Dow Chemical Co. v. District 50 Allied & Technical Workers

315 F. Supp. 427, 74 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2813, 1970 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10930
CourtDistrict Court, D. Colorado
DecidedJuly 14, 1970
DocketCiv. A. C-2404
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 315 F. Supp. 427 (Dow Chemical Co. v. District 50 Allied & Technical Workers) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Colorado primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Dow Chemical Co. v. District 50 Allied & Technical Workers, 315 F. Supp. 427, 74 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2813, 1970 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10930 (D. Colo. 1970).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

ARRAJ, Chief Judge.

This matter is before us on motion of plaintiff (denominated respondent in the caption of the Petition for Removal) to remand the instant action to the District Court for the County of Jefferson, State of Colorado.

Plaintiff, which operates an atomic energy facility at Rocky Flats in Jefferson County, Colorado, brought this action in Jefferson County District Court seeking to enjoin defendants from engaging in mass picketing at the plant and from engaging in acts of violence, coercion and intimidation. The complaint alleges that defendants, who had begun picketing Dow Chemical on June 28, 1970, had committed numerous unlawful acts, among them interfering with access to the plant by mass picketing along Dow’s private access road, by blocking the road with cars, by scattering tacks along the road and by jostling and otherwise intimidating persons crossing the picket line.

On June 30, 1970, the Colorado court issued a temporary restraining order enjoining defendants from mass picketing and from engaging in violence, intimidation and coercion. The order also limited the permissible number of pickets, though it did not entirely prohibit such picketing. The Colorado court also set July 6, 1970 as the date for hearing the motion for a preliminary injunction. On July 3 defendants filed a petition and bond for removal of the action to this Court claiming we have original jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1337. The question presented is whether this is an appropriate case for removal.

Under 28 U.S.C. § 1441 a civil action brought in a state court may be removed if the district courts of the United States have original jurisdiction of the action. Defendants refer us to 28 U.S. C. § 1337 which confers upon the dis[429]*429trict courts original jurisdiction of any civil action “arising under any Act of Congress regulating commerce. * * *” Defendants claim that plaintiff’s cause of action arises under the National Labor Relations Act, as amended by the Labor Management Relations Act, 29 U.S.C. §§ 141-168, both acts regulating commerce, and that therefore this Court has original jurisdiction under § 1441.

Whether plaintiff’s action could be said to arise under the NLRA is essentially a question of federal preemption. As we understand the argument of defendants’ counsel, he urges upon us the following proposition: The alleged conduct described in the complaint arguably constitutes an unfair labor practice under the NLRA. The traditional test of preemption in labor cases is that a state may not regulate an activity which is arguably protected or prohibited by the NLRA. San Diego Building Trades Council v. Garmon, 359 U.S. 236, 79 S.Ct. 773, 3 L.Ed.2d 775 (1959). This being the case, the form of plaintiff’s allegations should not control. Defendants contend that we should grant removal because defendants’ conduct is arguably prohibited by, and therefore arises under, an act regulating commerce.

We have two difficulties with this ingenious argument. The first is that, granting counsel is correct, we would still not have jurisdiction to hear this case. Exclusive jurisdiction to adjudicate unfair labor practices is vested in the National Labor Relations Board. 29 U.S.C. § 160; San Diego Building Trades Council v. Garmon, 359 U.S. 236, 79 S.Ct. 773, 3 L.Ed.2d 775 (1959); Garner v. Teamsters etc. Union, 346 U.S. 485, 74 S.Ct. 161, 98 L.Ed. 228 (1953). There are exceptions to this rule. For example, we have jurisdiction over controversies based on collective bargaining agreements, 29 U.S.C. § 185, and secondary boycotts, 29 U.S.C. § 187; however, plaintiff’s complaint appears to be based solely on allegations of violence and related conduct. It is true that it seeks to enjoin acts against suppliers as well as against Dow Chemical employees. Nevertheless, the complaint clearly shows that Dow is not concerned in this proceeding with a secondary boycott, as such. The suppliers are simply one group allegedly intimidated by defendants’ conduct. Since the claim is not based upon a secondary boycott or upon any other NLRA matter over which we have jurisdiction, it appears clear to us that this is not the proper forum.

However, our finding that we lack jurisdiction does not dispose of the matter before us. The issue here is whether we should remand this controversy to the Colorado court. It would be unresponsive and unhelpful for us simply to declare that we may not hear this case, thus leaving to plaintiff’s guesswork the proper forum for pursuing its complaint. We therefore return to defendants’ argument, which we recast in the following form: The fact that defendants’ conduct arguably constitutes an unfair labor practice deprives the Colorado courts of jurisdiction to enjoin that conduct and therefore this case should not be remanded to the Jefferson County District Court.

Defendants refer us to three federal court decisions which adopted the “arguably constitutes” theory and either granted removal, Francis H. Leggett & Co. v. O’Rourke, 237 F.Supp. 561 (S.D.N.Y. 1964), or declined to remand and dismissed the action, S. & H. Grossinger, Inc. v. Hotel & Restaurant Employees & Bartenders, 272 F.Supp. 25 (S.D.N.Y. 1967); S. E. Overton Co. v. International Brotherhood of Teamsters, etc., 115 F.Supp. 764 (W.D.Mich.1953). The allegations in all three cases, so far as we can determine, were based upon interference with the conduct of a business, not upon threatened violence or breaches of the peace. Both Grossinger and Overton distinguished those cases involving threatened violence, which the states have a special interest in controlling.

[430]*430The fact that plaintiff seeks to enjoin acts of violence distinguishes this case from those upon which defendants rely. The Supreme Court has declared on several occasions that Congress did not intend, by enacting the National Labor Relations Act and the Labor Management Relations Act, to prevent the states from vindicating their strong interest in the maintenance of domestic peace. In the case of San Diego Building Trades Council v. Garmon, 359 U.S. 236, 79 S.Ct. 773, 3 L.Ed.2d 775 (1959), the Court stated:

“It is true that we have allowed the States to grant compensation for the consequences, as defined by the traditional law of torts, of conduct marked by violence and imminent threats to the public order. [International Union] United Automobile Workers v.

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315 F. Supp. 427, 74 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2813, 1970 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10930, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dow-chemical-co-v-district-50-allied-technical-workers-cod-1970.