Greene v. Wilson, Civ. A. No. 3561-54.

Decision Date29 March 1957
Docket NumberCiv. A. No. 3561-54.
PartiesWilliam L. GREENE, Plaintiff, v. Charles E. WILSON et al., Defendants.
CourtU.S. District Court — District of Columbia

Carl Berueffy, Washington, D. C., for plaintiff.

Dept. of Justice, Asst. Atty. Gen., Geo. Cochran Doub, and Donald B. Mac Guineas, Beatrice M. Rosenhain, Leo A. Rover, U. S. Atty., Oliver Gasch, Principal Asst. U. S. Atty., Frank Strickler, and Catherine B. Kelly, Asst. U. S. Attys., Washington, D. C., for defendants.

McGUIRE, District Judge.

The plaintiff seeks a mandatory injunction and declaratory judgment directed towards the nullification of a communication dated April 17, 1953 by the then Assistant Secretary of the Navy to his employer, an engineering and research corporation with its principle place of business in Maryland, to the effect that his access to Navy classified security information was inconsistent with the best interests of national security.

First of all, it may be said: "It is a prerequisite to the maintenance of any action for specific relief that the plaintiff claim an invasion of his legal rights, either past or threatened." Larson v. Domestic & Foreign Corp., 337 U. S. 682, at page 693, 69 S.Ct. 1457, 1463, 93 L.Ed. 1628. In other words, he must allege conduct that is illegal and "If he does not, he has not stated a cause of action. This is true whether the conduct complained of is sovereign or individual." Id.

The factual picture briefly is this: The plaintiff, as had been indicated, was employed by the corporation referred to above and has been for some years. He was its General Manager and Vice President in charge of engineering, and its main business presumably was Defense Department contracts which involved classified matter. As a condition to and as an integral part of such contracts, his employer agreed early in June of 1951 to, among other things, cooperate with the Government in reference to security controls and the Government, in turn, agreed upon written application by the contractor to specifically designate such of its employees who might have access to matter classified top secret or secret, or "in the case of contracts for furnishing or constructing aircraft, aircraft parts or aeronautical accessories, to have access to the plans or specifications or to the work under construction, or to participate in the contract trials, whether such aeronautical contracts are classified or not."

There was also published on or about the same time an Industrial Security Manual, so-called, designed specifically for the safeguarding of classified matter which the contractor agreed to adhere to in relation to security controls, and which Manual defined responsibility with regard to classified material on Government defense contracts. Paragraph 4(e) of the Manual stated:

"The contractor shall exclude (this does not imply the dismissal or separation of any employee) from any part of its plants, factories or sites at which work for any military department is being performed, any person or persons whom the Secretary of the military department concerned or his duly authorized representative, in the interest of
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3 cases
  • Greene v. Elroy
    • United States
    • U.S. Supreme Court
    • June 29, 1959
    ...cross-filed for dismissal of the complaint or summary judgment. The District Court granted the Government's motion for summary judgment, 150 F.Supp. 958, and the Court of Appeals affirmed that disposition, 103 U.S.App.D.C. 87, 254 F.2d 944, The Court of Appeals recognized that petitioner ha......
  • Greene v. McElroy
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — District of Columbia Circuit
    • April 17, 1958
  • Greene v. United States
    • United States
    • U.S. Supreme Court
    • February 17, 1964
    ...appropriate injunctive relief and a declaration that the revocation was unlawful and void. The District Court denied relief, Greene v. Wilson, 150 F.Supp. 958, and the Court of Appeals affirmed, 103 U.S.App.D.C. 87, 254 F.2d 944. Then, as noted above, on June 29, 1959, this Court, reversing......

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