Laclede Steel Co. v. Newton

6 F. Supp. 625, 1934 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1762
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Illinois
DecidedApril 25, 1934
DocketNo. 1975
StatusPublished

This text of 6 F. Supp. 625 (Laclede Steel Co. v. Newton) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Laclede Steel Co. v. Newton, 6 F. Supp. 625, 1934 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1762 (S.D. Ill. 1934).

Opinion

BRIGGLE, District Judge.

The Laclede Steel Company, a Missouri corporation, and the Laclede Tube Company, a Delaware corporation, filed their bill of complaint herein on January 19, 1934, against W. B. Newton and sixty-one other defendants^ all citizens of Illinois. The bill is voluminous, but after alleging the necessary jurisdictional facts, alleges among other things that both plaintiffs are the owners of manufacturing plants located near the city limits of Alton, in the county of Madison, Ill. The Steel Company is engaged in the manufacture and fabrication of steel, iron, and metal products; and the Tube Company is engaged in the manufacture of steel tubing. The Tube Company is a subsidiary of the Steel Company, and both are operated under one management and employ large numbers of men.

The bill alleges that both companies have accepted the code of fair competition in their respective industries, promulgated in pursuance of the National Industrial Recovery Act (48 Stat. 195), and have at all times complied with all the provisions thereof.

The bill alleges that the employees of the plaintiff companies organized and adopted the “Employees Representation Plan,” being an organization among the employees of their own choosing for the purpose of advancing thq interests of said employees; and that a large percentage of the employees of both companies became members of such organization.

The bill further alleges that the plaintiffs and their officers and employees have been subjected to violence, threats, and intimidation by the defendants and their associates; that on the 18th day of December, 1933, and at numerous times thereafter, until the filing of the bill herein, the defendants and large numbers of other people congregated at and near the plants of the plaintiff companies, and by threats and intimidation and by various acts of violence undertook to prevent the employees of the plaintiffs from entering or leaving their plants; and that in consequence thereof the employees of the plaintiff companies, in large numbers, remained inside the plants for several weeks, being unable to go to and from their homes.

The bill alleges that the defendants and others engaged in various forms of disorder, such as the hurling of rocks and other missiles and the discharge of firearms at the employees of plaintiffs, and into the buildings of the plaintiffs, and engaged in many other acts of violence not necessary to enumerate here.

The bill further alleges that this condition prevailed for a long time, and that the same was brought to the attention of the law enforcing officers of Madison county, Ill., the sheriff and state’s attorney, and the mayor and chief of police of the city of Alton; and alleges that said law enforcing officers were unwilling or unable to protect the property of the plaintiffs.

The bill alleges that the disorders in question were brought about largely by persons other than employees of the plaintiff companies, although some of the defendants had at former times been employees of the companies, and that a conspiracy existed among all of them to injure the property of plaintiffs and to harass and annoy and intimidate the employees of plaintiffs.

The bill alleges that unlawful acts have been threatened and have been committed, [626]*626and other acts will be committed unless restrained, and that substantial and irreparable injury to plaintiffs’ property will follow; that as to each item of relief prayed, greater injury will be inflicted on plaintiffs by the denial of relief than will be inflicted on defendants by the granting of relief; that plaintiffs have no adequate remedy at law; and prays that the court will enjoin and restrain the defendants from the further prosecution of the unlawful acts complained of.

The verified bill of complaint having been presented to the court, a temporary stay order was issued on the 19th day of January, 1934, and hearing upon the matters set forth in the bill was set for January 34, 1934.

After due notice to all of the defendants, and after due notice to the mayor and chief of police of the city of Alton, and the sheriff and state’s attorney of Madison county, Ill., hearing was had on January 34, 1934, upon the matters alleged in said bill and on the motion of plaintiffs for a temporary injunction. Defendants appeared by their counsel and participated in such hearing, but offered no evidence to controvert the proof that was offered of the matters alleged in the bill. After full hearing a temporary injunction was ordered on the 25 th day of January, 1934, enjoining the defendants as prayed in the bill.

On March 1, 1934, the defendants filed their answer, which amounts to a general denial of the material allegations of the bill; and this cause came on for final hearing on March 27, 1934.

The testimony offered at the hearing on the motion for temporary injunction has, by stipulation, become a part of the evidence to be considered in the final determination of this cause, and in addition thereto numerous witnesses have been heard on behalf of both plaintiffs and defendants.

Without discussing the evidence in detail, it is sufficient to say that the evidence demonstrates beyond any possibility of doubt that various acts of violence were perpetrated, as alleged in the bill by the defendants and their associates. The record fully justifies the conclusion that the acts of the defendants went far beyond the scope of peaceful picketing and that the lives of the officials and employees of the plaintiff companies have been put in jeopardy and that the property of the companies has been damaged.

Assuming that this situation involves a “labor dispute” within the meaning of chapter 6, title 29 USCA, § 101 et seq., commonly known as the “Norris-La Guardia Act,” the principal question involved has become one of whether the plaintiffs, by their allegations and proofs, have brought themselves within the provisions of section 107 of this act, or, in other words, whether sufficient facts have been alleged and proven to confer jurisdiction on this court under this section.

Section 107 (section 7, Original Act) provides that:

“No court of the United States shall have jurisdiction to issue a temporary or permanent injunction in any case involving or growing out of a labor dispute, as herein defined, except after hearing the testimony of witnesses in open court (with opportunity for cross-examination) in support of the allegations of a complaint made under oath, and testimony in opposition thereto, if offered, and except after findings of fact by the court, to the effect—

“(a) That unlawful acts have been threatened and will be committed unless restrained or have been committed and will be continued unless restrained, but no injunction or temporary restraining order shall be issued on account of any threat or unlawful act excepting against the person or persons, association, or organization making the threat or committing the unlawful act or actually authorizing or ratifying the same after actual knowledge thereof;

“(b) That substantial and irreparable injury to complainant’s property will follow;

“(c) That as to each item of relief granted greater injury will be inflicted upon complainant by the denial of relief than will be inflicted upon defendants by the granting of relief;

“(d) That complainant has no adequate remedy at law; and

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Bluebook (online)
6 F. Supp. 625, 1934 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1762, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/laclede-steel-co-v-newton-ilsd-1934.