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Try CasePortal for FreeJ. Joseph grants summary judgment to both Morton’s Salt and the union local for its Louisiana salt mine, dismissing breach-of-duty claims brought by an electrician’s apprentice fired for admittedly violating one of the company’s “cardinal” safety rules. While the fired employee points out certain procedural defects in how the union handled his grievance, the union’s actions did not constitute a breach of its duty of fair representation. Further, the apprentice and his electrician admitted to violating safety protocols, and Morton had previously fired three or four other employees for violating its “cardinal rules.” Last December, the U.S. Department of Labor cited Morton’s Louisiana mine for a “pattern” of health or safety violations that could end in serious injury or illness, the first time a U.S. mine had been so sanctioned since 2014.