Bradley v. Dewey

• Decision Date: 01 March 1954
• Citation: 119 F. Supp. 5
• Parties: BRADLEY et al. v. DEWEY et al.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of New York

119 F. Supp. 5

BRADLEY et al. v. DEWEY et al.

United States District Court, S. D. New York.

March 1, 1954.

Brenner, Hannan & Murphy, New York City, for plaintiffs, Thomas Sheehan, Arthur Kamell, of New York City, of counsel.

Whitman Knapp, New York City, for defendant Lawrence E. Walsh, David Simon, New York City, of counsel.

Whitney North Seymour, Sp. Asst. Atty. Gen., for defendants Thomas E. Dewey, Merlyn S. Pitzele and Whitney N. Seymour, George G. Gallantz and Howard V. Ross, Sp. Asst. Attys. Gen., of counsel.

McGOHEY, District Judge.

In this action for injunctive relief only, the plaintiffs move for a temporary injunction to restrain the defendants from, among other acts, making available to the NLRB, directly or otherwise, information they have gathered relating to alleged acts of violence and intimidation during a recent representation election conducted by the NLRB to determine the collective bargaining agent of waterfront workers in the Port of New York.

The defendants move under Fed.Rules Civ.Proc. rule 12(b), 28 U.S.C.A., to dismiss the complaint on the grounds that this court lacks jurisdiction of the subject matter and that the complaint fails to state a claim on which relief can be granted.

The material facts as alleged in the complaint, which on the motions to dismiss must be taken as true, and in the plaintiffs' affidavits in support of their motion are in summary as follows.

The named defendants hold respectively the following public offices: Governor of New York, Chairman of the New York State Mediation Board, Executive Director of the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor, and Special Assistant Attorney General of New York.

The election in question was held on Dec. 22 and 23, 1953. The tally by NLRB showed that the plaintiffs' Association received 9,060 votes, its rival 7,568, and 4,399 were challenged as invalid. Objections were filed by the rival union and are now under consideration by NLRB which is about to hold hearings thereon. The objections charge, among other things, that members of the plaintiffs' Association and their supporters, by acts of violence and intimidation, prevented a fair election.

On Dec. 27, 1953, Governor Dewey requested the defendants Pitzele and Walsh and the Police Commissioner of the City of New York to submit reports "on the events and atmosphere surrounding the election." Reports were subsequently furnished.

On Jan. 17, 1954, the defendant Seymour was appointed Special Assistant Attorney General to appear for the State of New York at the NLRB hearings in order to offer the reports and presumably any other available data, and to urge that the election be set aside.

At various times before and since the election Governor Dewey has publicly characterized the plaintiffs' Association as a "mob" and "gangster dominated," and has used his prestige as Governor to aid the rival union for the purpose of preventing certification of the plaintiffs' Association as bargaining agent of the waterfront workers.

It is claimed that the defendants' conduct, unless restrained, will constitute an "unconstitutional interference" with the normal processes of NLRB and with the "rights and lawful expectancies" of the plaintiffs' Association which together with the individual plaintiffs and ...