Dassinger v. Steinberg

6 Misc. 2d 89, 160 N.Y.S.2d 1000, 39 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2649, 1957 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 3325
CourtNew York Supreme Court
DecidedMarch 15, 1957
StatusPublished

This text of 6 Misc. 2d 89 (Dassinger v. Steinberg) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New York Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Dassinger v. Steinberg, 6 Misc. 2d 89, 160 N.Y.S.2d 1000, 39 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2649, 1957 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 3325 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 1957).

Opinion

Irving H. Saypol, J.

Plaintiff moves for a temporary injunction and defendants, appearing specially, cross-move (1) to vacate the service of the summons and to dismiss the complaint as to the defendant Bookbinders & Machine Operators Union No. 25, A. F. L., for lack of jurisdiction of the person and (2) for dismissal of the complaint upon the ground that the court lacks jurisdiction over the subject matter by reason of its pre-emption by Federal statutes. The special appearance has been withdrawn as well as the application to vacate the service [90]*90of the summons. The affidavits submitted in support of the second branch of the cross motion are considered also in opposition to plaintiff’s motion. The motion and the second branch of the cross motion are consolidated.

The action is representative in behalf of employees of American Looseleaf Corp., for a permanent injunction to restrain the defendant union from negotiating and bargaining on their behalf.

The union had petitioned the National Labor Relations Board (hereafter referred to as “ NLRB ”) for an election and certification. By its order of January 19, 1955 it was found that the employer is engaged in commerce, and a question affecting commerce exists concerning representation, within the meaning of the act; that the production and maintenance employees at the employer’s New York plant constitute a unit appropriate for collective bargaining, and an election was ordered. On February 21, 1955, the board certified the union as the exclusive agent for the unit. The employer refused to bargain and the union filed an unfair labor practice charge which resulted in an order on August 1, 1955, to cease and desist from refusing to bargain or interfering with the union’s efforts to bargain, and directing the employer to bargain upon request and to post the order at its plant and to notify the board of what steps were taken in compliance. Upon the employer’s continued refusal, the union petitioned for an enforcement order which issued (231 F. 2d 664 [C. A. 2d]) on May 3, 1956. The union, believing that the employer was acting in a manner to break down negotiations, concluded to accept terms which were reached on November 26, 1956, to be reduced to a formal agreement which the union prepared and forwarded to the employer on November 28, 1956.

On November 28, or 29 of 1956, this plaintiff filed a petition with the NLRB for decertification of the union as agent. On December 14, 1956, the regional director dismissed the decertification petition, stating that no further proceedings were warranted since “no question concerning representation exists ’ ’ because there was currently pending before the board “ in enforcement ” an order directing the company to bargain collectively with the union. On January 16, 1957, on appeal, the board at Washington, D. C., reviewed and determined that the outstanding court decree enforcing the board order directing the employer to bargain had not been complied with and rendered the petition untimely, and the petition for review was dismissed. On January 15, 1957, the employer’s petition to [91]*91the Court of Appeals, Second Circuit, to be relieved from its enforcement order of May 3, 1956 was denied.

The essential proposition now, conceding the force of the doctrine of Federal pre-emption between employer and certified union, as appears from the record, appears to be whether the prospective employee-beneficiaries who have disavowed their champion, the union, may be subjected to those conditions and incidents of labor which may result from negotiations and contract by the union ostensibly on their behalf.

It would seem clear that any intervention by this court would not only be an intrusion into interstate commerce and an interference with the NLRB which has exclusive jurisdiction, but also with its order and the order of enforcement of the United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit.

Plaintiff relies on those cases in which the State court assumed jurisdiction, although a question existed affecting commerce but in which the ground for the action is the claimed commission of a common-law tort. If this defendant union proceeds under its certification and bargains with the employer, having secured a board order and an enforcement order, it cannot be said to be committing a common-law tort in any manner whatever. Thus in Park & Tilford Import Corp. v. International Brotherhood of Teamsters (27 Cal. 2d 599), the union was enjoined from engaging in concerted activities in connection with unlawful demands made upon the employer but not from organizational picketing conducted after the national board had dismissed proceedings before it and exhausted its jurisdiction. There was no matter then pending before it. In Arkansas Oak Flooring Co. v. United Mine Workers of America (227 La. 1109), jurisdiction in the State court was recognized where the employer was engaged in interstate commerce because the union had failed to comply with statutory provisions requiring the filing of noncommunist oaths and thus the NLRB had no jurisdiction to entertain a petition which would involve that union whether it was filed by the employer or the union. It was there stated, however, that the NLRB is the only administrative agency with authority to certify where commerce is affected and it is the only agency which has the machinery for conducting the elections that determine such questions. Delaware, Lackawanna & Western R. R. Co. v. Slocum (299 N. Y. 496) was an action in which the railroad sought a judgment declaring under which of two collective bargaining agreements “ crew callers ” fell. It was held that the plaintiff sought no rights under the Railway Labor Act (U. S. Code, tit. 45, §§ 151 et seq.) so as to require [92]*92action by the Railroad Adjustment Board, but sought the construction of contracts. It was determined as fact that the dispute was between two unions rather than with the railroad; also that no proceeding was pending before the board and there was no attempt to stay or to oust the board. Here the dispute is between the union and the employees.

Plaintiff argues that if the present status is not preserved, he and his co-employees who no longer wish the union to represent them, will be prejudiced unless there is a stay pending a proper disposition made of matters pending in another forum. While as a general proposition that may be true, it does not meet the issue of exclusive and pre-empted jurisdiction. If protection by preservation of the status quo cannot be secured in the Federal jurisdiction, it must be deemed to arise from error in plaintiff’s position. In any case what amounts to review of acts under Federal jurisdiction may not be had here. Restraint to maintain the status quo is permissible if jurisdiction obtains. Thus in Isbrandtsen Co. v. Schelero (118 F. Supp. 579), it was held that the courts of the State of New York may function in cases of injurious conduct in areas comprehending labor relations which the NLRB is without express power to prevent and are, therefore, governable by the State or are entirely ungoverned. The injurious conduct there involved no unfair labor practice cognizable under the National Labor Relations Act and it was for that reason that the matter was remanded to the State court for disposition. In Wolchok v. Kovenetsky (274 App. Div. 282), it was held that the question of who may negotiate a future contract

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Related

Weber v. Anheuser-Busch, Inc.
348 U.S. 468 (Supreme Court, 1955)
Arkansas Oak Flooring Co. v. United Mine Workers of America
81 So. 2d 413 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1955)
Isbrandtsen Co. v. Schelero
118 F. Supp. 579 (E.D. New York, 1954)
Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad v. Slocum
87 N.E.2d 532 (New York Court of Appeals, 1949)
Wolchok v. Kovenetsky
274 A.D. 282 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1948)

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Bluebook (online)
6 Misc. 2d 89, 160 N.Y.S.2d 1000, 39 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2649, 1957 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 3325, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dassinger-v-steinberg-nysupct-1957.