Evans v. International Typographical Union

76 F. Supp. 881, 21 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2375, 1948 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2921
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Indiana
DecidedFebruary 25, 1948
DocketCivil Action 1587
StatusPublished
Cited by39 cases

This text of 76 F. Supp. 881 (Evans v. International Typographical Union) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Indiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Evans v. International Typographical Union, 76 F. Supp. 881, 21 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2375, 1948 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2921 (S.D. Ind. 1948).

Opinion

SWYGERT, District Judge.

This is an action brought pursuant to Section 10(j) of the National Labor Relations Act, as amended by the Labor Management Relations Act, 1947, § 101, 29 U.S. C.A. § 160(j). This section' provides substantially that the National Labor Relations Board, after issuance of a complaint under the provisions of Section 10(b) of the Act charging the commission of an unfair labor practice, may petition a federal district court “for appropriate temporary relief or restraining order.” A petition has been filed pursuant to this statutory authority and upon the issuance of a rule to show cause why the relief prayed for in the petition should not be granted, the respondents have moved to dismiss this action on two grounds. It is their first contention that Section 10(j) of the Act is unconstitutional because it is repugnant to Article III, § 1 and § 2, and the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. Their second contention is that the National Labor Relations Board itself, rather than' its Regional Director or the General Counsel, is the only party which may properly petition for the relief sought, and that the Board has unlawfully attempted to, delegate to the Regional Directors its powers under Section 10(j).

The authority of courts of equity to grant interlocutory relief pending a final adjudication is of ancient origin and- needs •no support of cited authority. The application for such interlocutory relief need not be confined to the tribunal to which the final determination' of the principal issues is committed. Looney v. Eastern Texas R. R. Co., 1918, 247 U.S. 214, 38 S.Ct. 460, 62 L.Ed. 1084; Erhardt v. Boaro, 1885, 113 U.S. 537, 5 S.Ct. 565, 28 L.Ed. 1116; Eastern Texas Ry. Co. v. Railroad Commission of Texas, D.C., 1917, 242 F. 300; Northern Pac. Ry. Co. v. Soderberg, C.C., 1898, 86 F. 49. There is thus no novelty in the provision for the separation of the adjudication of the principal action by one tribunal under Section 10(b) and the proceeding before a different tribunal to obtain interlocutory relief under Section 10(j). However, the question remains whether the ancillary action to obtain interlocutory injunctive relief as authorized under Section 10(j) is a “case” or “controversy” in' the Constitutional sense.

In construing the limitation of the judicial power of constitutional courts to “cases” and “controversies,” the Supreme Court in Aetna Life Ins. Co. v. Haworth, 300 U.S. 227, at pages 240, 241, 57 S.Ct. 461, 464, 81 L.Ed. 617, 108 A.L.R. 1000, said:.

“A ‘controversy’ in this sense must be one that is appropriate for judicial determination. Osborn v. United States Bank, 9 Wheat. 738, 819, 6 L.Ed. 204. A justi-ciable controversy is thus distinguished from a difference or dispute of a hypothetical or abstract character; from one that is academic or moot. United States v. Alaska S. S. Co., 253 U.S. 113, 116, 40 S.Ct. 448, 449, 64 L.Ed. 808. The controversy must be definite and concrete, touching the legal relations of parties having adverse legal interests. South Spring Gold Co. v. Amador Gold Co., 145 U.S. 300, 301, 12 S.Ct. 921, 36 L.Ed. 712; Fairchild v. Hughes, 258 U.S. 126, 129, 42 S.Ct. 274, 275, 66 L.Ed. 499; Massachusetts v. Mellon, 262 U.S. 447, 487, 488, 43 S.Ct. 597, 67 L.Ed. 1078. It must be a real and substantial controvérsy admitting of specific relief through a decree of a conclusive character, as distinguished from an opinion advising what the law would be upon a hypothetical state of facts.”

In applying this statement to the case at bar, the question is narrowed to whether an interlocutory decree granted in a proceeding under Section 10(j) is “of a con- *885 elusive character.” That is, is it final and conclusive when the court that acts on the application for such interlocutory equitable relief does not have jurisdiction to hear and adjudicate the issues of the principal or parent action, which issues are presented to and must be decided by an administrative agency ?

While the jurisdiction of the district court under Section 10(j) is confined to the granting of interlocutory relief, its decision is final and conclusive as to the application for such relief, except as that decision may be reviewed on appeal. This finality, of course, does not preclude the revision or modification of its decree by the district court pending the determination of the principal controversy by the Board. Milk Wagon Drivers Union v. Meadowmoor Co., 1941, 312 U.S. 287, 298, 61 S.Ct. 552, 85 L.Ed. 836, 132 A.L.R. 1200.

When the decision of a district court in a proceeding under Section 10(j) for interlocutory relief is viewed in its relation' to the primary proceeding under Section 10(b), it is neither final nor conclusive as to the issues there presented. It is not final because the standard of inquiry in Section 10(j) is the probability of the existence of facts, while the decision of the Board in a Section 10(b) proceeding must rest upon a full hearing and a measure of proof and inquiry extending beyond the standard of probability. The decision of the district court is not res judicata upon the final hearing of an administrative complaint, because in an application for interlocutory and temporary relief under Section 10(j), the court does not undertake to pass upon the merits of the principal controversy. That lies within the province of the Board. The district court determines only whether temporary relief or a restraining order should be granted during the pendency of an adjudication of the issues by the Board. However, these elements of inconclusiveness and lack of finality are inherent in any decision granting interlocutory equitable relief pendente lite. And these factors do not render the proceeding for such relief any the less a “case” or “controversy” within the meaning of the Constitution, because they exist, not as infirmities of the interlocutory judgment, but only in relation to the principal proceeding.

The respondents also contend that because the proceeding under Section 10(j) is previous in time to final administrative action, the jurisdiction of the district court involves an exercise of legislative or administrative functions of a non-judicial character. In the brief filed in support of their motion, this contention is stated thus: “If the court intervened before the administrative process was completed it (1) would be exercising non-judicial functions and (2) it could not render a final judgment, since there would obviously remain something more to be done by the administrative agency.” The petitioner correctly points out in his brief that whether the court’s functions under Section 10(j) are judicial, rather than legislative or administrative, does not depend upon whether they are auxiliary to the legislative or administrative process, but whether they are essentially judicial in character.

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Bluebook (online)
76 F. Supp. 881, 21 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2375, 1948 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2921, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/evans-v-international-typographical-union-insd-1948.