Lebar v. Canal Zone Central Labor Union & Metal Trades Council

383 F.2d 110, 11 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 394, 1967 U.S. App. LEXIS 5524
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
DecidedJuly 25, 1967
Docket23316
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 383 F.2d 110 (Lebar v. Canal Zone Central Labor Union & Metal Trades Council) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lebar v. Canal Zone Central Labor Union & Metal Trades Council, 383 F.2d 110, 11 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 394, 1967 U.S. App. LEXIS 5524 (5th Cir. 1967).

Opinion

383 F.2d 110

Brigadier General Walter P. LEBER, Governor of the Canal
Zone and President, Panama Canal Company, Appellant,
v.
CANAL ZONE CENTRAL LABOR UNION & METAL TRADES COUNCIL,
AFL-CIO, et al., Appellees.

No. 23316.

United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit.

July 25, 1967.

John W. Douglas, Asst. Atty. Gen., Rowland K. Hazard, U.S. Atty., Alan S. Rosenthal and Richard S. Salzman, Attys., Dept. of Justice, Washington, D.C., John Ligtenberg, Gen. Counsel, American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO, Chicago, Ill., Andrew J. Leahy, Mary Lee Leahy, Chicago, Ill., of counsel, for appellant.

Thomas Morton Gittings, Jr., Washington, D.C., Albert J. Joyce, Jr., Balboa, Canal Zone, Arthur L. Ballin, New Orleans, La., for appellees.

Before RIVES and WISDOM, Circuit Judges, and CONNALLY, District Judge.

RIVES, Circuit Judge.

This appeal is from a decision by the District Court for the Canal Zone declaring that certain regulations issued by the Secretary of the Army are invalid, as contrary to provisions of the Canal Zone Code,1 and enjoining the appellant from enforcing these regulations.2 The involved sections of the Code authorize payment of an overseas differential in addition to basic compensation to each United States citizen employed in the Canal Zone by the executive branch of the United States Government. 2 C.Z.C. 146. The differential is not to be in excess of an amount equal to 25 percent of the aggregate amount of the rate of basic compensation, plus special allowances not here material. In substance, the voided regulations reduce the differential from 25 percent to 15 percent. 5 C.F.R. 1204.12 (1964 Rev., 1966 Pocket Supp.), now found in 35 C.F.R. ch. I, subch. E, revised as of January 1, 1967. They further provide that the differential will not be paid (1) to a married woman whose husband resides in the Canal Zone or the Republic of Panama unless the husband is 51 percent dependent upon her for his support or the woman is legally separated from her husband, or (2) to a child of a resident of the Canal Zone or the Republic of Panama who is under 21 years of age and is unmarried or who, regardless of age or marital status, does not maintain a separate household.

Appellees are five United States citizens employed by the Canal Zone Government or the Panama Canal Company. Two of the appellees are married women whose husbands are also employed by the Canal Zone Government or the Panama Canal Company. The secretary of the Army who promulgated the regulations was not served with process and did not appear in the action.

We are of the opinion that the judgment of the district court should be reversed for three reasons: First the action should have been dismissed because the Secretary of the Army is an indispensable party;3 second, the action was an unconsented suit against the United States; third, sound judicial administration requires that we also discuss the merits to meet the possibility that the Supreme Court, on review, may conclude that jurisdiction exists. We find that the regulations do not conflict with the pertinent and controlling sections of the Canal Zone Code, and are not invalid.

We first discuss the jurisdictional questions. Title 2, Section 155 of the Code provides:

'(a) The President shall coordinate the policies and activities of the respective departments under this subchapter, and may promulgate regulations necessary and appropriate to carry out the provisions and accomplish the purposes of this subchapter. ' (b) The President may delegate any authority vested in him by this subchapter, and may provide for the redelegation of any such authority.'

Pursuant to this section, the President delegated his authority over wage and employment practices in the Canal Zone to the Secretary of the Army. Ex. Ord. No. 10794, December 12, 1958, 23 F.R. 9627, and Ex. Ord. No. 11171, August 20, 1964, 29 F.R. 11897.

Title 2, Section 142 authorizes the head of each department to conduct wage and employment practices in accordance with regulations promulgated by or under the authority of the President.4 A 'department' is defined to mean 'a department, agency, or independent establishment in the executive branch of the Government of the United States (including a corporation wholly owned or controlled by the United States) which conducts operations in the Canal Zone.'

The Canal Zone Government and the Panama Canal Company are departments within the meaning of the statutory definition.5 It is clear, therefore, that wage and employment practices of these two entities are subject to regulation by the Secretary of the Army. He is the official charged with the responsibility of coordinating the policies and activities of the respective departments and promulgating regulations necessary and appropriate to carry out the intent of the statutes.

With these prefatory remarks, we apply the legal principles involved in determining whether the Secretary of the Army is an indispensable party. This Court has on more than one occasion recognized the difficulty in determining the indispensability of a superior governmental official as a defendant in a suit against his subordinate. Estrada v. Ahrens, 5 Cir. 1961,296 F.2d 690; Johnson v. Kirkland, 5 Cir. 1961, 290 F.2d 440. The commentators share out uncertainty despite repeated efforts by the Supreme Court to clarify the principles involved.6

As we read the controlling decisions of the Supreme Court, we find that 'the superior officer is an indispensable party if the decree granting the relief sought will require him to take action, whether by exercising directly a power lodged in him or by having a subordinate exercise it for him.' Williams v. Fanning, 1947, 332 U.S. 490, 493, 68 S.Ct. 188, 189, 92 L.Ed. 95. In Ceballos v. Shaughnessy, 1957, 352 U.S. 599, 603, 77 S.Ct. 545, 549, 1 L.Ed.2d 583, the Supreme Court noted that the resolution of the issue also depends on 'the ability and authority of the defendant before the court to effectuate the relief' which is sought. See State of Colorado v. Toll, 1925, 268 U.S. 228, 45 S.Ct. 505, 69 L.Ed. 927; Johnson v. Kirkland, 5 Cir. 1961, 290 F.2d 440, 446. If the court having jurisdiction over the subordinate can grant effective relief without requiring any act by the superior, then the superior is not indispensable.

The Supreme Court stressed the need for practical considerations.

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Related

Walker v. City of Waterbury
235 F.R.D. 34 (D. Connecticut, 2006)
Caton v. Canal Zone Government
522 F. Supp. 1 (District Court, Canal Zone, 1981)
Drummond v. Bunker
560 F.2d 625 (Fifth Circuit, 1977)
Reinheimer v. Panama Canal Co.
344 F. Supp. 510 (District Court, Canal Zone, 1972)

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Bluebook (online)
383 F.2d 110, 11 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 394, 1967 U.S. App. LEXIS 5524, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lebar-v-canal-zone-central-labor-union-metal-trades-council-ca5-1967.