In re York Corp.

55 Pa. D. & C. 337, 1945 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 209
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, York County
DecidedDecember 19, 1945
StatusPublished

This text of 55 Pa. D. & C. 337 (In re York Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, York County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re York Corp., 55 Pa. D. & C. 337, 1945 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 209 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1945).

Opinion

Sherwood, P. J.,

This matter comes before the court on rule granted April 13, 1945, to show cause why the record should not be remanded to the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board for the purpose of taking additional testimony. The question involved may be stated as follows: Should a court remand a case to the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board for additional testimony, when the only evidence to be adduced is án order of another administrative agency issued after the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board has filed the transcript of its record in court upon judicial review of its final order, which judicial review is in accordance with section 9, clause (6) of the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Act of June 1, 1937, P. L. 1168?

[338]*338In the case of York Telephone and Telegraph Company’s Appeal, 59 York 113, in an opinion filed September 21,1945, this court held that there was no clash of jurisdiction and we concluded that until such time as the National Labor Relations Board assumed jurisdiction, the jurisdiction of the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board is not ousted. That case would be on all fours with the instant case except that (1) a certain petition for investigation and certification of bargaining representatives was filed with the National Labor Relations Board on or about November 18, 1944; (2) the regional director of the National Labor Relations Board, on January 20, 1945, ordered a hearing upon that petition and hearings were held; (3) the National Labor Relations Board, on April 9,1945, issued a decision and direction of election.

In determining whether a clash of jurisdiction has occurred which would oust the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board of its jurisdiction, consideration must be given to the status of the instant case before the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board when the various proceedings before the National Labor Relations Board occurred. When the petition was filed with the National Labor Relations Board on or about November 18,1944, the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board had issued its nisi decision and order sur exceptions and ordering an election of October 17,1944; and after the holding of the election had issued its nisi certification of November 10,1944, wherein International Union of Operating Engineers, Local No. 831, was certified as the collective bargaining representative of the 11 craft employes of the York Corporation and of other employes who shall properly belong to the craft unit and who should thereafter join or become employes of the union, in respect to rates of pay, wages, hours of employment or other conditions of employment. Between November 18, 1944, and January 20, 1945, when the National Labor Relations Board first took action by [339]*339ordering a hearing, the following proceedings with respect to the instant case had occurred: exceptions were filed by the Ice Machinery Independent Employes Association before the board and argument thereon was held on December 6, 1944; a decision and order of the board dismissing the exceptions to its nisi certification and making that order absolute and final was issued by the board on December 12, 1944; an appeal was allowed by this court on December 22, 1944; and the transcript of the record of the board was filed with the prothonotary of York County on January 5,1945.

The Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board in its answer, filed to the rule granted to show cause, avers that it has not been ousted of its jurisdiction either by the filing of a petition with the regional director of the National Labor Relations Board, or by the holding of hearings before a trial examiner, or by an order of said board indicating an election, and that the rule granted to show cause should be discharged.

The first reason assigned is, that the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Act does not authorize a remand by a court to the board for additional testimony concerning matters which have occurred since the hearing before the board. In National Labor Relations Board v. McLain Fire Brick Co., 128 F.(2d) 393, 394 (1942), it is stated (p. 394) :

“The events which occurred subsequently to the Board’s order and to which the respondent now points as evidencing a change of attitude in its labor policy are not relevant to prove that the Board’s order has thereby become anachronic. If valid when made, it continues to be the Board’s authentic exercise of its discretion.”

All judicial authority supports the board’s position that if the order of the board was lawful when made, subsequent events may not be considered upon judicial review.

[340]*340“The legal situation has to be viewed as of the time of the Board’s Decision; otherwise there is the danger, often spoken of, of making a merry-go-round of the Act”: National Labor Relations Board v. Condenser Corporation of America et al., 128 F.(2d) 67, 81 (1942).

A change of conditions after hearings before the labor board does not constitute a defense: New York State Labor Relations Board v. Jacobson, 35 N. Y. S. (2d) 157 (1942). The cases are all reviewed by the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department, in New York State Labor Relations Board v. Timen, 264 App. Div. 120, 35 N. Y. S. (2d) 449 (1942), where the court says (p. 451) :

“The federal courts in construing the National Labor Relations Act have consistently refused to recognize any change in circumstances after an order is made as either affecting the validity of the board’s order or justifying reopening of the proceeding. . . . Any other rule would deprive the orders of the board of finality and make possible endless reopening of the proceedings.”

The board’s first contention must, therefore, be sustained. The second and third reasons assigned are that the ease should not be remanded to the board, because the proposed evidence is of such character that its consideration by the board would not produce a different result, and that the evidence which will be offered if the case is remanded to the board is not material to any issue in the case. This objection is urged because the Ice Machinery Independent Employees Association seeks a remand solely to offer in evidence before the board a decision and direction of election of the National Labor Relations Board, which was issued on April 9,1945, more than three months after the board, in response to the command of the Court of Common Pleas of York County, Pa., had filed the transcript of the record in this court. The filing of the transcript of [341]*341the board with the prothonotary on January 5, 1945, put the stamp of finality upon the proceeding, subject to the review of this court on the record as certified by the board: National Labor Relations Board v. Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co., 308 U. S. 241, 60 S. Ct. 203 (1939). It is settled law that when the board filed its transcript with the prothonotary on January 5,1945, the board itself was thereafter without statutory authority to modify or set aside its order and findings: Ford Motor Co. v. National Labor Relations Board, 305 U. S. 364, 59 S. Ct. 301, 304, 305 (1939). There can be no remand to the board for additional testimony other than under section 9, clause {a), of the act, which provides that:

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Related

Ford Motor Co. v. National Labor Relations Board
305 U.S. 364 (Supreme Court, 1939)
Lumber & Sawmill Workers v. Millis
325 U.S. 697 (Supreme Court, 1945)
New York State Labor Relations Board v. Timen
264 A.D. 120 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1942)

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Bluebook (online)
55 Pa. D. & C. 337, 1945 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 209, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-york-corp-pactcomplyork-1945.