Richman Bros. v. Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America

132 N.E.2d 769, 101 Ohio App. 459, 73 Ohio Law. Abs. 48, 1 Ohio Op. 2d 385, 1956 Ohio App. LEXIS 720
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedJanuary 26, 1956
Docket23612
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 132 N.E.2d 769 (Richman Bros. v. Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Richman Bros. v. Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America, 132 N.E.2d 769, 101 Ohio App. 459, 73 Ohio Law. Abs. 48, 1 Ohio Op. 2d 385, 1956 Ohio App. LEXIS 720 (Ohio Ct. App. 1956).

Opinion

OPINION

By HURD, J:

This is an appeal on questions of law in an action to enjoin defendants-appellees from causing to be picketed retail stores of plaintiff-appellant. Plaintiff-appellant will hereinafter be designated as “Rich- *49 man,” and defendants-appellees will be hereinafter designated as “Amalgamated.”

This appeal is from a judgment, order and decree rendered on motion of defendants by the Court of Common Pleas of Cuyahoga County on June '27, 1955, by which a temporary injunction against defendants was dissolved, plaintiff’s petition was dismissed and final judgment rendered against Richman and in favor of Amalgamated on the ground that the Court of Common Pleas was without jurisdiction of the subject matter of the action and that the defendants were entitled to the relief sought by them.

The petition, insofar as is pertinent, in substance alleges that no labor organization is or claims to be the representative, for purposes of collective bargaining, of any of Richman’s employees; that there is no labor dispute between Richman and any of its employees and • that Amalgamated since March 31, 1951, has been engaged in a conspiracy to cause economic pressure to be directed against Richman to force such of its eligible employees to become members of the defendant Amalgamated so that the latter may become the representative of Richman’s such employees for purposes of collective bargaining.

It is further alleged that the means employed in carrying out such conspiracy and in thereby irreparably injuring Richman consists of:

(a) causing stores of Richman to be picketed almost continuously during business hours by from one to many persons, all non-employees of Richman, who paraded immediately in front of the entrances carrying banners bearing inscriptions generally to the effect that Richman clothes are not union-made and bear no union label; and

(b) from time to time since March 31, 1951, Amalgamated and others referred to in the petition have caused and continue to cause, in addition to the picketing referred to in the above sub-paragraph 15 A, special sporadic picketing demonstrations to be made immediately in front of certain of plaintiff’s stores in certain of the larger cities including Cleveland, Ohio. On such occasions as many as 15 to 20 and in some instances more persons, at times singing and shouting, mill about in a closely-formed group to and fro in front of the main entrance of the picketed store during a substantial portion of the store’s business hours on a particular day or evening. None of such pickets is an employee of the plaintiff. Such pickets carry banners, signs on long poles and inflated ballons on long cords bearing printed inscriptions of substantially the same import as those described in sub-paragraph 15A of said petition. On such occasions, at times some of the pickets carry signs bearing printed inscriptions of the import that certain labor organizations other than the defendant Amalgamated and its joint boards and locals are participating in the picketing and cooperating with the defendants in their picketing campaign against plaintiff’s retail selling business. On such occasions, the pickets, by their conduct and with the aid of their long poles and cords, create confusion in front of the picketed store and so block the entrance to the picketed store as to divert much of the pedestrian traffic on the sidewalk outwardly from the entrance. (Emphasis added.)

It is further alleged that the picketing was being carried on by *50 Amalgamated with the knowledge that it is the belief entertained by many of the general public that no persons should cross a picket line at an employer’s place of business or enter any such picketed place for business purposes, and alleges that such picketing of Richman’s stores excludes and has excluded prospective customers from the stores and damaged Richman irreparably.

The trial court in entering its judgment expressed the opinion that the cases of Grimes & Hauer, Inc. v. Pollock, decided by chis court (71 Abs 153), and affirmed by the Supreme Court (163 Oh St 372). and the decision of the Supreme Court of the United States in the case of Garner v. Teamsters Union, 346 U. S., 485, were applicable to the instant case and decisive of the issues, and that therefore the Court of Common Pleas was without jurisdiction to entertain the action.

The question is fairly presented as to whether the Court of Common Pleas on the pleadings together with the record herein has jurisdiction of the subject matter of the action.

We think that the motion to dismiss the petition was in the nature of a demurrer.on the ground that the petition did not state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action because the subject matter was not within the jurisdiction of the Court of Common Pleas. In considering this question, we must, for the purposes of the motion to dismiss, accept as true the well-pleaded allegations of the petition and construe them together with all reasonably deducible intendments in favor of the petitioner.

It is true that in this case there are no allegations of violence or threats. This is true likewise of the cases of Grimes & Hauer, Inc. v. Pollock and Garner v. Teamsters Union 'where in neither of which there was any claim or evidence of other than peaceful picketing. It is also true that while all three cases involve Interstate Commerce, the allegations of the petition in this case, part of which we have emphasized, have an entirely different connotation than that of peaceful picketing. The allegation that “special sporadic picketing demonstrations” were carried on by the defendants in front of certain of plaintiff’s stores, that on occasions as many as 15 to 20 and in some instances more persons, at times singing and shouting, milling about in a closely-formed group, to and fro in front of the main entrance in front of the picketed stores, during a substantial portion the stores’ business hours, on a particular day or evening, for the purposes of the motion cannot be equated with peaceful picketing but must be construed as mass picketing.

When it is further pleaded that such pickets carry banners and signs on long poles and inflated balloons on long cords, bearing inscriptions of various kinds, who, by their conduct, create confusion in front of the picketed stores so as to block the entrance to the picketed stores and to divert much of the pedestrian traffic on the sidewalk outwardly from the entrance, there appears to be an allegation substantially indicating the obstruction of streets and highways in violation of law and order, with consequent blocking of means of ingress and egress.

The Supreme Court of the United States in the Garner case at page 488 of its opinion (346 U. S., 485) says:

“The National Labor Management Relations Act, as we have pointed *51 out, leaves much to the states, though Congress has refrained from telling us how much. We must spell out from conflicting indications of congressional will the areas in which state action is still permissible.

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Bluebook (online)
132 N.E.2d 769, 101 Ohio App. 459, 73 Ohio Law. Abs. 48, 1 Ohio Op. 2d 385, 1956 Ohio App. LEXIS 720, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/richman-bros-v-amalgamated-clothing-workers-of-america-ohioctapp-1956.