Opinion
Civil Action No. 11-1257
10-25-2013
AMERICAN WATER WORKS COMPANY, INC., Plaintiff, v. UTILITY WORKERS LOCAL 537, an unincorporated association and affiliate of Utility Workers Union of America, Defendant.
Judge Cathy Bissoon
Magistrate Judge Maureen P. Kelly
MEMORANDUM ORDER
For the reasons set forth in the Court's Order dated March 8, 2013 (Doc. 91), as supplemented herein, Plaintiff's case will be dismissed for want of prudential standing.
Plaintiff seeks judicial declarations that Defendant's grievances are not arbitrable under the local CBAs, and it requests that Defendant be directed to withdraw its demands for arbitration under the CBAs. See Compl. (Doc. 1). In its brief on standing (Doc. 94), Plaintiff does not purport to be an intended third-party beneficiary under the CBAs. See generally id. Nor has Plaintiff moved for leave to join those of its wholly-owned subsidiaries who were parties to the CBAs. Id.
Rather, Plaintiff attempts to side-step its lack of standing by reframing the issue. See, e.g., id. at 1, 5 (arguing that "the underlying dispute in this case is between [Defendant] and [Plaintiff]," regarding "changes made by [Plaintiff] as to benefits provided by [Plaintiff] . . . pursuant to [the National Benefits Agreement, or 'NBA']"). The Court already has rejected Plaintiff's argument for standing based on the NBA. See March 8 Order at n.4; see also generally id. at 1-6. Plaintiff's theory, moreover, is inconsistent with the relief requested in the Complaint. See, e.g., id. at Count I (seeking judicial declaration that Defendant's grievances, brought under CBAs, are non-arbitrable under provisions in CBAs, and requesting that Defendant be ordered to "withdraw [its] demands for arbitration [under the CBAs]"). Much as Plaintiff has not requested the joinder of its wholly-owned subsidiaries, it has not sought leave to amend its pleadings in response to the standing deficiency.
Plaintiff has failed demonstrate why it has prudential standing "to bring a declaratory judgment claim regarding rights and obligations under . . . contract[s] to which it is neither a party nor a third-party beneficiary." Tri-State Generation & Transmission Ass'n, Inc. v. BNSF Ry. Co., 2008 WL 2465407, *3 (D. Ariz. Jun. 17, 2008) (citations omitted); accord March 8Order at 3. For this reason, and for all of the others stated in the Court's Order dated March 8, 2013, this case is DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
________________________
Cathy Bissoon
United States District Judge
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