This case arose after Plaintiff-Appellant Laigth Oilman (“Oilman”), a former employee of Norfolk Southern Rahway Company (“NSRC”), was charged (a) with conducting himself in an “unbecoming” manner while off duty and (b) with taking unjustified sick leave. After an investigation, NSRC dismissed him from his job, and Special Board of Adjustment No. 1063 (the “Board”) upheld that dismissal. His union, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers (“BLE”), represented him in his disciplinary proceedings before NSRC, appealed his case to the Board, and presented his unsuccessful appeal at the ensuing Board hearing. Subsequently, Oilman, acting pro se, began this action in the United States District Court for the Western District of New York, alleging, inter alia: (1) that thе Board, NSRC, and BLE (collectively, “Appellees”) violated the Railway Labor Act (the “RLA”), 45 U.S.C. § 151 et seq., because they failed to give him notice of the Board proceedings, and (2) that BLE violated its duty of fair representation. The District Court (Siragusa, J.) dismissed Oilman’s claims on summary judgment, and Oilman, pro se, filed a timely appeal.
A motions panel of our Court affirmed the District Court’s dismissal of some of Oilman’s claims and appointed counsel to brief the others. See Ollman v. Special Bd. of Adjustment No. 1063, No. 05-1706-cv (2d Cir. May 22, 2006) (unpublished order). Now, through counsel, Oilman asks us to reverse the District Court’s grant of summary judgment to Appellees, to reinstate his duty of fair representation claim, and to remand this case to the District Court. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm the District Court’s decision.
*242 I. BACKGROUND
On January 4, 2000, NSRC sent a lettеr to Oilman, a locomotive engineer in its employ. The letter alleged that Oilman had engaged in off-duty conduct “unbecoming” an NSRC employee and that he had taken unjustified sick leave. Pursuant to the procedures established in the collective bargaining agreement between NSRC and BLE, NSRC summoned Oilman to an investigative hearing.
A. The Proceedings “on the Property” and before the Board
The formal investigation, which consisted of testimony by several witnesses and a statement on Oilman’s behalf, took place on February 15, 2000. According to the transcript of the hearing, Oilman attended, and two BLE local chairmen, Robert H. Linsey and M.R. Price, acted as his representatives. Oilman, was asked at the hearing whether he “desire[d] representation to assist [him],” and he replied, “From Bob Linsey and Mike Price.”
On February 25, 2000, NSRC dismissed Oilman. NSRC denied Oilman’s subsequent appeal. Then BLE, as provided for by the RLA, see 45 U.S.C. § 153 First (i), petitioned the local special board of adjustment to review Oilman’s dismissal. The record does not establish whether BLE advised Oilman that it had taken this action on his behalf. BLE recovered a letter from its archives, dated June 14, 2000 and addressed from BLE Vice General Chairman Larry W. Sykes to Oilman, stating the date, time, and location of the hearing before the Board (the “Sykes letter”). Oilman denies ever receiving such a letter and raises questions as to its genuineness and admissibility.
On July 26, 2000, the Board convened to reviеw Oilman’s appeal. Oilman denies attending the hearing, and there is no record of his presence. BLE representatives prepared a submission on his behalf and argued his case. On October 17, 2000, the Board determined that, because NSRC had carried its burden of proof, Oilman was not entitled to relief.
On December 4, 2000, BLE sent Oilman a certified letter advising him of the Board’s decision. The letter further stated that Oilman could seek judicial review of the proceedings but that none of the “limited circumstances” under which review was possible appeared to be present in his case. “Progression of any such appeal ... would be your responsibility,” the letter continued, and such an appeal would have to be filed in United States District Court “within two years of the date this award was rendered (October 17, 2000).... ” Oilman does not deny that he received this correspondence.
B. The District Court Proceedings
Acting pro se, Oilman filed a Verified Petition in the United States District Court for the Western District of New York on May 27, 2002. And on January 9, 2003, pursuant to the District Court’s direction, Oilman filed an amended complaint. The complaint alleged that the Board, NSRC, and BLE had failed to provide him with notice of the Board proceeding, and that such notice was required by the provision of the RLA, which directs that the board give “due notice of all hearings to the employee.” 45 U.S.C. § 153 First (j). It also alleged that BLE violated its duty of fair representation. 1
*243 Appellees filed motions to dismiss the amended complaint. The Board argued that, as an impartial adjudicatory tribunal, it was immune from suit. BLE claimed that it, also, was an improper party to the suit, and that Oilman’s fair representation claim was barred by the applicable statute of limitations. BLE and NSRC also argued, relying on materials attached to BLE’s motion, that Oilman had received whatever notice the RLA requires. These materials included a declaration by Linsey, a transcript of the February 15, 2000 proceeding, and a copy of the Sykes letter advising Oilman of the date, time, and place of thе Board hearing.
By order dated January 15, 2004, the District Court converted Appellees’ motions into motions for summary judgment, in light of the outside materials they incorporated. The Court also noted that the date on which Oilman was to have filed his response had passed. Accordingly, it ordered Oilman to file and serve his response by February 20, 2004. And because Oilman was acting
pro se,
it ordered the Clerk of Court to send Oilman both a copy of the Court’s order and an
Irby
warning,
2
see Irby v. N.Y. City Transit Auth.,
On March 26, 2004, 3 Oilman filed a memorandum of law in opposition to the motiоns to dismiss, in which he claimed that he had never received the Sykes letter, nor had anyone at his home address, and that “BLE had no permission either implied or direct to peruse [sic] any claim” on his behalf Oilman filed no documentary exhibits and no affidavits or other sworn statements.
On March 14, 2005, the District Court granted Appellees’ motions for summary judgment and dismissed the case.
The District Court first addressed, and accepted, the Board’s argument that it should not have been made a party to Oilman’s petition for review of its award. Based on our decision in
H.G. Skidmore v. Consolidated Rail Corp.,
Next the District Court addressed BLE’s arguments. The Court found that, like the Board, BLE is not a proper party to a petition for review of a Board decision. “[L]ogically,” Judge Siragusa explained, “the Union’s role at the adjustment board is as an advocate for the employee; thus, the Union is more analogous to an attor
*244
ney in a lower court proceeding, than to a party.”
Ollman v. Special Bd. of Adjustment No. 1063,
No. 02-CV-6469 CJS,
As for Oilman’s fair representation claim, the Court held that it was barred by a six-month statute of limitations. According to the exhibits attached to BLE’s motion, the Board denied Oilman’s claim on October 17, 2000; Linsey received a copy of the award on December 4, 2000 and informed Oilman of it by certified mail on December 5, 2000. Oilman did not contest these facts. Therefore, when Oilman filed suit in federal court оn September 12, 2002, he was well outside the limitations period.
Last, the District Court addressed NSRC’s argument regarding Oilman’s assertion that he was not given notice of the hearing before the Board. Unlike the Board and BLE, NSRC conceded that it was a proper party to this action, but it maintained that Oilman’s claim failed as a matter of law. Judge Siragusa agreed. He determined that when a union represents an employee before the Board, the RLA’s “due notice” provision is satisfied by notice from the union to the employee. Judge Siragusa further found, citing the Linsey declaration and the Sykes letter, that BLE advised Oilman of the Board proceeding, and that, in fact, Oilman “was present and participated in the hearing.” 4 Id. at *8.
C. The Appeal to Our Court
In April 2005, Oilman, still acting pro se, appealed the District Court’s decision to our Court. He requested appointment of counsel. We granted that request in part, and ordered appointed counsel to brief .the following questions:
(a) where an employee is represented by his union before a Special Board of Adjustment, whether the notice requirement of § 3, First (j) of the Railway Labor Act, 45 U.S.C. § 153, First (j), is satisfied by providing notice to that employee’s union, rather than providing actual notice to the employee himself,
(b) whether a union may be a proper party to a proceeding seeking review of the award of а Special Board of Adjustment pursuant to § 3, First (q) of the Railway Labor Act, 45 U.S.C. § 153, First (q), and
(c) related issues.
See Ollman v. Special Bd. of Adjustment No. 1063, No. 05-1706-cv (2d Cir. May 22, 2006) (unpublished order). But we denied the motion and dismissed Oilman’s appeal with respect to his duty of fair representation claim against BLE. Id.
Through counsel, Oilman now argues: (1) that the District Court erred in relieving Appellees of their statutory notice obligations (he urges that only notice from the Board directly to him suffices under the statute); (2) that the District Court incorrectly deemed the Board and BLE improper parties to the petition for review; *245 and (3) that, “in the interests of justice, and in light of the Union’s misleading communications” regarding how long Oilman had to seek review of the Board’s award, we shоuld reinstate his duty of fair representation claim and remand that claim to the District Court.
II. DISCUSSION
A. Standard of Review
We review a grant of summary judgment
de novo,
utilizing the same standard as the district court.
Parks Real Estate Purchasing Group v. St. Paul Fire & Marine Ins. Co.,
B. Governing Law: The Railway Labor Act
“The [RLA] was passed in 1926 to encourage collective bargaining by railroads and their employees in order to prevent ... wasteful strikes and interruptions of interstate commerce.”
Detroit & T.S.L.R. Co. v. United Transp. Union,
It soon became apparent, however, that many cаrriers were refusing to participate on local boards, and that those local boards that had been formed tended to become deadlocked.
Union Pac. R.R. Co. v. Price,
Despite the creation of the NRAB, and despite provisions of the Act that allowed for the creation of local adjudicatory *246 boards, the backlog problem persisted. In 1966, Congress amended the RLA again. It now authorizes a carrier and a representative of the employees of that carrier to agree to the formation of a “special adjustment board.” Id. § 153 Second. Like the NRAB, the board sits in panels consisting of one person designated by the carrier, one person designated by the representative of the emplоyees, and, in the event of a deadlock, one neutral panelist. Id. A special adjustment board may resolve disputes otherwise referable to the NRAB. Id.
The RLA governs how disputes proceed before an adjustment board. It states that “[pjarties may be heard either in person, by counsel, or by other representatives, as they may respectively elect,” and that “the several divisions of the Adjustment Board shall give due notice of all hearings to the employee or employees and the carrier or carriers involved in any disputes submitted to them.” Id. § 153 First (j). 6 An adjustment board’s award is binding on the parties and is enforceable in U.S. district court. Id. §§ 153 First (p), Second.
The RLA also рrovides for limited judicial review of NRAB and special adjustment board awards. Pursuant to 45 U.S.C. § 153 First (q), an aggrieved employee or other beneficiary of the order of the Board may file a petition for review in the district court for the district where the employee resides or where the principal operating office of the carrier is located. The district court has “jurisdiction to affirm the order of the division, or to set it aside, in whole or in part, or it may remand the proceedings to the division for such action as it may direct.” Id. 7 But the scope of district court review is limited: the findings and order of the Board are conclusive unless the court finds that the Board has failed to comply with the requirements of the RLA, that the Board has exceeded its jurisdiction, or that a member of the Board has engaged in fraud or corruption. Id. 8
C. Whether the Notice Provision of the RLA May Be Satisfied By Notice to an Employee’s Union, or Whether the Board Must Notify the Employee Directly
According to Oilman, the RLA’s notice requirement contemplates that the Board must notify an involved employee himself — and not solely the employee’s representative — of a pending Board hearing, i.e., the employee must receive notice directly from the Board. We disagree,
*247
and join the Fifth and Seventh Circuits in holding that if an employee is represented by his or her collective bargaining representative, notice by the Board to that representative satisfies the RLA.
See O’Neill v. Pub. Law Bd. No. 550,
We pause here to comment on the terminology that Oilman, in his brief, has employed. He claims that the issue beforе us is “[w]hether the district court erred in relieving defendants of their clear statutory notice requirements (to wit, the Special Board of Adjustment providing actual notice directly to the plaintiff).” (emphasis added). 9 This language, and the argument that the brief lays out, appear to conflate two concepts. The first concept involves whether, under the RLA, an employee has a right to be sent notice directly (what some cases have referred to as “personal notice” and others, confusingly, have called “actual notice”) or whether notice can instead be served on his representative, specifically, his union representative. That is the question that this case presents: whether service upon BLE, rather than direct service upon Oilman himself, satisfies the RLA’s notice requirement. For the reasons discussed below, we conclude that service upon BLE was sufficient.
The second conflated concept, which we need not address, is whether the “due notice” provision of the RLA requires that an employee (or the employee’s agent) actually receive notice, or whether in some circumstances constructive notice arising from actions of the Board or the employer undertaking to give notice (e.g., by mailing notice to the employee’s agent or the agent’s last known address) can suffice. Becausе we hold that service upon BLE, rather than upon Oilman himself, satisfied the RLA’s notice requirement, and because the record shows that BLE in fact received notice of the pending Board hearing, we do not address the latter issue.
In reaching today’s decision, we turn first to the text of the RLA.
See United States v. Nelson,
The
Burley
cases addressed whether a collective bargaining representative had authority either to settle accrued monetary claims of certain railroad employees or to submit those claims for determination by the NRAB — to the exclusion of the employee’s statutory rights. Disagreeing with the NRAB and the union, the
Burley I
Court answered ‘no’: “[The еmployee’s] rights, to share in the negotiations, to be heard before the Board,
to have notice,
and to bring the enforcement suit, would become rights more of shadow than of substance if the union, by coming to agreement with the carrier, could foreclose his claim altogether at the threshold of the statutory procedure.”
Burley I
also stated, however, that an employee “may exercise independently” his statutorily created rights or he may “authorize the union to exercise [those rights] in his behalf.”
Id.; see also
45 U.S.C. § 153 First (j) (stating that parties appearing before the NRAB “may be heard either in person, by counsel, or by other representatives, as they may respectively elect”). And
Burley II,
the decision issued on rehearing, made clear that in many situations, an employee’s collective agent will indeed have authority “either to settle finally the aggrieved individual employee’s claims or to represent him exclusively before the Adjustment Board.”
The
Burley
eases do not, of course, resolve the question befоre us today. Nonetheless, they are telling. The employees who brought suit in
Burley
claimed,
inter alia,
that the award of the NRAB ought to be vacated because “they were entitled to have notice individually of the proceedings before the Board and none was given.”
Burley I,
Drawing on Burley I and II, our prior reading of those decisions, and the persuasive decisions of two of our sister circuits, we hold that when an employee has authorized a union to take a grievance to an adjustment board and proceed before the board on the employee’s behalf, and when the employee has taken no steps to withdraw that authorization, the employee’s right to “due notice” of a pending board hearing is satisfied by timely notice to the employee’s union. 10
We emphasize that this holding does not leave an employee without recourse should the union fail to tell the employee of a pеnding board proceeding, or otherwise misrepresent the employee’s interests. In that event, the employee may seek relief from the union for breach of its duty of fair representation.
See English v. Burlington N. R.R. Co.,
D. Whether Summary Judgment Was Properly Granted to Appellees on Oilman’s Due Notice Claim
Ollman contends that even if notice through a duly authorized union satisfies the RLA’s notice requirement, the District Court erred in granting summary judgment in favor of Appellees because there was no evidence that BLE was authorized to represent him before the Board. Again, we disagree. At his on-the-property hearing, Oilman stated that he wished to be represented by two BLE officials. The record discloses no indications that Oilman withdrew that authority, and several indications that BLE believed that Oilman desired its continued representation (e.g., its referral of the dispute to the Board and its preparation of Oilman’s case for Board review). 11 Accordingly, we conclude that *250 Oilman’s due notice claim fails as a matter of law. 12 Summary judgment was properly granted.
E. Whether, under the RLA, the Board and BLE Are Proper Parties to a Petition for Review in District Court
Because the issue remains relevant to Oilman’s claim against BLE, we next address his claim that the District Court erred in deeming the Board and BLE improper pаrties to the petition for review. Like the District Court, we believe that our decision in
Skidmore v. Consolidated Rail Corp.,
A special board of adjustment is as much an impartial adjudicator as the NRAB — indeed, special boards resolve disputes otherwise referable to the NRAB and are its functional equivalent — so they, too, are not proper parties to a petition for review under the RLA.
See Merchants Despatch Transp. Corp. v. Sys. Fed. No. One,
As for BLE, its involvement in the dispute before the Board was as Oilman’s representative. Therefore, we agree with the District Court that BLE was properly made party to the petition for review only to the extent that Oilman asserted a claim that BLE breached its duty of fair representation owed to him. To the extent that *251 Oilman sought to use his petition for review to vacate the Board’s award because the Board proceeding failed to comply with the procedural requirements of the RLA, BLE was not a proper respondent. The appropriate respondent was NSRC, the party whose disciplinary actions Oilman contested before the Board.
F. Whether We Should Reinstate Oilman’s Duty of Fair Representation Claim and Vacate the District Court’s Dismissal of That Claim
While he is “aware that this Court has dismissed the hybrid/duty of fair representation [ ] claim,” Oilman asks us “to consider equitable reasons for reinstating [that] claim under the related issues prong” of our May 22, 2006 order. Specifically, he contends that BLE should have been equitably estopped from asserting a statute of limitations defense because it misrepresented to him the length of the limitations period: In its December 4, 2000 letter it stated that he had two years to file a challenge to the Board’s award, but said nothing about the six-month statute of limitations that governed claims against the union. Oilman claims that he relied on this letter to his detriment and has now been unfairly deprived of his opportunity to litigate his fair representation claim.
We recognize our authority to revisit the motions panel’s decision to affirm the District Court’s dismissal of Oilman’s duty of fair representation claim.
See Rezzonico v. H & R Block, Inc,
III. CONCLUSION
In sum, Oilman’s claim against NSRC fails because Oilman failed to show the existence of a genuine issue of material fact negating BLE’s authority to represent him before the Board, and it is undisputed that BLE received received “due notice” of the Board proceeding. Oilman’s claim against the Board fails because, although a special adjustment board’s awards may be reviewed by a district court, a board is not a proper party to a petition for review. As for BLE, it is a proper party to a petition for review under the RLA only insofar as the plaintiff claims it brеached its duty of fair representation. But in this case, a prior panel of our Court has already affirmed the dismissal of Oilman’s claim against BLE for breach of the duty of fan-representation. We decline to revisit that panel’s considered decision. For these reasons, the decision of the District Court is Affirmed.
Notes
. In the amended complaint, Oilman also alleged that NSRC failed to hold a disciplinary hearing within the contractual limits of the collective bargaining agreement, that NSRC violated the Family and Medical Leave Act, 29 U.S.C. § 2601 et seq., and the Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. § 12101 et seq., and that NSRC and BLE conspired to violate his *243 constitutional right to due process. These claims are no longer before us. See Ollman v. Special Bd. of Adjustment No. 1063, No. 05-1706-cv (2d Cir. May 22, 2006) (unpublished order).
. The Irby warning (titled "Important Notice to Pro Se Litigants”) infоrmed Oilman that to survive Appellees’ motions for summary judgment, he "MUST submit opposing papers in the form of one or more affidavits (or affirmations) made upon the personal knowledge of the person signing each affidavit,” and that "[e]ach affidavit must set forth admissible facts and must show that the person submitting that affidavit is competent to testify as to the matters stated therein
. When Oilman failed to meet the February 20 deadline, the District Court gave him an extension of time to file his response.
. The record does not support this finding. There is no evidence that Oilman attended the hearing before the Board. See infra, note 11.
. The NRAB is divided into four divisions. Each division hears claims from employees in particular job classifications. 45 U.S.C. § 153 First (h).
. Although this notice provision is housed in the "First” part of § 153, and therefore may appear to refer only to the NRAB, courts of appeals have uniformly applied it to the special adjustment boards provided for by § 153 Second. See,
e.g., English v. Burlington N. R.R. Co.,
. The district court also has jurisdiction to hear “hybrid” claims, such as contract claims against an employer and duty of fair representation claims against a union.
See Glover
v.
St. Louis-San Francisco Ry. Co.,
.Again, although this provision is located in § 153 First, it has been applied with equal force to proceedings before a special adjustment board.
Cole,
. In a prior order in this case, a panel of this Court used a similar locution. It requested that the parties brief, inter alia, the following: "whether the notice requirement of § 3, First (j) of the Railway Labor Act, 45 U.S.C. § 153, First (j), is satisfied by providing notice to that employee's union, rather than providing actual notice to the employee himself....” Ollman v. Special Bd. of Adjustment No. 1063, No. 05-1706-cv (2d Cir. May 22, 2006) (unpublished order).
. Cf. Pyzynski, 421 F.2d at 859-60 (2d Cir.1970) (reading the Burley decisions to hold "that a carrier may rely on the authority of a union to negotiate a conclusive settlement of an employee’s grievance if it can be shown either that the union acted upon the basis of actual authority ... or that the employee had notice or knowledge of the actions taken by the union in his behalf and took no steps to negate the union’s authority”).
. We do not adopt the District Court’s finding that Oilman attended the hearing before the Board, as that finding is not supported by the record. We also place no weight on the Sykes letter (purporting to inform Oilman of *250 Ihe pending board hearing), as its veracity and admissibility are controverted.
. Even if Oilman had not authorized BLE to represent him in his appeal to the Board, he could not prevail on these facts. Had BLE not taken Oilman's appeal to the Board, NSRC’s termination decision would have become final, because Oilman himself did not appeal the adverse decision. Accordingly, Oilman could have suffered no greater harm from the Board's failure to notify him of the appeal hearing than he would have suffered from his own failure to take the appeal himself. Without authorization, either express or imputed, to BLE to represent him, he would have had no appeal.
. It appears that at one time aggrieved employees or carriers routinely named the adjustment board as a respondent in petitions for review because without the board as a party, the district court had no way of obtaining a record for review and hence no means of reviewing an award. This problem was solved by the 1966 amendments to the RLA, which provide for full judicial review of the award and require the NRAB to transmit a full record of its proceedings to the district court when a petition for review has been filed.
See Radin v. United States,
. In this regard we note that BLE's letter contained neither false nor misleading information. It correctly advised Oilman that he had two years to file a suit challenging the Board's award. It did not address the separate issue of how long he had to sue BLE for breach of duties owed to him. But there was no reason to do so, as there had been no suggestion that he found fault with BLE's representation. Under the circumstances, we can see no reason why BLE should be equitably estopped from raising the untimeliness of Oilman's suit against it.