Shapiro Bros. Shoe Co. v. Lewiston-Auburn Shoeworkers Protective Ass'n

320 A.2d 247, 86 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 3176, 1974 Me. LEXIS 288
CourtSupreme Judicial Court of Maine
DecidedMay 28, 1974
StatusPublished
Cited by56 cases

This text of 320 A.2d 247 (Shapiro Bros. Shoe Co. v. Lewiston-Auburn Shoeworkers Protective Ass'n) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Judicial Court of Maine primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Shapiro Bros. Shoe Co. v. Lewiston-Auburn Shoeworkers Protective Ass'n, 320 A.2d 247, 86 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 3176, 1974 Me. LEXIS 288 (Me. 1974).

Opinion

WEATHERBEE, Justice.

By written notice posted on a bulletin board in its plant on January 23, 1973, the Plaintiff shoe company announced to its employees that it “is voluntarily going out of business and shall conclude all of its activities in the manufacture of shoes on February 22, 1973”. In fact, however, the company ceased operations on February 5, 1973, thirteen days after the posting of the above notice. 1

On March 2, 1973 the Defendant labor organization, through its attorney, notified the Plaintiff’s attorney by mail that it felt the shoe company is obligated to pay severance pay to employees who had worked at the plant for one year or longer. The letter continued:

“It is essential that this matter be resolved at once, and we are prepared to bring suit within the next few days on behalf of the union itself and as a class action for all union members employed at Shapiro Brothers unless we hear from you within that time regarding arrangements to take care of this matter. The above is not intended as a threat but simply to express our urgency about having this matter resolved immediately.”

Two weeks later, on March 16, the Plaintiff instituted the present action for a declaratory judgment and injunctive relief against the union. Later, the three individual Defendants, all of whom had worked for the Plaintiff for over a year until being laid off at the plant’s closing, were added by agreement and order of court. The Plaintiff seeks a declaration that paragraphs two and three of 26 M.R. S.A. § 625 2 are unconstitutional. If such *250 is this Court’s decision, the Plaintiff also desires injunctive relief to prevent the Defendants from exercising any rights or powers under said statute. This case is before us on report under M.R.C.P., Rule 72(b) with an agreed statement of facts, dated May 16, 1973.

While this action has been pending, the Legislature repealed paragraph two of 26 M.R.S.A. § 625 and substituted a new paragraph in its place. P.L.1973, ch. 545. 3 This recent enactment took effect October 3, 1973, ninety days after the adjournment of the Legislature.

The statutory language under attack requires an employer of 100 or more persons to give one month’s notice to its employees prior to voluntarily going out of business. Failure to give this notice shall obligate the employer to pay severance pay (up to a maximum of one month’s pay) to employees who have worked a year or more for the employer.

The Plaintiff contends that it is not so obligated because the statute violates the due process and equal protection provisions of the Maine and federal constitutions. 4 More specifically, the Plaintiff alleges that 1) certain language in the statute is void for vagueness; 2) the statute requires a taking of property without compensation; 3) the statute discriminates against employers who voluntarily cease business; 4) the statute discriminates against employers who employ 100 or more people.

Prior to any discussion of these constitutional questions, we must determine if this action is now moot due to the aforementioned repeal of the relevant section of 26 M.R.S.A. § 625 by P.L.1973, ch. 545. This Court will not entertain an action which has lost its vitality as a properly justiciable controversy. E. g., Good Will Home Ass’n v. Erwin, Me., 285 A.2d 374 (1971). For reasons following, we feel that the issues presented are properly before us and ready for resolution.

During the summer of 1973, after this case was ordered reported to the Law Court by a Superior Court Justice, the Maine Legislature passed P.L.1973, ch. 545. This new act, as we have noted, repealed the second paragraph of 26 M.R.S.A. § 625 and substituted new language effective October 3, 1973, quoted in footnote 2 supra.

While P.L.1973, ch. 545 did not contain a savings clause, there is a general statutory savings clause (originally enacted by P.L. 1870, ch. 109) for certain actions which is found in 1 M.R.S.A. § 302. 5 It is of par *251 ticular interest to us in that it recites that the repeal of an Act does not affect “actions and proceedings pending at the time of the . . . repeal. . . .”

If there was at the time of the repeal no action pending for the recovery of the claimed severance pay, the issue of constitutionality of the statute may be moot. 6 There is nothing in the record which suggests that the labor union claimed any obligation of the Plaintiff to it directly. We are not called upon to decide whether a union’s position as collective bargaining representative can ever give the union standing to bring civil actions for the collection of unpaid money on behalf of its employees. The record does not disclose that this union had been given any such right or that it had standing to bring any action to recover money on its own behalf or on behalf of the employees. In any event, no such action had been brought by the union.

The parties evidently were concerned over possible lack of standing of the union, as the three individual Defendants were added by agreement simultaneously with the matter being reported to us.

The individual Defendants themselves have never filed any independent action seeking to recover from the Plaintiff this statutory severance pay. These Defendants answered Plaintiff’s complaint and prayed for a declaratory judgment that the statute is constitutional and that Plaintiff’s complaint be dismissed with costs, but they did not make use of the opportunity to counterclaim for any amount of severance pay which they claim is due to them as individuals. Should the Plaintiff’s complaint for a declaratory judgment and the individual Defendants’ answer be construed as constituting not only the parties’ prayer that the constitutionality of the statute be determined but also that, if the statute is constitutional, there should be a later judicial determination as to what sums, if any, are due the individual Defendants? If not, there would be no “action . . . pending” by the individual Defendants for severance pay on the effective date of the repeal of the statute and the issue of constitutionality may be moot. 7

Analysis of case history of the general savings clause leads us to conclude that the instant suit seeking declaratory relief is necessarily included within the statutory language. This Court has held many times that civil actions of various descriptions were “pending actions” which would be unaffected by repeal of a statute. E. g., Hamlin v. City of Biddeford, 95 Me. 308, 49 A. 1100 (1901); Whitmore v. Learned, 70 Me. 276 (1879); Estes v. White, 61 Me. 22 (1873). The above cases concerned an action to recover damages for the city’s failure to maintain a sewer, an action for forcible entry and detainer, and an action for costs, respectively. It is clear that the savings clause is not intended solely to cover criminal or other specialized actions.

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Bluebook (online)
320 A.2d 247, 86 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 3176, 1974 Me. LEXIS 288, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/shapiro-bros-shoe-co-v-lewiston-auburn-shoeworkers-protective-assn-me-1974.