Gentry v. UNITED SLATE, TILE & CONST. ROOFERS, ETC.

319 N.E.2d 159
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedNovember 25, 1974
Docket1-174A12
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 319 N.E.2d 159 (Gentry v. UNITED SLATE, TILE & CONST. ROOFERS, ETC.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Gentry v. UNITED SLATE, TILE & CONST. ROOFERS, ETC., 319 N.E.2d 159 (Ind. Ct. App. 1974).

Opinion

319 N.E.2d 159 (1974)

Glen Dale GENTRY and Mary Gentry, d/b/a Gentry Industrial Service, Appellant (Plaintiff below),
v.
UNITED SLATE, TILE and Construction Roofers, Damp and Waterproof Workers Association, Anderson Local #250 and James Harles, Business Manager, Anderson, Indiana, and James Harles, Appellees (Defendants below), and Archie R. Hunnicutt and William R. Hunnicutt, D/B/a Ralph Hunnicutt & Sons, Defendant below.

No. 1-174A12.

Court of Appeals of Indiana, First District.

November 25, 1974.

*160 Douglas Norris, Cambridge City, for appellant.

Edward J. Fillenwarth, Indianapolis, for appellees.

LYBROOK, Judge.

Plaintiff-appellant Gentry Industrial Services (Gentry) appeals from the granting of the motion to dismiss of defendant-appellees United Slate, Tile and Construction Roofers, Damp and Waterproof Workers Association, Anderson Local #250 (United) and James Harles. The single issue for our review is whether the trial court erred in sustaining appellees' motion.

The record reveals that defendant Ralph Hunnicutt & Sons (Hunnicutt) was the general contractor of a project for the construction of an addition to the Chrysler Corporation Forge Division Plant at New Castle. Gentry, a partnership whose primary business consisted of the application of built-up roof surfaces to large or commercial buildings, was awarded a subcontract by Hunnicutt to apply the roofing to the Chrysler plant addition. A problem arose, however, when it was discovered *161 that Gentry employed non-union workers. Harles, business manager for United, the representative union in Henry County, informed Hunnicutt that if the roofing subcontract work was awarded to and performed by Gentry, the union would picket the Chrysler plant. As a result, Hunnicutt cancelled Gentry's subcontract, and Gentry was not allowed to perform the work.

Seeking redress, Gentry initiated two proceedings by filing (1) an unfair labor practice charge against United in the 25th Regional Office of the National Labor Relations Board at Indianapolis and (2) a complaint against Hunnicutt for specific performance and injunctive relief in the Henry Circuit Court. The record does not reveal what action, if any, was taken by the NLRB with respect to Gentry's charge.

Gentry's complaint against Hunnicutt was later amended to add United and Harles as defendants. The amended complaint was framed in two legal paragraphs, the first seeking damages from Hunnicutt and the second from United and Harles. The theory of Gentry's claim for damages against Harles and United was that the threat to picket made by Harles to Hunnicutt induced Hunnicutt to cease doing business with Gentry thereby constituting an unfair labor practice under § 8(b)(4) of the National Labor Relations Act, as amended,[1] and entitling Gentry to recover damages pursuant to § 303 of the National Labor Management Relations Act of 1947, as amended.[2]

§ 8(b)(4), supra, provides:

"It shall be an unfair labor practice for a labor organization or its agents ... (i) to engage in, or to induce or encourage any individual employed by any person engaged in commerce or in an industry affecting commerce to engage in, a strike or a refusal in the course of his employment to use, manufacture, process, transport, or otherwise handle or work on any goods, articles, materials, or commodities or to perform any services; or (ii) to threaten, coerce, or restrain any person engaged in commerce or in an industry affecting commerce, where in either case an object thereof is —
(A) forcing or requiring any employer or self-employed person to join any labor or employer organization or to enter into any agreement which is prohibited by subsection (e) of this section;
(B) forcing or requiring any person to cease using, selling, handling, transporting, or otherwise dealing in the products of any other producer, processor, or manufacturer, or to cease doing business with any other person, or forcing or requiring any other employer to recognize or bargain with a labor organization as the representative of his employees unless such labor organization has been certified as the representative of such employees under the provisions of section 159 of this title: Provided, That nothing contained in this clause (B) shall be construed to make unlawful, where not otherwise unlawful, any primary strike or primary picketing;"

§ 303, supra, provides:

(a) It shall be unlawful, for the purpose of this section only, in an industry or activity affecting commerce, for any labor organization to engage in any activity or conduct defined as an unfair labor practice in section 258(b)(4) of this title.
(b) Whoever shall be injured in his business or property by reason or [sic] any violation of subsection (a) of this section may sue therefor in any district court of the United States subject to the limitations and provisions of section 185 of this title without respect to the amount in controversy, or in any other court having jurisdiction of the parties, and shall recover the damages by him sustained and the cost of the suit."

*162 Harles and United filed a joint answer to Gentry's amended complaint wherein they sought dismissal of the action against them on two grounds: (1) failure of Gentry to state a claim upon which relief can be granted and (2) lack of subject matter jurisdiction. After hearing arguments, the trial court sustained appellees' motion to dismiss. Sixty days later the trial court entered judgment dismissing the action as to the appellees and Gentry filed his motion to correct errors.

Since the trial court's order of dismissal does not reveal which of the two grounds advanced by appellees was the basis of the dismissal, we shall address both.

Appellees maintain on appeal, as they did below, that Gentry's amended complaint was unable to withstand a motion to dismiss based upon Ind. Rules of Procedure, Trial Rule 12(B)(6) for two reasons: (1) it did not contain an allegation that the parties concerned were engaged in an industry or activity affecting commerce, and (2) it did not specifically identify the sections of the United States Code under which Gentry was proceeding. For reasons stated, we do not find either argument persuasive.

Under the language of § 303, supra, it is clear that to be successful, Gentry must show that its claim involves "an industry or activity affecting commerce." However, contrary to appellees' contention, it is not necessary that Gentry's complaint contain a specific allegation to that effect to be sufficient to withstand appellees' TR. 12(B)(6) motion.

The guidelines for dismissing a complaint on a TR. 12(B)(6) motion were announced by our Supreme Court in State v. Rankin (1973), Ind., 294 N.E.2d 604:

"This Court has noted that in a typical 12(B)(6) situation, a complaint is not subject to dismissal unless it appears to a certainty that the plaintiff would not be entitled to relief under any set of facts. Sacks v. American Fletcher National Bank and Trust Co. (1972), Ind., 279 N.E.2d 807. See also Gladis v. Melloh (1971), Ind. App., 273 N.E.2d 767; Wyant v.

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Related

Soltes v. School City of East Chicago
344 N.E.2d 865 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1976)
Gentry v. United Slate, Tile and Construction Roofers
319 N.E.2d 159 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1974)

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Bluebook (online)
319 N.E.2d 159, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gentry-v-united-slate-tile-const-roofers-etc-indctapp-1974.