Janet Young worked in an administrative capacity for the International Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers. She was given a 10-year contract by John Sytsma , the president of the union. The president regularly engaged in hiring union employees without consulting with either the executive committee or the advisory board of the union.
In addition, the president entered into other contracts on behalf of the union. Although these powers were not specified in the constitution, the union knew that he dealt with the hiring of employees and that he routinely entered nonemployment contracts on behalf of the union. Sometime after Sytsma was defeated in a reelection bid, Larry McFather , the new president, discharged Young. McFather argued that Sytsma did not have the capacity to enter a 10-year employment contract with Young because the authority to do so was not specified in the union's constitution.
In addition, McFather pointed out that the contract had been entered during the union's convention, during which the power to govern the union falls to the delegates at the convention. In response, Young argued that the past practices of the union led her to the reasonable belief that the president had the power to grant her the employment contract. She also argued that even though the power to hire employees was not in the union constitution, the power to do so was implied by the powers of the president to preside over the union's administrative matters. Is Young correct on either of these points? Explain.
Young v. International Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, 683 N.E.2d 420 (OH).