S. Buchsbaum & Co. v. Beman

• Decision Date: 15 April 1936
• Docket Number: No. 15029.,15029.
• Citation: 14 F. Supp. 444
• Parties: S. BUCHSBAUM & CO. v. BEMAN, Regional Director, et al.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of Illinois

14 F. Supp. 444

S. BUCHSBAUM & CO. v. BEMAN, Regional Director, et al.

No. 15029.

District Court, N. D. Illinois, E. D.

April 15, 1936.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Theodore Stone and Charles C. Kirk, both of Chicago, Ill., for plaintiff.

G. L. Patterson, of Detroit, Mich., Robert B. Watts, of New York City, and Charles Fahy, of Washington, D. C., for defendants.

WILKERSON, District Judge.

Plaintiff has moved for a temporary injunction to restrain the defendants from attempting to enforce against it the provisions of the National Labor Relations Act (July 5, 1935, c. 372, §§ 1-16, 49 Stat. 449-457 29 U.S.C.A. §§ 151-166).

The averments of the bill in substance are: Plaintiff is a manufacturer of jewelry in Chicago. Some of the raw material used by it is brought in from other states and some of its product is sold to customers in other states. None of its employees connected with this labor controversy are engaged in either the purchase of raw material, the sale of manufactured products or the transportation of either in interstate commerce. During August, 1935, plaintiff became involved in a controversy with some of its employees, who insisted on the closed shop and the acceptance of Jewelry Workers Local No. 4 as the sole representative of the employees for collective bargaining. A strike was the result. A charge was filed with the Regional Director of the Labor Board against the plaintiff by representatives of the union, and without notice the Board issued a complaint against plaintiff which it is required by the rules of the Board to answer. The hearing set for February 5, 1936, has been postponed pending the hearing on the application for an injunction.

The complaint charges:

In August, 1935, plaintiff discharged some of its employees and refused to recognize or rehire them because they had joined Jewelry Workers Local No. 4 for the purpose of collective bargaining. The refusal to rehire such employees was discrimination and an unfair labor practice within the meaning of section 8, subsec. 3, of the National Labor Relations Act, 29 U.S.C.A. § 158 (3). Plaintiff's production workers constitute a unit appropriate for collective bargaining and prior to August 6, 1935, a majority of those employees had designated Union No. 4 as their representative for the purpose of collective bargaining, and since that time the union has been the representative of the employees for that purpose. In August, 1935, a request was made through the union that plaintiff bargain collectively with respect to wages and working conditions. This the plaintiff refused to do, and such refusal was the direct cause of the strike, and constitutes an unfair labor practice within the meaning of section 8, subsec. 5, of the act, 29 U.S.C.A. § 158 (5). The acts of the plaintiff are in violation of the rights guaranteed to them by section 7 of the act (29 U.S.C.A. § 157), and constitute an unfair labor practice within the meaning of section 8, subsec. 1, of the act (29 U.S.C.A. § 158 (1). The acts described occur in commerce and burden and obstruct such commerce and lead to labor disputes burdening and obstructing such commerce and the free flow thereof.

The bill further avers:

Plaintiff was served with a copy of the complaint and notified that a hearing would be had in accordance with the rules of the Board, and that plaintiff had a right to file its answer to the complaint in accordance with such rules. Unless the complaint is answered, its averments are deemed by the Board to be admitted. The Board has threatened and intends to intrude into plaintiff's factory, examine its books and interview its employees. The Board threatens and intends to compel by subpœna, the attendance of employees as witnesses and the production of books. The Board has threatened and intends to restore discharged employees to work and to award them back pay, and put plaintiff to great expense in preparing for attending hearings and in paying fees and mileage of witnesses. Plaintiff will be injured by taking employees away from their work to testify at the hearing. If plaintiff resists an examination of its books, it is subject to a fine of $5,000, and its officers are subject to imprisonment for a year. Plaintiff cannot prevent the attendance at the hearing of employees as witnesses who will be required to divulge confidential information as to its business. The pendency of the complaint and the continuance of the suit will bring odium upon the plaintiff and disrupt its harmonious relations with its employees. The publicity attending the proceedings will injure the business of plaintiff irreparably, even if no attempt is made to enforce the orders of the Board.

It is charged that the act is wholly unconstitutional because it violates (a) the Fifth Amendment, as to due process of law; (b) sections 1 and 2 of article 3 by denying to the courts the right to determine issues upon their own records and the facts elicited before them; (c) section 8 of article 1 and the Ninth and Tenth Amendments; (d) the Seventh Amendment, as to jury trial.

As a ground for invoking injunctive relief, it is asserted that as the act is wholly void, plaintiff cannot seek relief in accordance with its provisions; that to attempt to get relief under the provisions of the act would involve plaintiff in a multiplicity of suits; that the court review provided in the act with reference to orders of the Board is incomplete and inefficient.

In considering this motion, it is to be observed at the outset that an inferior court is asked to interfere by injunction with the administrative acts of an agency of the federal government. In such a case it is of the greatest importance that the rules by which the court is limited in granting relief of the kind here sought should be strictly observed.

Even if there were no doubt as to the unconstitutionality of a statute, that of itself is not a sufficient ground for equitable relief against its enforcement. It must be made to appear that plaintiff is suffering from or being threatened with some injury which cannot be adequately remedied unless an injunction is granted. Boise Artesian Water Co. v. Boise City, 213 U.S. 276, 285, 29 S.Ct. 426, 53 L.Ed. 796; Truax v. Raich, 239 U.S. 33, 38, 36 S.Ct. 7, 60 L. Ed. 131, L.R.A.1916D, 545, Ann.Cas. 1917B, 283; Frothingham v. Mellon, 262 U.S. 447, 488, 43 S.Ct. 597, 67 L.Ed. 1078; Terrace v. Thompson, 263 U.S. 197, 214, 44 S.Ct. 15, 68 L.Ed. 255; Spielman Motor Sales Co. v. Dodge, 295 U.S. 89, 55 S.Ct. 678, 79 L.Ed. 1322.

Every possible presumption is in favor of the validity of the statute, and this continues until the contrary is shown beyond a rational doubt. In no doubtful case should a legislative act be pronounced contrary to the Constitution. One branch of the government cannot encroach upon the domain of another without danger. The safety of our institutions depends upon a strict observance of this salutary rule. Sinking Fund Cases, 99 U.S. 700, 718, 25 L.Ed. 496; Nicol v. Ames, 173 U.S. 509, 514, 19 S.Ct. 522, 43 L.Ed. 786; Fairbank v. United States, 181 U.S. 283, 287, 288, 21 S.Ct. 648, 45 L.Ed. 862.

In passing upon questions of constitutionality, the court will first ascertain whether a construction of the statute is fairly possible by which the question may be avoided. As between two possible interpretations of a statute, by one of which it would be unconstitutional and by the other valid, it is the plain duty of the court to adopt the one which will save the act. Panama Railway Co. v. Johnson, 264 U.S. 375, 390, 44 S.Ct. 391, 68 L.Ed. 748; Blodgett v. Holden, 275 U.S. 142, 148, 48 S.Ct. 105, 72 L.Ed. 206; Lucas v. Alexander, 279 U.S. 573, 577, 49 S.Ct. 426, 73 L.Ed. 851, 61 A.L.R. 906.

The remedy provided by the statute must be invoked unless that remedy is inadequate or the statute is wholly void. Resort to equity may not be had merely because of an anticipation of improper or invalid action in administration. Continental Baking Co. v. Woodring, 286 U.S. 352, 369, 52 S.Ct. 595, 76 L.Ed. 1155, 81 A.L.R. 1402, and cases cited.

The main objections to this statute on constitutional grounds will be simplified when the statute and the bill of complaint are examined in the light of the elementary rules just stated.

1. Interstate and Intrastate Commerce.

The power of the Board is expressly limited by the statute, section 10 (a), 29 U.S.C.A. § 160 (a), to preventing unfair labor practices affecting commerce. The term "affecting commerce" is defined, section 2 (7), 29 U.S.C.A. § 152 (7), to mean "in commerce, or burdening or obstructing commerce or the free flow of commerce, or having led or tending to lead to a labor dispute burdening or obstructing commerce or the free flow of commerce."

The term "commerce" is defined, section 2 (6), 29 U.S.C.A. § 152 (6), to mean "trade, traffic, commerce, transportation, or communication among the several States, or between the District of Columbia or any Territory of the United States and any State or other Territory, or between any foreign country and any State, Territory, or the District of Columbia, or within the District of Columbia or any Territory, or between points in the same State, but through any other State or any Territory or the District of Columbia or any foreign country."

The act in this respect differs essentially from the National Industrial Recovery Act (48 Stat. 195), of which it was said (Schechter Poultry Corporation v. United States, 295 U.S. 495, 542, 55 S.Ct. 837, 848, 79 L.Ed. 1570, 97 A.L.R. 947) "although the validity of the codes (apart from the question of delegation) rests upon the commerce clause of the Constitution, section 3 (a) of the act (15 U.S.C.A. § 703 (a) is not in terms limited to interstate and foreign commerce."

Sections 7 and 8 (2) of the National Labor Relations Act, 29 U.S.C.A. §§ 157, 158 (2), are substantially the same as these which were under consideration in Texas & N. O. R. Co. v. Brotherhood of Ry. &...