Strawser v. Reading Co.
Citation | 80 F. Supp. 455 |
Decision Date | 22 October 1948 |
Docket Number | Civ. A. No. 8206. |
Parties | STRAWSER v. READING CO. |
Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Pennsylvania |
Maurice Abrams, of Philadelphia, Pa., for plaintiff.
Frederick H. Knight, Miles W. Kirkpatrick and Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, all of Philadelphia, Pa., for defendant.
This is an equitable action brought by a former employee of defendant, The Reading Company. The substance of the allegations in the complaint is that plaintiff, Mary Strawser, was laid off by defendant in violation of the terms of a collective bargaining agreement applicable to her and entered into between the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen and the defendant. Plaintiff seeks restoration to her rightful position on defendant's seniority list and recompense for her loss of wages. Defendant has filed a motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction. The complaint alleges that petitioner and defendant are both citizens of Pennsylvania but that jurisdiction of this suit is conferred by 28 U.S.C.A. § 41(8),1 which provides that:
Plaintiff argues that the Railway Labor Act of 1934, 45 U.S.C.A. § 151 et seq., is a law "regulating commerce" and that this suit arises under it. Defendant, in effect, concedes the first part of this contention but disputes the second.
The question at issue in the instant case has been raised not infrequently in the lower federal courts. Thus, Burke v. Union Pacific Railroad Co., 10 Cir., 129 F.2d 844, involved an action by a yard switchman against the railroad employer for breach of contract as evidenced in rules and regulations agreed to by the Brotherhood and the carrier. The Circuit Court affirmed a dismissal of the complaint for lack of jurisdiction. Similarly, in Shipley v. Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad Co., D.C., 70 F.Supp. 870, 878, where railroad employees sued to recover extra compensation under a collective bargaining agreement, the Court said:
Although there are some decisions to the contrary, Primakow v. Railway Express Agency, D.C., 57 F.Supp. 933; Illinois Cent. R. Co. v. Moore, 5 Cir., 112 F.2d 959, reversed on other grounds, 312 U.S. 630, 61 S.Ct. 754, 85 L.Ed. 1089, these would seem to be a minority view. Cf Randolph v. Missouri-Kansas-Texas R Co., D.C., 68 F.Supp. 1007, affirmed 8 Cir., 164 F.2d 4; Southern Railway Co. v. Order of Railway Conductors of America, D.C., 63 F.Supp. 306; Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Co. v. Slocum, D.C., 56 F.Supp. 634; Barnhart v. Western Maryland R. Co., 4 Cir., 128 F.2d 709; Swartz v. South Buffalo R. Co., D.C., 44 F.Supp. 447.
The Supreme Court dealt with the applicability of 28 U.S.C.A. § 41(8) in an analogous situation in American Federation of Labor v. Watson, 327 U.S. 582, 66 S.Ct. 761, 765, 90 L.Ed. 873, where the Court said:
The Tunstall case 323 U.S. 210, 65 S.Ct. 237, cited in that opinion decided that an equitable suit to compel a union bargaining representative to represent the petitioner without discrimination because of race...
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Starke v. New York, Chicago & St. Louis R. Co.
...denied 317 U.S. 671, 63 S.Ct. 75, 87 L.Ed. 538; Shipley et al. v. Pittsburgh & L. E. R. Co., 70 F.Supp. 870, and Strawser v. Reading Co., D.C., 80 F.Supp. 455. In the latter category are three decisions, all decided November 22, 1943, Switchmen's Union of North America et al. v. National Me......
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Gunkel v. Garvey
...under any Act of Congress regulating commerce or protecting trade and commerce against restraints and monopolies'. (Strawser v. Reading Company, 80 F.Supp. 455 [D.C.Pa.1948]; Bohannon v. Reading Company, 168 F.Supp. 662 Those cases cited earlier for the proposition that the duty of railway ......
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Air Line Dispatchers Ass'n v. CALIFORNIA EASTERN AIR.
...not confer jurisdiction upon the Federal Court. Barnhart v. Western Maryland Ry. Co., 4 Cir., 1942, 128 F.2d 709; Strawser v. Reading Co., D.C.E.D. Pa.1948, 80 F.Supp. 455; Hayes v. Union Pac. R. Co., 9 Cir., 1950, 184 F. 2d 337, affirming D.C.N.D.Cal.1950, 88 F.Supp. 108; Starke v. New Yor......
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Duplisea v. Maine Central Railroad
...R. Co., 7 Cir., 1951, 191 F.2d 73, 78-79, certiorari denied, 1951, 342 U.S. 897, 72 S.Ct. 231, 96 L.Ed. 672; Strawser v. Reading Co., D.C.E.D.Pa. 1948, 80 F.Supp. 455. A judgment will be entered affirming the order of the District ...