBA contains a "Recognition Clause" which states that, pursuant to the Board's Certification, the Hospitals recognized Local 715 "as the sole and exclusive representative for the purpose of collective bargaining" with respect to Bargaining Unit employees. [Arnold Decl. Exh. B.]

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Article 26 of the CBA contains a grievance and arbitration procedure through which

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West ("UHW"). [Arnold Decl. ¶ 36 & Exh. CC; Inciardi Decl. Exh. EE.] The Servicing Agreement provided that UHW would provide certain "professional services" to Local 715 at no cost, including "Representation in the grievance procedure

4 and at arbitration hearings," "Representation at labor-management meetings," and 5 "Assistance to members appearing before the National Labor Relations Board on behalf 6 of the Local 715 Chapter at the Stanford Facility." [Arnold Decl. Exh. CC.] 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 CC.] 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 that UHW would be taking over representation for the Hospitals. [Quintel Decl. ¶ 10.] 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 715 personnel were carried out exclusively by UHW employees. UHW employees filed 28 3
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The Servicing Agreement further provided that, Local 715 and UHW would take such steps as were necessary to enforce the agreement, including initiating proceedings before the NLRB, in the event that the Servicing Agreement was rejected by the Hospitals." [Arnold Decl. Exh. CC.]

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The Servicing Agreement was to be effective as of March 1, 2006. [Arnold Decl. Exh.

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On February 28, 2006, Greg Pullman, then Local 715's Staff Director, informed Laurie Quintel, the Hospitals' Director of Employee and Labor Relations, that she should work with an employee of UHW named Ella Hereth in connection with the settlement of grievances and unfair labor practice charges. [Quintel Decl. ¶ 9.]

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Around the same time, another UHW employee named Rachel Deutsch told Ms. Quintel

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Ms. Quintel sought clarification from Mr. Pullman, whereupon Mr. Pullman told Ms. Quintel that "Local 715 represents the workers covered by our agreement" but that "Local 715 has asked SEIU UHW to service this unit in many ways on a day-to-day basis." [Quintel Decl. ¶ 11-12 & Exh. B.]

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Between March and May, 2006, the functions that had formerly been carried out by Local

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grievances on UHW stationery, some of which referred to Bargaining Unit members as "members" of UHW. [Quintel Decl. ¶ 15 & Exh. D.] Ms. Hereth sent a letter to Ms. Quintel instructing to "direct all SEIU correspondence" to UHW employees at UHW's San Francisco office. [Quintel Decl. ¶ 14 & Exh. C.] On May 22, 2006, Jocelyn Olick, a UHW employee and purported servicing agent under the Servicing Agreement, stated in an e-mail that "I and Ella Hereth do not work for SEIU 715. SEIU-UHW is doing the representation work here at Stanford Hospital." [Quintel Decl. ¶ 20 & Exh. H.] On the same day, Mr. Pullman stated in an e-mail that "Jocelyn Olick, Rachel Deutch and Ella Hereth out of the SEIU UHW San Francisco office are handling all representation matters for SEIU Local 715." [Quintel Decl. ¶ 20 & Exh. H.] Ms. Olick also purported to have authority to accept changes to the CBA. [Quintel Decl. ¶ 21 & Exh. I.] On or around March 28, 2006, W. Daniel Boone of the law firm Weinberg Roger & Rosenfeld, which historically represented Local 715, wrote a letter to Laurence R.

14 Arnold, an attorney who represents the Hospitals, which referred to "United Healthcare 15 Workers ­ West (formerly SEIU, Local 715)." [Arnold Decl. ¶ 26 & Exh. S.] 16 17 18 19 20 21 Weinberg Firm in which he stated "I am writing on behalf of SEIU United Healthcare 22 Workers West" and requested that the Hospitals provide information pertaining to 23 Bargaining Unit employees, and the dues deducted from their paychecks. [Quintel Decl. 24 ¶ 17 & Exh. E.] 25 26 27 28 · In May and June, 2006, Hospitals informed Local 715 that they did not consent to any transfer of bargaining rights from Local 715 to UHW, and that the Hospitals would not 4
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In early April, 2006, UHW employee Phyllis Willett told Ms. Quintel that when the Hospitals remitted union dues, they needed to provide the social security numbers of the relevant employees to help UHW identify them. [Quintel Decl. ¶ 16.]

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Around April 17, 2006, Ms. Quintel received a letter from William A. Sokol of the

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deal with employees of UHW. [Quintel Decl. ¶ 19 & Exh. G; Arnold Decl. ¶ 32 & Exh. Z.] In June, 2006, Hospitals requested information from Local 715 regarding the organization's status and the role of UHW. [Arnold Decl. ¶ 32 & Exh. Z.]

5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 memorandum to "Affected SEIU Local Unions in California" announcing that SEIU had 22 decided to adopt the recommendations outlined in the Joint Report. The memorandum 23 confirmed that "Private Sector Hospital units currently represented by Locals 535, 707, 24 715, 2028, and 4988 will merge into UHW." [Quintel Decl. ¶ 23 & Exh. K at p. 4.] 25 26 27 28 · Hospitals received copies of the Servicing Agreement in mid August and reviewed it. [Quintel Decl. ¶ 24-25 & Exh. L; Arnold Decl. ¶ 36-38 & Exh. CC-EE.] The Hospitals 5
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On June 9, 2006 the Service Employees International Union ("SEIU" or the "International") issued a document titled "Hearing Officers' Joint Report And Recommendations" (the "Joint Report"). The Joint Report outlined a plan to reorganize various SEIU Locals (the "SEIU Reorganization Plan"). The Joint Report noted, "Local 715 is the certified representative of employees at Stanford and Lucille (sic) Packard Hospitals" but that "UHW is actually servicing employees in these facilities . . . pursuant to servicing agreements." [Inciardi Decl. Exh. T p. 16.] The Joint Report concluded that, in order to maximize local union strength, the jurisdiction of various local unions should be changed. With respect to government employee unions, the report recommended the creation of new local unions, that would absorb "a substantial portion" of the membership of existing local unions, including Local 715. [Inciardi Decl. Exh. T p. 40.] The Joint Report also recommended that, "the affiliation of private healthcare units represented by Locals 727, 715, and 2028 should be changed to UHW as soon as feasible." [Inciardi Decl. Exh. T p. 65.]

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On June 11, 2006, Andrew L. Stern, International President of SEIU, issued a

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concluded, based upon the evidence that Local 715 had abdicated its representative duties and assigned them to UHW, that the Servicing Agreement was invalid and rejected it. Local 715 was informed of the Hospitals' rejection of the Servicing Agreement on or around August 29, 2006, and was further informed that the Hospitals would not deal with

5 employees of UHW acting pursuant to the Servicing Agreement. [Arnold Decl. ¶ 38 & 6 Exh. EE.] 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 various SEIU locals, including Local 715. [Inciardi Decl. Exh. U.] President Stern 15 ordered that all workers represented by Local 715, with certain exceptions, be 16 "reorganized into SEIU Local 521." President Stern further ordered that "all . . . 17 Stanford/Lucille (sic) Packard Hospital workers be, and are hereby, reorganized into 18 SEIU Local UHW." [Inciardi Decl. Exh. U.] Such "reorganization" was to take place as 19 soon as practicable. 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 assertion that Local 715 no longer existed. He also stated that Local 715 no longer 28 6
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In September, 2006, Bargaining Unit employees were asked to ratify the reorganization plan adopted by SEIU by means of a state-wide vote. The balloting material distributed to Bargaining Unit employees expressly stated that "Hospital workers at . . . Stanford/Lucille Packard Children's Hospital . . . will change their affiliation to United Healthcare Workers ­ West." [Quintel Decl. ¶ 26-27 & Exh. M-N.]

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On January 2, 2007, International President Stern issued an "Order Of Reorganization" to

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On January 31, 2007, Chief Shop Steward Robert W. Rutledge, stated in an e-mail that, "SEIU 715 no longer exists and a service agreement between the former 715 and UHW has been in place since March first of 2006." [Quintel Decl. ¶ 28 & Exh. O.] Copies of the e-mail were sent to Ms. Olick and UHW employee Kim Tavaglione, neither of whom objected to Mr. Rutledge's statement.

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At a meeting with Ms. Quintel on or around February 2, 2007, Mr. Rutledge repeated his

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represented employees at the Hospitals, and that they were now represented by UHW. [Quintel Decl. ¶ 29.] In late January, Local 715 prominently posted a statement on its website, located at http://www.SEIU715.org, that "We are in the process of transitioning to our new local

5 521. This web site will be taken down on Feb. 28. On March 1, our new Local's web 6 site www.seiu521.org will have your chapter pages and other information." [Quintel 7 Decl. ¶ 30 & Exh. P.] 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 "Five locals (415, 535, 700, 715, and 817) have come together to cover the North Central 18 region by forming one larger, more powerful local. On January 2, 2007, our new local 19 received its charter. On March 1, 2007, the resources of all five locals were transferred to 20 Local 521." [Quintel Decl. ¶ 40 & Exh. X.] 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 members authorized deduction and remittance of union dues, authorized remittance of 28 7
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Beginning on or around March 1, visitors to Local 715's website could no longer access the former site, but were automatically redirected to the website of Service Employees International Union, Local 521 ("Local 521"), located at http://www.SEIU521.org. Local 521's website contained a prominent statement that five local unions, including Local 715 "have come together . . . by forming one larger, more powerful local." [Quintel Decl. ¶ 32 & Exh. R.] Another page referenced benefits available to "former SEIU Local 715 members." [Quintel Decl. ¶ 32 & Exh. R.]

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On or around March 5, 2007, Local 715's website contained the following statement:

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As of March 2, 2007, UHW's website, located at http://SEIU-UHW.org, contained an assertion that UHW represented the Hospitals' employees. [Quintel Decl. ¶ 34 & Exh. S.] UHW has continued to claim to represent the Hospitals' employees on its website. [Inciardi Decl. ¶ 24 & 29-30 & Exh. C21-C22.]

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The dues deduction authorization forms, by which the individual bargaining unit

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dues specifically to Local 715, and to no other organization. [Quintel Decl. ¶ 35 & Exh. T.] In fact, although it was not known to the Hospitals at the time, the actual recipient of the dues being remitted to "Local 715" was Local 521. A document posted on the Local 521

5 Website titled "Dues Receipts of the year of 2007" showed that, in September, 2007, 6 Local 521 received a payment of dues totaling $21,949 from an account designated 7 "USW Hospitals" ("USW" being a commonly used acronym for "United Stanford 8 Workers," the name given to the chapter of Local 715 that had been assigned to the 9 SHC/LPCH Bargaining Unit). [Arnold Decl. ¶ 57 & Exh. WW.] This was the exact 10 amount (rounded to the dollar) of the Hospitals' last dues remittance to "Local 715" for 11 February, 2007, which was $21,949.35. [Quintel Decl. ¶ 38 & Exh. V.] 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 Decl. Exh. Z.] That order stated that, because of the Hospitals' "position" that Local 715 23 had ceased to exist, and the transfer of the bulk of Local 715's former members and 24 resources to Local 521, SEIU was placing "Local 715" under trusteeship, removing its 25 officers, and appointing Bruce W. ("Rusty") Smith as trustee. The order confirmed that 26 the SEIU's reorganization plan remained in place and that the remaining members of 27 "Local 715" would be "united with other SEIU healthcare members in SEIU United 28 8
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On March 2, 2007, the Hospitals informed "Local 715" that, after the remittance of the dues for February, 2007, the Hospitals would no longer remit dues to "Local 715" absent clarification of its status and the identity of the organization that would be receiving the dues. [Quintel Decl. ¶ 36 & Exh. U.] The requested information was not provided, and after March 1, 2007, the Hospitals ceased remitting dues. [Quintel Decl. ¶ 37.] The Hospitals continued to deduct dues from Bargaining Unit employees' checks, but held the dues in a separate bank account established for that purpose, a procedure that continues to date. [Quintel Decl. ¶ 37.]

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On June 8, 2007, President Stern issued an "Order Of Emergency Trusteeship." [Inciardi

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Healthcare Workers ­ West." [Inciardi Decl. Exh. Z.] Mr. Smith sent a letter to Ms. Quintel on June 14, 2007 informing her of the trusteeship, that the Servicing Agreement would "remain in full force and effect," and that UHW

4 employees would continue to "service" the Hospitals. [Quintel Decl. ¶ 48 & Exh. FF.] 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 longer represents "Local 715." [Quintel Decl. ¶ 57; Arnold Decl. ¶ 40.] 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 UHW and it had previously sent correspondence to the Hospitals representing UHW 21 pursuant to the Servicing Agreement.[Quintel Decl. ¶ 17 & Exh. E.] The Hospitals 22 became concerned that when the Weinberg Firm acted on behalf of "Local 715," it was 23 actually retained by UHW and acting under authority of the rejected Servicing 24 Agreement. However, when the Hospitals requested information from "Local 715" on 25 this issue "Local 715" and its purported attorneys either failed to respond or openly 26 refused to respond. [Arnold Decl. ¶ 49-53 & Exh. NN-RR.] The Hospitals concluded 27 that the Weinberg Firm was, in fact, representing UHW, and that its appearances on 28 9
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Around June 18, 2007, Mr. Arnold learned that Barbara J. Chisholm of the law firm Altshuler Berzon LLP (the "Altshuler Firm") was now representing "Local 715." Mr. Arnold confirmed this in a conversation with Ms. Chisholm followed by a confirming letter. [Arnold Decl. ¶ 40 & Exh. FF.]

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To date, the Hospitals have not received any notification that the Altshuler Firm no

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Since the announcement of the Altshuler Firm's representation of "Local 715," the Hospitals continued to receive correspondence from Weinberg Firm attorneys purporting to act on "Local 715's" behalf in grievance and arbitration matters. [Arnold Decl. ¶ 49, 55 & 65 & Exh. UU & EEE.] Weinberg Firm attorneys also appeared in each arbitration hearing that was held after the appointment of the Altshuler Firm as counsel. [Arnold Decl. ¶ 46 & 49 & Exh. LL.]

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The Hospitals were aware that the Weinberg Firm has historically acted as counsel to

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"Local 715's" behalf were made under authority of the rejected Servicing Agreement. Therefore, the Hospitals refused to participate in arbitration proceedings with Weinberg attorneys absent assurances that the appearance was made directly on behalf of "Local 715" and not pursuant to the Servicing Agreement. [Arnold Decl. ¶ 53 & Exh. RR.] Neither the Weinberg Firm nor the Altshuler Firm provided the Hospitals with the requested assurance. The undisputed facts set forth above demonstrate that on or around March 1, 2007, Local

8 715 was dissolved and that it no longer exists. It is well-established that, where the NLRB 9 certifies a union as the exclusive bargaining representative of an employer's workers pursuant to 10 the NLRA, the employer is not only obligated to bargain with that union, but is prohibited from 11 bargaining with any other union. Medo Photo Supply Corporation v. National Labor Relations 12 Board, 321 U.S. 678, 673-674 (1944); Nevada Security Innovations, Ltd., 341 NLRB 953, 955 13 (2004). Where the certified union has ceased to exist, the employer's bargaining obligation is at 14 an end. Brooks v. National Labor Relations Board, 348 U.S. 96, 98 (1954); Pioneer Inn 15 Associates v. National Labor Relations Board, 578 F.2d 835, 839 (9th Cir. 1978). 16 Likewise, where an employer and the certified union negotiate a collective bargaining 17 agreement providing for arbitration of disputes, and the union subsequently ceases to exist, the 18 employer no longer has any obligation to arbitrate because only the union has standing to compel 19 arbitration. Moruzzi v. Dynamics Corporation Of America, 443 F.Supp. 332, 336-337 (S.D.N.Y. 20 1977); Lorber Industries Of California v. Los Angles Printworks Corporation, 803 F.2d 523, 525 21 (9th Cir. 1986) (The obligation to arbitrate "may not be invoked by one who is not a party to the 22 agreement"). Where the certified union has ceased to exist, its former officials or representatives 23 do not have standing to compel arbitration under its name. Moruzzi, supra, 443 F.Supp. at 337. 24 Because Local 715 ceased to exist on or around March 1, 2007, the Hospitals were not, 25 and are not, obligated to arbitrate the Acosta Grievance, and Local 715 lacks standing to enforce 26 or confirm the Award. Therefore the Court ORDERS that judgment SHALL BE ENTERED 27 against Local 715 and in favor of the Hospitals, Local 715's Petition shall be DISMISSED 28 10
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WITH PREJUDICE and the Arbitration Award is HEREBY VACATED. III. THE HOSPITALS WERE AND ARE NOT OBLIGATED TO ARBITRATE WITH UHW OR ITS REPRESENTATIVES AND UHW AND ITS REPRESENTATIVES LACK STANDING TO ENFORCE OR CONFIRM THE AWARD Whether or not Local 715 continues to exist, the Hospitals were not, and are not, obligated to arbitrate with UHW or UHW's representatives acting pursuant to the Servicing Agreement because the Servicing Agreement is invalid. The Court finds that the following facts are material and undisputed: · In 1998, the National Labor Relations Board ("NLRB" or the "Board") issued an order (the "Certification") certifying Local 715 as the exclusive collective bargaining representative of a unit of Hospital employees (the "Bargaining Unit") as set forth in the Certification. [Arnold Decl. Exh. A.] · Thereafter, the Hospitals and Local 715 engaged in collective bargaining resulting in a series of collective bargaining agreements. The current collective bargaining agreement

15 (the "CBA") became effective on January 20, 2006, and is scheduled to expire on 16 November 4, 2008. [Arnold Decl. Exh. B.] 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 alleged violations of the CBA may be challenged. However, only Local 715 may appeal 24 a grievance to arbitration. [Arnold Decl. Exh. B.] 25 26 27 28 · Between February 18 and February 20, 2006, Local 715 entered into a "Servicing Agreement" with Service Employees International Union, United Healthcare Workers ­ 11
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Article 1 of The CBA contains a "Recognition Clause" which states that, pursuant to the Board's Certification, the Hospitals recognized Local 715 "as the sole and exclusive representative for the purpose of collective bargaining" with respect to Bargaining Unit employees. [Arnold Decl. Exh. B.]

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Article 26 of the CBA contains a grievance and arbitration procedure through which

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West ("UHW"). [Arnold Decl. ¶ 36 & Exh. CC; Inciardi Decl. Exh. EE.] The Servicing Agreement provided that UHW would provide certain "professional services" to Local 715 at no cost, including "Representation in the grievance procedure

4 and at arbitration hearings," "Representation at labor-management meetings," and 5 "Assistance to members appearing before the National Labor Relations Board on behalf 6 of the Local 715 Chapter at the Stanford Facility." [Arnold Decl. Exh. CC.] 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 CC.] 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 that UHW would be taking over representation for the Hospitals. [Quintel Decl. ¶ 10.] 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 715 personnel were carried out exclusively by UHW employees. UHW employees filed 28 12
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The Servicing Agreement further provided that, Local 715 and UHW would take such steps as were necessary to enforce the agreement, including initiating proceedings before the NLRB, in the event that the Servicing Agreement was rejected by the Hospitals." [Arnold Decl. Exh. CC.]

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The Servicing Agreement was to be effective as of March 1, 2006. [Arnold Decl. Exh.

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On February 28, 2006, Greg Pullman, then Local 715's Staff Director, informed Laurie Quintel, the Hospitals' Director of Employee and Labor Relations, that she should work with an employee of UHW named Ella Hereth in connection with the settlement of grievances and unfair labor practice charges. [Quintel Decl. ¶ 9.]

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Around the same time, another UHW employee named Rachel Deutsch told Ms. Quintel

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Ms. Quintel sought clarification from Mr. Pullman, whereupon Mr. Pullman told Ms. Quintel that "Local 715 represents the workers covered by our agreement" but that "Local 715 has asked SEIU UHW to service this unit in many ways on a day-to-day basis." [Quintel Decl. ¶ 11-12 & Exh. B.]

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Between March and May, 2006, the functions that had formerly been carried out by Local

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grievances on UHW stationery, some of which referred to Bargaining Unit members as "members" of UHW. [Quintel Decl. ¶ 15 & Exh. D.] Ms. Hereth sent a letter to Ms. Quintel instructing to "direct all SEIU correspondence" to UHW employees at UHW's San Francisco office. [Quintel Decl. ¶ 14 & Exh. C.] On May 22, 2006, Jocelyn Olick, a UHW employee and purported servicing agent under the Servicing Agreement, stated in an e-mail that "I and Ella Hereth do not work for SEIU 715. SEIU-UHW is doing the representation work here at Stanford Hospital." [Quintel Decl. ¶ 20 & Exh. H.] On the same day, Mr. Pullman stated in an e-mail that "Jocelyn Olick, Rachel Deutch and Ella Hereth out of the SEIU UHW San Francisco office are handling all representation matters for SEIU Local 715." [Quintel Decl. ¶ 20 & Exh. H.] Ms. Olick also purported to have authority to accept changes to the CBA. [Quintel Decl. ¶ 21 & Exh. I.] On or around March 28, 2006, W. Daniel Boone of the law firm Weinberg Roger & Rosenfeld, which historically represented Local 715, wrote a letter to Laurence R.

14 Arnold, an attorney who represents the Hospitals, which referred to "United Healthcare 15 Workers ­ West (formerly SEIU, Local 715)." [Arnold Decl. ¶ 26 & Exh. S.] 16 17 18 19 20 21 Weinberg Firm in which he stated "I am writing on behalf of SEIU United Healthcare 22 Workers West" and requested that the Hospitals provide information pertaining to 23 Bargaining Unit employees, and the dues deducted from their paychecks. [Quintel Decl. 24 ¶ 17 & Exh. E.] 25 26 27 28 · In May and June, 2006, Hospitals informed Local 715 that they did not consent to any transfer of bargaining rights from Local 715 to UHW, and that the Hospitals would not 13
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In early April, 2006, UHW employee Phyllis Willett told Ms. Quintel that when the Hospitals remitted union dues, they needed to provide the social security numbers of the relevant employees to help UHW identify them. [Quintel Decl. ¶ 16.]

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Around April 17, 2006, Ms. Quintel received a letter from William A. Sokol of the

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deal with employees of UHW. [Quintel Decl. ¶ 19 & Exh. G; Arnold Decl. ¶ 32 & Exh. Z.] In June, 2006, Hospitals requested information from Local 715 regarding the organization's status and the role of UHW. [Arnold Decl. ¶ 32 & Exh. Z.]

5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 memorandum to "Affected SEIU Local Unions in California" announcing that SEIU had 22 decided to adopt the recommendations outlined in the Joint Report. The memorandum 23 confirmed that "Private Sector Hospital units currently represented by Locals 535, 707, 24 715, 2028, and 4988 will merge into UHW." [Quintel Decl. ¶ 23 & Exh. K at p. 4.] 25 26 27 28 · In mid-August, the Hospitals received copies of the Servicing Agreement in mid August and reviewed it. [Quintel Decl. ¶ 24-25 & Exh. L; Arnold Decl. ¶ 36-38 & Exh. CC-EE.] 14
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On June 9, 2006 the Service Employees International Union ("SEIU" or the "International") issued a document titled "Hearing Officers' Joint Report And Recommendations" (the "Joint Report"). The Joint Report outlined a plan to reorganize various SEIU Locals (the "SEIU Reorganization Plan"). The Joint Report noted, "Local 715 is the certified representative of employees at Stanford and Lucille (sic) Packard Hospitals" but that "UHW is actually servicing employees in these facilities . . . pursuant to servicing agreements." [Inciardi Decl. Exh. T p. 16.] The Joint Report concluded that, in order to maximize local union strength, the jurisdiction of various local unions should be changed. With respect to government employee unions, the report recommended the creation of new local unions, that would absorb "a substantial portion" of the membership of existing local unions, including Local 715. [Inciardi Decl. Exh. T p. 40.] The Joint Report also recommended that, "the affiliation of private healthcare units represented by Locals 727, 715, and 2028 should be changed to UHW as soon as feasible." [Inciardi Decl. Exh. T p. 65.]

·

On June 11, 2006, Andrew L. Stern, International President of SEIU, issued a

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The Hospitals concluded, based upon the evidence that Local 715 had abdicated its representative duties and assigned them to UHW, that the Servicing Agreement was invalid and rejected it. Local 715 was informed of the Hospitals' rejection of the Servicing Agreement on or around August 29, 2006, and was further informed that the Hospitals would not deal with

6 employees of UHW acting pursuant to the Servicing Agreement. [Arnold Decl. ¶ 38 & 7 Exh. EE.] 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 various SEIU locals, including Local 715. [Inciardi Decl. Exh. U.] President Stern 16 ordered that all workers represented by Local 715, with certain exceptions, be 17 "reorganized into SEIU Local 521." President Stern further ordered that "all . . . 18 Stanford/Lucille (sic) Packard Hospital workers be, and are hereby, reorganized into 19 SEIU Local UHW." [Inciardi Decl. Exh. U.] Such "reorganization" was to take place as 20 soon as practicable. 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 · · On January 31, 2007, Chief Shop Steward Robert W. Rutledge, stated in an e-mail that, "SEIU 715 no longer exists and a service agreement between the former 715 and UHW has been in place since March first of 2006." [Quintel Decl. ¶ 28 & Exh. O.] Copies of the e-mail were sent to Ms. Olick and UHW employee Kim Tavaglione, neither of whom objected to Mr. Rutledge's statement. At a meeting with Ms. Quintel on or around February 2, 2007, Mr. Rutledge repeated his 15
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In September, 2006, Bargaining Unit employees were asked to ratify the reorganization plan adopted by SEIU by means of a state-wide vote. The balloting material distributed to Bargaining Unit employees expressly stated that "Hospital workers at . . . Stanford/Lucille Packard Children's Hospital . . . will change their affiliation to United Healthcare Workers ­ West." [Quintel Decl. ¶ 26-27 & Exh. M-N.]

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On January 2, 2007, International President Stern issued an "Order Of Reorganization" to

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assertion that Local 715 no longer existed. He also stated that Local 715 no longer represented employees at the Hospitals, and that they were now represented by UHW. [Quintel Decl. ¶ 29.] In late January, Local 715 prominently posted a statement on its website, located at http://www.SEIU715.org, that "We are in the process of transitioning to our new local

6 521. This web site will be taken down on Feb. 28. On March 1, our new Local's web 7 site www.seiu521.org will have your chapter pages and other information." [Quintel 8 Decl. ¶ 30 & Exh. P.] 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 "Five locals (415, 535, 700, 715, and 817) have come together to cover the North Central 19 region by forming one larger, more powerful local. On January 2, 2007, our new local 20 received its charter. On March 1, 2007, the resources of all five locals were transferred to 21 Local 521." [Quintel Decl. ¶ 40 & Exh. X.] 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 · · As of March 2, 2007, UHW's website, located at http://SEIU-UHW.org, contained an assertion that UHW represented the Hospitals' employees. [Quintel Decl. ¶ 34 & Exh. S.] UHW has continued to claim to represent the Hospitals' employees on its website. [Inciardi Decl. ¶ 24 & 29-30 & Exh. C21-C22.] The dues deduction authorization forms, by which the individual bargaining unit 16
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Beginning on or around March 1, visitors to Local 715's website could no longer access the former site, but were automatically redirected to the website of Service Employees International Union, Local 521 ("Local 521"), located at http://www.SEIU521.org. Local 521's website contained a prominent statement that five local unions, including Local 715 "have come together . . . by forming one larger, more powerful local." [Quintel Decl. ¶ 32 & Exh. R.] Another page referenced benefits available to "former SEIU Local 715 members." [Quintel Decl. ¶ 32 & Exh. R.]

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On or around March 5, 2007, Local 715's website contained the following statement:

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members authorized deduction and remittance of union dues, authorized remittance of dues specifically to Local 715, and to no other organization. [Quintel Decl. ¶ 35 & Exh. T.] In fact, although it was not known to the Hospitals at the time, the actual recipient of the dues being remitted to "Local 715" was Local 521. A document posted on the Local 521

6 Website titled "Dues Receipts of the year of 2007" showed that, in September, 2007, 7 Local 521 received a payment of dues totaling $21,949 from an account designated 8 "USW Hospitals" ("USW" being a commonly used acronym for "United Stanford 9 Workers," the name given to the chapter of Local 715 that had been assigned to the 10 SHC/LPCH Bargaining Unit). [Arnold Decl. ¶ 57 & Exh. WW.] This was the exact 11 amount (rounded to the dollar) of the Hospitals' last dues remittance to "Local 715" for 12 February, 2007, which was $21,949.35. [Quintel Decl. ¶ 38 & Exh. V.] 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 Decl. Exh. Z.] That order stated that, because of the Hospitals' "position" that Local 715 24 had ceased to exist, and the transfer of the bulk of Local 715's former members and 25 resources to Local 521, SEIU was placing "Local 715" under trusteeship, removing its 26 officers, and appointing Bruce W. ("Rusty") Smith as trustee. The order confirmed that 27 the SEIU's reorganization plan remained in place and that the remaining members of 28 17
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On March 2, 2007, the Hospitals informed "Local 715" that, after the remittance of the dues for February, 2007, the Hospitals would no longer remit dues to "Local 715" absent clarification of its status and the identity of the organization that would be receiving the dues. [Quintel Decl. ¶ 36 & Exh. U.] The requested information was not provided, and after March 1, 2007, the Hospitals ceased remitting dues. [Quintel Decl. ¶ 37.] The Hospitals continued to deduct dues from Bargaining Unit employees' checks, but held the dues in a separate bank account established for that purpose, a procedure that continues to date. [Quintel Decl. ¶ 37.]

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On June 8, 2007, President Stern issued an "Order Of Emergency Trusteeship." [Inciardi

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"Local 715" would be "united with other SEIU healthcare members in SEIU United Healthcare Workers ­ West." [Inciardi Decl. Exh. Z.] Mr. Smith sent a letter to Ms. Quintel on June 14, 2007 informing her of the trusteeship, that the Servicing Agreement would "remain in full force and effect," and that UHW

5 employees would continue to "service" the Hospitals. [Quintel Decl. ¶ 48 & Exh. FF.] 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 longer represents "Local 715." [Quintel Decl. ¶ 57; Arnold Decl. ¶ 40.] 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 and it had previously sent correspondence to the Hospitals representing UHW pursuant to 22 the Servicing Agreement.[Quintel Decl. ¶ 17 & Exh. E.] The Hospitals became 23 concerned that when the Weinberg Firm acted on behalf of "Local 715," it was actually 24 retained by UHW and acting under authority of the rejected Servicing Agreement. 25 However, when the Hospitals requested information from "Local 715" on this issue 26 "Local 715" and its purported attorneys either failed to respond or openly refused to 27 respond. [Arnold Decl. ¶ 49-53 & Exh. NN-RR.] The Hospitals concluded that the 28 18
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Around June 18, 2007, Mr. Arnold learned that Barbara J. Chisholm of the law firm Altshuler Berzon LLP (the "Altshuler Firm") was now representing "Local 715." Mr. Arnold confirmed this in a conversation with Ms. Chisholm followed by a confirming letter. [Arnold Decl. ¶ 40 & Exh. FF.]

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To date, the Hospitals have not received any notification that the Altshuler Firm no

·

Since the announcement of the Altshuler Firm's representation of "Local 715," the Hospitals continued to receive correspondence from Weinberg Firm attorneys purporting to act on "Local 715's" behalf in grievance and arbitration matters. [Arnold Decl. ¶ 49, 55 & 65 & Exh. UU & EEE.] Weinberg Firm attorneys also appeared in each arbitration hearing that was held after the appointment of the Altshuler Firm as counsel. [Arnold Decl. ¶ 46 & 49 & Exh. LL.]

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Hospitals were aware that the Weinberg Firm has historically acted as counsel to UHW

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Weinberg Firm was, in fact, representing UHW, and that its appearances on "Local 715's" behalf were made under authority of the rejected Servicing Agreement. Therefore, the Hospitals refused to participate in arbitration proceedings with Weinberg attorneys absent assurances that the appearance was made directly on behalf of "Local 715" and not pursuant to the Servicing Agreement. [Arnold Decl. ¶ 53 & Exh. RR.] Neither the Weinberg Firm nor the Altshuler Firm provided the Hospitals with the requested assurance. It has been recognized that, under the National Labor Relations Act, one union may use

9 agents or experts from another union to act on its behalf in formal labor negotiations. Goad 10 Company, 333 NLRB 677, 679 (2001). However, a union may not use the purported 11 appointment of agents to effectuate a de facto change of the bargaining representative, and under 12 such circumstances, the employer is under no obligation to deal with the purported agents. 13 Goad, supra, 333 NLRB at 680 (employer not obligated to deal with purported agent where 14 certified union "did not simply enlist the aid of an agent . . . it transferred its representational 15 duties and responsibilities.") See also Sherwood Ford, Inc, 188 NLRB 131, 133-134 (1971) 16 (Board disregarded agency agreement between unions as "a device, subterfuge, or stratagem" 17 designed to accomplish a de facto change of the bargaining agent.). 18 The undisputed facts set forth above demonstrate that, notwithstanding the content of the 19 Servicing Agreement, in practice, "Local 715" and UHW have used the Servicing Agreement as 20 a "device, subterfuge, or stratagem" to, in effect, transfer representative status to UHW. Rather 21 than serving as a mere agent, as called for in the Servicing Agreement, UHW has sought to 22 completely supplant Local 715 with respect to every aspect of collective bargaining, leaving 23 Local 715 as the representative in name only. Given this, the Hospitals were not, and are not, 24 obligated to arbitrate or otherwise deal with employees and representatives of UHW, including 25 Weinberg Firm attorneys, acting pursuant to the invalid Servicing Agreement. Furthermore 26 UHW and its representatives do not have standing to enforce or confirm the Award. Thus, the 27 Court HEREBY ORDERS that judgment SHALL BE ENTERED in favor of the Hospitals, 28 19
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Local 715's Petition SHALL BE DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE and the Arbitration Award is HEREBY VACATED. IV. THE ARBITRATOR'S AWARD IS INVALID Alternatively, judgment in favor of the Hospitals and against Local 715 is granted because the Arbitrator's Award is invalid. The Court finds that the following facts are material and undisputed: · In 1998, the National Labor Relations Board ("NLRB" or the "Board") issued an order (the "Certification") certifying Local 715 as the exclusive collective bargaining representative of a unit of Hospital employees (the "Bargaining Unit") as set forth in the Certification. [Arnold Decl. Exh. A.] · Thereafter, the Hospitals and Local 715 engaged in collective bargaining resulting in a series of collective bargaining agreements. The current collective bargaining agreement

13 (the "CBA") became effective on January 20, 2006, and is scheduled to expire on 14 November 4, 2008. [Arnold Decl. Exh. B.] 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 alleged violations of the CBA may be challenged. However, only Local 715 may appeal 22 a grievance to arbitration. [Arnold Decl. Exh. B.] Article 26.7.8 states that arbitration 23 proceedings "will be closed unless the parties mutually agree otherwise in advance and in 24 writing." [Arnold Decl. Exh. B.] 25 26 27 28 · Between February 18 and February 20, 2006, Local 715 entered into a "Servicing Agreement" with Service Employees International Union, United Healthcare Workers ­ 20
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Article 1 of The CBA contains a "Recognition Clause" which states that, pursuant to the Board's Certification, the Hospitals recognized Local 715 "as the sole and exclusive representative for the purpose of collective bargaining" with respect to Bargaining Unit employees. [Arnold Decl. Exh. B.]

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Article 26 of the CBA contains a grievance and arbitration procedure through which

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West ("UHW"). [Arnold Decl. ¶ 36 & Exh. CC; Declaration of Scott P. Inciardi In Support of Motions ("Inciardi Decl.") Exh. EE.] The Servicing Agreement provided that UHW would provide certain "professional services" to Local 715 at no cost, including "Representation in the grievance procedure

5 and at arbitration hearings," "Representation at labor-management meetings," and 6 "Assistance to members appearing before the National Labor Relations Board on behalf 7 of the Local 715 Chapter at the Stanford Facility." [Arnold Decl. Exh. CC.] 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 CC.] 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 that UHW would be taking over representation for the Hospitals. [Quintel Decl. ¶ 10.] 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 · · Ms. Quintel sought clarification from Mr. Pullman, whereupon Mr. Pullman told Ms. Quintel that "Local 715 represents the workers covered by our agreement" but that "Local 715 has asked SEIU UHW to service this unit in many ways on a day-to-day basis." [Quintel Decl. ¶ 11-12 & Exh. B.] Between March and May, 2006, the functions that had formerly been carried out by Local 21
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The Servicing Agreement further provided that, Local 715 and UHW would take such steps as were necessary to enforce the agreement, including initiating proceedings before the NLRB, in the event that the Servicing Agreement was rejected by the Hospitals." [Arnold Decl. Exh. CC.]

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The Servicing Agreement was to be effective as of March 1, 2006. [Arnold Decl. Exh.

·

On February 28, 2006, Greg Pullman, then Local 715's Staff Director, informed Laurie Quintel, the Hospitals' Director of Employee and Labor Relations, that she should work with an employee of UHW named Ella Hereth in connection with the settlement of grievances and unfair labor practice charges. [Quintel Decl. ¶ 9.]

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Around the same time, another UHW employee named Rachel Deutsch told Ms. Quintel

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715 personnel were carried out exclusively by UHW employees. UHW employees filed grievances on UHW stationery, some of which referred to Bargaining Unit members as "members" of UHW. [Quintel Decl. ¶ 15 & Exh. D.] Ms. Hereth sent a letter to Ms. Quintel instructing to "direct all SEIU correspondence" to UHW employees at UHW's San Francisco office. [Quintel Decl. ¶ 14 & Exh. C.] On May 22, 2006, Jocelyn Olick, a UHW employee and purported servicing agent under the Servicing Agreement, stated in an e-mail that "I and Ella Hereth do not work for SEIU 715. SEIU-UHW is doing the representation work here at Stanford Hospital." [Quintel Decl. ¶ 20 & Exh. H.] On the same day, Mr. Pullman stated in an e-mail that "Jocelyn Olick, Rachel Deutch and Ella Hereth out of the SEIU UHW San Francisco office are handling all representation matters for SEIU Local 715." [Quintel Decl. ¶ 20 & Exh. H.] Ms. Olick also purported to have authority to accept changes to the CBA. [Quintel Decl. ¶ 21 & Exh. I.] On or around March 28, 2006, W. Daniel Boone of the law firm Weinberg Roger & Rosenfeld, which historically represented Local 715, wrote a letter to Laurence R.

15 Arnold, an attorney who represents the Hospitals, which referred to "United Healthcare 16 Workers ­ West (formerly SEIU, Local 715)." [Arnold Decl. ¶ 26 & Exh. S.] 17 18 19 20 21 22 Weinberg Firm in which he stated "I am writing on behalf of SEIU United Healthcare 23 Workers West" and requested that the Hospitals provide information pertaining to 24 Bargaining Unit employees, and the dues deducted from their paychecks. [Quintel Decl. 25 ¶ 17 & Exh. E.] 26 27 28 · In May and June, 2006, Hospitals informed Local 715 that they did not consent to any 22
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In early April, 2006, UHW employee Phyllis Willett told Ms. Quintel that when the Hospitals remitted union dues, they needed to provide the social security numbers of the relevant employees to help UHW identify them. [Quintel Decl. ¶ 16.]

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Around April 17, 2006, Ms. Quintel received a letter from William A. Sokol of the

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transfer of bargaining rights from Local 715 to UHW, and that the Hospitals would not deal with employees of UHW. [Quintel Decl. ¶ 19 & Exh. G; Arnold Decl. ¶ 32 & Exh. Z.] In June, 2006, Hospitals requested information from Local 715 regarding the organization's status and the role of UHW. [Arnold Decl. ¶ 32 & Exh. Z.]

6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 memorandum to "Affected SEIU Local Unions in California" announcing that SEIU had 23 decided to adopt the recommendations outlined in the Joint Report. The memorandum 24 confirmed that "Private Sector Hospital units currently represented by Locals 535, 707, 25 715, 2028, and 4988 will merge into UHW." [Quintel Decl. ¶ 23 & Exh. K at p. 4.] 26 27 28 · Hospitals received copies of the Servicing Agreement in mid August and reviewed it. 23
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On June 9, 2006 the Service Employees International Union ("SEIU" or the "International") issued a document titled "Hearing Officers' Joint Report And Recommendations" (the "Joint Report"). The Joint Report outlined a plan to reorganize various SEIU Locals (the "SEIU Reorganization Plan"). The Joint Report noted, "Local 715 is the certified representative of employees at Stanford and Lucille (sic) Packard Hospitals" but that "UHW is actually servicing employees in these facilities . . . pursuant to servicing agreements." [Inciardi Decl. Exh. T p. 16.] The Joint Report concluded that, in order to maximize local union strength, the jurisdiction of various local unions should be changed. With respect to government employee unions, the report recommended the creation of new local unions, that would absorb "a substantial portion" of the membership of existing local unions, including Local 715. [Inciardi Decl. Exh. T p. 40.] The Joint Report also recommended that, "the affiliation of private healthcare units represented by Locals 727, 715, and 2028 should be changed to UHW as soon as feasible." [Inciardi Decl. Exh. T p. 65.]

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On June 11, 2006, Andrew L. Stern, International President of SEIU, issued a

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[Quintel Decl. ¶ 24-25 & Exh. L; Arnold Decl. ¶ 36-38 & Exh. CC-EE.] The Hospitals concluded, based upon the evidence that Local 715 had abdicated its representative duties and assigned them to UHW, that the Servicing Agreement was invalid and rejected it. Local 715 was informed of the Hospitals' rejection of the Servicing Agreement on or around August 29, 2006, and was further informed that the Hospitals would not deal with

6 employees of UHW acting pursuant to the Servicing Agreement. [Arnold Decl. ¶ 38 & 7 Exh. EE.] 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 various SEIU locals, including Local 715. [Inciardi Decl. Exh. U.] President Stern 16 ordered that all workers represented by Local 715, with certain exceptions, be 17 "reorganized into SEIU Local 521." President Stern further ordered that "all . . . 18 Stanford/Lucille (sic) Packard Hospital workers be, and are hereby, reorganized into 19 SEIU Local UHW." [Inciardi Decl. Exh. U.] Such "reorganization" was to take place as 20 soon as practicable. 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 · · On January 31, 2007, Chief Shop Steward Robert W. Rutledge, stated in an e-mail that, "SEIU 715 no longer exists and a service agreement between the former 715 and UHW has been in place since March first of 2006." [Quintel Decl. ¶ 28 & Exh. O.] Copies of the e-mail were sent to Ms. Olick and UHW employee Kim Tavaglione, neither of whom objected to Mr. Rutledge's statement. At a meeting with Ms. Quintel on or around February 2, 2007, Mr. Rutledge repeated his 24
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In September, 2006, Bargaining Unit employees were asked to ratify the reorganization plan adopted by SEIU by means of a state-wide vote. The balloting material distributed to Bargaining Unit employees expressly stated that "Hospital workers at . . . Stanford/Lucille Packard Children's Hospital . . . will change their affiliation to United Healthcare Workers ­ West." [Quintel Decl. ¶ 26-27 & Exh. M-N.]

·

On January 2, 2007, International President Stern issued an "Order Of Reorganization" to

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assertion that Local 715 no longer existed. He also stated that Local 715 no longer represented employees at the Hospitals, and that they were now represented by UHW. [Quintel Decl. ¶ 29.] In late January, Local 715 prominently posted a statement on its website, located at http://www.SEIU715.org, that "We are in the process of transitioning to our new local

6 521. This web site will be taken down on Feb. 28. On March 1, our new Local's web 7 site www.seiu521.org will have your chapter pages and other information." [Quintel 8 Decl. ¶ 30 & Exh. P.] 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 "Five locals (415, 535, 700, 715, and 817) have come together to cover the North Central 19 region by forming one larger, more powerful local. On January 2, 2007, our new local 20 received its charter. On March 1, 2007, the resources of all five locals were transferred to 21 Local 521." [Quintel Decl. ¶ 40 & Exh. X.] 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 · · As of March 2, 2007, UHW's website, located at http://SEIU-UHW.org, contained an assertion that UHW represented the Hospitals' employees. [Quintel Decl. ¶ 34 & Exh. S.] UHW has continued to claim to represent the Hospitals' employees on its website. [Inciardi Decl. ¶ 24 & 29-30 & Exh. C21-C22.] The dues deduction authorization forms, by which the individual bargaining unit 25
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Beginning on or around March 1, visitors to Local 715's website could no longer access the former site, but were automatically redirected to the website of Service Employees International Union, Local 521 ("Local 521"), located at http://www.SEIU521.org. Local 521's website contained a prominent statement that five local unions, including Local 715 "have come together . . . by forming one larger, more powerful local." [Quintel Decl. ¶ 32 & Exh. R.] Another page referenced benefits available to "former SEIU Local 715 members." [Quintel Decl. ¶ 32 & Exh. R.]

·

On or around March 5, 2007, Local 715's website contained the following statement:

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members authorized deduction and remittance of union dues, authorized remittance of dues specifically to Local 715, and to no other organization. [Quintel Decl. ¶ 35 & Exh. T.] In fact, although it was not known to the Hospitals at the time, the actual recipient of the dues being remitted to "Local 715" was Local 521. A document posted on the Local 521

6 Website titled "Dues Receipts of the year of 2007" showed that, in September, 2007, 7 Local 521 received a payment of dues totaling $21,949 from an account designated 8 "USW Hospitals" ("USW" being a commonly used acronym for "United Stanford 9 Workers," the name given to the chapter of Local 715 that had been assigned to the 10 SHC/LPCH Bargaining Unit). [Arnold Decl. ¶ 57 & Exh. WW.] This was the exact 11 amount (rounded to the dollar) of the Hospitals' last dues remittance to "Local 715" for 12 February, 2007, which was $21,949.35. [Quintel Decl. ¶ 38 & Exh. V.] 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 Decl. Exh. Z.] That order stated that, because of the Hospitals' "position" that Local 715 24 had ceased to exist, and the transfer of the bulk of Local 715's former members and 25 resources to Local 521, SEIU was placing "Local 715" under trusteeship, removing its 26 officers, and appointing Bruce W. ("Rusty") Smith as trustee. The order confirmed that 27 the SEIU's reorganization plan remained in place and that the remaining members of 28 26
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On March 2, 2007, the Hospitals informed "Local 715" that, after the remittance of the dues for February, 2007, the Hospitals would no longer remit dues to "Local 715" absent clarification of its status and the identity of the organization that would be receiving the dues. [Quintel Decl. ¶ 36 & Exh. U.] The requested information was not provided, and after March 1, 2007, the Hospitals ceased remitting dues. [Quintel Decl. ¶ 37.] The Hospitals continued to deduct dues from Bargaining Unit employees' checks, but held the dues in a separate bank account established for that purpose, a procedure that continues to date. [Quintel Decl. ¶ 37.]

·

On June 8, 2007, President Stern issued an "Order Of Emergency Trusteeship." [Inciardi

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"Local 715" would be "united with other SEIU healthcare members in SEIU United Healthcare Workers ­ West." [Inciardi Decl. Exh. Z.] Mr. Smith sent a letter to Ms. Quintel on June 14, 2007 informing her of the trusteeship, that the Servicing Agreement would "remain in full force and effect," and that UHW

5 employees would continue to "service" the Hospitals. [Quintel Decl. ¶ 48 & Exh. FF.] 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 longer represents "Local 715." [Quintel Decl. ¶ 57; Arnold Decl. ¶ 40.] 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 UHW and it had previously sent correspondence to the Hospitals representing UHW 22 pursuant to the Servicing Agreement.[Quintel Decl. ¶ 17 & Exh. E.] The Hospitals 23 became concerned that when the Weinberg Firm acted on behalf of "Local 715," it was 24 actually retained by UHW and acting under authority of the rejected Servicing 25 Agreement. However, when the Hospitals requested information from "Local 715" on 26 this issue "Local 715" and its purported attorneys either failed to respond or openly 27 refused to respond. [Arnold Decl. ¶ 49-53 & Exh. NN-RR.] The Hospitals concluded 28 27
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Around June 18, 2007, Mr. Arnold learned that Barbara J. Chisholm of the law firm Altshuler Berzon LLP (the "Altshuler Firm") was now representing "Local 715." Mr. Arnold confirmed this in a conversation with Ms. Chisholm followed by a confirming letter. [Arnold Decl. ¶ 40 & Exh. FF.]

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To date, the Hospitals have not received any notification that the Altshuler Firm no

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Since the announcement of the Altshuler Firm's representation of "Local 715," the Hospitals continued to receive correspondence from Weinberg Firm attorneys purporting to act on "Local 715's" behalf in grievance and arbitration matters. [Arnold Decl. ¶ 49, 55 & 65 & Exh. UU & EEE.] Weinberg Firm attorneys also appeared in each arbitration hearing that was held after the appointment of the Altshuler Firm as counsel. [Arnold Decl. ¶ 46 & 49 & Exh. LL.]

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The Hospitals were aware that the Weinberg Firm has historically acted as counsel to

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that the Weinberg Firm was, in fact, representing UHW, and that its appearances on "Local 715's" behalf were made under authority of the rejected Servicing Agreement. Therefore, the Hospitals refused to participate in arbitration proceedings with Weinberg attorneys absent assurances that the appearance was made directly on behalf of "Local 715" and not pursuant to the Servicing Agreement. [Arnold Decl. ¶ 53 & Exh. RR.] Neither the Weinberg Firm nor the Altshuler Firm provided the Hospitals with the requested assurance. The Acosta Grievance was filed on or around March 17, 2007 and alleged that the Hospital terminated Mr. Acosta's employment in violation of the CBA. [Quintel Decl. ¶

10 64 & Exh. RR.] 11 12 13 14 15 Ms. Chisholm as counsel, sent a letter to the Arbitrator informing him of "Local 715's" 16 change in counsel. [Arnold Decl. ¶ 62 & Exh. BBB.] A copy of the letter was sent to 17 Ms. Chisholm. [Id.] 18 19 20 21 insist upon compliance with Article 26.7.8 of the CBA, which provided that arbitration 22 proceedings were to be closed absent prior agreement by the parties. [Arnold Decl. ¶ 63 23 & Exh. CCC.] In his letter, Mr. Arnold also informed Ms. Chisholm that the Hospitals 24 were not obligated, and would not agree, to engage in arbitration proceedings with UHW 25 representatives, including Weinberg attorneys, acting pursuant to the invalid Servicing 26 Agreement. [Arnold Decl. ¶ 63 & Exh. CCC.] 27 28 28
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Thomas A. Angelo (the "Arbitrator") was selected to arbitrate the matter. [Arnold Decl. ¶ 60 & Exh. ZZ.]

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On June 26, 2007, Mr. Arnold, having been informed of the Trustee's appointment of

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The arbitration hearing was scheduled for November 28, 2007. On November 7, 2007, Mr. Arnold informed Ms. Chisholm that the Hospitals intended to

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Mr. Arnold appeared at the arbitration hearing on behalf of the Hospitals. [Arnold Decl. ¶ 66.]

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Appearing purportedly on behalf of "Local 715" was W. Daniel Boone of the Weinberg Firm. [Arnold Decl. ¶ 66.]

5 6 7 8 Decl. ¶ 66; Inciardi Decl. Exh. C22 .] 9 10 11 12 13 14 26.] 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Agreement or other representational issues, and that such issues had not been submitted 25 to him by the parties. [Arnold Decl. Exh. FFF p. 33-34.] 26 27 28 · On November 30, 2007, the Arbitrator issued the Award. In the Award, the Arbitrator 29
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Mr. Boone was accompanied by Myriam Escamilla. [Arnold Decl. ¶ 66.] At the time of the Arbitration hearing, Ms. Escamilla was an employee of UHW. [Arnold

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On the record, Mr. Arnold asked Mr. Boone to represent whether he was appearing on behalf of Local 715 directly, or whether he was appearing pursuant to the Servicing Agreement, which the Hospitals had rejected. [Arnold Decl. ¶ 66 & Exh. FFF p. 17-18.]

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Mr. Boone refused to provide the requested representation. [Arnold Decl. Exh. FFF p.

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Because Mr. Boone expressly refused to clarify the nature of his appearance, the Hospitals refused to go forward with the arbitration. [Arnold Decl. Exh. FFF p. 26.] Mr. Arnold also stated the Hospitals' position that the Arbitrator lacked the authority to determine the validity of the Servicing Agreement, or to decide representational issues, such as whether "Local 715" had validly transferred its representational rights to UHW, permitting an attorney retained by UHW to appear at the arbitration hearing. [Arnold Decl. Exh. FFF p. 34-35.]

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The Arbitrator agreed that he lacked the power to decide the validity of the Servicing

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confirmed that he lacked the power to decide representational issues, including the issue of the valid