Union sued for negligence for allegedly providing misinformation concerning retirement benefits
Grahame v Rochester Teachers Association, 262 AD2d 963, motion to appeal dismissed, 94 NY2d 796
May a union be sued for alleged negligence with respect to information it provided to a member? This was the question presented by Harriet E. Grahame, as the executrix of the estate of Carole A. Wemett. Grahame is suing the Rochester Teachers Association for negligence, alleging that it provided Wemett with “erroneous information ... regarding her retirement benefits.” The Appellate Division has upheld a State Supreme Court’s refusal to dismiss Grahame’s negligence action.
The association attempted to have the case dismissed because Grahame “failed to allege that the individual members of defendant union ratified the acts of their representative.” The Appellate Division said that it was unnecessary for Grahame to do so as her action against the union is based on the negligence of its agent “in the course of performing an essential activity of the [union].” Also rejected was the association’s argument that Grahame’s complaint “is in essence one for breach of the duty of fair representation but is couched in terms of negligence in order to circumvent the Statute of Limitations and evidentiary problems.”
The Appellate Division said that because the collective bargaining agreement does not address employees’ retirement benefits, “the alleged negligent misrepresentation action was not subsumed by the duty of fair representation.”
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