Gould, Inc. v. Fuchs

486 F. Supp. 164, 104 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2421, 1980 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10412
CourtDistrict Court, D. Connecticut
DecidedMarch 7, 1980
DocketCiv. No. H-79-724
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 486 F. Supp. 164 (Gould, Inc. v. Fuchs) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Connecticut primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Gould, Inc. v. Fuchs, 486 F. Supp. 164, 104 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2421, 1980 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10412 (D. Conn. 1980).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OF DECISION

BLUMENFELD, Senior District Judge.

The National Labor Relations Board (the Board), acting through its Regional Director,1 scheduled a representation election at the plaintiff’s Plantsville, Connecticut plant for December 13, 1979, in order to permit the plaintiff’s 375 employees to determine whether they wished to be represented by the Communications Workers of America, AFL-CIO (CWA). On December 5, 1979, eight days before the scheduled election, a CWA representative filed the following unfair labor practice charge with the Board’s sub-regional office in Hartford: 2

“On or about the week ending November 17, 1979, Gould Inc. notified their employees that an open house and Christmas party, complete with Santa Claus and gifts for the children, would be held •at the company. The date of this planned party is Saturday, December 9, 1979, foui (4) days prior to an N.L.R.B. election on December 13,1979. The Communications Workers of America believes this to be a blatant violation of the Act on the part of the company in an attempt to discourage activity and support on behalf of the union. Employees with service ranging up to 15 years have verified to the union that this is the first time the company has ever hosted this kind of an affair. We respectfully request that the scheduled election on December 13, 1979, be postponed and an investigation of these charges be undertaken by the Board.”

On the following day, the Board’s Regional Office in Boston informed the plaintiff by telegram that the December 13 election was to be postponed indefinitely pending investigation of the December 5 charge.

Shortly thereafter, the plaintiff brought this action, seeking a preliminary injunction or a writ of mandamus to set aside and vacate the postponement, to require the Board to conduct an election within seven days of this court’s order, and to have the Board either certify the election results or [166]*166impound the ballots pending resolution of the December 5 charge. The plaintiff-employer’s attempt to circumvent the Board’s “blocking charge practice” is based upon its allegation that:

“the postponing of representation elections and issuance of telegrams such as the one [sent to the plaintiff] is a clerical function, and that the election was postponed before the Regional Director, or anyone acting on his behalf, even attempted to investigate the relevant facts or to determine if the nature of the charge was such as would warrant postponing the election.”

Cplt. ¶ 9.3 The defendants, in response, have filed a motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(1), and for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted, id. 12(b)(6). Since the Board’s motion to dismiss, if granted, would preclude consideration of the plaintiff’s pending motion for a preliminary injunction, this court will decide the Rule 12 motion first.

Subject Matter Jurisdiction in Representation Proceedings

Section 10 of the National Labor Relations Act (the Act), 29 U.S.C. § 160 (1976), carefully limits the jurisdiction of the federal courts to review Board actions, prescribing resort to the courts of appeals only to review “final order[s]” of the agency. Id. § 10(f), 29 U.S.C. § 160(f). The Supreme Court long ago held that Board decisions in representation cases were not “final orders” within the meaning of § 10(f) and ordinarily could be challenged only in a proceeding to enforce or review an order restraining an unfair labor practice. AFL v. NLRB, 308 U.S. 401, 409, 60 S.Ct. 300, 304, 84 L.Ed. 347 (1940). Accord, Boire v. Greyhound Corp., 376 U.S. 473, 476-77, 84 S.Ct. 894, 896-897, 11 L.Ed.2d 849 (1964). Thus, for example, where the Board selects an inappropriate bargaining unit in which to conduct an election, the employer cannot contest that determination before the election is held; his remedy, instead, is a refusal to bargain if the union wins, coupled with a challenge to the unit determination if the union subsequently files an unfair labor practice charge. See id. at 477, 84 S.Ct. at 897.

In the face of the legislative mandate that district courts should keep their distance in representation proceedings, the courts have nonetheless carved out a few narrow exceptions to the general rule. Some cases have held that the district courts possess jurisdiction to vindicate the constitutional rights of a complaining party in a representation dispute. Fay v. Douds, 172 F.2d 720, 723 (2d Cir. 1949); see Milk & Ice Cream Drivers’ Union, Local 98 v. McCulloch, 113 U.S.App.D.C. 156, 158, 306 F.2d 763, 765 (D.C. Cir. 1962). Another case affirmed a district court’s assertion of jurisdiction where there existed “public questions particularly high in the scale of our national interest because of their international complexion.” McCulloch v. Sociedad Nacional de Marineros de Honduras, 372 U.S. 10, 17, 83 S.Ct. 671, 675, 9 L.Ed.2d 547 (1963). Finally, Leedom v. Kyne, 358 U.S. 184, 79 S.Ct. 180, 3 L.Ed.2d 210 (1958), held that the Board’s determination of a bargaining unit was properly set aside by a district court because the Board had acted “in excess of its delegated powers and contrary to a specific prohibition in the Act.” Id. at 188, 79 S.Ct. at 184. The plaintiff relies on this last exception in the instant case.

The Kyne Exception

The Board could hardly have violated the express terms of the Act more flagrantly than it did in Kyne. Section 9(b)(1) provides that “the Board shall not . decide that any unit is appropriate for [collective bargaining] purposes if such unit includes both professional employees and [167]*167employees who are not professional employees unless a majority of such professional employees vote for inclusion in such unit.” 29 U.S.C. § 159(b)(1) (1976) (emphasis added). After refusing to take a vote among certain professional employees to determine whether a majority of them would agree, the Board in Kyne included both professional and nonprofessional employees in the bargaining unit that it found appropriate. Following an election, the professional employees brought suit in a district court to set aside the unit determination.

The Supreme Court rejected the Board’s argument that the Act “foreclosed review of its action by an original suit in a District Court,” 358 U.S. at 188, 79 S.Ct. at 183, noting that this case presented a different question than had been answered in AFL v. NLRB, supra — one expressly left open in the earlier case. “ ‘[T]he question [posed by AFL v.

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486 F. Supp. 164, 104 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2421, 1980 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10412, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gould-inc-v-fuchs-ctd-1980.