Opinion
00 Civ. 7990 (LAK)
January 31, 2001
ORDER
The plaintiff in this action, a former employee of defendant Waste Management of New York, LLC, d/b/a USA Waste of New York City and s/h/a USA Waste of New York City, Inc. and USA Waste Services Company, and a member of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Local 813, brings this action against his former employer and the union. The gist of the action is a claim that USA Waste wrongfully terminated plaintiff's employment and that the union failed adequately to protect his interests. The complaint, originally filed in state court but subsequently removed, purports to assert claims for wrongful termination by the employer, breach of contract by the union, deprivation by the employer of alleged procedural due process rights in discharging plaintiff without a hearing, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
The employer has moved to dismiss the complaint for failure to state a claim upon which relief may be granted. It contends that (1) plaintiff's claims all are preempted by Section 301 of the Labor Management Relations Act, barred by the statute of limitations, and dismissable for failure to exhaust administrative remedies under the collective bargaining agreement between the employer and the union, (2) the emotional distress claim in any case is barred by the statute of limitations, and (3) the procedural due process claim in any case is insufficient because the employer is not a state actor or acting under color of state law.
The motion is granted in all respects. No real purpose would be served by extended discussion. Even putting the preemption issue aside for a moment, the wrongful termination or, as plaintiff has sought to recharacterize it, the retaliatory termination claim is patently insufficient under New York law, which recognizes no such cause of action in these circumstances. The procedural due process claim is frivolous, as the complaint fails to allege state action. The emotional distress claim is barred by the statute of limitations. In any case, however, all of the claims are preempted and barred by the statute of limitations for the reasons set forth in the employer's memoranda. The Court considers the collective bargaining agreement as having been incorporated in the complaint by reference in view of the complaint's references to the "union agreements" and the union's alleged breaches of its obligations thereunder.
As the union did not join in this motion, the action remains pending against it. Inasmuch as the claim against the union also appears to be time-barred, discovery proceedings at this time would be wasteful and unduly burdensome.
Accordingly, the motion of defendant Waste Management of New York, LLC, s/h/a USA Waste of New York City, Inc. and USA Waste Services Company, to dismiss the complaint1 and for other relief is granted to the extent that the complaint is dismissed as to this defendant and all discovery stayed. It is denied in all other respects.
SO ORDERED.