301 U.S. 142 (1937), 469, Washington, Virginia & Maryland Coach Co. v. National Labor Relations Board

• Docket Nº: No. 469
• Citation: 301 U.S. 142, 57 S.Ct. 648, 81 L.Ed. 965
• Party Name: Washington, Virginia & Maryland Coach Co. v. National Labor Relations Board
• Case Date: April 12, 1937
• Court: United States Supreme Court

Page 142

301 U.S. 142 (1937)

57 S.Ct. 648, 81 L.Ed. 965

Washington, Virginia & Maryland Coach Co.

v.

National Labor Relations Board

No. 469

United States Supreme Court

April 12, 1937

Argued February 10, 1937

CERTIORARI TO THE CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

Syllabus

1. A corporation engaged in the business of transporting passengers and express, for hire, between points in the District of Columbia and points in Virginia, held an instrumentality of interstate commerce and subject to provisions of the National Labor Relations Act against discharge of employees because of their membership in a union and their advocacy of collective bargaining. P. 146.

2. The National Labor Relations Act limits the jurisdiction of the National Labor Relations Board to instances within the commerce power, and its orders in excess of its jurisdiction may be challenged by any party aggrieved. P. 146.

3. Claims not made in the petition for certiorari are not open for decision. P. 146.

4. Findings of the National Labor Relations Board upon matters within its jurisdiction will not be reversed or modified unless clearly improper or unsupported by substantial evidence. P. 147.

5. An order of the National Labor Relations Board requiring a common carrier by motor to reinstate in its employment several drivers and garage mechanics found by the Board to have been discharged because of their membership in a union, and to make good the losses of pay due to their discharge, and directing the carrier to post notices of its intention to comply with the Board's order, held valid upon the authority of Labor Board v. Jones & Laughlin Steel Corp., ante p. 1. P. 147.

85 F.2d 990 affirmed.

Certiorari, 299 U.S. 533, to review a judgment for enforcement of an order of the National Labor Relations Board, entered by the court below upon petition of the Board under the National Labor Relations Act.

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ROBERTS, J., lead opinion

MR. JUSTICE ROBERTS delivered the opinion of the Court.

In this case, the petitioner, an operator of motor busses for the transportation of passengers and express for hire between points in the District of Columbia and in the state of Virginia, challenges the enforcement of the National Labor Relations Act against it as in contravention of the commerce clause and the Fifth and Seventh Amendments of the Constitution.

Pursuant to a written charge filed with the National Labor Relations Board by Local No. 1079 of the Amalgamated Association of Street, Electric Railway, and Motor Coach Employees of America, a labor organization, [57 S.Ct. 649] the Board issued a complaint alleging that the petitioner had discharged and refused to reinstate certain drivers and garage workmen because of their membership and activity in Local No. 1079, and that this constituted engaging in unfair labor practices affecting commerce within the intent of § 8, subsections (1) and (3), and § 2, subsections (6) and (7) of the National Labor Relations Act.¹ The petitioner appeared specially and filed a motion to dismiss the complaint on constitutional grounds, and, without waiving its objections to the

Page 145

Board's jurisdiction, filed an answer substantially admitting the allegations of the complaint with respect to the interstate character of its business, admitting the discharge and refusal to reinstate the employees mentioned in the complaint, and alleging that its action was motivated by the employees' inefficiency, and not affected by their membership or activity in the union. The Board overruled the objections to its jurisdiction, fully heard the case, received evidence offered by both parties, and, at the conclusion of the hearing, denied...