Gerald W. Byrne v. Buffalo Creek Railroad Company and John J. Hayes, as Chairman of Local 12, a Local Unit of United Transportation Union

LUMBARD, Circuit Judge:

This appeal requires us to decide the rare question, in this circuit, of whether a litigant should be deprived, after ten years of litigation, of a judgment for wrongful discharge and unfair representation because during litigation delays, for which the district court must bear the major responsibility, the Supreme Court changed the law regarding the applicable statute of limitations for the bringing of his suit.

Gerald W. Byrne began working for the Buffalo Creek Railroad Company in 1961, first as a fireman-engineer and then as an engineer. In February 1969, he entered…