National Labor Relations Board v. General Motors Corp.

Decision Date18 January 1950
Docket NumberNo. 123,Docket 21469.,123
Citation179 F.2d 221
PartiesNATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD v. GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATION.
CourtU.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit

A. Norman Somers, Asst. Gen. Counsel NLRB, Washington, D. C., David P. Findling, Associate General Counsel, Marcel Mallet-Prevost, Louis Schwartz, Washington, D. C., for petitioner.

H. M. Hogan, Detroit, Mich., Harry S. Benjamin, Jr., Detroit, Mich., for respondent.

Before L. HAND, SWAN and CLARK, Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM.

This is a petition by the Board to enforce its order of February 18, 1949, requiring the respondent to bargain collectively with a union about any "group insurance" for its employees. The respondent had refused to deal with the Union about this matter, asserting that it was not within the statute; and on January 22, 1948, the Board filed a complaint against it, based upon a charge filed by the Union. During the month of February a trial examiner began to take evidence, and on March 12, 1948, the respondent began negotiations with the Union, which by May 25 resulted in an agreement that, if the courts should finally decide that the respondent was obliged so to bargain, the parties would set up a joint committee to study the proposals of each and to report back. The examiner had already made his intermediate report on May 3, but it was not until February 18, 1949, that the Board issued the order here in question. On April 25, 1949, the Supreme Court denied a petition for certiorari1 to review a decision of the Seventh Circuit, 170 F.2d 247, which had held that the statute covered "group insurance"; and on October 10, 1949, the Union asked the respondent to establish the committee provided for in the agreement of May 25, 1948. The respondent agreed to do so on October 17, 1949, and on October 21, 1949, the parties met and began to formulate a plan for "group insurance". The respondent asserts that these negotiations make unnecessary and improper the issuance of any enforcement order.

The defendant in an action for an injunction never as matter of right becomes entitled to a dismissal because after process served, he discontinues the conduct of which the plaintiff complains. It is for the court to say whether the plaintiff shall be compelled to accept his assurance that he will not resume what he should not have begun. After all, no more is involved than whether what the law already condemned, the court shall forbid; and the fact that its judgment adds to existing sanctions that of punishment for contempt, is not a circumstance to which a court will ordinarily lend a friendly ear. The defendant on his part can invoke no other interest except an escape from whatever stigma attaches to a finding against him, and to ...

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31 cases
  • Nat'l Labor Relations Bd. v. Constellium Rolled Prods. Ravenswood, LLC
    • United States
    • United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (4th Circuit)
    • 5 Agosto 2022
    ...to enforce a Board order due to a settlement that had occurred before the Board had issued that order, see NLRB v. Gen. Motors Corp. , 179 F.2d 221, 222 (2d Cir. 1950) (per curiam) ("[I]t is well settled in Labor Board cases that the Board need not dismiss the proceeding and that the courts......
  • County of Los Angeles v. Davis
    • United States
    • United States Supreme Court
    • 27 Marzo 1979
    ...case has become moot means that the defendant is entitled to a dismissal as a matter of right, Labor Board [National Labor Relations Board] v. General Motors Corp., [2 Cir.,] 179 F.2d 221 (1950). The courts have rightly refused to grant defendants such a powerful weapon against public law "......
  • Allied Chemical Alkali Workers of America, Local Union No v. Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company, Chemical Division National Labor Relations Board v. Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company, Chemical Division 8212 32, 70 8212 39
    • United States
    • United States Supreme Court
    • 8 Diciembre 1971
    ...1 See e.g., National Labor Relations Board v. Black-Clawson Co., 210 F.2d 523 (CA6 1954) (dictum); National Labor Relations Board v. General Motors Corp., 179 F.2d 221 (CA2 1950); W. W. Cross & Co. v. National Labor Relations Board, 174 F.2d 875 (CA1 1949); Inland Steel Co. v. National Labo......
  • Meltzer v. Board of Public Instruction of Orange County, Fla.
    • United States
    • United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (5th Circuit)
    • 11 Marzo 1977
    ...to say that the case has become moot means that the defendant is entitled to a dismissal as a matter of right, N. L. R. B. v. General Motors Corp., 179 F.2d 221 (1950, C.A.2d). The courts have rightly refused to grant defendants such a powerful weapon against public law The case may neverth......
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