Ex parte Richards

117 F. 658, 1902 U.S. App. LEXIS 5125
U.S. Circuit Court for the District of West Virginia·Decided August 13, 1902·Published·Cited by 5 cases

Opinion

KEELER, District Judge.

On the 27th day of June, 1902, Collins Colliery Company filed its bill of complaint against Joe Crisco, Paul Dufaith, “Mother” Jones, Mike Miller, who were alleged to be citizens and residents of the state of Pennsylvania, W. B. Wilson, a citizen and resident of the state of Indiana, Chris. Evans, a citizen and resident of the state of Ohio, and certain Other defendants, whose citizenship and places of residence were alleged to be unknown to the' plaintiff. The plaintiff is a corporation created and organized under the laws of the state of West Virginia, and in its bill alleged these facts, and that its place of business is in the county of Fayette, in the state of West Virginia, where it is engaged in the operation of a coal plant giving employment to about 600 laborers; that it produces from 1,200 to 1,500 tons of coal per day, for which it finds market and sale in many different states in the Union; that it has expended the sum of $250,000 in the construction and erection of its plant; that it is operating under lease a tract of coal land containing about 1,300 acres, for which it must pay a minimum royalty of $10,000 per year, whether it operates the coal tract or not, and that if it should not operate this coal plant the payment of the royalty would' be an actual loss to it; that it is under contract to furnish large quantities of coal for the markets aforesaid; that it is operating its plant to about one-half of its capacity, and using the output therefrom in the fulfillment of its said contracts, and that it will be able to fulfill the said contracts and properly conduct its business if not hindered or delayed in the operation thereof; that about one-half of the miners engaged for it, and other employés, are working under contract in the matter of mining and producing coal, and are receiving wages with which they are satisfied and in all respects contented; that the remainder of the miners and employés engaged as such at its mines are willing to work and continue their employment, but that they have been and are partially idle because they have been intimidated and put in fear on account of the actions of the defendants and their confederates; that there has been and is in existence what is called a “miners’ strike” in the region in which the complainant’s mine is situated, and that in pursuance of the said strike and its promotion there is a confederation, combination, and association of men organized to that end, and that the defendants named in the bill are among the men so organized, and for that reason came into the state of West Virginia, and have gone among the coal miners and other employés engaged in mining coal and laboring in the plaintiff’s plant for the sole purpose of inducing and persuading the plaintiff’s miners and other laborers to quit work, and have indulged in threats, menaces, inflammatory speeches, and demonstrations; and complainant avers that, if this course is pursued, its employés who are now at work will be intimidated and coerced from mining coal and the performance of all other labor; that the said actions of the defendants have already been the means of causing a large number of complainant’s employés to quit mining and laboring for the complainant; that the defendants named in the bill are insolvent, as complainant is advised and alleges, upon information; and that therefore they will be wholly unable to respond in damages for the injuries thus done, [660] and complainant will be irreparably damaged, which injury and damage, it is alleged, will largely exceed in amount the sum of $2,000. Complainant further alleges that there are others associated with the named defendants, whose names are unknown to the complainant, and are confederating with the said defendants for the purpose of aiding and promoting the acts aforesaid, and for the purpose of intimidating and coercing the employés of the complainant to cease their work; that the defendants are leaders in different lábor organizations, and are engaged in the business and occupation of creating agitations and disturbances among the coal miners of this and other states; and that they are now engaged in the work of endeavoring to organize the employés in the employment of the complainant. Complainant further alleges that under the leadership, control, and management of the defendants there are large bodies of men who congregate near complainant’s coal plant; that they have been in close proximity to complainant’s employés, making inflammatory speeches, and that they have threatened to march with said bodies of men through and over the premises of the complainant, which, it is alleged, is for the purpose of intimidating, scaring, and coercing the men who are now engaged at work for complainant, and for the purpose of causing them to stop their employment; and complainant avers that unless the defendants and such agents and confederates are inhibited from further conducting such meetings, and from marching through complainant’s premises, the defendants, through this agency and by this meang, will intimidate complainant’s said coal miners and other employés, and thereby indirectly coerce them to quit their labor and employment, to the great loss and damage of complainant; that the defendants and their said agents and confederates have made violent threats against the employés of complainant, should they continue in their employment; that such threats have been to the effect that complainant’s employés would be “killed and riddled with bullets” if they continued in complainant’s employment; and that by such threats and the other means aforesaid the defendants, or some of them, their associates and confederates, are about to cause complainant’s employés to cease work. The bill contained a prayer for an injunction restraining and inhibiting the defendants hereinbefore named, their confederates, and all others associated with them, from in any manner interfering with complainant’s employés by the use of threats, personal violence, or intimidation, or by any means whatsoever calculated to terrorize or alarm the employés of the complainant, etc.

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Ex parte Richards, 117 F. 658, 1902 U.S. App. LEXIS 5125 (circtdwv 1902).

117 F. 658 (Ex parte Richards) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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