National Labor Relations Board v. J. Freezer & Son

• Citation: 95 F.2d 840
• Decision Date: 05 April 1938
• Docket Number: No. 4239.,4239.
• Parties: NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD v. J. FREEZER & SON, Inc.
• Court: United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (4th Circuit)

95 F.2d 840 (1938)

NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD v. J. FREEZER & SON, Inc.

No. 4239.

Circuit Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit.

April 5, 1938.

Before PARKER and SOPER, Circuit Judges, and CHESNUT, District Judge.

Charles Fahy, Gen. Counsel, National Labor Relations Board, of Washington, D. C. (Robert B. Watts, Associate Gen. Counsel, Thomas I. Emerson, and Lawrence Hunt, all of Washington, D. C., Attys., National Labor Relations Board, on the brief), for petitioner.

Albert F. Beasley and Wilson L. Townsend, both of Washington, D. C. (John B. Spiers, of East Radford, Va., and Brashears, Townsend, O'Brien & Beasley, of Washington, D. C., on the brief), for respondent.

PER CURIAM.

This is a petition for a decree enforcing an order of the National Labor Relations Board. Three questions are presented for our consideration: (1) Whether the respondent is subject to the provisions of the National Labor Relations Act, 29 U.S.C.A. § 151 et seq.; (2) whether there was evidence justifying the finding of the Board that respondent had discriminated against three employees on account of union membership and activities; and (3) whether the portion of the order is justified which directs respondent to withdraw recognition from an employees' association and disestablish it as a bargaining agency. We think that all of these questions must be answered in the affirmative.

On the first question, it appears that respondent is a corporation engaged in the manufacture of men's shirts at Radford, Va. It employs about 450 persons; and its sales in 1933 were $663,086.57; in 1934, $1,267,791.99; and in 1935, $847,164.00. About 80 per cent. of the raw materials which it uses come from states other than Virginia and practically all of its products are shipped outside the state and are sold through its New York office. We may say of it, as we did of the Jeffery-De Witt Insulator Company, that "both with respect to its purchase of raw materials and its sale of finished products, it is engaged in interstate commerce, and its share of this commerce would be substantially burdened and interfered with by strikes among its employees, even though these employees are engaged in manufacturing." It is therefore subject to the provisions of the act. Jeffery-De Witt Insulator Co. v. National Labor Relations Board, 4 Cir., 91 F.2d 134, 112 A.L.R. 948; National Labor Relations Board v. Friedmann-Harry Marks Clothing Co., 301 U.S. 58, 57 S.Ct. 645, 630, 81 L.Ed. 921, 108 A.L.R. 1352.

On the second question, the evidence is conflicting as to whether the three employees, Daphene, Sylvia, and Grace Ridpath were discharged because of their union affiliations and activities; but the Board has so found and the finding has substantial support in the evidence. Without reviewing this in detail, it is sufficient to say that there was evidence tending to show that respondent's officials were hostile to the establishment of a union among its employees, that employees were threatened with loss of jobs if they should join the union and if they should not join the employees' association, that these three girls were the first to join the union and that they, with two other employees, were selected for questioning about union membership, that the reasons given for their discharge...