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Union Pacific Railroad Co. v. Harding5/19/1998
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On November 6, 1995, the district court granted Harding's motion to dismiss UPRR's third-party complaint as to both Harding and Sullenberger; the district court did not specify the basis for its decision. On January 8, 1996, UPRR moved the district court for certification of final, partial judgment as to third-party defendant Harding, pursuant to NRCP 54(b). Harding, joined by Smith's widow and estate, opposed UPRR's certification motion. Notwithstanding, on May 15, 1996, the district court determined that there was no just reason to delay entry of final judgment on UPRR's third-party complaint against Harding, and granted UPRR's certification motion.
Subsequently, UPRR filed a timely notice of appeal from the district court's dismissal and final certification of UPRR's third-party complaint against Harding. Harding filed a timely notice of cross-appeal from the district court's order granting certification of a final, partial judgment in this matter as to UPRR's third-party complaint against Harding.
DISCUSSION
Because Harding's cross-appeal questions the jurisdiction of this court to consider the substantive issues on appeal, it will be disposed of first. " certification of finality pursuant to NRCP 54(b) based on the elimination of a party will be presumed valid and will be upheld by this court absent a gross abuse of discretion." Mallin v. Farmers Insurance Exchange, 106 Nev. 606, 611, 797 P.2d 978, 981-82 (1990). In this case, we conclude that the district court's order granting certification did not constitute a gross abuse of discretion. Therefore, we will now consider the merits of this appeal.
Harding asserts that deciding the merits of UPRR's third-party claims will necessarily require interpretation and application of a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) , thus the Railway Labor Act (RLA), preempts UPRR's third-party complaint. Harding is a member of the United Transportation Union (UTU) Rule 103 of the UPRR-UTU CBA provides:
LOSS OR DAMAGE TO EQUIPMENT:
Rule 103: Conductors will not be obliged to pay fines for loss or damage to equipment.
Harding and UPRR dispute the meaning of the word "fine." UPRR argues that the ordinary meaning of the word has a penal connotation, whereas Harding argues that civil damages may constitute a fine. Because there is a question as to the interpretation of "fine," Harding contends that UPRR's third-party complaint involves the type of dispute which must be resolved through the mandatory procedures of the RLA.
The RLA explains that a. "minor dispute" (as opposed to a "major dispute" which relates to the formation and negotiation of a CBA and is resolved through mandatory bargaining) grows "out of grievances or out of the interpretation or application of agreements covering rates of pay, rules, or working conditions." 45 U.S.C.A. ยง 153, First (i). The first step in resolving a minor dispute is through the railroad company's resolution procedures; if the dispute cannot be settled internally, it goes before binding arbitration set by the National Railroad Adjustment Board (NRAB), See Consolidated Rail Corp. v. Railway Labor Executives' Assn., 491 U.S. 299, 302 (1989). Following the NRAB's issuance of a decision, either party may seek judicial review (albeit the scope of that review is quite limited). See Kulavic v. Chicago & Illinois Midland Ry. Co., 1 F.3d 507, 513 (1994).
In Hawaiian Airlines, Inc. v. Norris, 512 U.S. 246, 260 (1994), the Court stated that a minor dispute under the RLA exists where an allegedly breached duty is "rooted firmly in the CBA, " and "'any attempt to assess liability here inevitably will involve'" interpretati
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